The following are thebaseball events of the year1872 throughout the world.

• National Association:Boston

• Boston Red Stockings pitcherAl Spalding has a record of 38–8 in 404.2 innings pitched and leads the NA in wins. He has a 1.85 earned run average and a 196 ERA+. At the plate, Spalding has a batting average of .354 and an OPS+ of 144.^[1][2]
• Boston Red Stockings second basemanRoss Barnes, in 45 games played, leads the NA with 99 hits, a .430 batting average, a 1.034 OPS, and a 211 OPS+. He has 81 runs scored and 44 runs batted in.^[3][4]

• March 4 – At its annual convention being held inCleveland, the NA adopts a rule change to allow the use of the wrist in the pitching delivery.

• April 22 –Candy Cummings makes his debut withMutual of New York.
• April 26 – "Orator"Jim O'Rourke makes his debut with theMansfield club of Middletown.
• May 24 – TheOlympic Club of Washington play their last game before dropping out of the NA. Poor talent and financial difficulties combine to do in the Olympics.
• May 29 – Despite not having a team in the league in 1872, the city ofChicago hosts its first NA game since theGreat Chicago Fire asLord Baltimore defeatsForest City in front of 4,000 fans.
• June 26 – TheNational B.B.C. of Washington, with an 0–11 record, disbands after losing 9–1 toLord Baltimore.

• July 6 – Sporting a 22–1 record,Harry Wright takes theBoston club on vacation to an island inBoston Harbor.
• July 9 –Eckford of Brooklyn commit 13 errors in their 15–3 loss toUnion of Troy. It is the fewest errors committed by the 0–11 Eckfords in a game thus far this season.
• July 23 – Despite a winning record, theUnion Club of Troy disbands due to financial problems. Half of the "Haymakers'" roster will move toEckford of Brooklyn, which saves them from dropping out of the NA.
• July 26 – In an emergency meeting, the NA revises their scheduling requirements from 5 to 9 games versus each opponent competing for the championship. This is in response to the number of teams that have disbanded and comes 3 days after the first-divisionUnion of Troy had called it quits.
• August 13 – TheMansfield Club of Middletown, CT announce that they have disbanded and drop out of the NA.
• August 19 –Forest City of Cleveland disband the club after a loss toBoston. This drops the number of teams still playing in the NA to 6.
• September 1 –Al Thake, left-fielder batting .295 forAtlantic, drowns in New York harbor after falling from a fishing boat. Thake is the first active major league ballplayer to die. (But Elmer White, active in 1871, had died in winter.)

• October 22 – TheBoston Red Stockings clinch the pennant with a 4–3 win over theBrooklyn Eckfords.

• January 12 –Togie Pittinger
• February 3 –Lou Criger
• March 3 –Willie Keeler
• March 24 –Kip Selbach
• May [?] –John Wood
• May 10 –Klondike Douglass
• May 16 –John O'Connell
• May 23 –Deacon Phillippe
• June 14 –Doc Parker
• August 6 –Sam Mertes
• August 15 –Silk O'Loughlin
• August 15 –John Warner
• August 18 –Eddie Hickey
• September 5 –Al Orth
• September 18 –Lord Byron
• September 20 –Joe Berry
• September 25 –Fred Odwell
• October 3 –Fred Clarke
• October 6 –Jack Dunn
• December 5 –Pink Hawley
• December 9 –Cy Seymour
• December 25 –Ted Lewis

General

• Ryczek, William J. (1992).Blackguards and Red Stockings; A History of Baseball's National Association 1871–1875. Wallingford, Connecticut: Colebrook PressISBN 0-9673718-0-5
• Nemec, David (1997).The Great Encyclopedia of 19th-Century Major League Baseball. New York: Donald I. Fine BooksISBN 1-55611-500-8

Specific

• 1872 season at Baseball-Reference.com
• Charlton's Baseball Chronology at BaseballLibrary.com
• Retrosheet.org

• 1872 in baseball

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata