1972 World Series - Great Series Lost In Time!
Do you remember the 1972 World Series that matched the American League champion Oakland Athletics against the National League champion Cincinnati Reds, with the Athletics winning in seven games? Six of the seven games in the series were decided by one run, marking perhaps the most closely contested World Series in MLB history. This was Cincinnati's second trip to the World Series in three years. It was Oakland's first-ever trip to the Series and the first for the franchise since 1931 when the team was located in Philadelphia.
This turned out to be a matchup of the two premier MLB dynasties of the 1970s, with the Reds winning two World Series in four WS appearances, while the A's would win three-straight (1972-74). The Series was dubbed "The Hairs vs. the Squares."
Oakland played the Series without its star outfielder Reggie Jackson, who was injured (pulled hamstring). Left-handed reliever Darold Knowles (former Washington Senator) was also missing for the A's, breaking his thumb weeks before the Series opener.
With Jackson out, the Athletics were decided, underdogs. Catcher Gene Tenace for Oakland had a poor regular season, hitting only .225 with five home runs. He was even worse in the AL Championship series against Detroit, going 1 for 17 (.059), although his one hit drove in the go-ahead run in Game 5. In the World Series, however, Tenace was spectacular, hitting four home runs equaling the World Series mark set by Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and Hank Bauer. He also had nine RBI in the Series—no other Oakland player had more than one. Tenace was voted World Series MVP.
The teams were fairly equal statistically, each club totaling 46 hits with the same .209 batting average (the combined batting averages were the lowest recorded in a 7 game World Series). The Reds outscored the A's, 21–16, but lost each of their four games by a single run.
Game 1: Oakland A's – 3, Cincinnati Reds – 2
Game 2: Oakland A's – 2, Cincinnati Reds – 1
Game 3: Cincinnati Reds – 1, Oakland A's – 0
Game 4: Cincinnati Reds – 2, Oakland A's – 3
Game 5: Cincinnati Reds – 5, Oakland A's – 4
Game 6: Oakland A's – 1, Cincinnati Reds – 8
Game 7: Oakland A's – 3, Cincinnati Reds – 2
Things to Remember in this 1972 World Series...
- This was Al Michaels' first World Series as a play-by-play man at NBC; he was also the team broadcaster for the Cincinnati Reds.
- Winning player's share: $20,705 - Losing player's share: $15,080
- The Oakland A's won three games on the road.
- Jack Billingham allowed no earned runs in 13 2?3 innings in the series against the A's
- This is the last time to date that an American League team has won a World Series Game 7 on the road.
- Jackie Robinson, the first black major-league player of the modern era, made his final public appearance in Cincinnati before Game 2. He would die nine days later.
- Oakland A’s catcher Gene Tenace, who hit a home run in each of his first two at-bats. Tenace became the first player ever to homer in his two initial Series plate appearances, a feat later matched by Andruw Jones of the Atlanta Braves in 1996.
- Game 3: A rare trick play occurred in the eighth inning. The Reds had Joe Morgan on third and Bobby Tolan on first base with Rollie Fingers pitching to NL MVP Johnny Bench. Fingers pitched carefully to Bench before Tolan stole second base on ball three. After the stolen base, with the count 3–2 on Bench, A's manager Dick Williams visited the mound. After a long discussion, he motioned for an intentional walk to Bench. A's catcher Gene Tenace stood to catch ball four, but at the last second returned to his crouch as Fingers delivered a strike on the outside corner. Bench watched the pitch go by for strike three.
- Game 5: On Friday afternoon, was the last non-weekend World Series day game.
Truly a great World Series that has been forgotten by time.
Rick Furr - Mobile Sports Group