#20: Sacrificing For A Pennant

We pick up the "25 Greatest Oakland A's Wins" weekly countdown with win #20, and a return to October 12, 1972, for Game 5 of the 1972 American League Championship Series.  

Back then, there was no division series and the championship series was a best of 5 series, rather than today's best of 7 series format. Played at Tiger Stadium, Game 5 would decide who’d represent the American League in the World Series. It had been a long, and hard fought series between the Oakland A’s and the Detroit Tigers. Both teams embodied a blue collar mindset, and the baseball was rough and ragged.

The 1972 A’s were led by the Hall of Fame manager Dick Williams. Williams was known for being a tough, disciplinarian manager who could wield any cast of characters into a force to be reckoned with. Williams was also known for his instinctive ability to manufacture runs. That ability would take center stage in this game for the pennant.

The Tigers were led by enigma known as Billy Martin. He grew up in Oakland and later managed the A’s in a time known as “Billy Ball” but before that time, Billy Martin was managing the Detroit Tigers. Executing the lessons he learned from the legendary Yankees manager, Casey Stengel during his playing days, Martin was a brilliant tactician. However, Martin was more known for a fiery temper that made him difficult to work with for many executives and players.

The teams embodied the personalities of their managers and these ingredients came to a halt in game 2.  After a hard-fought, tightly contested, walk-off win for the A's in game 1, the Tigers frustrations started to show in game 2 after the A’s scrapped to a 5-0 lead in the game. In the 7th inning of game 2, Tigers reliever, Lerrin LaGrow’s first pitch drilled the A’s Cuban shortstop, Bert Campaneris who glared at LaGrow and threw his bat at the Tigers pitcher.  The bat narrowly missed LaGrow. Campaneris had really carried the A’s that day and what would ensue was a bench clearing brawl. Incredibly, the man who wanted to fight Campaneris the most was the Tigers manager! Martin was restrained by 3 umpires. Campaneris and LaGrow would be suspended for the rest of the ALCS.

PHOTO CREDIT: ASSOCIATED PRESS

The A’s left Oakland with an impressive 2-0 series lead, but the Tigers would claw back in game 3 behind a complete game shutout from Joe Coleman. In game 4, the A’s suffered a devastating loss that seemed to spell the worst. Catfish Hunter and Mickey Lolich would pitch gems for both of their respective teams. In the 10th inning, the relievers would decide the game. In a 1-1 game, the A’s jumped ahead to a 3-1 lead behind clutch hits from Gonzalo Marquez, Ted Kubiak, and Reggie Jackson.  With the score at 3-1, Jackson hit a bloop single with two outs and Ted Kubiak on third. However, Kubiak thought there was one out in the inning and for that reason he started tagging up. This cost the A’s a run and would become the first culprit of a huge calamity to end game 4.  In an earlier play in the game, A’s regular second baseman, Dick Green was injured as Norm Cash slid into second base to break up a double play. Green had to come out of the game. Because the A’s were running out of healthy players, Dick Williams had to move the regular catcher, Gene Tenace to second base. As the old baseball adage goes, the ball always finds you, and in the bottom of the 10th with the A’s three outs away from the World Series, the bases were loaded and a ground ball to Sal Bando at third appeared to be a double play ball. However, Gene Tenace botched the entire play and dropped the ball.  A run scored to make it 3-2. The next batter would walk to tie the game, and then Jim Northup hit the ball over the outfield with the outfield playing in and the game was over. Now the series was tied at 2-2 with the deciding game 5 being played in Detroit (the format at the time was a 2-3 format, rather than today’s 2-2-1) the next day.

PHOTO CREDIT: ASSOCIATED PRESS

And that brings us to game 5 on October 12, 1972!  On the mound for the A’s would be the veteran, Blue Moon Odom. Odom was nicknamed “Blue Moon” in grade-school because the shape of his head seemed to resemble the moon. And before the 1972 season in his hometown of Macon, Georgia, Odom was shot twice by a burglar but luckily the bullets only really grazed him and he reported to Spring Training on time. Odom was the veteran of the A’s solid rotation, and he had an impressive season going 15-6 with a 2.50 ERA. He had pitched a complete shutout against the Tigers in game 2 and without a doubt, Dick Williams felt good with Odom starting and if need be, Vida Blue was relatively rested in the bullpen.

On the mound for the Tigers would be the journeyman, Woodie Fryman who was roughed up in game 2 and was looking to redeem himself for his club. As the game started out, the Tigers took the early lead in the bottom of the first when with one out A’s catcher, Gene Tenace allowed a passed ball that sent the runners from first and second, to second and third, respectively. Still with one out, Dick Williams put the corners infielders in and the middle infielders back. Bill Freehan hit a ground ball to the shortstop, Dal Maxvil who tossed the ball to first and the Tigers baserunner on third scored to make it 1-0 Tigers. The next Tigers batter would line out, and Blue Moon Odom would definitely escape the first inning relatively unscathed.

Fryman would not get his shutdown inning. Reggie Jackson led off the inning with a walk and with Sal Bando coming to the plate, Jackson would flash some of his youthful 5-tool talent that he was blessed with by stealing second base. Sal Bando would fly out deep to right, and Jackson would tag from second and head to third, safely. With one out, Mike Epstein would take a pitch right on the wrist and would take first base. With runners on the corners and one out, Gene Tenace would strikeout looking to make it two outs in the inning. Next up was the light hitting Dick Green who was honestly more in there for his tidy glove rather than his bat. And because of this, Dick Williams decided to get ultra aggressive in this pivotal elimination game and he called a gutsy double steal. Epstein took off for second and Tony Taylor, the Tigers second baseman took the throw from the catcher, realizing that the throw was going to be short, he fired it back home seeing Reggie Jackson take off from third and Jackson’s speed and takeout slide was just enough. Jackson was safe and it was 1-1, but Jackson would tear his hamstring on the slide. The injury would take Jackson out of the World Series, if the A’s go onto win.

It must be said how impressive Reggie Jackson’s talent really showed in that half inning. The greater baseball public remember Reggie Jackson in pinstripes hitting clutch home runs and becoming “Mr. October” but his best years clearly came in Oakland. And in that half inning, he showed plate discipline (he ended his career setting the all-time strikeout record), great speed/instincts on the base paths, and most importantly: real grit (and his attitude would be the thing that critics would harp on him the most later on in his career). The last part is what is highlighted the most, to put yourself in harms way in such a big game just goes to show how much Dick Williams had influenced his players and got them to buy into his daredevil style.

Runs would prove to be few and far between in this game until the top of the fourth. George Hendrick, who replaced Reggie Jackson was leading off the inning and he hit a grounder to the shortstop. What seemed to be a relatively routine out for the Tigers turned out to be an unthinkable blown call that favored the A’s. The play was listed as an error on the shortstop but the umpire said that the Tigers first baseman, Norm Cash pulled his foot off the bag. Cash argued like crazy but the damage was done. A little bit of insight from youtube comments (I don’t usually put a lot of stock into youtube comments but I figured it was interesting enough), the first base umpire that game was John Rice and oddly enough, he resigned the next year in 1973 after a Chicago bookmaker was busted and Rice’s name was on his Christmas card list. For all I know, it’s not true, and even if it is, you can take it with a grain of salt, but I figured it was worth noting.

That blown call would prove to be a huge lift for the A’s, as Dick Williams would call for a sacrifice bunt from Captain Sal Bando to move the runner over to second base with one out. And after a Mike Epstein strikeout, Gene Tenace would provide a two out, single through the 5.5 hole (between the shortstop and third baseman) and George Hendrick rounded third and headed for home. Duke Sims, the Tigers left fielder would make the throw home and it was right on the money. It’s not clear whether the catcher, Freehan ever had possession of the ball but Hendrick’s hard slide into his blocking leg was rough enough to dislodge the ball and as a result the A’s had taken a crucial 2-1 lead.

Blue Moon Odom would complete the shutdown inning in the bottom half of the inning and then would pitch a clean inning in the 5th. He was then replaced by Vida Blue, who was used in the season as a starter but with his poor season, Dick Williams had him in the bullpen. It’s not clear why Odom was pulled from the game, the only thing I can think of is that Dick Williams’ instincts told him that Vida Blue needed to come in right away in this win or go home game. Odom’s pitching line read: 5.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 3 K’s. And in total, Odom received a Game Score of 62, anything over 50 is considered a quality start (however, achieving an official QS by today’s standards is pitching 6 innings and giving up no more than 3 runs).

The A’s would not tally on anymore runs but luckily for them, Vida Blue didn’t need anymore support as he shutdown the Tigers. Vida Blue would allow only 3 hits in relief (never more than one in any inning he pitched), and as if he was trying to prove to Dick Williams that he should have been in the playoff rotation, he made his point known with this performance. To end the ballgame, the tying run was on first base, but that didn’t matter as Blue got Tony Taylor to fly out to center and that was it…. The A’s had won the American League Pennant for the first time since 1931 when they were in Philadelphia, and the first time since moving to Oakland.

PHOTO CREDIT: ASSOCIATED PRESS

The victory was for many reasons a masterpiece by A’s manager, Dick Williams. Timely plays of manufacturing and what turned out to be a tremendous instinctive decision to put in Vida Blue were the highlights of this game. The most interesting thing about this game was actually what happened after. Two things were really quite interesting about the A’s postgame celebration.

First, Reggie Jackson was away from the team who were celebrating as he was beside himself because he knew he couldn’t participate in the World Series because of his torn hamstring. In an interesting, as well as an ironic action, Tigers manager Billy Martin went over to the A’s clubhouse to console Reggie Jackson. This is ironic because years later in 1977 when Reggie Jackson was signed by the Yankees, Billy Martin was the manager, and throughout their time together they never got along. This was most highlighted by this explosive exchange, seen here.

Second, apparently Vida Blue started to tease Blue Moon Odom during the celebration and actually said that he “choked,” it didn’t take long for things to get serious. Teasing ended with Odom and Blue starting to fight. This was not the first fight of the 1970s A’s and it would be far from the last. 

There’s only one highlight video of this game that I found here. If anyone has any footage, please share it with us!

Next week, Win #19. Stay tuned!

-- Wes

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