1974 World Series
Encyclopedia
Game 1
Saturday, October 12, 1974 at Dodger StadiumDodger Stadium
Dodger Stadium, also sometimes called Chavez Ravine, is a stadium in Los Angeles. Located adjacent to Downtown Los Angeles, Dodger Stadium has been the home ballpark of Major League Baseball's Los Angeles Dodgers team since 1962...
in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
Reggie Jackson
Reggie Jackson
Reginald Martinez "Reggie" Jackson , nicknamed "Mr. October" for his clutch hitting in the postseason with the New York Yankees, is a former American Major League Baseball right fielder. During a 21-year baseball career, he played from 1967-1987 for four different teams. Jackson currently serves as...
put the A's on the board first with a solo homer in the top of the second off 20-game winner Andy Messersmith
Andy Messersmith
John Alexander "Andy" Messersmith is a former Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher. He was the 12th overall pick of the 1966 amateur draft by the California Angels...
. The A's added another run in the fifth when starting pitcher Ken Holtzman
Ken Holtzman
Kenneth Dale Holtzman is a left-handed former starting pitcher in Major League Baseball who played most of his career for the Chicago Cubs and Oakland Athletics...
, batting for the first time all season because of the designated hitter
Designated hitter
In baseball, the designated hitter rule is the common name for Major League Baseball Rule 6.10, an official position adopted by the American League in 1973 that allows teams to designate a player, known as the designated hitter , to bat in place of the pitcher each time he would otherwise come to...
rule, doubled to left, went to third on a Messersmith wild pitch, and scored on a Bert Campaneris
Bert Campaneris
Dagoberto Campaneris Blanco , nicknamed "Campy", is a former shortstop in Major League Baseball who played for four American League teams, primarily the Kansas City and Oakland Athletics...
suicide squeeze bunt.
The Dodgers crept back with a run in their half of the fifth when Davey Lopes
Davey Lopes
David Earle Lopes is a former second baseman and manager in Major League Baseball. He batted and threw right-handed. He is currently the first base coach for the Los Angeles Dodgers.He is of Cape Verdean descent.-Playing:...
reached first on an error by shortstop Campaneris. Bill Buckner
Bill Buckner
William Joseph Buckner is a former Major League Baseball first baseman. Despite winning a batting crown in , representing the Chicago Cubs at the All-Star Game the following season and accumulating over 2,700 hits in his twenty-year career, he is best remembered for a fielding error during Game 6...
then bounced a single to right that Jackson misplayed, allowing Lopes to score.
The A's scored their final run in the eighth when Campaneris singled to shallow center, was sacrificed to second by Bill North, and scored when Dodger third baseman Ron Cey
Ron Cey
Ronald Charles Cey |Washington]]) is a former third baseman in Major League Baseball who played for the Los Angeles Dodgers , Chicago Cubs and Oakland Athletics . Cey batted and threw right-handed...
threw wildly to first on a grounder hit by Sal Bando
Sal Bando
Salvatore Leonard Bando is a former third baseman and executive in professional baseball who played for the Kansas City & Oakland Athletics and Milwaukee Brewers . He batted and threw right-handed. During the A's championship years of 1971-75, he captained the team and led the club in runs batted...
. Bando reached third on the error, and attempted to score on a flyout to right by Jackson, but right fielder Joe Ferguson
Joe Ferguson (baseball)
Joseph Vance Ferguson is a former catcher/right fielder in Major League Baseball who played for four different teams from 1970 through 1983...
gunned him down at the plate.
In the bottom of the ninth, with Rollie Fingers
Rollie Fingers
Roland Glen Fingers is a former Major League Baseball relief pitcher. During his 18-year baseball career, he pitched for the Oakland Athletics , San Diego Padres and Milwaukee Brewers . He became only the second reliever to be elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1992...
on the mound, Jimmy Wynn
Jimmy Wynn
James Sherman Wynn , nicknamed the "Toy Cannon," is a former Major League Baseball center fielder. During a 15-year baseball career, he played from 1963-1977 for five different teams: the Houston Colt .45s/Astros, Los Angeles Dodgers, Atlanta Braves, New York Yankees, and Milwaukee Brewers...
hit a solo homer that just escaped the reach of Joe Rudi
Joe Rudi
Joseph Oden Rudi is a former left fielder in Major League Baseball who played for the Kansas City & Oakland Athletics , California Angels and Boston Red Sox . He batted and threw right-handed...
and North in left center. Catfish Hunter
Catfish Hunter
James Augustus "Catfish" Hunter , was a Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher. During a 15-year baseball career, he pitched from 1965-1979 for both the Oakland Athletics and the New York Yankees...
relieved Fingers and made the final out by striking out Ferguson. Fingers got the win with innings of relief, having relieved Holtzman in the fifth.
Game 2
Sunday, October 13, 1974 at Dodger StadiumDodger Stadium
Dodger Stadium, also sometimes called Chavez Ravine, is a stadium in Los Angeles. Located adjacent to Downtown Los Angeles, Dodger Stadium has been the home ballpark of Major League Baseball's Los Angeles Dodgers team since 1962...
in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
Don Sutton pitched superbly, shutting out the A's on four hits through eight innings. The Dodgers scored first in the second off Vida Blue
Vida Blue
Vida Rochelle Blue Jr. is a former Major League Baseball left-handed pitcher. During a 17-year career, he pitched for the Oakland Athletics , San Francisco Giants , and Kansas City Royals He won the American League Cy Young award and Most Valuable Player Award in 1971...
when Ron Cey
Ron Cey
Ronald Charles Cey |Washington]]) is a former third baseman in Major League Baseball who played for the Los Angeles Dodgers , Chicago Cubs and Oakland Athletics . Cey batted and threw right-handed...
walked, Bill Russell
Bill Russell (baseball)
William Ellis Russell is a former shortstop, coach and manager in Major League Baseball. Russell played his entire 18-year, 2,181-game career with the Los Angeles Dodgers as the starting shortstop for four National League pennant winners and one World Series champion...
singled, and Steve Yeager
Steve Yeager
Stephen Wayne "Steve" Yeager is an American right-handed former major league baseball catcher. Yeager spent 14 of the 15 seasons of his Major League Baseball career, from through , with the Los Angeles Dodgers. His last year, , he played for the Seattle Mariners...
singled home Cey. Joe Ferguson
Joe Ferguson (baseball)
Joseph Vance Ferguson is a former catcher/right fielder in Major League Baseball who played for four different teams from 1970 through 1983...
slammed a two-run homer off Blue in the sixth to make it 3–0.
The A's threatened in the eighth when pinch hitter
Pinch hitter
In baseball, a pinch hitter is a substitute batter. Batters can be substituted at any time while the ball is dead ; the manager may use any player that has not yet entered the game as a substitute...
s Jim Holt
Jim Holt (baseball)
James William Holt is a former professional baseball player. He was an outfielder and first baseman over parts of 9 seasons with the Minnesota Twins and Oakland Athletics. Holt was a member of the 1974 World Series champion Athletics...
and Claudell Washington
Claudell Washington
Claudell Washington is a former right fielder in Major League Baseball who played for the Oakland Athletics , Texas Rangers , Chicago White Sox , New York Mets , Atlanta Braves , New York Yankees and California Angels...
hit back-to-back singles with one out. Bert Campaneris
Bert Campaneris
Dagoberto Campaneris Blanco , nicknamed "Campy", is a former shortstop in Major League Baseball who played for four American League teams, primarily the Kansas City and Oakland Athletics...
reached on an infield error to load the bases. The rally was squelched when Bill North hit into a double play in which first baseman Steve Garvey
Steve Garvey
Steven Patrick Garvey , nicknamed "Mr. Clean" because of the squeaky clean image he held throughout his career in baseball, is a former Major League Baseball first baseman and current Southern California businessman...
made an exceptional pickup of a low throw by Russell.
In the ninth, the A's finally got on the board when Sal Bando
Sal Bando
Salvatore Leonard Bando is a former third baseman and executive in professional baseball who played for the Kansas City & Oakland Athletics and Milwaukee Brewers . He batted and threw right-handed. During the A's championship years of 1971-75, he captained the team and led the club in runs batted...
led off with being hit by a pitch, Reggie Jackson
Reggie Jackson
Reginald Martinez "Reggie" Jackson , nicknamed "Mr. October" for his clutch hitting in the postseason with the New York Yankees, is a former American Major League Baseball right fielder. During a 21-year baseball career, he played from 1967-1987 for four different teams. Jackson currently serves as...
followed with a double, and Joe Rudi
Joe Rudi
Joseph Oden Rudi is a former left fielder in Major League Baseball who played for the Kansas City & Oakland Athletics , California Angels and Boston Red Sox . He batted and threw right-handed...
singled both runners home. Mike Marshall then relieved Sutton and struck out Gene Tenace
Gene Tenace
Fury Gene Tenace , better known as Gene Tenace, is a former Italian-American professional baseball player and current coach in Major League Baseball. He was a catcher and first baseman from through . Tenace was drafted by the Kansas City Athletics from Valley High School in Lucasville, OH and...
. Herb Washington
Herb Washington
Herbert Lee Washington is a former world-class sprinter in the early 1970s who parlayed his speed into a brief Major League Baseball stint, and later became the owner/operator of numerous McDonald's restaurants and a minor-league professional hockey franchise and held a number of high-ranking...
was sent in to pinch-run for Rudi, and Marshall picked him off. Herb Washington was the only "designated runner" to appear in a World Series. Washington was a track star with no baseball experience whom the A's Charles Finley signed solely to appear as a pinch runner in late game situations. His stats for 1974 were 92 games, zero at bats, 29 runs scored, 29 stolen bases, but he was caught stealing 16 times. Sure enough, with the A's trailing 3–2 in the ninth inning of Game 2, Washington pinch ran. Just after announcer Vin Scully said that Washington better be careful because pitcher Mike Marshall has a good pickoff move, he was promptly picked off first base. Marshall then retired Ray Fosse
Ray Fosse
Raymond Earl Fosse is a former professional baseball player who was a catcher in the Major Leagues. He was drafted in the first round of the 1965 amateur draft by the Cleveland Indians. Fosse also holds the distinction of being the Indians' first ever draft pick, as 1965 was the first year of the...
for the final out.
Game 3
Tuesday, October 15, 1974 at Oakland-Alameda County ColiseumMcAfee Coliseum
O.co Coliseum is a multi-purpose stadium, located in Oakland, California, in the Coliseum Industrial area...
in Oakland, California
Oakland, California
Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
With the Series shifting back to Oakland, it was A's ace Catfish Hunter
Catfish Hunter
James Augustus "Catfish" Hunter , was a Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher. During a 15-year baseball career, he pitched from 1965-1979 for both the Oakland Athletics and the New York Yankees...
's turn to be brilliant. Hunter shut out the Dodgers on four hits through seven innings, and his teammates provided him with two runs in the third when Bill North scored on an error by catcher Joe Ferguson
Joe Ferguson (baseball)
Joseph Vance Ferguson is a former catcher/right fielder in Major League Baseball who played for four different teams from 1970 through 1983...
and an RBI single by Joe Rudi
Joe Rudi
Joseph Oden Rudi is a former left fielder in Major League Baseball who played for the Kansas City & Oakland Athletics , California Angels and Boston Red Sox . He batted and threw right-handed...
. The A's added another run in the fourth on Bert Campaneris
Bert Campaneris
Dagoberto Campaneris Blanco , nicknamed "Campy", is a former shortstop in Major League Baseball who played for four American League teams, primarily the Kansas City and Oakland Athletics...
' RBI single.
The Dodgers got their only runs on solo homers by Bill Buckner
Bill Buckner
William Joseph Buckner is a former Major League Baseball first baseman. Despite winning a batting crown in , representing the Chicago Cubs at the All-Star Game the following season and accumulating over 2,700 hits in his twenty-year career, he is best remembered for a fielding error during Game 6...
in the eighth and Willie Crawford
Willie Crawford
Willie Murphy Crawford was a Major League Baseball outfielder who played with Los Angeles Dodgers , St. Louis Cardinals , Houston Astros and Oakland Athletics . Crawford was born in Los Angeles, California. He batted and threw left-handed...
in the ninth. Rollie Fingers
Rollie Fingers
Roland Glen Fingers is a former Major League Baseball relief pitcher. During his 18-year baseball career, he pitched for the Oakland Athletics , San Diego Padres and Milwaukee Brewers . He became only the second reliever to be elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1992...
pitched the eighth and ninth for the save.
Game 4
Wednesday, October 16, 1974 at Oakland-Alameda County ColiseumMcAfee Coliseum
O.co Coliseum is a multi-purpose stadium, located in Oakland, California, in the Coliseum Industrial area...
in Oakland, California
Oakland, California
Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
The A's struck first on a solo homer by the surprising Ken Holtzman
Ken Holtzman
Kenneth Dale Holtzman is a left-handed former starting pitcher in Major League Baseball who played most of his career for the Chicago Cubs and Oakland Athletics...
in the third. The Dodgers came right back in their half of the fourth on a two-run triple by Bill Russell
Bill Russell (baseball)
William Ellis Russell is a former shortstop, coach and manager in Major League Baseball. Russell played his entire 18-year, 2,181-game career with the Los Angeles Dodgers as the starting shortstop for four National League pennant winners and one World Series champion...
. Holtzman settled into a groove after that, surrendering no runs before yielding to Rollie Fingers
Rollie Fingers
Roland Glen Fingers is a former Major League Baseball relief pitcher. During his 18-year baseball career, he pitched for the Oakland Athletics , San Diego Padres and Milwaukee Brewers . He became only the second reliever to be elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1992...
in the eighth.
The A's took control of the game with four runs in the sixth off Andy Messersmith
Andy Messersmith
John Alexander "Andy" Messersmith is a former Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher. He was the 12th overall pick of the 1966 amateur draft by the California Angels...
. Bill North led off with a walk and went to second on a wild pickoff throw by Messersmith. Sal Bando
Sal Bando
Salvatore Leonard Bando is a former third baseman and executive in professional baseball who played for the Kansas City & Oakland Athletics and Milwaukee Brewers . He batted and threw right-handed. During the A's championship years of 1971-75, he captained the team and led the club in runs batted...
singled home North to tie it. After a Reggie Jackson
Reggie Jackson
Reginald Martinez "Reggie" Jackson , nicknamed "Mr. October" for his clutch hitting in the postseason with the New York Yankees, is a former American Major League Baseball right fielder. During a 21-year baseball career, he played from 1967-1987 for four different teams. Jackson currently serves as...
walk, a Joe Rudi
Joe Rudi
Joseph Oden Rudi is a former left fielder in Major League Baseball who played for the Kansas City & Oakland Athletics , California Angels and Boston Red Sox . He batted and threw right-handed...
sacrifice bunt, and an intentional walk to Claudell Washington
Claudell Washington
Claudell Washington is a former right fielder in Major League Baseball who played for the Oakland Athletics , Texas Rangers , Chicago White Sox , New York Mets , Atlanta Braves , New York Yankees and California Angels...
, Jim Holt
Jim Holt (baseball)
James William Holt is a former professional baseball player. He was an outfielder and first baseman over parts of 9 seasons with the Minnesota Twins and Oakland Athletics. Holt was a member of the 1974 World Series champion Athletics...
pinch-hit for Ray Fosse
Ray Fosse
Raymond Earl Fosse is a former professional baseball player who was a catcher in the Major Leagues. He was drafted in the first round of the 1965 amateur draft by the Cleveland Indians. Fosse also holds the distinction of being the Indians' first ever draft pick, as 1965 was the first year of the...
and singled in two runs. An RBI groundout by Dick Green
Dick Green
Richard Larry Green , is a former Major League Baseball player.He was raised in Rapid City, S.D., where his ability as a baseball player was first noted....
capped off the rally. Fingers pitched the final innings for his second straight save.
Game 5
Thursday, October 17, 1974 at Oakland-Alameda County ColiseumMcAfee Coliseum
O.co Coliseum is a multi-purpose stadium, located in Oakland, California, in the Coliseum Industrial area...
in Oakland, California
Oakland, California
Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
The A's staked Vida Blue
Vida Blue
Vida Rochelle Blue Jr. is a former Major League Baseball left-handed pitcher. During a 17-year career, he pitched for the Oakland Athletics , San Francisco Giants , and Kansas City Royals He won the American League Cy Young award and Most Valuable Player Award in 1971...
to a 2–0 lead with single runs in the first and second innings on a sacrifice fly by Sal Bando
Sal Bando
Salvatore Leonard Bando is a former third baseman and executive in professional baseball who played for the Kansas City & Oakland Athletics and Milwaukee Brewers . He batted and threw right-handed. During the A's championship years of 1971-75, he captained the team and led the club in runs batted...
and a solo homer by Ray Fosse
Ray Fosse
Raymond Earl Fosse is a former professional baseball player who was a catcher in the Major Leagues. He was drafted in the first round of the 1965 amateur draft by the Cleveland Indians. Fosse also holds the distinction of being the Indians' first ever draft pick, as 1965 was the first year of the...
. The Dodgers tied it in the sixth with two runs on a sacrifice fly by Jimmy Wynn
Jimmy Wynn
James Sherman Wynn , nicknamed the "Toy Cannon," is a former Major League Baseball center fielder. During a 15-year baseball career, he played from 1963-1977 for five different teams: the Houston Colt .45s/Astros, Los Angeles Dodgers, Atlanta Braves, New York Yankees, and Milwaukee Brewers...
and an RBI single by Steve Garvey
Steve Garvey
Steven Patrick Garvey , nicknamed "Mr. Clean" because of the squeaky clean image he held throughout his career in baseball, is a former Major League Baseball first baseman and current Southern California businessman...
.
Joe Rudi
Joe Rudi
Joseph Oden Rudi is a former left fielder in Major League Baseball who played for the Kansas City & Oakland Athletics , California Angels and Boston Red Sox . He batted and threw right-handed...
got what would turn out to be the game winning RBI when he tagged Dodger ace reliever Mike Marshall with a solo homer in the seventh. On a cool, damp night in Oakland, Marshall, who always pitched in short sleeves, disdained his allowance of eight warm up pitches after coming in from the bull pen. Rudi hit his first pitch out. In the Dodgers half of the eighth, Bill Buckner
Bill Buckner
William Joseph Buckner is a former Major League Baseball first baseman. Despite winning a batting crown in , representing the Chicago Cubs at the All-Star Game the following season and accumulating over 2,700 hits in his twenty-year career, he is best remembered for a fielding error during Game 6...
led off with a base hit to center that got past center fielder Bill North. Buckner had an easy double, but tried to stretch it to a triple and Reggie Jackson
Reggie Jackson
Reginald Martinez "Reggie" Jackson , nicknamed "Mr. October" for his clutch hitting in the postseason with the New York Yankees, is a former American Major League Baseball right fielder. During a 21-year baseball career, he played from 1967-1987 for four different teams. Jackson currently serves as...
, backing up North, fired a perfect throw to Dick Green
Dick Green
Richard Larry Green , is a former Major League Baseball player.He was raised in Rapid City, S.D., where his ability as a baseball player was first noted....
, who relayed to Sal Bando
Sal Bando
Salvatore Leonard Bando is a former third baseman and executive in professional baseball who played for the Kansas City & Oakland Athletics and Milwaukee Brewers . He batted and threw right-handed. During the A's championship years of 1971-75, he captained the team and led the club in runs batted...
at third to nail Buckner and squelch the last Dodger threat. Many baseball experts have said that Buckner's ill-timed gamble to get to third base was the worst baserunning blunder in World Series history.
Rollie Fingers
Rollie Fingers
Roland Glen Fingers is a former Major League Baseball relief pitcher. During his 18-year baseball career, he pitched for the Oakland Athletics , San Diego Padres and Milwaukee Brewers . He became only the second reliever to be elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1992...
got his third save and was named series MVP.
Four of the five games had the score of three to two, and in all five games the losing team scored two runs. Mike Marshall of the Los Angeles Dodgers
Los Angeles Dodgers
The Los Angeles Dodgers are a professional baseball team based in Los Angeles, California. The Dodgers are members of Major League Baseball's National League West Division. Established in 1883, the team originated in Brooklyn, New York, where it was known by a number of nicknames before becoming...
was the only (to date) pitcher to appear in all five (5) games of a five-game World Series.
As of 2011, the A's are the only non-Yankee team to win three consecutive World Series.
The A's won the Series despite batting .191 in the Series, the lowest in a 5-game Series since the Baltimore Orioles
Baltimore Orioles
The Baltimore Orioles are a professional baseball team based in Baltimore, Maryland in the United States. They are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's American League. One of the American League's eight charter franchises in 1901, it spent its first year as a major league...
hit .146 in the 1969 World Series
1969 World Series
The 1969 World Series was played between the New York Mets and the Baltimore Orioles, with the Mets prevailing in five games to accomplish one of the greatest upsets in Series history, as that particular Orioles squad was considered to be one of the finest ever...
.
Composite box
1974 World Series (4–1): Oakland AthleticsOakland Athletics
The Oakland Athletics are a Major League Baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League. From to the present, the Athletics have played in the O.co Coliseum....
(A.L.) over Los Angeles Dodgers
Los Angeles Dodgers
The Los Angeles Dodgers are a professional baseball team based in Los Angeles, California. The Dodgers are members of Major League Baseball's National League West Division. Established in 1883, the team originated in Brooklyn, New York, where it was known by a number of nicknames before becoming...
(N.L.)