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1974 World Series

The 1974 World Series matched the two-time defending champion Oakland Athletics against the Los Angeles Dodgers with the A’s winning the Series in 5 games.

Rollie Fingers figured in all four Oakland victories, posting a win and three saves, and was honored as the Series MVP. Oakland became the first team to win three consecutive Series since the New York Yankees won five in a row between 1949 and 1953; the win secured the A's status as one of the truly dominant teams of the 1970s. (The other "team of the decade," the Cincinnati Reds, would check in with consecutive Series victories in 1975 and 1976.)

The 1974 Fall Classic was the first all-California World Series. The two franchises would meet again 14 years later.

Background

The Los Angeles Dodgers won the National League West division by 4 games over the Cincinnati Reds then defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates, three games to one, in the National League Championship Series. The Oakland Athletics won the American League West division by five games over the Texas Rangers, then defeated the Baltimore Orioles, three games to one, in the American League Championship Series.

Oakland Athletics

The Oakland A's, dynasty or not, had become something of a running joke in the American League, consistently matching their on-field heroics with locker-room meltdowns and intra-squad theatrics. After yet another banner year (Catfish Hunter won 25 games, Reggie Jackson knocked in 105 runs, and Billy North stole 54 bases), the team seemed to be winning more attention for its dysfunctional communication patterns than for its superior lineup. Hunter was threatening to file for free agency in 1975 if owner Charles O. Finley didn't come through with back pay Hunter claimed he had coming. Traumatized former second baseman Mike Andrews was considering legal action for the shabby treatment he received in the previous year's World Series. Teammates Rollie Fingers and Blue Moon Odom had gotten into a fistfight. And the Series-winning manager of the previous year, Dick Williams was long gone, having had one personality clash too many with the A's front office. Despite all the melodrama, or perhaps because of it, the Athletics won the A.L. pennant for the third straight year, dispatching the Baltimore Orioles in a four-game ALCS.

Los Angeles Dodgers

The businesslike Los Angeles Dodgers, for their part, looked downright corporate, and seemed, to many, to be the better team. On paper, at least, they were. L.A. won 102 games, boasted the best team ERA in the National League, and led their league in runs scored. Steve Garvey hit .312, Jimmy Wynn knocked in 108 runs, Bill Buckner hit .314 in one of the best years of his career, Davey Lopes stole 59 bases,Andy Messersmith won 20 games, and Don Sutton won 19. It was all very brisk and efficient—Big (Dodger) Blue, with the unflappable, perennially studious Walt Alston, in his twenty-first year as manager of the club, holding everything together. Unlike the Oakland squad, nobody in the Dodger clubhouse appeared to need therapy to work out any simmering interpersonal issues. The Series promised, at the very least, to be a memorable conflict of worldviews.

Summary

AL Oakland Athletics (4) vs NL Los Angeles Dodgers (1)

Game	Score	Date	Location	Attendance
1	Oakland Athletics - 3, Los Angeles Dodgers - 2	October 12	Dodger Stadium	55,974
2	Oakland Athletics - 2, Los Angeles Dodgers - 3	October 13	Dodger Stadium	55,989
3	Los Angeles Dodgers - 2, Oakland Athletics - 3	October 15	Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum	49,347
4	Los Angeles Dodgers - 2, Oakland Athletics - 5	October 16	Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum	49,347
5	Los Angeles Dodgers - 2, Oakland Athletics - 3	October 17	Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum	49,347

Matchups

Game 1

Saturday, October 12, 1974 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California

mlb.com web page on Game 1

Reggie Jackson put the A's on the board first with a solo homer in the top of the second off 20-game winner Andy Messersmith. The A's added another run in the fifth when starting pitcher Ken Holtzman, batting for the first time all season because of the designated hitter rule, doubled to left, went to third on a Messersmith wild pitch, and scored on a Bert Campaneris suicide squeeze bunt.

The Dodgers crept back with a run in their half of the fifth when Davey Lopes reached first on an error by shortstop Campaneris. Bill Buckner 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 walked, was sacrificed to second by Bill North, and scored when Dodger third baseman Ron Cey threw wildly to first on a grounder hit by Sal Bando. Bando reached third on the error, and attempted to score on a flyout to right by Jackson, but right fielder Joe Ferguson gunned him down at the plate.

In the bottom of the ninth, with Rollie Fingers on the mound, Jimmy Wynn hit a solo homer that just escaped the reach of Joe Rudi and North in left center. Catfish Hunter relieved Fingers and made the final out by striking out Ferguson.

Game 2

Sunday, October 13, 1974 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California

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 when Ron Cey walked, Bill Russell singled, and Steve Yeager singled home Cey. Joe Ferguson slammed a two-run homer off Blue in the sixth to make it 3-0.

The A's threatened in the eighth when pinch hitters Jim Holt and Claudell Washington hit back-to-back singles with one out. Bert Campaneris 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 made an exceptional pickup of a low throw by Russell.

In the ninth, the A's finally got on the board when Sal Bando led off with being hit by a pitch, Reggie Jackson followed with a double, and Joe Rudi singled both runners home. Mike Marshall then relieved Sutton and struck out Gene Tenace. Herb Washington was sent in to pinch-run for Rudi, and Marshall picked him off. Herb Washington was the first and 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. Sure enough, with the A's trailing 3-2 in the 9th 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 1st base. Marshall then retired Ray Fosse for the final out.

Game 3

Tuesday, October 15, 1974 at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum in Oakland, California

With the Series shifting back to Oakland, it was A's ace Catfish Hunter'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 outfielder Joe Ferguson and an RBI single by Joe Rudi. The A's added another run in the fourth on Bert Campaneris' RBI single.

The Dodgers got their only runs on solo homers by Bill Buckner in the eighth and Willie Crawford in the ninth. Rollie Fingers pitched the eighth and ninth for the save.

Game 4

Wednesday, October 16, 1974 at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum in Oakland, California

The A's struck first on a solo homer by the surprising Ken Holtzman in the third. The Dodgers came right back in their half of the fourth on a two-run triple by Bill Russell. Holtzman settled into a groove after that, surrendering no runs before yielding to Rollie Fingers in the eighth.

The A's took control of the game with four runs in the sixth off Andy Messersmith, the big hit coming on a two-run pinch-hit single by Jim Holt. Fingers pitched the final 1 2/3 innings for his second straight save.

Game 5

Thursday, October 17, 1974 at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum in Oakland, California

The A's staked Vida Blue to a 2-0 lead with single runs in the first and second innings on a sacrifice fly by Sal Bando and a solo homer by Ray Fosse. The Dodgers tied it in the sixth with two runs on a sacrifice fly by Jimmy Wynn and an RBI single by Steve Garvey.

Joe Rudi 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. In the Dodger half of the eighth, Bill Buckner lined a base hit to center that got past center fielder Bill North, but Reggie Jackson, backing up North, fired a perfect relay to Dick Green, who fired to Sal Bando at third to nail Buckner and squelch the last Dodger threat.

Rollie Fingers got his third save and was named series MVP.

Four of the five games had the score of 3 to 2, and in all five games the losing team scored two runs. Mike Marshall of the Los Angeles Dodgers was the first and only (to date) pitcher to appear in all five (5) games of a five-game World Series.

As of 2007, the A's are the only non-Yankee team to win three consecutive World Series.

Composite Box

1974 World Series (4-1): Oakland Athletics (A.L.) over Los Angeles Dodgers (N.L.)

Notes

References

Neft, David S., and Richard M. Cohen. The World Series. 1st ed. New York: St Martins, 1990. (Neft and Cohen 351-354)
Reichler, Joseph, ed. (1982). The Baseball Encyclopedia (5th ed.), p. 2194. MacMillian Publishing. ISBN 0-02-579010-2.
Forman, Sean L. 1974 World Series. Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information.. Retrieved on 2007-12-09..