1974 World Series

vs. 1974 World Series (4-1) Oakland Athletics (90-72, AL) over Los Angeles Dodgers (102-60, NL) BR 1974 World Series Summary

Introduction

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.

The Los Angeles Dodgers had 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 had 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.

The Oakland A's, dynasty or no dynasty, 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 during which 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 pondering legal action for the shabby treatment he had 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 AL pennant for the third straight year, dispatching the Orioles in a four-game ALCS.

The Los Angeles Dodgers, for their part, looked downright corporate (despite the later scandals involving Steve Garvey), 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 the league in runs scored. Garvey hit .312, Jimmy Wynn knocked in 108 runs, Bill Buckner hit .314 and had one of the best years of his career, Davey Lopes swiped 59 bases, Andy Messersmith won 20 games, and Don Sutton won 19. It was all very brisk and efficient - with the unflappable, perennially studious Walt Alston, in his twenty-first year as skipper 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, though Garvey's problems would surface later. The Series promised, at the very least, to be a memorable conflict of worldviews, or so the media could spin it.

In the event, the Dodgers came up short and the Athletics won the Series in five games. Fingers figured in all four Oakland victories, posting a win and three saves, and copped the Series MVP award. Oakland became the first team to win three consecutive Series since the New York Yankees had 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 in the Fall Classic 14 years later.

Umpires

• Tom Gorman (NL), Bill Kunkel (AL), Doug Harvey (NL), Don Denkinger (AL), Andy Olsen (NL), Ron Luciano (AL)

Summary

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

Game	Score	Date	Location	Attendance	Time of Game
1	Athletics – 3, Dodgers – 2	October 12	Dodger Stadium	55,974	2:43
2	Athletics – 2, Dodgers – 3	October 13	Dodger Stadium	55,989	2:40
3	Dodgers – 2, Athletics – 3	October 15	Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum	49,347	2:35
4	Dodgers – 2, Athletics – 5	October 16	Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum	49,347	2:17
5	Dodgers – 2, Athletics – 3	October 17	Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum	49,347	2:23

Matchups

Game 1

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

                                 1  2  3    4  5  6    7  8  9     R  H  E
                                 -  -  -    -  -  -    -  -  -     -  -  -
    Oakland Athletics            0  1  0    0  1  0    0  1  0     3  6  2
    Los Angeles Dodgers          0  0  0    0  1  0    0  0  1     2 11  1

    PITCHERS: OAK - Holtzman, Fingers (5), Hunter (9)
              LAD - Messersmith, Marshall (9)

               WP - Fingers
	       LP - Messersmith
             SAVE - Hunter

   HOME RUNS: OAK - Jackson
              LAD - Wynn

  ATTENDANCE: 55,974

mlb.com web page on Game 1

Game 2

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

                                 1  2  3    4  5  6    7  8  9     R  H  E
                                 -  -  -    -  -  -    -  -  -     -  -  -
    Oakland Athletics            0  0  0    0  0  0    0  0  2     2  6  0
    Los Angeles Dodgers          0  1  0    0  0  2    0  0  X     3  6  1

    PITCHERS: OAK - Blue, Odom (8)
              LAD - Sutton, Marshall (9)

               WP - Sutton
	       LP - Blue
             SAVE - Marshall

   HOME RUNS: OAK - none
              LAD - Ferguson

  ATTENDANCE: 55,989

Game 3

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

                                 1  2  3    4  5  6    7  8  9     R  H  E
                                 -  -  -    -  -  -    -  -  -     -  -  -
    Los Angeles Dodgers          0  0  0    0  0  0    0  1  1     2  7  2
    Oakland Athletics            0  0  2    1  0  0    0  0  X     3  5  2

    PITCHERS: LAD - Downing, Brewer (4), Hough (5), Marshall (7)
              OAK - Hunter, Fingers (8)

               WP - Hunter
	       LP - Downing
             SAVE - Fingers

   HOME RUNS: LAD - Buckner, Crawford
              OAK - none

  ATTENDANCE: 49,347

Game 4

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

                                 1  2  3    4  5  6    7  8  9     R  H  E
                                 -  -  -    -  -  -    -  -  -     -  -  -
    Los Angeles Dodgers          0  0  0    2  0  0    0  0  0     2  7  1
    Oakland Athletics            0  0  1    0  0  4    0  0  X     5  7  0

    PITCHERS: LAD - Messersmith, Marshall (7)
              OAK - Holtzman, Fingers (8)

               WP - Holtzman
	       LP - Messersmith
             SAVE - Fingers

   HOME RUNS: LAD - none
              OAK - Holtzman

  ATTENDANCE: 49,347

Ken Holtzman's home run was the last homer by a pitcher in the World Series in the 20th Century. Joe Blanton would become the next hurler to do so, in 2008.

Game 5

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

                                 1  2  3    4  5  6    7  8  9     R  H  E
                                 -  -  -    -  -  -    -  -  -     -  -  -
    Los Angeles Dodgers          0  0  0    0  0  2    0  0  0     2  5  1
    Oakland Athletics            1  1  0    0  0  0    1  0  X     3  6  1

    PITCHERS: LAD - Sutton, Marshall (6)
              OAK - Blue, Odom (7), Fingers (8)

               WP - Odom
	       LP - Marshall
             SAVE - Fingers

   HOME RUNS: LAD - none
              OAK - Fosse, Rudi

  ATTENDANCE: 49,347

Composite Box

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

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Oakland Athletics	1	2	3	1	1	4	1	1	2	16	30	5
Los Angeles Dodgers	0	1	0	2	1	4	0	1	2	11	36	6
Total Attendance: 260,004   Average Attendance: 52,000
Winning Player’s Share: – $22,219,   Losing Player’s Share – $15,704 *Includes Playoffs and World Series

Notes

• As of 2012, the 1972-1974 Oakland A's are the only team other than the New York Yankees to win three consecutive World Series.
• This was the first of four World Series to match two teams from California.
• Mike Marshall of the Los Angeles Dodgers was the first and only (to date) pitcher to appear in all five games of a five-game World Series.
• The A's 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 Marshall has a good pick-off move, he was promptly picked off first base and the Dodgers went on to win the game.

Further Reading

• David S. Neft and Richard M. Cohen: The World Series, 1st ed., St Martins Press, New York, NY, 1990, pp. 351-354.
• Curt Smith: "1974 World Series: 'The Twighlight Of The Gods'", in Chip Greene, ed.: Mustaches and Mayhem, Charlie O's Three-Time Champions: The Oakland Athletics 1972-74, SABR, Phoenix, AZ, 2015, pp. 564-568. ISBN 978-1-943816-07-1

External links

• 1974 World Series at WorldSeries.com (MLB.com)
• 1974 World Series at Baseball-Almanac.com
• Triple Crown to the Clowns at SI.com
• 1974 World Series box scores and play-by-play at Retrosheet.org
• History of the World Series - 1974 at SportingNews.com
• Baseball's 25 Greatest Moments: Reggie Jackson's Three Homers
• The 1974 Oakland Athletics at baseballlibrary.com
• The 1974 Los Angeles Dodgers at baseballlibrary.com

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NL Championship Series (3-1) Dodgers over Pirates

World Series (4-1) Athletics over Dodgers

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