Infinite Cincinnati

1972 World Series: Game 4
CINCINNATI REDS @ OAKLAND ATHLETICS
OCTOBER 19, 1972
TIMELINE 3
GAME LOG
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Cincinnati Reds 0 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 3 7 2
Oakland Athletics 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 7 2
Perez Cracks Go-Ahead Double in 7th as Reds Outlast Holtzman
The third iteration of this October night produced a game that swung on doubles — four of them, cracking like rifle shots in the clear fifty-eight-degree air — and on the question of which team could manufacture the last one that mattered. Oakland struck first in the second when Holtzman, helping his own cause, lined a single to left that scored Tenace from third after a Concepcion error and a Dick Green single had quietly assembled a threat. The Reds answered in the third with a pair of their own: Tolan singling, Bench working a full count and then lining one to right, and Denis Menke unloading a two-run double to right-center at 110 miles per hour off the bat, a ball hit so hard that Alou's throw home arrived too late to catch Bench but nailed Menke trying for third on the relay.

By the bottom of the third it was knotted again — Alou doubling off Gullett, Bando's sacrifice fly to deep center bringing him home with the tying run — and there the score would rest for nearly four full innings, both pitchers settling into the grim rhythm of scoreless work. Holtzman, who had already hit two Reds batters and uncorked a wild pitch, was laboring visibly by the seventh, his pitch count climbing past 110, and it was in that inning that the game finally broke: Morgan plunked on an 0-2 pitch, Tolan reaching on a fielder's choice, a wild pitch advancing the runner, and then Tony Perez — patient through three balls — driving a 3-2 offering into the right-center gap to score Tolan and give Cincinnati the lead once more.

Pedro Borbon needed seven pitches to close it in the ninth, three ground balls and a popup, and the thing was done. There had been a moment in the bottom of the seventh — Green and Campaneris singling to put runners at first and second — when the Coliseum's 49,419 leaned forward, but Alou grounded into a double play and the air went out of the place like a theater after the final curtain.
CINCINNATI 1972 BATTING LINESCORE OAKLAND 1972 BATTING LINESCORE
Player AB R H RBI BB K LOB AVG HR RBI
J. Morgan 2B 4 0 0 0 0 1 1 .000 0 0
B. Tolan CF 4 2 2 0 0 0 2 .500 0 0
T. Perez 1B 5 0 1 1 0 3 5 .200 0 1
J. Bench C 3 1 1 0 1 0 2 .333 0 0
D. Menke 3B 4 0 1 2 0 0 2 .250 0 2
P. Rose Sr LF 3 0 0 0 1 1 0 .000 0 0
H. McRae RF 4 0 1 0 0 1 1 .250 0 0
D. Concepcion SS 4 0 1 0 0 0 2 .250 0 0
D. Gullett P 3 0 0 0 0 1 2 .000 0 0
a- C. Geronimo PH 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0
P. Borbon P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0
Totals 35 3 7 3 2 7 17
a - C. Geronimo pinch hit for D. Gullett in the 9th

BATTING
Doubles: B. Tolan (1, 5th Inning off K. Holtzman, 0 on, 1 out) T. Perez (1, 7th Inning off K. Holtzman, 1 on, 2 outs) D. Menke (1, 3rd Inning off K. Holtzman, 2 on, 2 outs) H. McRae (1, 2nd Inning off K. Holtzman, 0 on, 1 out)
Total Bases: J. Bench , B. Tolan 3 , T. Perez 2 , D. Menke 2 , H. McRae 2 , D. Concepcion
2-out RBI: T. Perez , D. Menke
Runners left in scoring position, 2 outs: , J. Bench 2 , D. Gullett , T. Perez , D. Menke
Hit by Pitch: B. Tolan , J. Morgan
Team LOB: 7

FIELDING
Errors: T. Perez , D. Concepcion
Double Plays: 2 (Perez-Concepcion-Perez, Perez-Concepcion-Perez)
Player AB R H RBI BB K LOB AVG HR RBI
B. Campaneris SS 4 0 1 0 0 0 2 .250 0 0
M. Alou RF 4 1 1 0 0 0 2 .250 0 0
J. Rudi LF 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 0 0
S. Bando 3B 3 0 0 1 0 0 1 .000 0 1
D. Mincher 1B 3 0 1 0 1 0 0 .333 0 0
A. Mangual CF 4 0 0 0 0 1 2 .000 0 0
G. Tenace C 4 1 1 0 0 0 1 .250 0 0
D. Green 2B 3 0 2 0 0 0 1 .667 0 0
b- D. Duncan PH 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0
K. Holtzman P 2 0 1 1 0 0 1 .500 0 1
a- M. Epstein PH 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 .000 0 0
R. Fingers P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0
Totals 33 2 7 2 1 2 12
a - M. Epstein pinch hit for K. Holtzman in the 7th
b - D. Duncan pinch hit for D. Green in the 9th

BATTING
Doubles: M. Alou (1, 3rd Inning off D. Gullett, 0 on, 0 outs) G. Tenace (1, 4th Inning off D. Gullett, 0 on, 1 out)
Total Bases: M. Alou 2 , K. Holtzman , G. Tenace 2 , D. Mincher , D. Green 2 , B. Campaneris
2-out RBI: K. Holtzman
Runners left in scoring position, 2 outs: K. Holtzman , B. Campaneris
GIDP: M. Alou , A. Mangual
Sac Fly: S. Bando
Team LOB: 6

FIELDING
Errors: D. Mincher , B. Campaneris
OF assists: 1 (Alou (Menke at 3rd base))
CINCINNATI 1972 PITCHING LINESCORE OAKLAND 1972 PITCHING LINESCORE
Player IP H R ER BB K HR PI PS ERA
D. Gullett W (1-0) 8.0 7 2 1 1 2 0 99 60 1.12
P. Borbon SV (1) 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 5 0.00
PITCHING
Game Score: D. Gullett 63
Batters Faced: D. Gullett 32, P. Borbon 3
Ground Outs - Fly Outs: D. Gullett 14-6, P. Borbon 2-1
Pitches - Strikes: D. Gullett 99-60, P. Borbon 7-5
Player IP H R ER BB K HR PI PS ERA
K. Holtzman L (0-1) 7.0 7 3 3 2 7 0 120 72 3.86
R. Fingers 2.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 27 17 0.00
PITCHING
Game Score: K. Holtzman 56
Batters Faced: K. Holtzman 31, R. Fingers 8
Ground Outs - Fly Outs: K. Holtzman 9-4, R. Fingers 4-2
Pitches - Strikes: K. Holtzman 120-72, R. Fingers 27-17
WP: K. Holtzman
Hit Batsmen: K. Holtzman 2
GAME NOTES
Player of the Game: Don Gullett
Ballpark: Oakland Coliseum
Weather: Clear skies (58 degrees), wind blowing left to right at 13 mph
Start Time: 6:07 PM Pacific
Time: 3:05
Attendance: 49,419