Infinite Cincinnati

1972 World Series: Game 4
CINCINNATI REDS @ OAKLAND ATHLETICS
OCTOBER 19, 1972
TIMELINE 14
GAME LOG
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Cincinnati Reds 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 4 10 1
Oakland Athletics 2 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 X 5 10 1
Alou's Two-Run Homer Powers Holtzman's 147-Pitch Complete Game 4
Bert Campaneris got three hits Thursday night and scored twice, which in the old days would have made him the story of the evening. But Campaneris has always been the sort of player whose work shows up in the morning box score rather than in the headlines, and this was no exception. The headline belonged to Matty Alou, who hit a two-run home run three hundred and fifty feet down the right field line in the fifth to turn a one-run lead into three. It was not a majestic blow — Alou hit very few of those in his career — but it cleared the wall on a 2-2 count against a tiring Gullett, and that was sufficient to the purpose.

Ken Holtzman threw a hundred and forty-seven pitches and allowed ten hits and somehow won the game, which is a trick that would have been unremarkable in 1952 and raised no eyebrows in 1962 but which by 1972 had begun to seem like something from another century. He bent all evening without breaking. Cincinnati put two aboard in the second and stranded them. They loaded the bases in the fourth — McRae's double driving in Menke to tie it — and managed only the one run. They put Bench and Rose on in the eighth and watched McRae ground into a double play. Holtzman simply kept throwing and letting the fielders field.

The ninth was the cruelest inning. Concepcion singled, Geronimo singled, and with two outs and the game nearly over, Tony Perez drove a triple to right-center on an 0-2 pitch at a hundred and eight miles an hour — the hardest-hit ball of the night, launched like a man who refused to believe the evening was finished. It scored two and brought the tying run to third. Then Bench, who in another life might have won this game twice over, flew out softly to right field. The Coliseum exhaled. Holtzman walked off the mound having thrown a hundred and forty-seven pitches and allowed ten hits, and the box score will call it a complete game victory, which it was — though a man watching from the upper deck might have been forgiven for thinking it was something closer to a jailbreak.
CINCINNATI 1972 BATTING LINESCORE OAKLAND 1972 BATTING LINESCORE
Player AB R H RBI BB K LOB AVG HR RBI
J. Morgan 2B 5 1 2 0 0 0 5 .400 0 0
B. Tolan CF 5 1 0 0 0 1 4 .000 0 0
T. Perez 1B 4 0 1 3 1 0 1 .250 0 3
J. Bench C 5 0 1 0 0 2 2 .200 0 0
D. Menke 3B 4 1 1 0 0 0 2 .250 0 0
P. Rose Sr LF 4 0 1 0 0 0 1 .250 0 0
H. McRae RF 4 0 1 1 0 0 3 .250 0 1
D. Concepcion SS 3 1 2 0 1 0 0 .667 0 0
D. Gullett P 1 0 0 0 1 0 2 .000 0 0
a- J. Hague PH 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0
E. Sprague Sr P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0
b- C. Geronimo PH 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 1.000 0 0
Totals 37 4 10 4 3 3 20
a - J. Hague pinch hit for D. Gullett in the 7th
b - C. Geronimo pinch hit for E. Sprague Sr in the 9th

BATTING
Doubles: J. Morgan (1, 1st Inning off K. Holtzman, 0 on, 0 outs) H. McRae (1, 4th Inning off K. Holtzman, 1 on, 2 outs)
Triples: T. Perez (1, 9th Inning off K. Holtzman, 2 on, 2 outs)
Total Bases: J. Bench , P. Rose Sr , T. Perez 3 , J. Morgan 3 , D. Menke , H. McRae 2 , D. Concepcion 2 , C. Geronimo
2-out RBI: T. Perez , H. McRae
Runners left in scoring position, 2 outs: J. Bench , D. Gullett , J. Morgan
GIDP: H. McRae
Team LOB: 8

FIELDING
Errors: H. McRae
Double Plays: 1 (Menke-Morgan-Perez)
PB: J. Bench
Player AB R H RBI BB K LOB AVG HR RBI
B. Campaneris SS 5 2 3 0 0 0 0 .600 0 0
M. Alou RF 4 2 2 2 0 0 1 .500 1 2
J. Rudi LF 3 0 2 1 1 0 0 .667 0 1
S. Bando 3B 4 0 1 0 0 0 4 .250 0 0
D. Mincher 1B 2 1 1 1 2 0 2 .500 0 1
A. Mangual CF 4 0 1 0 0 1 5 .250 0 0
G. Tenace C 3 0 0 1 0 2 5 .000 0 1
D. Green 2B 4 0 0 0 0 1 1 .000 0 0
K. Holtzman P 4 0 0 0 0 2 1 .000 0 0
Totals 33 5 10 5 3 6 19
BATTING
Home Runs: M. Alou (1, 5th Inning off D. Gullett, 1 on, 0 outs)
Total Bases: M. Alou 5 , J. Rudi 2 , D. Mincher , A. Mangual , B. Campaneris 3 , S. Bando
2-out RBI: D. Mincher
Runners left in scoring position, 2 outs: K. Holtzman , G. Tenace 2
GIDP: S. Bando
Sac Fly: G. Tenace
Team LOB: 7

FIELDING
Errors: S. Bando
Double Plays: 1 (Campaneris-Green-Mincher)
CINCINNATI 1972 PITCHING LINESCORE OAKLAND 1972 PITCHING LINESCORE
Player IP H R ER BB K HR PI PS ERA
D. Gullett L (0-1) 6.0 10 5 4 1 6 1 97 64 6.00
E. Sprague Sr 2.0 0 0 0 2 0 0 26 13 0.00
PITCHING
Game Score: D. Gullett 39
Batters Faced: D. Gullett 29, E. Sprague Sr 8
Ground Outs - Fly Outs: D. Gullett 6-5, E. Sprague Sr 2-4
Pitches - Strikes: D. Gullett 97-64, E. Sprague Sr 26-13
Player IP H R ER BB K HR PI PS ERA
K. Holtzman W (1-0) 9.0 10 4 4 3 3 0 147 95 4.00
PITCHING
Game Score: K. Holtzman 51
Batters Faced: K. Holtzman 40
Ground Outs - Fly Outs: K. Holtzman 14-9
Pitches - Strikes: K. Holtzman 147-95
GAME NOTES
Player of the Game: Matty Alou
Ballpark: Oakland Coliseum
Weather: Clear skies (64 degrees), wind blowing left to right at 9 mph
Start Time: 6:07 PM Pacific
Time: 3:15
Attendance: 49,419