Infinite Cincinnati

1972 World Series: Game 4
CINCINNATI REDS @ OAKLAND ATHLETICS
OCTOBER 19, 1972
TIMELINE 17
GAME LOG
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 R H E
Cincinnati Reds 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 2 1 7 11 0
Oakland Athletics 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 0 0 0 6 11 3
Reds Erase Six-Run Deficit, Win Game 4 in 10th on Campaneris Error
For six innings the game was a thing made of glass — Holtzman and Gullett trading zeroes under clear skies at 53 degrees, the wind pushing in from left at eleven miles an hour, the Coliseum crowd settling into the comfortable silence of a pitchers' duel that might never break. Then the seventh inning happened. Bando pulled a 1-0 fastball 356 feet down the left-field line for a home run, and what followed was an avalanche: Mangual tripled to right-center, Green singled him home on an 0-2 count, Holtzman beat out an infield hit on 0-2, Campaneris fought to a full count and chopped one past third to score Tenace, and Matty Alou doubled to the gap to bring home two more. Six runs. Six hits. The Reds' dugout looked as if someone had unplugged it.

Cincinnati answered in the eighth with four runs aided by Oakland errors — Mangual dropping a fly ball in center, Alou misplaying a liner in right — and the kind of relentless, grinding singles that the Big Red Machine was built to produce. Tolan drove one through the left side to score two. Menke singled to right to bring home another. Rose lined one off first base to plate Bench. The deficit was 6-4 and the game, somehow, was breathing again.

In the ninth, Morgan fought through a seven-pitch at-bat against a tiring Holtzman — 162 pitches by then, the man running on fumes and stubbornness — and singled at 111 miles per hour. Tolan doubled to right-center on the next pitch. Perez singled to right, and both runners scored when the throw home arrived late. Holtzman left to silence. The game was tied, and it felt less like a comeback than a correction, as though six runs had never been enough to hold against a lineup that has been here before, even if it cannot quite remember when.

Rose tripled off Vida Blue to open the tenth — a ground ball that skipped past Bando at third and rolled to the wall. Blue intentionally walked McRae. Concepcion grounded to short and Campaneris, who had been flawless all night, let the ball skip under his glove. Rose scored standing up. Tom Hall struck out Mangual and Tenace to end it, and the final score — Cincinnati 7, Oakland 6 — told you almost nothing about the shape of the evening.
CINCINNATI 1972 BATTING LINESCORE OAKLAND 1972 BATTING LINESCORE
Player AB R H RBI BB K LOB AVG HR RBI
J. Morgan 2B 5 2 2 0 1 1 2 .400 0 0
B. Tolan CF 5 2 2 2 0 0 2 .400 0 2
T. Perez 1B 5 0 2 2 0 0 3 .400 0 2
J. Bench C 4 1 0 0 1 1 2 .000 0 0
D. Menke 3B 5 0 2 1 0 0 0 .400 0 1
P. Rose Sr LF 5 1 3 1 0 1 1 .600 0 1
H. McRae RF 4 0 0 0 1 1 4 .000 0 0
D. Concepcion SS 4 0 0 1 1 0 1 .000 0 1
D. Gullett P 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 .000 0 0
E. Sprague Sr P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0
a- C. Geronimo PH 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0
P. Borbon P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0
b- J. Hague PH 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0
T. Hall P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0
Totals 41 7 11 7 4 5 15
a - C. Geronimo pinch hit for E. Sprague Sr in the 8th
b - J. Hague pinch hit for P. Borbon in the 9th

BATTING
Doubles: B. Tolan (1, 9th Inning off K. Holtzman, 1 on, 2 outs)
Triples: P. Rose Sr (1, 10th Inning off V. Blue, 0 on, 1 out)
Total Bases: B. Tolan 3 , P. Rose Sr 5 , T. Perez 2 , J. Morgan 2 , D. Menke 2
2-out RBI: P. Rose Sr , T. Perez , D. Menke
Runners left in scoring position, 2 outs: T. Perez , J. Morgan , H. McRae
GIDP: H. McRae
Sac Bunt: T. Hall
Team LOB: 7

FIELDING
Double Plays: 2 (Concepcion-Morgan-Perez, Concepcion-Perez)
OF assists: 1 (McRae (Alou at 3rd base))
Player AB R H RBI BB K LOB AVG HR RBI
B. Campaneris SS 5 1 1 1 0 0 0 .200 0 1
M. Alou RF 3 0 1 3 1 0 0 .333 0 3
J. Rudi LF 4 0 1 0 1 0 2 .250 0 0
S. Bando 3B 5 1 2 1 0 0 2 .400 1 1
D. Mincher 1B 4 0 0 0 0 1 1 .000 0 0
b- D. Duncan PH 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 .000 0 0
A. Mangual CF 5 1 2 0 0 2 1 .400 0 0
G. Tenace C 4 1 2 0 1 1 1 .500 0 0
D. Green 2B 4 1 1 1 0 0 3 .250 0 1
K. Holtzman P 3 1 1 0 0 2 0 .333 0 0
R. Fingers P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0
a- M. Epstein PH 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0
V. Blue P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0
Totals 38 6 11 6 4 6 10
a - M. Epstein pinch hit for R. Fingers in the 9th
b - D. Duncan pinch hit for D. Mincher in the 10th

BATTING
Doubles: M. Alou (1, 7th Inning off D. Gullett, 3 on, 1 out)
Triples: A. Mangual (1, 7th Inning off D. Gullett, 0 on, 1 out)
Home Runs: S. Bando (1, 7th Inning off D. Gullett, 0 on, 0 outs)
Total Bases: M. Alou 2 , K. Holtzman , G. Tenace 2 , J. Rudi , A. Mangual 4 , D. Green , S. Bando 5 , B. Campaneris
Runners left in scoring position, 2 outs: S. Bando
GIDP: D. Mincher , D. Green
Hit by Pitch: M. Alou
Team LOB: 6

FIELDING
Errors: M. Alou , A. Mangual , B. Campaneris
Double Plays: 1 (Bando-Green-Mincher)
CINCINNATI 1972 PITCHING LINESCORE OAKLAND 1972 PITCHING LINESCORE
Player IP H R ER BB K HR PI PS ERA
D. Gullett 6.2 9 6 6 2 3 1 105 67 8.10
E. Sprague Sr 0.1 0 0 0 1 0 0 11 5 0.00
P. Borbon 1.0 2 0 0 0 1 0 13 9 0.00
T. Hall W (1-0) 2.0 0 0 0 1 2 0 29 19 0.00
PITCHING
Game Score: D. Gullett 33
Batters Faced: D. Gullett 29, E. Sprague Sr 2, P. Borbon 4, T. Hall 8
Ground Outs - Fly Outs: D. Gullett 7-8, E. Sprague Sr 0-1, P. Borbon 1-0, T. Hall 3-1
Pitches - Strikes: D. Gullett 105-67, E. Sprague Sr 11-5, P. Borbon 13-9, T. Hall 29-19
WP: D. Gullett
Hit Batsmen: T. Hall
Player IP H R ER BB K HR PI PS ERA
K. Holtzman 8.2 10 6 3 3 5 0 162 103 3.12
R. Fingers 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 2 0.00
V. Blue L (0-1) 1.0 1 1 0 1 0 0 12 10 0.00
PITCHING
Game Score: K. Holtzman 48
Batters Faced: K. Holtzman 39, R. Fingers 1, V. Blue 6
Ground Outs - Fly Outs: K. Holtzman 7-13, R. Fingers 1-0, V. Blue 2-1
Pitches - Strikes: K. Holtzman 162-103, R. Fingers 4-2, V. Blue 12-10
Inherited Runners - Scored: R. Fingers 1-0
GAME NOTES
Player of the Game: Bobby Tolan
Ballpark: Oakland Coliseum
Weather: Clear skies (53 degrees), wind blowing in from left at 11 mph
Start Time: 6:07 PM Pacific
Time: 4:05
Attendance: 49,419