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1972 World Series: Game 4
CINCINNATI REDS @ OAKLAND ATHLETICS
OCTOBER 19, 1972
TIMELINE 20
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1
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2
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3
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4
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5
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6
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7
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8
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9
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R
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H
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E
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Cincinnati Reds
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2
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0
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0
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0
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0
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0
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2
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0
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0
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4
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10
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0
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Oakland Athletics
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0
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3
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0
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0
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0
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0
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0
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0
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0
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3
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5
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1
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Gullett Beats Oakland With Arm and Bat, Perez Delivers Go-Ahead Single in 7th
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Clear skies and 55-degree air settled over the Oakland Coliseum on Thursday evening, the kind of autumn chill that makes a fastball seem to arrive a tick quicker and a line drive crack a shade louder. Don Gullett and Ken Holtzman — two young lefthanders, mirror images in stubbornness if not in style — took the mound intending to finish what they started. Both would get their wish, and both would pay for it. Bobby Tolan slashed a triple into the right-center gap in the first inning, came home on a Perez groundout, and Johnny Bench followed with a solo shot to right that carried 380 feet against the incoming breeze. Cincinnati led 2-0 before Holtzman had found his sinker.
Oakland answered with the most improbable swing of the night. Dick Green — lifetime .240 hitter, a man whose glove wrote checks his bat rarely cashed — fell behind 0-2 against Gullett in the second inning with two outs and Bando and Tenace aboard. He turned on an inside pitch and drove it 402 feet to right-center, a three-run bolt that gave Oakland a 3-2 lead and left Gullett staring at the mound dirt as though it owed him an explanation. Sometimes the least likely men deliver the sharpest blows; sometimes a game pivots on a swing that has no business existing.
From the third inning through the sixth, both pitchers settled into a quiet mutual siege. Holtzman's sinker generated groundball after groundball — seventeen on the night — while Gullett found his rhythm and began piling up strikeouts, his fastball climbing to the letters. Then in the seventh, Gullett started his own rescue: a line-drive single to right, 108 miles per hour off the bat, the kind of hit that reminds you pitchers were once athletes who happened to throw. Morgan singled behind him, a wild pitch advanced both runners after a fielder's choice, and Perez — working the count full with two outs — looped a dying quail into shallow right that scored both Morgan and Tolan. Cincinnati 4, Oakland 3, and Gullett still had gas in the tank.
He finished with ten strikeouts and five hits allowed, 123 pitches on an evening cool enough to keep his arm fresh through the ninth. Holtzman matched him in grit if not in outcome, throwing 134 pitches of his own and never once looking toward the bullpen. In another version of this night, perhaps Green's home run holds up and Holtzman is the story. But October is a ledger that only records what actually happened, and what happened was Gullett — arm, bat, and will — refusing to let his team lose.
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CINCINNATI 1972 BATTING LINESCORE
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OAKLAND 1972 BATTING LINESCORE
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Player
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AB
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R
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H
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RBI
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BB
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K
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LOB
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AVG
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HR
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RBI
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J. Morgan
2B
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5
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1
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2
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0
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0
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0
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2
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.400
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0
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0
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B. Tolan
CF
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5
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2
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1
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0
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0
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0
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3
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.200
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0
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0
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T. Perez
1B
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4
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0
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1
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3
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0
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1
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0
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.250
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0
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3
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J. Bench
C
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4
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1
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1
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1
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0
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1
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1
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.250
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1
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1
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D. Menke
3B
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4
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0
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1
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0
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0
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0
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0
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.250
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0
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0
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P. Rose Sr
LF
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4
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0
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1
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0
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0
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1
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1
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.250
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0
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0
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H. McRae
RF
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3
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0
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1
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0
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1
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0
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1
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.333
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0
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0
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D. Concepcion
SS
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4
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0
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1
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0
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0
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0
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1
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.250
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0
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0
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D. Gullett
P
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3
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0
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1
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0
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0
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0
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2
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.333
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0
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0
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Totals
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36
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4
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10
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4
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1
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3
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11
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BATTING
Doubles:
J. Morgan
(1, 9th Inning off K. Holtzman, 0 on, 2 outs)
Triples:
B. Tolan
(1, 1st Inning off K. Holtzman, 0 on, 1 out)
Home Runs:
J. Bench
(1, 1st Inning off K. Holtzman, 0 on, 2 outs)
Total Bases:
J. Bench
4
,
D. Gullett
,
B. Tolan
3
,
P. Rose Sr
,
T. Perez
,
J. Morgan
3
,
D. Menke
,
H. McRae
,
D. Concepcion
2-out RBI:
J. Bench
,
T. Perez
Runners left in scoring position, 2 outs:
D. Gullett
,
B. Tolan
,
J. Morgan
GIDP:
P. Rose Sr
Sac Bunt:
D. Gullett
Team LOB:
7
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Player
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AB
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R
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H
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RBI
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BB
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K
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LOB
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AVG
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HR
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RBI
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B. Campaneris
SS
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4
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0
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0
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0
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0
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0
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0
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.000
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0
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0
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M. Alou
RF
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3
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0
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0
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0
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1
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3
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0
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.000
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0
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0
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J. Rudi
LF
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4
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0
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1
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0
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0
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1
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1
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.250
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0
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0
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S. Bando
3B
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4
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1
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1
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0
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0
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1
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1
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.250
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0
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0
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D. Mincher
1B
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2
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0
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0
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0
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1
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0
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1
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.000
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0
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0
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a-
M. Epstein
PH
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1
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0
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0
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0
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0
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0
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0
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.000
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0
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0
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A. Mangual
CF
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4
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0
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1
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0
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0
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1
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2
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.250
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0
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0
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G. Tenace
C
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4
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1
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1
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0
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0
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0
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2
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.250
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0
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0
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D. Green
2B
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3
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1
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1
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3
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0
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1
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1
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.333
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1
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3
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K. Holtzman
P
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3
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0
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0
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0
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0
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3
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0
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.000
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0
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0
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Totals
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32
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3
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5
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3
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2
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10
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8
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a - M. Epstein pinch hit for D. Mincher in the 9th
BATTING
Doubles:
J. Rudi
(1, 3rd Inning off D. Gullett, 0 on, 2 outs)
Home Runs:
D. Green
(1, 2nd Inning off D. Gullett, 2 on, 2 outs)
Total Bases:
G. Tenace
,
J. Rudi
2
,
A. Mangual
,
D. Green
4
,
S. Bando
2-out RBI:
D. Green
Runners left in scoring position, 2 outs:
S. Bando
Team LOB:
3
FIELDING
Errors:
D. Green
Double Plays:
1 (Campaneris-Green-Mincher)
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CINCINNATI 1972 PITCHING LINESCORE
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OAKLAND 1972 PITCHING LINESCORE
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Player
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IP
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H
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R
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ER
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BB
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K
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HR
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PI
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PS
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ERA
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D. Gullett
W (1-0)
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9.0
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5
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3
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3
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2
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10
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1
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123
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83
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3.00
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PITCHING
Game Score:
D. Gullett
73
Batters Faced:
D. Gullett
34
Ground Outs - Fly Outs:
D. Gullett
7-10
Pitches - Strikes:
D. Gullett
123-83
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Player
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IP
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H
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R
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ER
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BB
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K
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HR
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PI
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PS
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ERA
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K. Holtzman
L (0-1)
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9.0
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10
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4
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4
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1
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3
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1
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134
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88
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4.00
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PITCHING
Game Score:
K. Holtzman
53
Batters Faced:
K. Holtzman
38
Ground Outs - Fly Outs:
K. Holtzman
17-6
Pitches - Strikes:
K. Holtzman
134-88
WP:
K. Holtzman
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GAME NOTES
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Player of the Game:
Don Gullett
Ballpark:
Oakland Coliseum
Weather:
Clear skies (55 degrees), wind blowing in from left at 11 mph
Start Time:
6:07 PM Pacific
Time:
3:06
Attendance:
49,419
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