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1972 World Series: Game 4
CINCINNATI REDS @ OAKLAND ATHLETICS
OCTOBER 19, 1972
TIMELINE 29
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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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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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2
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0
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0
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2
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6
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0
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Oakland Athletics
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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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0
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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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1
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Menke, McRae Go Back-to-Back in 7th to Break Up Game 4 Pitchers' Duel
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Two left-handers stood sixty feet and six inches from something close to perfection on a clear sixty-four-degree evening at the Coliseum, the October sky wide open above them and a headwind blowing in from left field at sixteen miles per hour — the kind of wind that swallows fly balls and turns pitchers' duels into scripture. Don Gullett and Ken Holtzman worked with the grave precision of men who understood that in a game this tight, one mistake would be the only mistake that mattered. Through six innings Holtzman had allowed a single and a double and nothing else of consequence, his motion repeating with the mechanical beauty of a locomotive, while Gullett matched him frame for frame, permitting Oakland only a single manufactured run in the fourth — Rudi walking on a full count, Bando lining a single to left, Mangual's fly to center deep enough to let Rudi tag and score standing up, the way it was done in the days before replay, before certainty.
Then the seventh. Denis Menke, who had fought Holtzman's fastball all evening and won three times already, drove a 1-1 pitch into the teeth of that headwind, a fly ball to deep left that left the bat at 110 miles per hour and traveled 354 feet — not majestic, not towering, just enough, which is the cruelest kind of home run for the man who threw it. The game was tied. Rose flew out. And Hal McRae, swinging at the first pitch he saw as if he'd been waiting for it across lifetimes, hit a line drive to left-center that carried 409 feet against that same sixteen-mile-per-hour wind, a shot that brought to mind the great October blows of Robinson and Clemente, balls struck so purely that weather becomes irrelevant.
Pedro Borbon came on in the eighth and worked two innings of implacable calm, retiring six of seven batters while Holtzman's masterpiece cooled into a loss. In the bottom of the ninth Bando walked with two outs and the tying run stood at first, Don Mincher fighting through a seven-pitch at-bat before flying out to center, the ball dying in the night air the way so many had all evening. Cincinnati 2, Oakland 1 — the kind of game that reminds you how baseball, in its quietest hours, still carries the old grandeur, still asks two men to stand on a mound and trade zeros until someone finds a way to break the spell.
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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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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
|
0
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B. Tolan
CF
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4
|
0
|
0
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0
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0
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1
|
0
|
.000
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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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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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J. Bench
C
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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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1
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.000
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0
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0
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D. Menke
3B
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4
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1
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3
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1
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0
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0
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2
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.750
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1
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1
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P. Rose Sr
LF
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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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0
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2
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.000
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0
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0
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H. McRae
RF
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4
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1
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2
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1
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0
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0
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3
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.500
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1
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1
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D. Concepcion
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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1
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5
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.000
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0
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0
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D. Gullett
P
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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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1
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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-
J. Hague
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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P. Borbon
P
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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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.000
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0
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0
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Totals
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34
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2
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6
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2
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1
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3
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13
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a - J. Hague pinch hit for D. Gullett in the 8th
BATTING
Doubles:
H. McRae
(1, 2nd Inning off K. Holtzman, 1 on, 2 outs)
Home Runs:
D. Menke
(1, 7th Inning off K. Holtzman, 0 on, 1 out)
H. McRae
(1, 7th Inning off K. Holtzman, 0 on, 2 outs)
Total Bases:
T. Perez
,
D. Menke
6
,
H. McRae
6
2-out RBI:
H. McRae
Runners left in scoring position, 2 outs:
,
D. Concepcion
2
Team LOB:
6
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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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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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M. Alou
RF
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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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2
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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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3
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1
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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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S. Bando
3B
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3
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0
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2
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0
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1
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0
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0
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.667
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0
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0
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D. Mincher
1B
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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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1
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4
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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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2
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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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2
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.000
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0
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1
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G. Tenace
C
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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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1
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2
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.000
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0
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0
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D. Green
2B
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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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1
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0
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.000
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0
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0
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K. Holtzman
P
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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-
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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R. Fingers
P
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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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.000
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0
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0
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Totals
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27
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1
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3
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1
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3
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4
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12
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a - M. Epstein pinch hit for K. Holtzman in the 8th
BATTING
Total Bases:
B. Campaneris
,
S. Bando
2
Runners left in scoring position, 2 outs:
M. Alou
,
G. Tenace
Sac Bunt:
K. Holtzman
Sac Fly:
A. Mangual
Team LOB:
4
BASERUNNING
CS:
B. Campaneris
(1)
FIELDING
Errors:
G. Tenace
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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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7.0
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3
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1
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1
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2
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4
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0
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91
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60
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1.29
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P. Borbon
SV (1)
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2.0
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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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0
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30
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17
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0.00
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PITCHING
Game Score:
D. Gullett
69
Batters Faced:
D. Gullett
25,
P. Borbon
7
Ground Outs - Fly Outs:
D. Gullett
8-8,
P. Borbon
2-4
Pitches - Strikes:
D. Gullett
91-60,
P. Borbon
30-17
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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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8.0
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5
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2
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2
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0
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3
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2
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107
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69
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2.25
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R. Fingers
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1.0
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1
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0
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0
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1
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0
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0
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16
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11
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0.00
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PITCHING
Game Score:
K. Holtzman
67
Batters Faced:
K. Holtzman
29,
R. Fingers
6
Ground Outs - Fly Outs:
K. Holtzman
9-12,
R. Fingers
1-2
Pitches - Strikes:
K. Holtzman
107-69,
R. Fingers
16-11
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GAME NOTES
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Player of the Game:
Don Gullett
Ballpark:
Oakland Coliseum
Weather:
Clear skies (64 degrees), wind blowing in from left at 16 mph
Start Time:
6:07 PM Pacific
Time:
2:57
Attendance:
49,419
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