Infinite Cincinnati

1972 World Series: Game 4
CINCINNATI REDS @ OAKLAND ATHLETICS
OCTOBER 19, 1972
TIMELINE 33
GAME LOG
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Cincinnati Reds 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 2 8 0
Oakland Athletics 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 8 1
Campaneris Walks It Off in 9th as A's Edge Reds, 3-2
Holtzman and Gullett matched lefty arms in the fifty-five-degree chill, wind blowing in off the left-field fence at ten miles an hour — a night designed for pitching, for the long patient sequences of working counts and measuring angles that have always defined October at its best. Oakland struck first in a manner that recalled the Athletics of old, the Connie Mack teams that manufactured runs from walks and contact and sheer pressure: Rudi singled, Bando and Mincher walked to load the bases, and Mangual punched a grounder through the right side that scored two when Bando, never breaking stride, came home on McRae's throw from right field. The plays of Cochrane and Simmons, of the 1929 and '30 clubs that overwhelmed opponents with relentless baserunning — they echoed here, faintly, in the way Oakland moved ninety feet at a time until the scoreboard read two-nothing before Gullett had recorded his sixth out.

Cincinnati answered in the manner of all great teams trailing early: patiently, without panic. In the fourth, Tolan tagged from third on a Bench fly ball hit so hard — 108.8 miles per hour off the bat, a line drive that carried to deep center — that the outfielder never considered a throw. In the sixth, Bench again: an infield single, a chopper at short that barely qualified as a hit, barely 78 miles per hour, but enough to bring Morgan home from third and knot the game at two. Holtzman, who had been masterful, tipped his cap to no one visible and kept throwing.

The game remained tied through seven, eight, into the ninth, where Rose and Concepción singled off Vida Blue to put the tying and winning runs in position — but Morgan grounded out, and the moment passed like a door closing. In the bottom half, against Sprague, the Athletics assembled one final sequence: Epstein pinch-singled, Tenace singled him to third, Hendrick's grounder to short got the out at home but moved Tenace to second, and then Campaneris — on the very first pitch he saw — lined a single into center-right at 98.8 miles per hour that brought Tenace around from second, scoring standing up on the throw, the game ending the way so many of these October nights end, with a man crossing the plate and an entire ballpark exhaling at once, as if this particular shuffling of the cards had finally dealt the hand they were always waiting for.
CINCINNATI 1972 BATTING LINESCORE OAKLAND 1972 BATTING LINESCORE
Player AB R H RBI BB K LOB AVG HR RBI
J. Morgan 2B 4 1 1 0 1 0 4 .250 0 0
B. Tolan CF 4 1 1 0 0 1 3 .250 0 0
T. Perez 1B 4 0 1 0 0 0 2 .250 0 0
J. Bench C 3 0 1 2 0 1 1 .333 0 2
D. Menke 3B 4 0 0 0 0 2 3 .000 0 0
P. Rose Sr LF 4 0 2 0 0 1 2 .500 0 0
H. McRae RF 4 0 0 0 0 3 2 .000 0 0
D. Concepcion SS 3 0 1 0 0 0 1 .333 0 0
D. Gullett P 2 0 0 0 0 1 1 .000 0 0
a- C. Geronimo PH 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 1.000 0 0
T. Hall P 0 0 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 2 .000 0 0
E. Sprague Sr P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0
Totals 34 2 8 2 1 9 21
a - C. Geronimo pinch hit for D. Gullett in the 7th
b - J. Hague pinch hit for P. Borbon in the 9th

BATTING
Doubles: P. Rose Sr (1, 5th Inning off K. Holtzman, 0 on, 0 outs)
Total Bases: J. Bench , B. Tolan , P. Rose Sr 3 , T. Perez , J. Morgan , D. Concepcion , C. Geronimo
Runners left in scoring position, 2 outs: D. Gullett , B. Tolan , P. Rose Sr , J. Morgan
Sac Fly: J. Bench
Team LOB: 8
Player AB R H RBI BB K LOB AVG HR RBI
B. Campaneris SS 5 0 1 1 0 0 1 .200 0 1
M. Alou RF 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 .250 0 0
J. Rudi LF 4 1 1 0 0 0 1 .250 0 0
S. Bando 3B 3 1 2 0 1 0 0 .667 0 0
D. Mincher 1B 3 0 0 0 1 0 3 .000 0 0
A. Mangual CF 3 0 1 2 0 1 2 .333 0 2
b- M. Epstein PH 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 1.000 0 0
G. Tenace C 4 1 1 0 0 1 2 .250 0 0
D. Green 2B 4 0 0 0 0 0 2 .000 0 0
K. Holtzman P 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0
R. Fingers P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0
a- D. Duncan PH 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 .000 0 0
V. Blue P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0
c- G. Hendrick PH 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 .000 0 0
Totals 34 3 8 3 3 2 13
a - D. Duncan pinch hit for R. Fingers in the 7th
b - M. Epstein pinch hit for A. Mangual in the 9th
c - G. Hendrick pinch hit for V. Blue in the 9th

BATTING
Total Bases: M. Alou , G. Tenace , J. Rudi , A. Mangual , B. Campaneris , S. Bando 2 , M. Epstein
2-out RBI: A. Mangual , B. Campaneris
Runners left in scoring position, 2 outs: G. Tenace , A. Mangual
Team LOB: 6

FIELDING
Errors: G. Tenace
CINCINNATI 1972 PITCHING LINESCORE OAKLAND 1972 PITCHING LINESCORE
Player IP H R ER BB K HR PI PS ERA
D. Gullett 6.0 4 2 2 2 2 0 90 54 3.00
T. Hall 1.0 0 0 0 1 0 0 13 8 0.00
P. Borbon 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 0 16 8 0.00
E. Sprague Sr L (0-1) 0.2 3 1 1 0 0 0 12 7 13.50
PITCHING
Game Score: D. Gullett 56
Batters Faced: D. Gullett 24, T. Hall 4, P. Borbon 4, E. Sprague Sr 5
Ground Outs - Fly Outs: D. Gullett 8-8, T. Hall 1-2, P. Borbon 0-3, E. Sprague Sr 1-1
Pitches - Strikes: D. Gullett 90-54, T. Hall 13-8, P. Borbon 16-8, E. Sprague Sr 12-7
Player IP H R ER BB K HR PI PS ERA
K. Holtzman 6.0 5 2 2 1 6 0 100 63 3.00
R. Fingers 1.0 1 0 0 0 1 0 18 14 0.00
V. Blue W (1-0) 2.0 2 0 0 0 2 0 30 18 0.00
PITCHING
Game Score: K. Holtzman 59
Batters Faced: K. Holtzman 24, R. Fingers 5, V. Blue 8
Ground Outs - Fly Outs: K. Holtzman 7-5, R. Fingers 1-1, V. Blue 2-2
Pitches - Strikes: K. Holtzman 100-63, R. Fingers 18-14, V. Blue 30-18
GAME NOTES
Player of the Game: Ken Holtzman
Ballpark: Oakland Coliseum
Weather: Partly Cloudy (55 degrees), wind blowing in from left at 10 mph
Start Time: 6:07 PM Pacific
Time: 3:21
Attendance: 49,419