Exciting World Series of the 1970s
special anouncement
After the exciting World Series this season, it is a good time to look back at the exciting series of the 70s. With the conclusion of this season, I will be taking time to prepare a new series: Why We Love Baseball to start with spring training in February. I will be sending out the announcement and introduction to this series in the coming weeks along with some repeats of articles of the past. I believe you will find this new series to be quite entertaining and fun to follow. As always, thank you for your continued support.
Carlton Fisk’s walk off home run 1975 World Series
1971 Pirates (4 Games) versus Orioles (3 Games)
Pittsburgh Pirates (97-65) Pitcher Doc Ellis stepped up with 19 wins followed by Steve Blass with15. Reliever Dave Giusti posted a league leading 30 saves. Willie Stargell led the league with 48 HRs and 125 RBIs. Roberto Clemente batted .345 and catcher Manny Sanguilen batted .312.
Baltimore Orioles (101-57) Brooks Robinson, Frank Robinson and Boog Powell all drove in more than 90 runs. The four starting pitchers, ( Palmer, McNally , Dobson and Cuellar) won an astonishing 84 games. Eddie Watt was effective out of the bullpen before a broken hand shelved him. Rookie OF Don Baylor was a September call up.
An exciting seven-game World Series saw the Pittsburgh Pirates take the world championship away from the Orioles. After losing the first two games, pitchers Steve Blass and Nelson Briles along with great relief support from Bruce Kison and Dave Giusti, righted the ship. The four of them pitched 38 2/3 innings giving up only 1 run. The Series concluded with Briles throwing a four-hitter in the 2-1 Game 7 victory. Roberto Clement hit .414 with two home runs for the Bucs.
1972 A’s (4 games) versus Reds (3 games)
Oakland A’s ( 93-62 ) A close look at the young age of their roster made the rest of baseball squirm. The pitching staff led by Catfish Hunter’s 21 wins along with Ken Holtzman’s 19 and Blue Moon Odom’s 16 would have even been better if Vida Blue had not been a salary holdout and missed 12 starts. Reggie Jackson and 1B Mike Epstein combined for 51 HRs, OF Joe Rudi batted .305, and SS Bert Campaneris again led the league in steals, 52.
Cincinnati Reds (95-59) The Reds were building their own dynasty. MVP catcher Johnny Bench was at his best. He slammed 40 HRs and 120 RBIs along with his fine defensive skills. Pete Rose hit .307, off-season acquisition 2B Joe Morgan .282 with 53 steals, and 1B Tony Perez added 21 HRs and 90 RBIs. A mediocre starting pitching staff was thankful for reliever Clay Carrol’s league leading 37 saves
As expected a fiercely fought World Series in which 6 of the 7 games were decided by one run.` The A’s jumped out to 3 – 1 advantage, but the Reds came back to knot it at 3 games apiece. In the seventh game, the A’s triumphed 3-2 behind the pitching of Blue Moon Odom, Ken Holtzman and closer Rollie Fingers. Little known backup catcher Gene Tenace was the MVP of the series hitting 4 HRs and driving in 9 runs. The A’s were just getting started.
1973 A’s (4 games) versus Mets (3 games)
Oakland A’s (94-68) Manager Dick William’s team had depth. MVP Reggie Jackson posted some outstanding stats, .293, 32 HRs,117 RBIs. In addition, OF Joe Rudi added consistency and clutch hitting, while newcomer OF Billy North added more speed, 53 steals to go along with Campaneris’s 34. 3B Sal Bando and 1B Gene Tenace added additional power. Hunter, Ken Holtzman, and Vida Blue were 20 game-winners. Rollie Fingers saved 22.
New York Mets (82-79). No one batted .300, and with the exception of Seaver,19-10, and little known George Stone,10-3 , the starting pitching was not good. Fortunately, they did have relief pitcher Tug McGraw, 26 saves. They brought Willie Mays back to NYC for a farewell tour, but it was not successful.
The Mets finally hit their Waterloo, but it took 7 games to finally end another one of their miraculous seasons. Vida Blue won 2 games and Catfish Hunter posted on an ERA of 2.03. Most A’s fans would give the most credit to reliever Rollie Fingers who appeared in 6 of the 7 games with an era of 0.85. Reggie Jackson drove in 6 runs and batted .310.
1975 Reds (4 games) versus Red Sox (3 games)
Cincinnati Reds (108-54). The Big Red Machine offense exploded. Led by MVP Joe Morgan .327, 17 HRs, 94 RBIs with 67 stolen bases. The rest of the Machine included .300 hitters Pete Rose, Ken Griffey, and Cesar Geronimo. Tony Perez, George Foster, and Johnny Bench each smacked more than 20 HRs to provide the power. The pitching was not overwhelming. Don Gullett led the staff with 15 wins against 4 losses.
Boston Red Sox (95-65). Two rookies were exceptional. Particularly, Fred Lynn, who was named MVP and Rookie of the Year, with his .331 BA, 21 HRs, and 105 RBIs. The other, OF Jim Rice, fared quite well himself smacking 22 HRs, 102 RBIs, and .303 BA. Added to that was the bat of catcher Carlton Fisk, .331 BA, and the pitching trio of Rick Wise, 19 wins, ”Spaceman” Bill Lee 17, and Luis Tiant, 18 wins.
The terrific World Series made up for lackluster pennant races. The Reds were very heavy favorites, but the Bosox would not go easily. The Reds won 3 of the first 5 games. The Sox forced a Game 7 winning Game 6 when Carlton Fisk hit his famous 12th inning walk off home run. . In Game 7, The Reds battled back from a 3 run deficit to take home the trophy.Pete Rose batted .370 and Tony Perez hit 3 HRS.
1979 Pirates (4 games) versus Orioles (3 games)
Pittsburgh Pirates (98-64) The Bucs took on the “We Are Family” mantra. Although no 20 game winners, six pitchers posted double digit wins and relief pitcher Kent Tekulve had 31 saves. The bats of OFs Dave Parker and OF Bill Robinson still thundered as did 39 year-old Willie” Pops” Stargell who was the inspirational leader. 3B Bill Madlock contributed with a .328 BA and 21 steals in his half year with the club.
Baltimore Orioles (102-57) 102 wins was quite an achievement for a team that was without its ace pitcher Jim Palmer for almost half the season, but pitcher Mike Flanagan stepped in to win 23 games. Clutch and consistent hitting from OF Ken Singleton, 35 HRs, 111 RBIs, and the power from switch hitting 1B Eddie Murray, 25 HRs, 99 RBIS, fueled the offense. Young Dennis Martinez won 15 games.
The World Series trophy went to the Bucs in a very tight series. They had to come back from a 3-1 game deficit to do it. “Pops” Stargell was the Series MVP and made the difference by hitting 3 HRs and knocking in 7. His third HR was a 3 run shot to win the final seventh game 4-1. Baltimore pitching faltered with a 4.35 ERA..