1971 American League Championship Series
Encyclopedia
Game 1
Sunday, October 3, 1971 at Memorial StadiumMemorial Stadium (Baltimore)
Memorial Stadium was a sports stadium in Baltimore, Maryland, that formerly stood on 33rd Street on an over-sized block also bounded by Ellerslie Avenue , 36th Street , and Ednor Road...
in Baltimore, Maryland
Dave McNally, a 20-game winner for the fourth season in a row, survived a rocky start to win the opener. He trailed, 3–0, after four innings pitched, giving up three doubles and a triple. The A's had McNally tottering in the second inning. With two runs home, a runner on second and none out, second baseman Dick Green
Dick Green
Richard Larry Green , is a former Major League Baseball player.He was raised in Rapid City, S.D., where his ability as a baseball player was first noted....
came to bat. It was at this point that A's manager Dick Williams
Dick Williams
Richard Hirschfeld "Dick" Williams was an American left fielder, third baseman, manager, coach and front office consultant in Major League Baseball. Known especially as a hard-driving, sharp-tongued manager from 1967–69 and 1971–88, he led teams to three American League pennants, one National...
made the first of several ultra-cautious moves which were to fuel criticsm of his playoff strategy. He ordered Gren to sacrifice, which put runner Dave Duncan on third with one out.
The next batter was Blue, whose bunting ability is well known, Vida tried to squeeze the run home, But the O's had guessed correctly on what was coming. McNally pitched out and Duncan was nailed in a rundown. Blue proceeded to strike out, and the A's splurge was over. McNally gave up another run in the fourth, but that ended the A's scoring forays. Meanwhile, 24-game winner Blue yielded just one run and three hits during the first six innings.
However, disaster overtook Vida in the very next frame. Frank Robinson
Frank Robinson
Frank Robinson , is a former Major League Baseball outfielder and manager. He played from 1956–1976, most notably for the Cincinnati Reds and the Baltimore Orioles. He is the only player to win league MVP honors in both the National and American Leagues...
led off with a walk and Boog Powell
Boog Powell
John Wesley Powell is a former major league first baseman who played for the Baltimore Orioles , Cleveland Indians and Los Angeles Dodgers...
struck out. Brooks Robinson
Brooks Robinson
Brooks Calbert Robinson, Jr. is a former American professional baseball player. He played his entire 23-year major league career for the Baltimore Orioles . Nicknamed "The Human Vacuum Cleaner", he is generally acclaimed as the greatest defensive third-basemen in major league history...
's single sent Frank Robinson to second, after which Andy Etchebarren
Andy Etchebarren
Andrew Auguste Etchebarren is an American former Major League Baseball catcher who played for a total of 15 seasons. He played for the Baltimore Orioles , California Angels and Milwaukee Brewers ....
's fly to right advanced Frank Robinson to third. Now there were runners on first and third with two down, and Blue appeared likely to quell the flurry without damage. After all, he'd beaten the O's twice in two tries during the season. And the next hitter was shortstop Mark Belanger
Mark Belanger
Mark Henry Belanger was an American shortstop in Major League Baseball who played almost his entire career with the Baltimore Orioles...
, hardly a nemesis to any pitcher. But Belanger rifled a single to center to score Frank Robinson and ignite thunderous cheering from the crowd of 42,621.
Then Curt Motton
Curt Motton
Curtell Howard Motton was an American Major League Baseball outfielder. Mainly a reserve left fielder and pinch hitter, he was with the Baltimore Orioles when they won three consecutive American League pennants and a World Series from to...
, pinch-hitter hero of a '69 Oriole playoff victory over Minnesota, stepped up to bat for McNally. Curt slammed a double to the left-field corner, plating Brooks Robinson and tying the score. Center fielder Paul Blair
Paul Blair (baseball)
Paul L. D. Blair is a former outfielder who spent seventeen seasons in Major League Baseball with the Baltimore Orioles , New York Yankees and Cincinnati Reds...
followed with the blow that doomed Blue, a two-run double to left. Reliever Eddie Watt blanked the A's the last wo innings and Oakland was one game down. Skipper Williams was subjected to further sharpshooting for his failure to remove Blue, or even visit the mound, during the seventh-inning barrage.
Game 2
Monday, October 4, 1971 at Memorial StadiumMemorial Stadium (Baltimore)
Memorial Stadium was a sports stadium in Baltimore, Maryland, that formerly stood on 33rd Street on an over-sized block also bounded by Ellerslie Avenue , 36th Street , and Ednor Road...
in Baltimore, Maryland
Catfish Hunter held Baltimore to seven hits, but unfortunately for him, four of them were home runs. Boog Powell walloped two, Brooks Robinson and Elrod Hendricks the others. Cuellar displayed his usual pitching artistry, a baffling assortment of curves and change-ups which the A's solve for a mere six hits.
Typical of the A's super-cautious approach to their task was an incident in the sixth inning when they were trailing, 2–1. Reggie Jackson
Reggie Jackson
Reginald Martinez "Reggie" Jackson , nicknamed "Mr. October" for his clutch hitting in the postseason with the New York Yankees, is a former American Major League Baseball right fielder. During a 21-year baseball career, he played from 1967-1987 for four different teams. Jackson currently serves as...
led off against Cuellar with a double. Cleanup hitter Tommy Davis
Tommy Davis
Herman Thomas Davis, Jr. is an American former Major League Baseball left fielder and third baseman. He played from 1959-1976 for ten different teams, but he is best known for his years with the Los Angeles Dodgers. During an 18-year baseball career, Davis batted .294 with 153 home runs, 2,121...
was up next and to the surprise of everyone in the park, he bunted. The next two hitters were easy outs. Davis' sacrifice, it turned out, was not ordered by Williams.
Game 3
Tuesday, October 5, 1971 at Oakland-Alameda County ColiseumMcAfee Coliseum
O.co Coliseum is a multi-purpose stadium, located in Oakland, California, in the Coliseum Industrial area...
in Oakland, California
Oakland, California
Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
Jim Palmer's performance in the deciding game was not among his most noteworthy—he permitted three home runs, two of them by the slugging Jackson and the other by Sal Bando. But all three shots were struck with the bases empty, and Palmer had more than enough to pitch Baltimore's pennant clincher for the third straight year. Loser of his only two starts against Baltimore during the season, Diego Segui reached the fifth inning of Game 3 with the score 1–1. Then he met his "Waterloo". The crusher was Brooks Robinson
Brooks Robinson
Brooks Calbert Robinson, Jr. is a former American professional baseball player. He played his entire 23-year major league career for the Baltimore Orioles . Nicknamed "The Human Vacuum Cleaner", he is generally acclaimed as the greatest defensive third-basemen in major league history...
's two-run single. It came after Williams ordered an intentional pass to Hendricks. loading the bases.
Bando's homer cut the A's deficit to 3–2 in the sixth. But in the seventh, Frank Robinson
Frank Robinson
Frank Robinson , is a former Major League Baseball outfielder and manager. He played from 1956–1976, most notably for the Cincinnati Reds and the Baltimore Orioles. He is the only player to win league MVP honors in both the National and American Leagues...
's double and Darold Knowles
Darold Knowles
Darold Duane Knowles is a former Major League Baseball relief pitcher, and the current pitching coach of the Florida State League's Dunedin Blue Jays...
' wild pitch put Baltimore out of danger. The Orioles collected 12 hits off Segui and his four successors, with Don Buford
Don Buford
Donald Alvin Buford is a former Major League Baseball player. An infielder/outfielder, the switch-hitting Buford played for the Chicago White Sox and Baltimore Orioles ....
's triple and two singles leading the way.
Composite box
1971 ALCS (3–0): Baltimore OriolesBaltimore Orioles
The Baltimore Orioles are a professional baseball team based in Baltimore, Maryland in the United States. They are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's American League. One of the American League's eight charter franchises in 1901, it spent its first year as a major league...
over Oakland Athletics
Oakland Athletics
The Oakland Athletics are a Major League Baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League. From to the present, the Athletics have played in the O.co Coliseum....