1972 American League Championship Series
The 1972 American League Championship Series took place between October 7 and October 12 of 1972. The Oakland Athletics (93-62 on the season) played the Detroit Tigers (86-70 on the season) for the right to go to the 1972 World Series, with the Athletics coming out on top in the 5-game series, 3-2. Games 1 and 2 took place at the Oakland Coliseum, and 3 through 5 took place at Tiger Stadium. The Athletics would go on to beat the Cincinnati Reds in the world series in 7 games.
Overview After the Athletics won the first two games of the series at home, they had to travel to Detroit, where the Tigers would fight back, winning the next two. Game 4 was one of the most historic playoff games of all time, going 10 innings, with the Tigers pulling out the victory. After it was 1-1 at the end of 9 innings, the Athletics scored 2 runs in the top of the 10th, and it looked as if the series was over. But amazingly the Tigers scored three in the bottom of the 10th to win it after Jim Northrup singled off Joe Horlen. Game 5 was set where Blue Moon Odom for the A's would be facing Woodie Fryman of the Tigers. After 2 innings, the game was 1-1. But by the 4th, it was clear runs wouldn't come easy, so when George Hendrick scored on a Gene Tenace RBI single, the Tigers knew they were in trouble. By the 9th inning, Odom and Vida Blue had combined to pitch 7 scoreless innings. With the A's up 2-1, it all came down to the Tigers 9th where they would still face Vida Blue. Norm Cash would single, but that would be it as Tony Taylor would fly to center for the final out. Odom got the win, Blue got the save, and the A's were a world series team for the first of three straight years. Note: Only a best-of-five series was played in the league championship series before 1985.
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