The year 1972 was a landmark year for baseball, as the season was delayed by the first-ever players’ strike over pension and salary arbitration that lasted 13 days with the players’ demand for increased pension payments and salary arbitration being met.1 The games canceled, which were between six and eight games per team, were never made up. This made all the difference in the American League East where the Detroit Tigers (86-70) edged the Boston Red Sox (85-70) having played and won one more game.2
In a year when the sale of color televisions first eclipsed black and white sales, the colorful Oakland A’s with their bright yellow and green uniforms won their second consecutive AL West title with the American League’s best record (93-62).
A Classic ALCS
The A’s, who were swept by the Baltimore Orioles in the 1971 ALCS, were seeking to win their first postseason game since Game 6 of the 1931 World Series (when they were the Philadelphia Athletics). Detroit, however, still had many of its stars from the 1968 World Series (Norm Cash, John Hiler, Willie Horton, Al Kaline, Mickey Lolich, Dick McAuliffe, and Jim Northrup), but now were led by a young Billy Martin in only his third year as Manager (2d with the Tigers). They battled in a classic five-game series, with three games decided by one run, two of which were in extra-innings.
Campy Throws His Bat
The series began with two games in Oakland, with the remainder in Detroit (as at that time the home team for the ALCS rotated each year and was not based on the best record). In the bottom of the 7th, with the A’s up 5-0 and about to take a commanding 2-0 lead in the best-of-five series, Oakland’s lead-off man shortstop Bert Campaneris (“Campy”)3 faced rookie Lerrin LaGrow, the Tigers’ fourth pitcher of the day. Campy, who led the American League in steals, was 3-3 with two stolen bases and two runs.
When LaGrow’s pitch hit Campy in the ankle, he responded by flinging his bat at the pitcher. LaGrow ducked and the bat flew over him into the infield and a bench-clearing brawl ensued with Martin having to be restrained from going after Campanaris. Umpire Nester Chylak ejected both players, as he feared a riot and wanted to “keep fans in their seats”. Campanaris was fined $500, and suspended for the rest of the ALCS and the first seven games of the 1973 season but was allowed to play in the World Series (where he was less impactful, batting .179 in the seven-game series).
A furious Martin said Camparnaris’ action was “the dirtiest thing I ever saw in my whole life in baseball.” Some Oakland players believed that Martin instructed LaGrow to hit Campanaris.
“Campy had run the Tigers ragged in the first two games, and when (Billy) Martin gets his ears pinned down, he’s going to do something about it.”
— Joe Rudi (OF)
[Martin] wanted to light a fire under his ballclub, and Campy was the guy that they were going after because he was the guy that set the table for us. There’s no question that Billy Martin instructed Lerrin LaGrow to throw at Campaneris
Mike Hegan (1B)4
What about the bat? Tiger infielder Ike Brown picked up the bat, smashed it into pieces, and threw it toward the Oakland dugout.
Epilogue
Intentional or not, the elimination of Campanaris sparked the Tigers, who won the next two games 3-0 and 4-3(10). The A’s, however, won the pennant 2-1 before a raucous crowd at Tiger Stadium, with both A’s runs coming on close plays at the plate. This includes Reggie Jackson stealing home as part of a double steal. Jackson tore a hamstring in the process and was unable to play in the World Series.
The A’s faced Cincinnati’s Big Red Machine, who were appearing in their second World Series in three years having lost to Baltimore 4-1 in 1970. Cincinnati beat the defending champion Pittsburgh Pirates with a two-run comeback in the bottom of the ninth of Game 5. It would be Pirates’ star Roberto Clemente’s last game, as he was tragically killed in the off-season in a plane crash.
In the World Series, the A’s beat the Reds in seven games in a series in which all but one game was decided by a single run. Catcher Gene Tenace, who had the winning RBI in the ALCS, powered the A’s with four home runs (equaling the World Series mark set by Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and Hank Bauer) and nine RBIs.
The win was the beginning of the A’s dynasty, as they would three-peat as World Series Champions with wins over the New York Mets (4-3) in 1973 and Los Angeles Dodgers (4-1) in 1974.
For the Tigers, it was the end of an era. They dropped to third place in 1973 and finished last in 1974 and 1975 where they lost over 100 games for only the second time in franchise history. They would not return to the postseason until 1984 when they beat the San Diego Padres 4-1 to win their fourth World Series.
For the Red Sox, they would recover to win the AL East in 1975 and end the Oakland A’s dynasty with a three-game sweep in the ALCS. Their reward, facing a rejuvenated Big Red Machine who would win the World Series in 1975 and 1976.
As for Billy Martin, he would end up back in October baseball after joining the Yankees in 1975. He and Reggie Jackson would win the Yankees’ first World Series in 1977 in a series marked by Reggie Jackson’s three-home run performance in Game 6 which earned him the nickname “Mr. October”.
1The year also represents:
- The year a majority of MLB teams abandoned the old flannel uniforms for polyester double-knits, with all clubs completing the conversion by 1973.
- The first year of the Texas Rangers (formerly Washington Senators) whose move forced a division realignment with the Rangers joining the AL West and the Milwaukee Brewers (who had moved from Seattle in 1970) to the AL East. This ended an 18-year period in which 9 franchises relocated starting in 1954 with the St. Louis Browns moving to Baltimore. Since then there has been only one relocation, in 2005 when the Expos moved to Washington to replace the hole left by the Rangers.
- The final year that pitchers batted in the American League. I attended my first game at Fenway Park that year and saw pitcher Marty Pattin hit the first of two homers that season.
2While the extra game enabled the Tigers to win, the season came down to a 3-game series in Detroit between the Tigers and Red Sox (who led by a 1/2 game) with the first team to win two games advancing. See Christopher D. Chavis, October 3, 1972: Fenway faithful are left wondering ‘what if’ as Tigers win AL East by a half-game, SABR.
3 Bert Campanaris was the first major league player to play all nine positions in a game. Kansas City A’s owner Charlie Finley made September 8, 1965, Campy Campaneris Night at Kansas City’s Municipal Stadium to boost attendance for the last-place A’s. See Mike Huber, September 8, 1965: Bert Campaneris plays all nine positions for Athletics, SABR
4 See Rick Schabowski, Bert Campaneris, SABR.
Trophy Lives 