1972 American League Championship Series
| 1972 American League Championship Series | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Teams | |||||||||||||
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| Dates | October 7 – 12 | ||||||||||||
| Umpires | Red Flaherty, Nestor Chylak, Johnny Rice, Don Denkinger, Larry Barnett, Art Frantz | ||||||||||||
| Broadcast | |||||||||||||
| Television | NBC | ||||||||||||
| TV announcers |
Curt Gowdy and Tony Kubek (Games 1–2) Jim Simpson and Sandy Koufax (Games 3–5) |
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| Team (Wins) | Manager | Season | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oakland A's (3) | Dick Williams | 93–62, .600, GA: 5½ | |
| Detroit Tigers (2) | Billy Martin | 86–70, .551, GA: ½ |
The 1972 American League Championship Series took place between October 7 and 12, 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 A's coming out on top in the five-game series, 3–2. Games 1 and 2 took place at the Oakland Coliseum, and 3 through 5 took place at Tiger Stadium.
The A's won the first two games of the series at home. One of the Series' most memorable moments came in the seventh inning of Game 2. Bert Campaneris came to bat, having had three hits, two runs scored, and two stolen bases in his first three at-bats in the game. Lerrin LaGrow's first pitch hit Campaneris in the ankle. Campaneris staggered for a moment, glared at LaGrow and then flung his bat toward the mound. The bat spiraled at LaGrow five feet off the ground, but LaGrow ducked, and the bat narrowly missed him, landing a few feet behind the mound. The benches cleared, and while there were no punches thrown or other incidents involving players, Tigers manager Billy Martin had to be restrained by umpires and teammates to prevent him from going after Campaneris. Both LaGrow and Campaneris were suspended for the rest of the ALCS.
After Game 2, the Series moved to Detroit, where the Tigers would fight back, winning the next two. Game 4 was one of the more historic playoff games, going 10 innings, with the Tigers pulling out the victory. After it was 1–1 at the end of nine innings, the A's scored two 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. Two singles, a walk, and an error on a potential double play grounder produced the first run. With the bases loaded, Norm Cash walked, forcing in the tying run. With both the A's infield and outfield playing in, Jim Northrup hit a deep fly ball off Dave Hamilton to drive in the winning run.
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