1974 American League Championship Series
| 1974 American League Championship Series | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Teams | |||||||||||||
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| Dates | October 5 – 9 | ||||||||||||
| Umpires | Larry Napp, Jerry Neudecker, Russ Goetz, Dave Phillips, Marty Springstead, Bill Deegan | ||||||||||||
| Broadcast | |||||||||||||
| Television | NBC | ||||||||||||
| TV announcers |
Curt Gowdy, Tony Kubek and Frank Robinson (Games 1–2) Jim Simpson and Maury Wills (Games 3–4) |
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| Team (Wins) | Manager | Season | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oakland A's (3) | Alvin Dark | 90–72, .556, GA: 5 | |
| Baltimore Orioles (1) | Earl Weaver | 91–71, .562, GA: 2 |
The 1974 American League Championship Series was a best-of-five matchup between the East Division Champion Baltimore Orioles and the West Division Champion Oakland A's. It was a rematch of the previous year's series and third overall between the two teams. The A's beat the Orioles three games to one and received their third straight pennant in the process. They defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 1974 World Series and won their third straight World Series championship.
Oakland won the series, 3–1.
Saturday, October 5, 1974, at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum in Oakland, California
The Birds jumped all over the ace of the Oakland staff, Catfish Hunter, pounding him for six runs and eight hits, including three homers in less than five innings. Hunter had a skein of seven straight decisions over the Birds going into the game. Southpaw Mike Cuellar pitched steady ball for the winners and got the decision with relief help in the ninth inning from Ross Grimsley.
A portent of things to happen came in the first inning when Paul Blair, second man in the batting order, hit a Hunter pitch for a home run. Bert Campaneris' single that followed a fielder's choice and a stolen base by Bill North gave the A's a temporary tie in the third inning. But a double by Bobby Grich and Tommy Davis' single put the Orioles ahead to stay in the fourth. A four-run outburst in the fifth, featuring homers by Brooks Robinson and Bobby Grich, locked up the game and sent Hunter to the showers.
When Cuellar yielded a single to Jesús Alou and a double to Claudell Washington, both pinch-hitters, to open the last of the ninth, he was pulled in favor of Grimsley, who got the last three outs without trouble.
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