1972 A's

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  • Honus Wagner Rules
    xFIP?! I laugh at you!
    • Nov 2004
    • 30829

    #16
    The 1972-74 A's are very underrated IMO. The one knock against them is that they did not have dominant regular season records. What is often forgotten is that the A's actually won five straight A.L. West titles 1971-75. The 1971 team (101 wins) and the 1975 team (98 wins, best record in the AL) had far better regular season records than the three World Series teams.
    Strikeouts are boring! Besides that, they're fascist. Throw some ground balls - it's more democratic.-Crash Davis

    Comment

    • Dude Paskert
      The Grand Poobah of Sweat
      • Mar 2012
      • 4553

      #17
      I loved it when the Cubs were rained out when I was a kid and WGN would show WS highlights instead of the game...they would show the early '70s A's quite often and I became fans of many of that team's players as a result. Joe Rudi was a particular favorite, seemed like kind of an ordinary guy who happened to also be a fine ballplayer.
      "If I drink whiskey, I'll never get worms!" - Hack Wilson

      Comment

      • TomBodet
        Team Veteran
        • Sep 2012
        • 779

        #18
        Finally caught this team on tv in '75, knew the rep but didn't watch baseball til then at 9. I liked watching Vida Blue, he pitched in the '75 All Star game, remember it well. '72 Ws one of the greatest.

        Comment

        • 64Cards
          Registered User
          • Mar 2005
          • 2210

          #19
          The A's of the first half of the 70's had some very good teams. It helped that they played in an extremely weak division, I couldn't see them winning 5 times or even 3 times in a row if the AL was still a 10 team league. But because they had outstanding pitching they were a tough team to beat in a short series.
          It Might Be? It Could Be?? It Is!

          Comment

          • Victory Faust
            He of the windmill windup
            • Jun 2005
            • 3633

            #20
            Gosh, I wish they'd release this Series on DVD. Two of the greatest teams of all time -- and two of the great baseball culture clashes of all time, to boot.
            "Hey Mr. McGraw! Can I pitch to-day?"

            Comment

            • Honus Wagner Rules
              xFIP?! I laugh at you!
              • Nov 2004
              • 30829

              #21
              FYI

              Code:
              [B]Year   RS   RA   RD    W-L   exp W-L [/B]   
              1971  691  564  +127 101-60   95-66
              1972  604  457  +147  93-62   97-58
              1973  758  615  +143  94-68   96-66
              1974  689  551  +138  90-72   97-65
              1975  758  606  +152  98-64   97-68
              I forgot about the 1972 strike that lost a few regular season games. Over a full season the A's would project out to 97 wins. In 1971 the A's outperformed their run differential by a fair amount. But in 1974 they under performed by a fair amount as well. Overall, the A's had a pretty consistent team.
              Last edited by Honus Wagner Rules; 02-22-2013, 12:27 PM.
              Strikeouts are boring! Besides that, they're fascist. Throw some ground balls - it's more democratic.-Crash Davis

              Comment

              • Honus Wagner Rules
                xFIP?! I laugh at you!
                • Nov 2004
                • 30829

                #22
                Twice Sports Illustrated had A's players on the cover in 1972.

                Vida Blue 03-27-1972.JPG

                Catfish Hunter 10-23-1972.JPG
                Strikeouts are boring! Besides that, they're fascist. Throw some ground balls - it's more democratic.-Crash Davis

                Comment

                • Honus Wagner Rules
                  xFIP?! I laugh at you!
                  • Nov 2004
                  • 30829

                  #23
                  Apparently, the 1972 A's had ball girls sit along the foul lines during games! :hyper:

                  Athletics Ballgirl 4.JPG

                  Athletics Ballgirl 1.jpg

                  Athletics Ballgirl 2.jpg

                  Athletics Ballgirl 3.jpg

                  Athletics Ballgirl 5.JPG
                  Last edited by Honus Wagner Rules; 02-22-2013, 12:48 PM.
                  Strikeouts are boring! Besides that, they're fascist. Throw some ground balls - it's more democratic.-Crash Davis

                  Comment

                  • Honus Wagner Rules
                    xFIP?! I laugh at you!
                    • Nov 2004
                    • 30829

                    #24
                    Props to whomever can name this guy.

                    Athletics mystery man.jpg
                    Strikeouts are boring! Besides that, they're fascist. Throw some ground balls - it's more democratic.-Crash Davis

                    Comment

                    • PVNICK
                      Registered User
                      • Jul 2007
                      • 13674

                      #25
                      Their former batboy circa 1979ish. Birth certificate name forgotten. I understand his music hit so hard it made you say oh my god

                      Comment

                      • Honus Wagner Rules
                        xFIP?! I laugh at you!
                        • Nov 2004
                        • 30829

                        #26
                        Originally posted by PVNICK View Post
                        Their former batboy circa 1979ish. Birth certificate name forgotten. I understand his music hit so hard it made you say oh my god
                        You are correct! He started as the A's batboy in 1972 and was promoted to Executive VP by Charlie Finley.
                        Strikeouts are boring! Besides that, they're fascist. Throw some ground balls - it's more democratic.-Crash Davis

                        Comment

                        • Honus Wagner Rules
                          xFIP?! I laugh at you!
                          • Nov 2004
                          • 30829

                          #27
                          Intro to Game 4 of the 1972 World Series.

                          Last edited by Honus Wagner Rules; 02-22-2013, 03:44 PM.
                          Strikeouts are boring! Besides that, they're fascist. Throw some ground balls - it's more democratic.-Crash Davis

                          Comment

                          • strato
                            Registered User
                            • May 2010
                            • 362

                            #28
                            Originally posted by 9RoyHobbsRF View Post
                            I have fond memories of seeing the first Bay Area World Champion, although I was a bigger Giants fan by far. I thought they were a scrappy bunch that over achieved, but did took another look at them the other day and was surprised by a few things. First a quick recap:

                            The 1971 A's had a great year with Vida Blue sweeping the AL MVP and Cy Young Awards but were swept by the Baltimore Orioles who then were beaten by The Pirates in the World Series.

                            Vida Blue held out in the spring of 1972 and never really regained his form that year, going from 24-8 to 6-10. The A's had traded one of their better players, Rick Monday, to the Cubs and got a very reliable starter in Ken Holtzman. Reggie Jackson had an ok year, but Bando had a poor year, as did the catching combo of Duncan and Tenace (compared to previous years). Campaneris had a average year at best and they were weak at 2B as well. Not much of a CF either but Joe Rudi had an excellent year in LF and Mike Epstein delivered some power at 1B. The pitching was very very good.

                            Overall, I would rate them a not very good offensive team but was surprised to see them #1 in the league in HR and second in runs scored, not bad for a team playing in a pitchers park. They also were second in the league in runs alowed and ERA in a pitching dominated year for the AL. I checked WAR and found 4 of the top 10 position players were A's including Bando who hit .236 with 15 HR? They did not have a P among the top 10 in WAR for pitchers except for Hunter at #5. I would have thought their pitching was the better strength than their hitting that year?

                            They beat the older veteran Tigers (under Billy Martin) in a tense playoff and were forced to play the series without their best player, Reggie Jackson. Somehow, with the help of Tenace and a propensity to win close games, they downed the favored Reds to win the series.

                            Were they lucky? Just able to win close games? Better than we thought at the time? Managed above expectations by Dick Williams?

                            Of course, they won the next two series as well and were in the midst of a 5 year run of division titles.

                            Thoughts?

                            And the following year they had to play the postseason without Billy North-one of their main cogs-and still won the WS

                            This gave Angel mangual some post season AB's both years

                            looking at his career stats-amazing he got so much playing time with a dynastic team with such paultry offensive production

                            Comment

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