1972 American League Championship Series

Detroit Tigers vs. Oakland A's

Oakland won the series, 3–2.

Game 1

Game 1 pitted ace pitchers Catfish Hunter for the A's and Mickey Lolich for the Tigers, and, as expected, both were brilliant. Norm Cash homered to give the Tigers a 1–0 lead in the second inning, and the A's tied it in the third on a Joe Rudi sacrifice fly.

The score remained at 1–1 until the eleventh, although the Tigers threatened in their half of the ninth. Duke Sims led off with a double off Hunter. Vida Blue came on in relief to pitch to left-handed hitting Norm Cash. Cash laid down a sacrifice bunt, but reached first when second baseman Ted Kubiak, covering first, dropped Sal Bando's throw. Sims reached third. Rollie Fingers then came in to face pinch hitter Gates Brown and got him on a foul pop fly. Jim Northrup then bounced into a 4–6–3 double play to end the threat.

Al Kaline gave the Tigers a 2–1 lead in the eleventh with a homer off Fingers and looked like a hero at that point. In the bottom of the eleventh, Lolich gave up back-to-back singles to Sal Bando and Mike Epstein. Chuck Seelbach relieved Lolich. Gene Tenace attempted a sacrifice bunt, but third baseman Aurelio Rodríguez pounced on it and forced Blue Moon Odom, running for Bando, at third. Tigers shortstop Ed Brinkman then fired to first, his throw pulling Dick McAuliffe covering first off the bag. McAuliffe appeared to tag Tenace out, but he was called safe. Gonzalo Marquez pinch hit for Dal Maxvill and grounded a base hit to right, scoring Mike Hegan, running for Epstein, and tying the game. Tenace attempted to advance to third, and Kaline's throw from right field skipped past Rodriguez, allowing Tenace to score and win the game for the A's.

Game 2

Bert Campaneris was a sparkplug from the start. He led off the game for the A's with a single off Woodie Fryman and promptly stole second and third. Joe Rudi then batted him in with a one-out single.

The A's plated four more runs in the fifth when George Hendrick pinch-hit a single and went to second on a Blue Moon Odom sacrifice. Campaneris singled Hendrick to third and Matty Alou singled him in. Chris Zachary relieved Fryman and threw two wild pitches, scoring Campaneris and sending Alou to third. After Rudi walked, Reggie Jackson blasted a two-run double to make it 5–0.

Odom got the win for the A's, who now had a 2–0 lead, but would play without Campaneris for the remainder of the Championship Series, on account of a suspension he was issued due to the bat-throwing incident described in the Overview above.

Game 3

Joe Coleman put the Tigers back into the series by throwing a complete-game, seven-hit shutout, striking out a then ALCS record 14 batters. Coleman was aided by a two-run single in the fourth by Ike Brown and a homer by Bill Freehan in the eighth.

Game 4

Game 4 was the most exciting of the series. For eight innings it was a tight pitching duel between Game 1 aces Catfish Hunter and Mickey Lolich. The only runs across were a Dick McAuliffe homer for the Tigers in the third and a Mike Epstein homer for the A's -- the only home run Oakland would hit in the series -- in the seventh.

In the sixth, A's second baseman Dick Green was hurt on a hard slide by Norm Cash trying to break up a double play. A's manager Dick Williams had to move catcher Gene Tenace to second due to no other healthy players available. Tenace had last played second base in high school, and this inexperience would prove costly later.

The Tigers threatened in both the eighth and ninth innings. In the eighth, McAuliffe walked and was sacrificed to second by Al Kaline. Mickey Stanley reached on an infield hit, sending McAuliffe to third. Rollie Fingers relieved Hunter and Billy Martin called for a suicide squeeze that failed and McAuliffe was thrown out trying to score. Fingers then struck out Bill Freehan for the final out. In the ninth, with two outs, Tony Taylor doubled and Vida Blue intentionally walked Aurelio Rodríguez. Blue then retired pinch-hitter Willie Horton on a fly to center.

In the tenth, the A's took a two-run lead when Gonzalo Marquez continued his pinch-hitting heroics with a one-out single. Matty Alou doubled home Marquez and went to third on the throw home. Ted Kubiak then hit a bloop single to right with Alou scoring for a 3–1 lead. After Joe Rudi was retired, Reggie Jackson reached on a throwing error by Rodriguez with Kubiak reaching third. However, no more A's runs scored as Sal Bando made the last out of the inning.

The Tigers rallied in the bottom of the tenth, starting with singles by McAuliffe and Kaline. A's reliever Joe Horlen wild-pitched the runners to second and third and then walked Gates Brown to load the bases with no outs. Bill Freehan then grounded an apparent double play ball to third, but the inexperienced Tenace at second dropped Sal Bando's throw. McAuliffe scored and everybody was safe. Dave Hamilton then relieved Horlen and promptly walked Norm Cash to tie the game, and then gave up a walk-off single to Jim Northrup, a ball hit over right fielder Matty Alou's head (the outfield was drawn in), scoring Brown with the winning run.

Game 5

The Tigers struck in their half of the first off Blue Moon Odom when Dick McAuliffe led off with a single. After a one-out walk to Duke Sims, a passed ball by Gene Tenace put the runners on second and third. McAuliffe scored when Bill Freehan grounded out.

In the second, Reggie Jackson led off for the A's with a walk and stole second. Sal Bando's fly to right sent Jackson to third. After Mike Epstein was hit by a Woodie Fryman pitch, Dick Williams ordered a double steal. Jackson collided with Freehan and scored, but, the bad news was, Jackson tore his left hamstring and would be out for the World Series if Oakland won.

The A's got the winning tally in the fourth when George Hendrick, Jackson's replacement, reached on a ground ball to shortstop McAuliffe that was ruled a throwing error when Norm Cash's foot was pulled off first base. Cash and Billy Martin argued that the foot never left the base, but to no avail. Bando sacrificed Hendrick to second, and Gene Tenace, making amends for his earlier passed ball, singled Hendrick home for his only hit and RBI of the series.

Odom got the win and Vida Blue the save in four innings of relief as the A's, minus Jackson, moved on to the 1972 World Series.

As an odd precursor to what would become an explosive relationship years later, Martin visited the A's locker room and consoled Jackson, expressing regret that he would miss the Series. Even without Jackson, the A's went on to beat the Cincinnati Reds in the World Series in seven games.

The A's won despite a team batting average of .224, superb pitching by Oakland held the Tigers to a meager .198 team batting average in the pitchers-dominated series.