Well, this is the most classic of all World Series games in the 1970s. The introduction was cheesy...you see the California freeway, the interchange. Later on, as the 1920's ragtime music starts, it turns into an opening montage, which features narrator Kurt Gowdy as himself, and some of the few highlights of the 1974 series.
Then, as Game 1 starts at Dodgers' Stadium we see the A's Reggie Jackson who wanted to start even though his hamstring was hurting. The first time he goes up to bat, he blasts the 1st home run in this series, shocking the Dodgers a bit but not too much. Gowdy then mentions the talents of A's Ken Holtzman--pitching and batting. For instance, he hits a base-hit off LA pitcher Andy Messersmith. But what makes Game 1 exciting was LA's Joe Ferguson of the Dodgers, who turned a routine sacrifice fly that put out A's Reggie Jackson into an exciting double play that sent A's Sal Bando out also as Bando ran to the plate from 3rd tagging up after the sacrifice. Joe was able to catch the fly on a run (waving off Jimmy Wynn who was about to catch it), and fire a perfect long throw right into catcher Steve Yeager's glove, and as soon as Steve caught that long catch, Bando collided into Yeager but Yeager was able to hold on to the ball, rendering Sal Bando out, robbing the A's of a run. But the A's prevailed in Game 1, 3-2.
Game 2 (also at Dodgers stadium) has narrator Gowdy mention that there were "18 strikeouts between 2 pennant-winning teams"...keeping the score low. One big turning point was Joe Ferguson's homer that made A's pitcher Vida Blue blush sadly, and Dodgers' manager Tommy Lasorda rants about the whole thing for the camera. Herb Washington for the A's, a designated runner, tries to get the A's lead back after they trail 3-2, but was picked off by Mike Marshall of the Dodgers, and the game ends with the 1st Dodger win of the series. Same result as in Game 1, 3-2.
Game 3 moves the location to Oakland Coliseum (which will be the place for Games 4 and 5), and when the game starts, Gowdy focuses on the heavy hitters who were in the Coliseum stands, such as A's president, Charles Finley. We saw the beginning of the end of the Dodgers' domination in the Series at that point; in the first innings, the A's set off an offensive surge of RBI-producing base hits creating a 3-0 lead. Then, the A's pitcher Catfish Hunter tries to keep the A's from having their lead taken away but a Dodger homer sends him to the showers. As the game moves on, I saw Bobby Wynn advance to first, and Tommy LaSorda just ranting about to the camera, wanting good to come out of this. But then, what would been a good line drive instead is a come-backer catch to Dick Green as Wynn was about to race to second base; Wynn realizes he has to go back to first but Green fires a rocket to Epstein, tagging Wynn out for a 4-3 double play to end the L.A. inning. LaSorda could only watch this hurting shock in vain as Wynn hammers one of his fists down at the base in anger. But the A's pull off another final score tally like in the past 2 games--3-2, as the first stadium fireworks explode to announce the A's victory.
Game 4 was an amazing show of pitching and batting by the A's Ken Holtzman, keeping the Dodger batters from scoring in the first innings, and then, in the middle of the game, Ken blasts a rocket deep into the center field into the stands for his first personal home run in the series! I thought pitchers were not too famous for hitting blasts, until now.
The setup for the 5th game which marked the eventual confirmation of the 1974 World Championship crown--and the resultant three-peat by the A's--starts with a Ray Fosse solo blast which sets off more stadium fireworks. With the score 2-0, the Dodgers in the middle of the game do mark an offensive counterattack that erases the A's shutout with RBIs by Paciorek and then Lopes, to tie the game. But then, the tie is destroyed by more stadium fireworks from a solo A's blast by Joe Rudi in the bottom of the 7th, getting their team's lead back. A Dodgers' 8th inning offensive surge was effaced by a relay from Jackson to Green to Bando that robbed a triple from LA's Bill Buckner as he was trying to slide at 3rd base. Then, the A's Rollie Fingers was the finisher in the 9th inning. After putting out 2 Dodger batters, LA's Bob Joshua was the last stand between the A's and their championship. Then on the last pitch, Joshua batted a come-backer-grounder right at Fingers, and then doing the underhand throw to first baseman Epstein for the final out of not only the game...but also the Series. Final score is 3-2. Rollie Fingers then gets mobbed by the rest of the A's that stormed onto the field, stadium fireworks explode in earnest, and just like 1972--spectators also stormed onto the field, and you probably end up with how the A's could pull off such an amazing three-peat in just 18 World Series games. With that, Fingers gets the 1974 World Series MVP and the A's win that series 4-1.
Then, as Game 1 starts at Dodgers' Stadium we see the A's Reggie Jackson who wanted to start even though his hamstring was hurting. The first time he goes up to bat, he blasts the 1st home run in this series, shocking the Dodgers a bit but not too much. Gowdy then mentions the talents of A's Ken Holtzman--pitching and batting. For instance, he hits a base-hit off LA pitcher Andy Messersmith. But what makes Game 1 exciting was LA's Joe Ferguson of the Dodgers, who turned a routine sacrifice fly that put out A's Reggie Jackson into an exciting double play that sent A's Sal Bando out also as Bando ran to the plate from 3rd tagging up after the sacrifice. Joe was able to catch the fly on a run (waving off Jimmy Wynn who was about to catch it), and fire a perfect long throw right into catcher Steve Yeager's glove, and as soon as Steve caught that long catch, Bando collided into Yeager but Yeager was able to hold on to the ball, rendering Sal Bando out, robbing the A's of a run. But the A's prevailed in Game 1, 3-2.
Game 2 (also at Dodgers stadium) has narrator Gowdy mention that there were "18 strikeouts between 2 pennant-winning teams"...keeping the score low. One big turning point was Joe Ferguson's homer that made A's pitcher Vida Blue blush sadly, and Dodgers' manager Tommy Lasorda rants about the whole thing for the camera. Herb Washington for the A's, a designated runner, tries to get the A's lead back after they trail 3-2, but was picked off by Mike Marshall of the Dodgers, and the game ends with the 1st Dodger win of the series. Same result as in Game 1, 3-2.
Game 3 moves the location to Oakland Coliseum (which will be the place for Games 4 and 5), and when the game starts, Gowdy focuses on the heavy hitters who were in the Coliseum stands, such as A's president, Charles Finley. We saw the beginning of the end of the Dodgers' domination in the Series at that point; in the first innings, the A's set off an offensive surge of RBI-producing base hits creating a 3-0 lead. Then, the A's pitcher Catfish Hunter tries to keep the A's from having their lead taken away but a Dodger homer sends him to the showers. As the game moves on, I saw Bobby Wynn advance to first, and Tommy LaSorda just ranting about to the camera, wanting good to come out of this. But then, what would been a good line drive instead is a come-backer catch to Dick Green as Wynn was about to race to second base; Wynn realizes he has to go back to first but Green fires a rocket to Epstein, tagging Wynn out for a 4-3 double play to end the L.A. inning. LaSorda could only watch this hurting shock in vain as Wynn hammers one of his fists down at the base in anger. But the A's pull off another final score tally like in the past 2 games--3-2, as the first stadium fireworks explode to announce the A's victory.
Game 4 was an amazing show of pitching and batting by the A's Ken Holtzman, keeping the Dodger batters from scoring in the first innings, and then, in the middle of the game, Ken blasts a rocket deep into the center field into the stands for his first personal home run in the series! I thought pitchers were not too famous for hitting blasts, until now.
The setup for the 5th game which marked the eventual confirmation of the 1974 World Championship crown--and the resultant three-peat by the A's--starts with a Ray Fosse solo blast which sets off more stadium fireworks. With the score 2-0, the Dodgers in the middle of the game do mark an offensive counterattack that erases the A's shutout with RBIs by Paciorek and then Lopes, to tie the game. But then, the tie is destroyed by more stadium fireworks from a solo A's blast by Joe Rudi in the bottom of the 7th, getting their team's lead back. A Dodgers' 8th inning offensive surge was effaced by a relay from Jackson to Green to Bando that robbed a triple from LA's Bill Buckner as he was trying to slide at 3rd base. Then, the A's Rollie Fingers was the finisher in the 9th inning. After putting out 2 Dodger batters, LA's Bob Joshua was the last stand between the A's and their championship. Then on the last pitch, Joshua batted a come-backer-grounder right at Fingers, and then doing the underhand throw to first baseman Epstein for the final out of not only the game...but also the Series. Final score is 3-2. Rollie Fingers then gets mobbed by the rest of the A's that stormed onto the field, stadium fireworks explode in earnest, and just like 1972--spectators also stormed onto the field, and you probably end up with how the A's could pull off such an amazing three-peat in just 18 World Series games. With that, Fingers gets the 1974 World Series MVP and the A's win that series 4-1.
