OAKLAND – The Big Red Machine rolled.
Held relatively quiet through five games, the 1975 Cincinnati Reds’ vaunted offense exploded here Friday evening, scoring 13 runs in the first six innings and clubbing the 1972 Oakland A’s, 16-8, to win Game 6 and the @JackSacco6 @sacco_john “Teams of the 1970s” Strat-O-Matic World Series championship.
The Reds and A’s advanced to the World Series by winning their respective eight-team brackets. Both lost in their winner’s bracket games before winning two straight in the championship round, Cincinnati downed the 1974 Los Angeles Dodgers and Oakland edged the 1979 Pittsburgh Pirates.
The ’72 Reds finished 9-3 overall and the ’72 A’s were 7-5.
While there were many stars for Cincinnati in Game 6, no one was better than Davey Concepcion. The Venezuelan shortstop had three hits in five at bats with six RBI on a run-scoring single in a five-run fifth, a two-run single in a five-run sixth and a three-run home run in the eighth – the final nail in Oakland’s coffin.
Concepcion’s performance, on offense and defense, the entire series earned him World Series Most Valuable Player honors.
He went seven-for-20 for a .350 batting average. He reached base safely eight times in 23 plate appearances for a .364 on-base percentage. He executed a key squeeze bunt in Game 3 that led to the Reds’ first win of the series and was flawless and spectacular in the field. Concepcion recorded 16 putouts and 32 assists in 48 chances and was part of eight double plays.
Cincinnati was buoyed by second baseman Joe Morgan and catcher Johnny Bench, who were held down through the first five games. Morgan went three-for-five with a home run and two singles with four RBI. Bench also had three hits in five at bats, smacking two doubles and a home run for three RBI.
The Red jumped on starter John “Blue Moon” Odom (0-2) with two runs in the first and one in the fourth. In the fifth, they knocked him out, when with one out he walked two and yielded consecutive run-scoring hits to Morgan and Bench.
Leading 8-0 to start the sixth inning, Cincinnati pummeled beleaguered reliever Rollie Fingers. The A’s closer walked two and allowed four hits in the five-run inning to make it 13-0. It was another pathetic performance by Fingers, who yielded a walk-off home run to Terry Crowley in Game 4 that gave the Reds a 3-2 win in 10 innings and pulled them even at 2-2 in the series.
Oakland broke a scoreless 17-inning streak in a comeback attempt in the seventh.
Reds’ starter Jack Billingham (1-0) cruised through six innings, yielding just two hits. But he became wild, walking three batters and a single in the seventh. Cincinnati manager @JackSacco6 called on closer Rawly Eastwick.
He struggled mightily, allowing four hits – including a Mike Hegan grand slam and Sal Bando solo homer. The A’s scored eight in the inning to cut their deficit to five.
The Reds answered right back off Dave Hamilton. George Foster singled with one out, Cesar Geronimo walked, and Concepcion belted his home run.
Eastwick settled down to retire six of the last seven batters to seal the win and the series.
Ken Griffey, Sr. and Foster had two hits apiece for Cincinnati.
The 24 runs scored were one more than the teams had combined for (23) in the first five games.
“I never saw this kind of game coming,” said @JackSacco6. “I would never have figured this number of runs.”
Matty Alou concluded his outstanding performance for the A’s. He hit safely in all six games and finished with 10 hits in 23 at bats (.435). He had a .609 on-base percentage and .519 slugging percentage for a 1.128 OPS.
Reggie Jackson had two hits and Gonzalo Marquez hit a pinch-hit single to spur the big seventh-inning comeback attempt.
“We scored in only one of our last 20 innings of offense,” said @sacco_john. “That is not anywhere near acceptable. Honestly, if not for Matty and Vida Blue, our asses would have been swept in four games.
“The defense and relief pitching in this series was worse than awful. We got what we deserved. Run over.”
Highlighting Oakland’s relief woes, Fingers faced 11 batters in his two series appearances. He surrendered five hits – three home runs – three walks and six earned runs. His 32.34 ERA and ridiculously-high 4.7904 (WHIP) were stinging.
“I was hesitant to use him early in the series because of his uneven performances in bracket play,” @sacco_john said. “It only got worse. Way worse.”
Said @JackSacco6: “We officially won the championship today with this great offensive performance. But don’t forget what Don Gullett did for us in Game 5. His shutout was a big key in all of this.
The Reds will hold a virtual celebration parade Sunday in the “Queen City” via Zoom. Appropriately, Queen Eloise, the first – AND ONLY-- canine of the Sacco household, will be the Grand Marshal.
The Best Teams of the 1970s World Series
Friday, May 8, 2020
at Oakland Coliseum
Game 6
Cincinnati 200 155 030-16 15 0
Oakland 000 000 800- 8 8 1
WP-Jack Billingham (1-0)
LP-John Odom (0-2)
My blog will appear on a regular basis and will focus on sports, opinions, notes, features, and some trivia for good measure.
John Sacco
@sacco_john
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