1975 Oakland A's: What Should Have Been

[motnahp]

The A's scored 3 times in the 9th to defeat the White Sox 4-1. Oakland scored on a Joe Rudi RBI single, Sal Bando's RBI groundout, and Billy North's RBI double. Tommy Harper continued to swing a mean bat, going 2-3 with an RBI and raising his average to .303. Vida Blue shut out the pale hose through 7 innings, before tiring in the 8th. Paul Lindblad (5-5) pitched the final two innings and collected the win. Chicago's Jim Kaat (9-11) took the loss.

WED SEP 17

OAK_____4___8___0
CHI_____1___9___0

[motnahp]

Wilbur Wood shut down the A's and Catfish Hunter, 3-1. Hunter again failed to record his 20th win. Tommy Harper and Phil Garner were both 2-4 in the losing effort. The A's travel to Kansas City for a weekend series, their last road games of the regular season.

THUR SEP 18

OAK_____1___8___0
CHI_____3__ 11___0

[motnahp]

Reggie Jackson belted a grand slam and a solo homer to lead the A's past the Royals, 9-3 in KC. Claudell Washington was 3-4 and Sal Bando went 2-3 with 2 RBI. Stan Bahnsen (10-6) was impressive on the mound, going 7 1/3 innings and allowing only 2 runs. Al Fitzmorris (15-15) took the loss.

FRI SEP 19

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KC______3____8___1

[motnahp]

Bert Campaneris singled in the go-ahead run in the top of the 9th to give the A's a 4-3 win over the Royals. Kenny Holtzman lost his chance for his 20th win in the bottom of the 8th. With the A's leading 3-1, Holtzman allowed two runners to reach base. Manager motnahp brought in Rollie Fingers from the pen, and pinch-hitter Fran Healy drove both runners home with a triple to tie the score at 3-3. Fingers (11-2) held the Royals off the board the rest of the way. Dennis Leonard (13-14) took the loss for KC. The slumping Billy Williams belted two solo homers, #21 and #22. Gene Tenace added a solo homer of his own, his 19th on the season.

SAT SEP 20

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KC______3___8___0

[motnahp]

Cesar Tovar and Phill Garner hit back-to-back RBI doubles in the top of the 13th as the A's recorded the sweep of the Royals, 6-4. Tovar was 5-6 with 2 RBI for the game. Vida Blue was primed to win his 18th game, but the Royals scored twice in the 9th to tie the score. Jim Todd (4-4) picked up the relief win for Oakland. The A's now finish the season with 7 home games, two each against Minnesota and Chicago, then three against the Angels. In the opener against Minnesota, Catfish Hunter tries again for win #20.

SUN SEP 21

OAK_____6___19___0
KC______4___16___0

The Boston Red Sox clinched the AL East today, and will face the A's in the playoffs. Following today's play, the A's hold a 4-game lead over the Red Sox with 7 to play, as the teams battle to decide who will get home field advantage.

Over in the NL, Pittsburgh holds a 1 1/2 game lead over the NY Mets in the NL East. The winner of the East will open the NLCS at Cincinnati.

[motnahp]

Three Minnesota pitchers combined to shut out the A's and spoil another bid by Catfish Hunter (19-13) for his 20th win. Rod Carew was 2-4 with 2 RBI. Dan Ford added a solo homer in the 9th to support Bill Butler (4-4).

MON SEP 22

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OAK_____0___5___0

[motnahp]

The Oakland bats woke up, pounding Minnesota pitching for 16 hits in a 10-2 victory. Stan Bahnsen (11-6) went 7 innings. Mike Norris and Craig Mitchell each pitched a scoreless inning. Sal Bando was 2-3 with 4 RBI. Reggie Jackson was 3-3 with one RBI, and Cesar Tovar was 3-4 with 2 RBI. On a bad note, Tommy Harper suffered a hand injury and will miss the rest of the regular season. He should be back in time for the ALCS against Boston.

TUE SEP 23

MIN_____2___10___1
OAK____10___16___0

[motnahp]

Kenny Holtzman earned his 20th victory of the season with a sparkling 2-hit shutout of the White Sox. Holtzman retired the first 21 batters, before allowing a leadoff walk to Bill Melton in the 8th. Carlos May followed with a single, but Holtzman bore down and retired the side. He also allowed a Nyls Nyman single in the 9th. Holtzman struck out 4, and is now 20-9 on the season. The lone Oakland run scored on a Bert Campaneris RBI single in the 6th. This is Holtzman's second 20-win season. He went 21-13 for the A's in 1973. He now has 10 complete games and a league-leading 8 shutouts this season.

WED SEP 24

CHI_____0___2___1
OAK_____1___7___0

[motnahp]

Reggie Jackson's 2-run double in the bottom of the 8th broke a 4-4 tie and gave the A's a sweep of the White Sox, 6-4. Vida Blue went 8 innings and improved to 18-9. Rollie Fingers picked up his 18th save. Sal Bando was 4-4 with a run batted in. Billy North went 3-5. The A's now entertain the California Angels on the season's final weekend. Catfish Hunter again tries for win #20 in the opener.

THUR SEP 25

CHI_____4___6___1
OAK_____6__13___1

[motnahp]

Catfish Hunter allowed only 5 hits, as the A's shut out the White Sox 1-0. Hunter finally picked up win #20 on the season. The only Oakland run scored in the bottom of the 6th on Billy Wiliams' sac-fly. Reggie Jackson was 3-5, and Bill North went 2-3.

FRI SEP 26

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OAK_____1___5___0

[motnahp]

Pinch runner Matt Alexander scored on pinch hitter Angel Mangual's infield grounder with one out in the bottom of the 11th to give the A's a 3-2 win over the Angels. Many of the A's regulars rested, as California's Nolan Ryan and Oakland's Stan Bahnsen battled on the mound. Bahnsen allowed 2 runs in 8 innings. Ryan was pulled in the 11th for Jim Brewer, who allowed Mangual's grounder. The California infield failed to turn the double play, which would have sent the game to a 12th inning. Oakland reliever Paul Lindblad (6-5) pitched a scoreless 11th and picked up the win. Billy North went 2-5 at the plate with a pair of doubles. Reggie Jackson also went 2-5, including the game's key hit, a leadoff double in the 11th. Jackson gave way to Alexander, who then advanced to third on a Jim Holt fly ball. The California manager then walked Ray Fosse, putting runners on the corners and setting up the double play. After Brewer replaced Ryan, motnahp sent Mangual up to hit for Denny Walling. With Fosse in motion from first, Mangual won the game with a grounder to third.

SAT SEP 27

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OAK_____3__10___0

[motnahp]

The Oakland A's closed out the regular season with 7 starters on the bench. California's Frank Tanana (21-17) shut down the A's reserves and September call-ups, 7-1. Ken Holtzman (20-10) pitched into the 5th inning, but allowed 5 runs. Abbott, Siebert, Bosman, and Todd all saw work on the mound as the A's get ready to welcome Boston for the ALCS. Rookie Don Hopkins collected his first major league hit, an RBI single.

SUN SEP 28

CAL_____7___13___0
OAK_____1____3___0

[motnahp]

Standings after the season's final Sunday:

Pittsburgh must play at San Fran, then at Atlanta, in two makeup games. These makeup games will decide the NL East.

[motnahp]

Pittsburgh dropped a half-game behind the Mets by losing to the Giants in San Francisco, 3-1. Ed Halicki (8-8) went the distance. Jim Rooker (15-10) took the loss.

MON SEP 29

PIT_____1___7___0
SF______3__11___0

[motnahp]

John Candelaria (16-5) shut down the Braves with relief help from Dave Giusti as the Pirates clinched the NL East. Pittsburgh scored more runs than the Mets and also took them 11-6 head-to-head. Former Oakland A's pitcher Blue Moon Odom (1-12) took the loss, despite turning in his best performance of the season, allowing only 2 runs in 5 2/3 innings. Willie Stargell hit his 26th homer for the Bucs.

MON SEP 29

PIT_____2__10___2
ATL_____1___5___1

[motnahp]

Final regular season standings for 1975:

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Association Batting Average Leaders:

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Association Home Run Leaders:

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Association RBI Leaders:

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Association Hits Leaders: Hooray, one of my guys at the top