‘73 A’s take 3 of 4 from ‘78 Bombers

8/21-8/22 - Oakland Coliseum
GAME 1 - '73-A's 4, '78-Yankees 1
Oakland struck first by scoring 2 runs in the 2nd and 1 in the third vs 1978 AL Cy Young Award winner Ron Guidry.  While not being as flashy as "Gator", Oakland's Kenny Holtzman still knows how to pitch and get it done as can be attested to how off stride he kept Yankee batters all day.  In the bottom of the 2nd Sal Bando led off with a single and 2 batters later Gene Tenace hit a 2 run homer to make it 2-0 Oakland.  With 2 out in the 3rd Billy North tripled to dead center and DH Deron Johnson doubled him home to give Holtzman a 3-0 lead.  New York had Holtzman on the ropes in the top of the 6th, but the crafty lefthander managed to bend, but not break.  After Thurman Munson led off with a double, lefties Chris Chambliss and Craig Nettles both struck out.  "Sweet" Lou Piniella singled to put runners on the corners and the elder statesman Roy White singled home the Captain (Munson).  With Mike Heath coming to the plate most expected a pinch hitter, but the young man was left to his own devices and he grounded back to the box to end the Yankee rally.  Oakland added an insurance run in the 8th when Johnson singled home catcher Ray Fosse.  Rollie Fingers worked a scoreless 9th to notch his 2nd save of the season.  Guidry went the distance, but allowed 4 runs, even though he fanned 9.

GAME 2 - A's 6, Yankees 4
For the second game in a row the fans were treated to a battle of 20 game winners.  1971 Cy Young Award winner, Vida Blue, would be representing the A's and the first ever Mexican to win over 20, Ed Figueroa, would be representing New York.  Oakland carried a tenuous 2-1 lead into the 7th when the Bombers tied it up.  Willie Randolph led off the inning with a triple to right and Munson hit a line smash through the box to score Willie.  With the game tied at 2 Figueroa was unable to harness his control.  Consecutive walks to Bando and Tenance to start the inning put the Yankee hurler in trouble.  A great fielding play by Figueroa on Angel Mangual's bunt attempt forced Bando at 3rd.  Ted Kubiak grounded out to second to move the runners up 90 feet with 2 out.  It now came down to 1 batter and 1 pitch.  The batter was Ray Fosse...a man who had so much potential until that fateful day when Pete Rose destroyed his shoulder with a blind side hit in the 1970 All-Star game.  Fosse had all the tools to be a great one, but now looks to be just an average backstop.  For this one moment he was able to show us why scouts labeled him a "can't miss" player.  Fosse took Figgy's 2-2 offering deep off the left field wall for a stand up double, which gave Oakland a 4-2 lead heading into the 8th.  Blue, who usually dominates lefties, was victimized by a triple by the normally slow footed Nettles to lead off the inning.  Nettles scored on a ground out by Roy White to cut the deficit to 1.  After Mickey Rivers tripled Rollie Fingers was summoned from the pen to put out the impending fire.  Fingers was wild, but was able to get out of a bases loaded jam by fanning the normally clutch Piniella.  Oakland supplied Fingers with 2 insurance runs in the home half of the 8th when Reggie Jackson singled home Billy North and Angel Mangual doubled home Reggie.  Fingers retired the Bombers in order in the 9th for his 3rd save of the campaign.

8/23-8/24 - Yankee Stadium
GAME 3 - A's 3, Yankees 1
A unique matchup saw a 27 year old Jim "Catfish" Hunter face a 32 year old version of himself.  The 27 year old Hunter was right smack dab in the middle of his prime.  The 32 year old version was just hanging on and trying to get by on guile.  For 4 innings that 32 year old version found a way to throw shutout ball and turn back the clock.  In the top of the 5th the A's got a solo shot from Gene Tenace to make it 1-0.  Oakland would add 2 more in the 7th when Deron Johnson would go deep into Monument Park to make it 3-0 Oakland.  All the while the 27 year old version of Hunter was tossing a no hitter until Roy White led off the 6th with a single.  White eventually broke the shutout up as well with a solo shot in the 8th immediately after Reggie just missed a homer into the short porch in right.  Both Hunters went the distance and struck out 6, but the 27 year old version prevailed by only yielding 3 hits and 1 solo run.

GAME 4 - Yankees 13, A's 3
After 2 1/2 scoreless innings to start the contest the Bombers finally broke out and scored.  After facing 3 consecutive 20 game winners (Holtzman/Blue/Hunter) the Yanks go to feast on Oakland's weak pitching link Blue Moon Odom.  Odom was tattooed for 12 runs in 5 1/3 innings of dreadful pitching.  New York's 4 runs in the 3rd was followed up by 4 more in the 5th and 5 in the 6th.  Dick Tidrow allowed only 1 run until the 9th when he basically just  grooved some pitches to make the game go faster. Tidrow fanned 7 A's to help the Bombers salvage 1 win in this 4 game set.  Every Yankee batter recorded at least 1 hit accept Bucky Dent who did reach base by walking twice.  Both Thurman Munson and Mickey Rivers had 3 hits, with the latter scoring 3 runs.  Willie Randolph and Reggie Jackson each had 3 RBI's and a homer in this cake walk.