1974 World Series (continued)

By RM
thursday, october 17, 2024 at 1:08:00 a.m. edt

Don’t know if there’s any interest out there, but since I started this...

1974 World Series (continued):

Game 3, Tuesday- An improvement, much better paced. Catfish Hunter dominated and Fingers (great name for a pitcher!) wrapped it up again, though the Dodgers got a home run off each of them, adding some late-game suspense. It ended as another 3-2 score, a win for Oakland. Per TV GUIDE, Charlie Finley was pushing as far back as 1963 for weekday Series games to be played at night, and it finally game to pass. His unfulfilled wishes included orange baseballs, multi-colored bases and basepaths, and bright uniforms for umpires instead of “the undertaker look.” He also was all for the DH, one of the small steps toward the ruination of baseball, which was NOT used in the Series this year.

The Oakland announcer was easier to listen to than Vin Scully, the faster pace allowed less room for verbiage, and Gowdy was tolerable and caught my attention when he said a player had “an accidental hunting accident”- sounds like something Yogi would come up with!

Game 4, Wednesday-Finally, an exciting game! The Dodgers seemed to come to life and took an early lead, though A’s pitcher Holtzman got a home run-a rare event that obviously couldn’t have happened if the DH rule had been in effect (serendipity is one of the joys of baseball that such rules destroy). The A’s broke loose in the 6th inning and, in my estimation, Dodger boss Walter Alston-looking old and tired-was way too lethargic, and left the starting pitcher in too long. Four runs for the A’s, game over, a 6-2 win. Some errors again on both sides, but also some sharp plays, more World Series caliber play than has been evident so far. More tomorrow!

-RM