The1971American League Championship Series was a semifinal matchup inMajor League Baseball's1971 postseason between the East Division ChampionBaltimore Orioles and the West Division ChampionOakland Athletics. The Orioles swept the A's in three games, despite the fact that each team had won 101 games. The Orioles won their third consecutive pennant in the process, but lost the1971 World Series to thePittsburgh Pirates.

This was the first of ten AL Championship series between 1971 and1981 that featured either theOakland Athletics or theKansas City Royals.^[1]

The only time neither team appeared in the ALCS during that period was in1979 when theAngels won the AL West.

Baltimore won the series, 3–0.

Dave McNally, a 20-game winner for the fourth season in a row, survived a rocky start to win the opener, which was delayed one day by rain. He trailed, 3–0, after four innings pitched, giving up three doubles and a triple. The Athletics had McNally tottering in the second inning. With two runs home, a runner on second and none out, second basemanDick Green came to bat. It was at this point that Athletics managerDick Williams made the first of several ultra-cautious moves which were to fuel criticism of his playoff strategy. He ordered Green to sacrifice, which put runnerDave Duncan on third with one out.

The next batter was Blue, whose bunting ability is well known, Vida tried to squeeze the run home, But the Orioles had guessed correctly on what was coming. McNally pitched out and Duncan was nailed in a rundown. Blue proceeded to strike out, and the Athletics' splurge was over. McNally gave up another run in the fourth, but that ended the A's scoring forays. Meanwhile, 24-game winner Blue yielded just one run and three hits during the first six innings.

However, disaster overtook Vida in the very next frame.Frank Robinson led off with a walk andBoog Powell struck out.Brooks Robinson's single sent Frank Robinson to second, after whichAndy Etchebarren's fly to right advanced Frank Robinson to third. Now there were runners on first and third with two down, and Blue appeared likely to quell the flurry without damage. After all, he had beaten the Orioles twice in two tries during the season. And the next hitter was shortstopMark Belanger, hardly a nemesis to any pitcher. But Belanger rifled a single to center to score Frank Robinson and ignite thunderous cheering from the crowd of 42,621.

ThenCurt Motton, pinch-hitter hero of a 1969 Orioles playoff victory (Game 2) over Minnesota, stepped up to bat for McNally. Curt slammed a double to the left-field corner, plating Brooks Robinson and tying the score. Center fielderPaul Blair followed with the blow that doomed Blue, a two-run double to left. Reliever Eddie Watt blanked the Athletics the last two innings and Oakland was one game down. Skipper Williams was subjected to further sharpshooting for his failure to remove Blue, or even visit the mound, during the seventh-inning barrage.

Dave Johnson'serror in the sixth inning was the only miscue between both teams in the series.

Catfish Hunter held Baltimore to seven hits, but four of them were home runs. Boog Powell walloped two, Brooks Robinson and Elrod Hendricks the others. Cuellar displayed his usual pitching artistry, a baffling assortment of curves and change-ups which the Athletics solved for a mere six hits.

Typical of the Athletics' super-cautious approach to their task was an incident in the sixth inning when they were trailing, 2–1.Reggie Jackson led off against Cuellar with a double. Cleanup hitterTommy Davis was up next and to the surprise of everyone in the park, he bunted. The next two hitters were easy outs. Davis' sacrifice, it turned out, was not ordered by Williams.

Jim Palmer's performance in the deciding game was not among his most noteworthy—he permitted three home runs, two of them by the slugging Jackson and the other by Sal Bando. But all three shots were struck with the bases empty, and Palmer had more than enough to pitch Baltimore's pennant clincher for the third straight year. Loser of his only two starts against Baltimore during the season, Diego Segui reached the fifth inning of Game 3 with the score 1–1. Then he met his "Waterloo". The crusher wasBrooks Robinson's two-run single. It came after Williams ordered an intentional pass to Hendricks. loading the bases.

Bando's homer cut the Athletics' deficit to 3–2 in the sixth. But in the seventh,Frank Robinson's double andDarold Knowles' wild pitch put Baltimore out of danger. The Orioles collected 12 hits off Segui and his four successors, withDon Buford's triple and two singles leading the way.

1971 ALCS(3–0):Baltimore Orioles overOakland Athletics

• 1971 ALCS at Baseball-Reference.com

• American League Championship Series
• 1971 Major League Baseball season
• Oakland Athletics postseason
• Baltimore Orioles postseason
• 1971 in sports in California
• 1971 in sports in Maryland
• 1970s in Baltimore
• 1970s in Oakland, California
• October 1971 sports events in the United States
• Baseball competitions in Baltimore
• Baseball competitions in Oakland, California

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