The1974 World Series was thechampionship series ofMajor League Baseball's (MLB)1974 season. The 71st edition of the World Series, it was abest-of-seven playoff played between theAmerican League (AL) champion (and two-time defending World Series champion)Oakland Athletics and theNational League (NL) championLos Angeles Dodgers. The Athletics won the series, four games to one; after splitting the first two in Los Angeles, Oakland swept their three home games to close it out.

1974 World Series
Team (Wins) Manager(s) Season Oakland Athletics (4) Alvin Dark 90–72, .556, GA: 5 Los Angeles Dodgers (1) Walter Alston 102–60, .630, GA: 4
Dates	October 12–17
Venue(s)	Dodger Stadium (Los Angeles) Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum (Oakland)
MVP	Rollie Fingers (Oakland)
Umpires	Tom Gorman (NL),Don Denkinger (AL),Doug Harvey (NL),Bill Kunkel (AL),Andy Olsen (NL),Ron Luciano (AL)
Hall of Famers	Umpire: Doug Harvey Athletics: Rollie Fingers Catfish Hunter Reggie Jackson Dodgers: Walter Alston (manager) Don Sutton Tommy Lasorda (3rd base coach)
Broadcast
Television	NBC
TV announcers	Curt Gowdy Vin Scully (in Los Angeles) Monte Moore (in Oakland) Tony Kubek
Radio	NBC
Radio announcers	Jim Simpson Monte Moore (in Los Angeles) Vin Scully (in Oakland)
ALCS	Oakland Athletics overBaltimore Orioles (3–1)
NLCS	Los Angeles Dodgers overPittsburgh Pirates (3–1)
← 1973 World Series 1975 →

Rollie Fingers figured in three of the four Oakland victories, posting awin and twosaves, and was honored with theWorld Series Most Valuable Player Award. Oakland became the first team to win three consecutive Series since theNew York Yankees won five straight (1949–1953); the win secured the Athletics' status as one of the truly dominant teams of the 1970s. (The other "team of the decade," theCincinnati Reds, won consecutive World Series in1975 and1976, after falling short in1970 and1972.)

This was the first all-California World Series; these two teams met againfourteen years later, with a different result.

The1974 Los Angeles Dodgers were the second (after the runner-up1962 squad) Dodgers team to win at least 100 games since moving west from Brooklyn; they won theNational League West division after a season long battle by four games over theCincinnati Reds, then defeated thePittsburgh Pirates three games to one in theNational League Championship Series. TheOakland Athletics won theAmerican League West division by five games over theTexas Rangers, then defeated theBaltimore Orioles three games to one in theAmerican League Championship Series.

TheOakland Athletics, at the height of their dynasty as the "Swingin' A's", had consistently matched their on-field heroics with locker-room meltdowns and intra-squad theatrics for theAmerican League. After yet another banner year (Catfish Hunter won 25 games,Reggie Jackson knocked in 105 runs, andBilly North stole 54 bases), the team seemed to be winning more attention for its dysfunctional communication patterns than for its superior lineup. Hunter was threatening to file for free agency in 1975 if ownerCharles O. Finley didn't come through with back pay Hunter claimed he had coming. Traumatized former second basemanMike Andrews was considering legal action for the shabby treatment he received in the previous year'sWorld Series. TeammatesRollie Fingers andBlue Moon Odom had gotten into a fistfight. And the Series-winning manager of the previous year,Dick Williams was long gone, having had one personality clash too many with the Athletics front office. Despite all the melodrama, the Athletics won the pennant for the third straight year, the first time a team had done so since the 1960-64New York Yankees. They had dispatched theBaltimore Orioles in afour-game ALCS. Notwithstanding the off-field troubles, between the lines they were fundamentally sound, had strong pitching, and combined speed and power.

Los Angeles won 102 games, boasted the best team ERA (2.97) in theNational League, and led their league in runs scored (798).Steve Garvey hit .312,Jimmy Wynn knocked in 108 runs,Bill Buckner hit .314 in one of the best years of his career,Davey Lopes stole 59 bases,Andy Messersmith won twenty games, andDon Sutton won nineteen games.Walter Alston was in his 21st year as manager of the club.

ALOakland Athletics (4) vs. NLLos Angeles Dodgers (1)

Reggie Jackson put the A's on the board first with a homer in the top of the second off 20-game winnerAndy Messersmith. The A's added another run in the fifth when starting pitcherKen Holtzman, batting for the first time all season because of thedesignated hitter rule, doubled to left, went to third on a Messersmith wild pitch, and scored on aBert Campaneris suicide squeeze bunt.

The Dodgerscrept back with a run in their half of the fifth whenDavey Lopes reached first on an error by Campaneris.Bill Buckner then bounced a single to right that Jackson misplayed, allowing Lopes to score.

The A's scored their final run in the eighth when Campaneris singled to shallow center, was sacrificed to second byBill North, and scored when Dodger third basemanRon Cey threw wildly to first on a grounder hit bySal Bando. Bando reached third on the error, and attempted to score on a flyout to right by Jackson, but right fielderJoe Ferguson gunned him down at the plate.

In the bottom of the ninth, withRollie Fingers on the mound,Jimmy Wynn hit a homer that just escaped the reach ofJoe Rudi and North in left center. Following a single bySteve Garvey,Catfish Hunter relieved Fingers and made the final out by striking out Ferguson. Fingers got the win with4+1⁄3 innings of relief, having relieved Holtzman in the fifth inning.

Don Sutton pitched superbly, shutting out the A's on four hits through eight innings. The Dodgers scored first in the second offVida Blue whenRon Cey walked,Bill Russell singled, andSteve Yeager singled home Cey.Joe Ferguson slammed a two-run homer off Blue in the sixth inning to make it 3–0.

The A's threatened in the eighth whenpinch hittersJim Holt andClaudell Washington hit back-to-back singles with one out.Bert Campaneris reached on an infield error to load the bases. The rally was squelched whenBill North hit into a double play in which first basemanSteve Garvey made an exceptional pickup of a low throw by Russell.

In the ninth inning the A's finally got on the board whenSal Bando led off with being hit by a pitch,Reggie Jackson followed with a double, andJoe Rudi singled both runners home.Mike Marshall then relieved Sutton and struck outGene Tenace.Herb Washington was sent in to pinch-run for Rudi, and Marshall picked him off. Herb Washington was the only "designated runner" to appear in a World Series. Washington was a track star with no baseball experience whom the A'sCharles Finley signed solely to appear as a pinch runner in late game situations. His stats for 1974 were 92 games, zero at bats, 29 runs scored, 29 stolen bases, but he was caught stealing 16 times. Sure enough, with the A's trailing 3–2 in the ninth inning of Game 2, Washington pinch ran. Just after announcer Vin Scully said that Washington better be careful because pitcher Mike Marshall has a good pickoff move, he was promptly picked off first base. Marshall then retiredÁngel Mangual for the final out.

With the Series shifting back to Oakland, it was A's aceCatfish Hunter's turn to be brilliant. Hunter shut out the Dodgers on four hits through seven innings, and his teammates provided him with two runs in the third whenBill North scored on an error by catcherJoe Ferguson and an RBI single byJoe Rudi. The A's added another run in the fourth onBert Campaneris' RBI single.

The Dodgers got their only runs on homers byBill Buckner in the eighth andWillie Crawford in the ninth.

Rollie Fingers was not awarded the save because in 1974, tougher criteria were adopted for saves where the tying run had to be on base or at the plate when the reliever entered to qualify for a save.^[6]

The A's struck first on a solo homer by the surprisingKen Holtzman in the third. The Dodgers came right back in their half of the fourth on a two-run triple byBill Russell. Holtzman settled into a groove after that, surrendering no runs before yielding toRollie Fingers in the eighth.

The A's took control of the game with four runs in the sixth offAndy Messersmith.Bill North led off with a walk and went to second on a wild pickoff throw by Messersmith.Sal Bando singled home North to tie it. After aReggie Jackson walk, aJoe Rudi sacrifice bunt, and an intentional walk toClaudell Washington,Jim Holt pinch-hit forRay Fosse and singled in two runs. An RBI groundout byDick Green capped off the rally. Fingers pitched the final1+2⁄3 innings for his first save of the series.

The A's stakedVida Blue to a 2–0 lead with single runs in the first and second innings on a sacrifice fly bySal Bando and a homer byRay Fosse. The Dodgers tied it in the sixth with two runs on a sacrifice fly byJimmy Wynn and an RBI single bySteve Garvey.

Joe Rudi got what would turn out to be the game-winning RBI when he tagged Dodger ace relieverMike Marshall with a homer in the bottom of the seventh. The half-inning was delayed whenBill Buckner complained of A's fans throwing debris onto the field. Marshall, who always pitched in short sleeves, disdained his allowance of eight warm up pitches after coming in from the bullpen even after the delay. Rudi then proceeded to deposit Marshall's first pitch over the left field wall.

In the Dodgers half of the eighth, Buckner led off with a base hit to center that got past center fielderBill North. Buckner had an easy double, but tried to stretch it to a triple andReggie Jackson, backing up North, fired a perfect throw toDick Green, who relayed toSal Bando at third to nail Buckner and squelch the last Dodger threat.Rollie Fingers got his second save and was namedSeries MVP.

Four of the five games had the score of 3–2.Mike Marshall of theLos Angeles Dodgers was the only pitcher to appear in all five games of a five-game World Series, as of 2014^[update].

The Dodgers got six more hits than the A's but scored five fewer runs, showing their lack of timely hitting. They also made six errors in five games, in addition to a number of mental errors.

The champion A's batted only .211 in the Series, the lowest in a five-game Series since theBaltimore Orioles hit .146 and lost in1969.

As of 2021^[update], the A's are the only team besides the Yankees to win three consecutive World Series.

This was the first World Series to end at night. While it opened with traditional day games (1 pmPDT) on the weekend in Los Angeles, the three weeknight games in Oakland (5:30 pm PDT) were all in prime-time (for theEastern andCentral time zones).

As World Series champions, the A's earned a postseason bonus of$22,219 each; the Dodger shares were $15,704 each, while theOrioles andPirates took about $7,400 each.^[7]

This was the last major league championship for a Bay Area team won in its home stadium or arena until theGolden State Warriors won the2017 NBA Finals in Oakland, ending a streak of 13 Bay Area championships won in an opponent or neutral stadium or arena.^[8] Also, with theWarriors winning the1975 NBA Finals, Oakland (and the Bay Area in particular) won both the World Series and NBA championship in a span of a season or calendar year, a distinction previously earned by New York when theMets andKnicks won their league championships within a year's span. This was followed by the Los Angeles metropolitan area in 1981–82 (Dodgers andLakers), 1988 (Dodgers andLakers), 2002 (Angels andLakers) and 2020 (Lakers andDodgers), Boston in 2007–08 (Red Sox andCeltics), and the San Francisco Bay Area in 2014–15 (Giants andWarriors).

1974 World Series(4–1):Oakland Athletics (A.L.) overLos Angeles Dodgers (N.L.)

At the time, the winning margin of five runs tied for second-lowest for a five-game series (with1933 and1942); the1915 margin was two runs, and three runs in 2000.

• 1974 Japan Series

• Cohen, Richard M.; Neft, David S. (1990).The World Series: Complete Play-By-Play of Every Game, 1903–1989. New York: St. Martin's Press. pp. 351–354.ISBN 0-312-03960-3.
• Reichler, Joseph (1982).The Baseball Encyclopedia (5th ed.). Macmillan Publishing. p. 2194.ISBN 0-02-579010-2.
• Forman, Sean L."1974 World Series".Baseball-Reference.com – Major League Statistics and Information.Archived from the original on November 30, 2007. RetrievedDecember 9, 2007.

• 1974 World Series atWorldSeries.com viaMLB.com
• 1974 World Series atBaseball Almanac
• 1974 World Series atBaseball-Reference.com
• The 1974 Post-Season Games (box scores and play-by-play) atRetrosheet
• History of the World Series - 1974 atThe Sporting News. Archived fromthe original in May 2006.
• Triple Crown to the Clowns at SI.com
• Baseball's 25 Greatest Moments: Reggie Jackson's Three HomersArchived April 11, 2005, at theWayback Machine
• The 1974 Oakland Athletics at baseballlibrary.com
• The 1974 Los Angeles Dodgers at baseballlibrary.com