The1972American League Championship Series was the best-of-five semifinal series inMajor League Baseball’s (MLB)1972 postseason between theOakland Athletics and theDetroit Tigers for the right to go to the1972 World Series. The fourth edition of the ALCS was held from October 7 to October 12.

The first two games were played at theOakland-Alameda County Coliseum, and the final three atTiger Stadium. In each of the first four games, the home team prevailed; the Athletics won the deciding fifth game 2–1 on the road to take their firstAmerican League pennant since1931.^[1][2]

The Athletics won the first two games of the series at home, and one of this series' most memorable moments came in the seventh inning of Game 2. Oakland shortstopBert Campaneris came to bat, having had three hits, two runs scored, and two stolen bases in his first three at-bats in the game. Detroit relieverLerrin LaGrow's first pitch hit Campaneris in the ankle; he staggered for a moment, glared at LaGrow and then flung his bat toward the mound. The bat spiraled at LaGrow five feet (1.5 m) off the ground, but LaGrow ducked, and the bat narrowly missed him, landing a few feet behind the mound. The benches cleared, and while there were no punches thrown or other incidents involving players, Tigers managerBilly Martin had to be restrained by umpires and teammates to prevent him from going after Campaneris.^[3] Both LaGrow and Campaneris were suspended for the rest of the ALCS.^[4][5] Interestingly, this was a rare case where a manager, in this caseBilly Martin, would manage in the postseason against a team that they either once managed or would later manage as he did for theOakland Athletics from 1980 through 1982.

After Game 2, the Series moved toDetroit, where the Tigers fought back and won the next two. Game 4 was one of the best of the early LCS era, going ten innings, with the Tigers pulling out the victory. After it was 1–1 at the end of nine innings, the Athletics scored two runs in the top of the tenth, and it looked as if the series was over. However, the Tigers responded with three runs to win, 4–3. Detroit scored on two singles, a walk, and an error on a potential double play grounder which produced the first run.

With the bases loaded,Norm Cash walked, forcing in the tying run. The Athletics' infield and outfield were positioned shallow for a play at the plate;Jim Northrup hit a deep fly ball offDave Hamilton to drive in the winning run.^[6]

In Game 5, the starting pitchers wereBlue Moon Odom of the Athletics andWoodie Fryman of the Tigers. In the second inning on a double steal, center fielder and cleanup hitterReggie Jackson scored from third base, but was injured and was out for the season. After two innings, the game was 1–1. But by the fourth, it was clear runs wouldn't come easy, so whenGeorge Hendrick scored on aGene TenaceRBI single, the Tigers knew they were in trouble. By the ninth inning, Odom andVida Blue had combined to pitch seven scoreless innings. With the Athletics up 2–1, it came down to the bottom of the ninth, as the Tigers faced Blue.Norm Cash singled, but that was it asTony Taylor flied to center for the final out. Odom got the win, Blue got the save, and the Athletics were a World Series team for the first time in Oakland,^[1][2] and won the first ofthreestraight American League pennants.

Oakland won the series, 3–2.

Game 1 pitted ace pitchersCatfish Hunter for the Athletics andMickey Lolich for the Tigers, and, as expected, both were brilliant.Norm Cash homered to give the Tigers a 1–0 lead in the second inning, and the A's tied it in the third on aJoe Rudi sacrifice fly.

The score remained at 1–1 as the Tigers threatened in their half of the ninth.Duke Sims led off with a double off Hunter.Vida Blue came on in relief to pitch to left-handed hittingNorm Cash. Cash laid down a sacrifice bunt, but reached first when second basemanTed Kubiak, covering first, droppedSal Bando's throw. Sims reached third.Rollie Fingers then came in to face pinch hitterGates Brown and got him on a foul pop fly.Jim Northrup then bounced into a 4–6–3double play to end the threat.

Al Kaline gave the Tigers a 2–1 lead in the eleventh with a homer off Fingers and looked like a hero at that point. In the bottom of the 11th, Lolich gave up back-to-back singles toSal Bando andMike Epstein.Chuck Seelbach relieved Lolich.Gene Tenace attempted a sacrifice bunt, but third basemanAurelio Rodríguez pounced on it and forcedBlue Moon Odom, running for Bando, at third. Tigers shortstopEd Brinkman then fired to first, his throw pullingDick McAuliffe covering first off the bag. McAuliffe appeared to tag Tenace out, but he was called safe.Gonzalo Marquez pinch hit forDal Maxvill and grounded a base hit to right, scoringMike Hegan, running for Epstein, and tying the game. Tenace attempted to advance to third, and Kaline's throw from right field skipped past Rodriguez, allowing Tenace to score and win the game for the Athletics.

Bert Campaneris was a sparkplug from the start. He led off the game for the Athletics with a single offWoodie Fryman and promptly stole second and third.Joe Rudi then batted him in with a one-out single.

The Athletics plated four more runs in the fifth whenGeorge Hendrick pinch-hit a single and went to second on aBlue Moon Odom sacrifice. Campaneris singled Hendrick to third andMatty Alou singled him in.Chris Zachary relieved Fryman and threw two wild pitches, scoring Campaneris and sending Alou to third. After Rudi walked,Reggie Jackson blasted a two-run double to make it 5–0.

Odom got the win for the Athletics, who now had a 2–0 lead, but would play without Campaneris for the remainder of the Championship Series, on account of a suspension he was issued due to the bat-throwing incident described in the overview above.

Joe Coleman put the Tigers back into the series by throwing a complete-game, seven-hit shutout, striking out a then ALCS record 14 batters. Coleman was aided by a two-run single in the fourth byIke Brown and a homer byBill Freehan in the eighth.

Game 4 was the most exciting of the series; for eight innings, it was a tight pitching duel between Game 1 acesCatfish Hunter andMickey Lolich. The only runs across were aDick McAuliffe homer for the Tigers in the third and aMike Epstein homer for the Athletics -- Oakland's only home run in the series -- in the seventh.

In the sixth, Athletics second basemanDick Green was hurt on a hard slide byNorm Cash trying to break up a double play. Athletics managerDick Williams moved catcherGene Tenace to second because no other healthy players were available. Tenace had last played second base in high school, and this inexperience was soon costly.

The Tigers threatened in both the eighth and ninth innings. In the eighth, McAuliffe walked and was sacrificed to second byAl Kaline.Mickey Stanley reached on an infield hit, sending McAuliffe to third.Rollie Fingers relieved Hunter andBilly Martin called for a suicide squeeze that failed and McAuliffe was thrown out trying to score. Fingers then struck outBill Freehan for the final out. In the ninth, with two outs,Tony Taylor doubled andVida Blue intentionally walkedAurelio Rodríguez. Blue then retired pinch-hitterWillie Horton on a fly to center.

In the tenth, the Athletics took a two-run lead whenGonzalo Marquez continued his pinch-hitting heroics with a one-out single.Matty Alou doubled home Marquez and went to third on the throw home.Ted Kubiak then hit a bloop single to right with Alou scoring for a 3–1 lead. AfterJoe Rudi was retired,Reggie Jackson reached on a throwing error by Rodriguez with Kubiak reaching third. However, no more Athletics runs scored asSal Bando made the last out of the inning.

The Tigers rallied in the bottom of the tenth, starting with singles by McAuliffe and Kaline. Athletics relieverJoe Horlen's wild pitch advanced the runners to second and third andGates Brown walked to load the bases with no outs.Bill Freehan then grounded an apparent double play ball to third, but the inexperienced Tenace at second droppedSal Bando's throw. McAuliffe scored and everybody was safe.Dave Hamilton then relieved Horlen and promptly walkedNorm Cash to tie the game, and then gave up a walk-off single toJim Northrup, a ball hit over right fielder Matty Alou's head (the outfield was drawn in), scoring Brown with the winning run.

The Tigers struck in the first offBlue Moon Odom whenDick McAuliffe led off with a single. After a one-out walk toDuke Sims, a passed ball byGene Tenace put the runners on second and third. McAuliffe scored whenBill Freehan grounded out.

In the second, center fielder and cleanup hitterReggie Jackson led off for the Athletics with a walk and stole second.Sal Bando's fly to right sent Jackson to third. AfterMike Epstein was hit by aWoodie Fryman pitch,Dick Williams ordered a double steal. Jackson collided with Freehan and scored, but Jackson tore his left hamstring and was sidelined for the remainder of the postseason.

The Athletics got the winning tally in the fourth whenGeorge Hendrick, Jackson's replacement, reached on a ground ball to shortstop McAuliffe that was ruled a throwing error when Norm Cash's foot was pulled off first base. Cash andBilly Martin argued that the foot never left the base, but to no avail. Bando sacrificed Hendrick to second, andGene Tenace, making amends for his earlier passed ball, singled Hendrick home for his only hit and RBI of the series.

Odom got the win andVida Blue the save in four innings of relief as the Athletics, minus Jackson, won their first pennant since 1931 and moved on to theWorld Series.^[1][2]

The Athletics won despite a team batting average of .224; superb pitching by Oakland held the Tigers to a meager .198 team batting average in the pitchers-dominated series.

1972 ALCS(3–2):Oakland Athletics overDetroit Tigers

As an odd precursor to what became an explosive relationship years later,Billy Martin visited the Athletics locker room and consoledReggie Jackson, expressing regret that he would miss theWorld Series. Even without Jackson, the Athletics went on to beat theCincinnati Reds in the World Series in seven games, which was the start of a World Series three-peat. Martin later managed Jackson on the Yankees in1977-1978 and1979 (Martin was fired during the 1978 season, but re-hired during the 1979 season). Famously, Martin and Jackson had a verbal argument that almost led to a brawl in June 1977 atFenway Park over Jackson's lack of hustle on a fly ball, requiring coaches and players to intervene.^[12] Another major incident was in July 1978 when Jackson disobeyed Martin's bunt order in a key situation, leading to a suspension.^[13] Despite these tussles, Martin and Jackson would win a World Series together in1977.

This would be the Tigers’ last postseason appearance for12 years, when Detroit would win 104 games and advance to the postseason, where they would eventually win the1984 World Series.

The Tigers and Athletics have since met three times in the postseason, with Detroit winning all three: a four-game sweep in the2006 ALCS, and winning a pair of decisive 5-game Division Series in2012 and2013.

• 1972 ALCS at Baseball-Reference

• 1972 Major League Baseball season
• American League Championship Series
• Oakland Athletics postseason
• Detroit Tigers postseason
• 1972 in sports in California
• 1972 in sports in Michigan
• 1972 in Detroit
• 1970s in Oakland, California
• October 1972 sports events in the United States
• Baseball competitions in Detroit
• Baseball competitions in Oakland, California

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