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I'll never get over the Oakland A's destroying my Big Red Machine (was it 1974?). Was it Sal Bando that hit all those homers? Damn, what a pi$$er!

Those Oakland Athletics began their World Series three-peat against the Big Red Machine in the 1972 Series, winning in seven games. Here were the home runs:

Game One: Gene Tenace, Oakland (2)
Game Two: Joe Rudi, Oakland
Game Three: None
Game Four: Tenace
Game Five: Pete Rose, Denis Menke, Cincinnati
Game Six: Johnny Bench, Cincinnati
Game Seven: None

In 1973, the A's took on my surprise New York Mets (they'd won the NL East after starting September at the bottom of the heap and beat the Reds in a somewhat wild League Championship Series). The A's won in another arduous seven-game set. Here were the home runs:

Game One: None
Game Two: Cleon Jones, Wayne Garrett, Mets.
Game Three: Garrett
Game Four: Rusty Staub, Mets
Game Five: None
Game Six: None
Game Seven: Bert Campaneris, Reggie Jackson, Athletics

Finally, the A's got the Los Angeles Dodgers for the 1974 Series, and of all three of the consecutive Series triumphs it was against the Dodgers that Gang Green had their easiest time, winning in five. Here were the home runs:

Game One: Jimmy (The Toy Cannon) Wynn, Dodgers; Reggie Jackson, Athletics
Game Two: Joe Ferguson, Dodgers.
Game Three: Bill Buckner (yes - that Bill Buckner), Willie Crawford, Dodgers.
Game Four: Ken Holtzman (believe it - or not), Athletics.
Game Five: Ray Fosse, Joe Rudi, Athletics.

Kind of looks to me like Gene Tenace and Joe Rudi did the bulk of the long bomb damage against the Big Red Machine. I still remember people saying how surprising it was that even the Mets' precision pitching staff was keeping the Oakland big boppers in the park until Campaneris (who wasn't exactly a big bopper) and Jackson unloaded in the final game. It's probably even more surprising that the 1972-74 A's, who were the powerhouse their reputation has had them being, won only one of those three straight Series titles in less than seven games, and that even the 1973 Mets - who'd turned it on in the final month and made themselves play like the only quality team in a very weak NL East that year (they went 27-13 after 20 August and it included winning 21 out of their last 29 games) - could have taken those A's to a seventh game. The 1974 Dodgers, who were probably a somewhat better team than the 1973 Mets, were probably stunned that the Series ended in five.

One correction: Howard Ehmke delivered his surprise World Series performance in the 1929, not 1931 World Series, meaning his strikeout record lasted 24 years until Carl Erskine broke it.