This day in baseball history: A case of over-managing? You be the judge.
In November 1972, my law school friend Norm was flying from San Francisco to Chicago to interview for a summer associate job. He found himself sitting next to a big man of roughly his age. It was Gene Tenace.
Tenace, a backup catcher for the Oakland As, had just become an improbable World Series hero by belting four home runs in Oakland’s seven-game win over Cincinnati. Now, Tenace was doing the banquet circuit.
Part of that gig was answering questions from guests. Tenace asked Norm to shoot a few his way.
Norm recalled that I had criticized Dick Williams, Oakland’s skipper, for over-managing. Norm asked Tenace about that.
Tenace said he understood the criticism, but didn’t agree with it. Williams managed creatively, but it wasn’t overmanaging because it worked.
Looking back, I agree with Tenace. Williams was an innovator not, in general, an over-manager.
He used his excellent bullpen cannily and frequently put pinch runners to good use, perhaps at the urging of As owner, Charlie Finley. Most unconventionally of all, a year before the designated hitter came into existence, Williams more or less converted the number eight position in the batting order into a DH slot by constantly pinch hitting for his second basemen, often before the starter at that position had even one at-bat.
All of this was on display when Oakland and the Chicago White Sox played 15 innings on September 19, 1972. In fact, on this day in baseball history, Dick Williams became the first MLB manager to use 30 players — his entire roster — in a single game. (Colorado tied that record in 2015, but it won’t be broken in the foreseeable future because MLB no longer permits roster expansion in September beyond 28 players.)
Williams had good reason to manage this game aggressively. His team had jumped out to a nearly double-digit lead in the AL West in June, but on September 19, its lead over second-place Chicago was down to four games, with 13 to play in the strike-shortened season. This game would be the first of two between the teams. If the As won both, the AL West crown would surely be theirs. If Chicago won both, the race would be too close for Oakland’s comfort.
Here are some of my favorite facts about the game: Of the ten members of Oakland’s pitching staff, only seven pitched in this game. The other three appeared in non-pitching roles.
Williams used Vida Blue as a pinch runner. Ken Holtzman and Jim “Catfish” Hunter both pinch hit. Not only that, Hunter pinch hit for a position player, Alan Lewis. How often does a pitcher do that?
Lewis, nominally an outfielder, had become a pinch running specialist. He entered this game as a pinch runner for Mike Epstein in the eighth inning. He remained in the contest — one of only ten times in which he fielded a position in a career of 156 games — long enough to strike out bunting in the tenth and ground out in the twelfth.
In the top of the fourteenth, with Reggie Jackson on first and nobody out, a bunt was again in order. But instead of asking Lewis to lay it down, Williams sent Hunter to the plate. Catfish was a better hitter than Lewis, but his mission was to bunt.
This he did well enough to reach first with a hit. Unfortunately, the inning collapsed when, with the bases loaded and one out, Williams asked catcher Dave Duncan to execute a suicide squeeze. Duncan missed the ball and Jackson was picked off.
Overmanaging? In this case, probably.
Another fun fact. Tenace, who started the game at catcher, moved to second base in the tenth inning (only his second appearance at the position up until then) and ended up in right field. Larry Haney, the third string catcher, ended up at second base. It was the only time Haney played second in his 12-year big league career.
In all, Oakland used six different second basemen in this game: Dal Maxvil, Ted Kubiak, Dick Green, Tim Cullen, Tenace, and Haney.
This seemed to me like over-managing at the time. Even now, I think that, as a general matter, Williams shouldn’t have pinch hit for his second baseman the first time through the batting order as frequently as he did. But in this game, he did it trailing by three runs and with two men on base. So the decision made sense.
How did all of Williams’ managing work out for the As? They lost 8-7. Here is the box score and play-by-play. Here’s a discussion of the game from which this post borrows
Jorge Orta won it for Chicago with a home run in the 15th off of Gary Waslewski, Oakland’s seventh and final pitcher. Playing for Williams and the Boston Red Sox in 1967, Waslewski started Game Six of the World Series, which Boston won.
Goose Gossage was the winning pitcher for Chicago. He was one of two Hall of Fame relievers to pitch in this game.
The other was Rollie Fingers. He allowed a home run to light-hitting Luis Alvarado in the ninth inning to stretch Chicago’s lead to 5-3. This was one of only five homers Alvarado hit in over 1,000 major league at-bats.
Oakland overcame that deficit in the bottom of the ninth. With two out, Joe Rudi singled home Sal Bando and Bert Campanaris.
Oakland had to repeat the comeback feat in the bottom of the 13th. Duncan accomplished it with a two-run homer off of Moe Drabowsky, pitching in the final game of a 17-year career. Gossage came in to prevent further damage.
All of this set the stage for Orta’s home run. It gave the White Sox an 8-7 win.
Drabowski and Gossage were among the seven pitchers White Sox manager Chuck Tanner employed. In all, he got through the 15 innings with 21 players.
The game took 4 hours and 51 minutes to complete.
The teams played again the next night. I attended.
It was then, on September 20, that Oakland all but ended Chicago’s playoff hopes. Ken Holtzman was Williams’ starter. Gossage had struck him out on three pitches to end the game the night before. Holtzman was pinch hitting for Waslewski, meaning he would have had to pitch the 16th inning (at least) if the game had gone that far.
Wilbur Wood took the loss to bring his record to a remarkable 24-15.
Chicago’s win on September 19 was its last hurrah of the season. Oakland lost only four more regular season games and won the division by 5.5 games.
More drama awaited in the playoffs.