Best 50 — 1972 Oakland Athletics (#41)
Oakland’s battling club rises from the ashes of Kansas City
This newsletter is slowly traveling through the Best 50. That’s my list of history’s 50 greatest ballclubs, as ranked by my new book, Baseball’s Best (and Worst) Teams. Today’s story focuses on No. 41, the 1972 Oakland Athletics.
Here’s a quick boilerplate explanation that I’m appending to every story in this series:
I compiled the Best 50 by analyzing 2,544 major-league teams from 1903 to 2024. Those clubs have been ranked by their team scores (TS), which are plotted on a 100-point scale. (A given club’s all-time percentile is the percentage of the other 2,543 teams that it outperformed.)
See my book for an explanation of my TS calculations. The book also offers separate breakdowns of the best and worst clubs for every decade and franchise, comprehensive profiles of the Best 50 (including position-by-position lineups and much more information than you’ll find in this newsletter), and similar summaries of the 10 worst teams of all time.
Now on to today’s profile.
Facts and figures
Team: 1972 Oakland Athletics
Team score: 85.619 points
All-time rank: 41 of 2,544
All-time percentile: 98.43%
Season record: 93-62 (.600)
Season position: First place in American League West
Final status: World champion
Season summary
The Athletics spent 13 dismal seasons in Kansas City. They finished below .500 every year from 1955 through 1967.
The only positive development was their acquisition of young talent. Owner Charlie Finley drafted future stars Sal Bando, Vida Blue, Reggie Jackson, and Gene Tenace shortly before moving the franchise to Oakland in 1968. The head of the players’ union, Marvin Miller, bickered constantly with Finley, but acknowledged his skill in roster construction. “He was, without a doubt, the finest judge of baseball talent I ever saw at the head of a team,” Miller said.
The young A’s blossomed in Oakland, locking down first place in the American League West from 1971 to 1975. The ’72 squad raced to an 8.5-game lead by mid-July, frittered it away by late August, then accelerated to 24 victories in the final 35 games. Jackson credited his teammates with “never worrying, never fussing” about the divisional race. “We knew we would do it when we had to,” he said.
Baseball’s Best (and Worst) Teams
Get the complete lowdown on the 50 greatest (and 10 weakest) clubs of all time
Postseason summary
The Athletics did it the hard way in 1972. They won the first two games of the American League Championship Series, pushing Detroit to the brink of elimination. But the Tigers clawed back, forcing a decisive Game Five. Oakland eked out a 2-1 victory.
The same thing happened in the World Series. The A’s roared to a lead of three games to one, but the Reds rallied with a pair of victories. Oakland finally prevailed in Game Seven, 3-2.
Reggie Jackson missed the Cincinnati series after pulling a hamstring in the ALCS. “The worst feeling I’ve ever had, as an athlete and a human being, was the day we won the World Series,” said Jackson, who no longer felt part of the team. The void was filled by utility man Gene Tenace, who paced the A’s with four homers and nine RBIs.
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Lineup summary
The 1972 Athletics were combative. Clubhouse fights were common, as were disputes between the players and parsimonious Charlie Finley. “This team was 25 guys who hated their owner,” said manager Dick Williams.
A reporter suggested to Reggie Jackson that the continuing story of the A’s was their string of off-field controversies. The center fielder took offense. “The continuing story of the Oakland A’s,” he replied, “is that we win all the time.”
Jackson’s blend of power and speed established him as the club’s brightest star. He finished 1972 with 25 home runs, 75 runs batted in, and nine stolen bases, Oakland’s second-best totals in all three categories. The leaders were first baseman Mike Epstein (26 homers), third baseman Sal Bando (77 RBIs), and shortstop Bert Campaneris (52 steals).
Baltimore general manager Harry Dalton had famously praised Epstein’s strength — “he’s a kid who could hit 50 home runs” — though the hype never became reality. Epstein didn’t exceed 30 homers in any of his nine big-league seasons. The fiery Bando was prized not only for his run production, but for his leadership. “When Sal talked,” said Jackson, “people listened.” Campaneris was the quintessential leadoff man, topping the AL with his 52 stolen bases and 20 sacrifice bunts. “He was the guy who got everything started for us,” said pitcher Rollie Fingers.
Catfish Hunter ranked among the American League’s top four pitchers in ERA (third at 2.04), wins (fourth with 21), and innings (fourth with 295.1). “I faced Tom Seaver. I faced Jim Palmer,” said Jackson. “If I had to pick one man to win one game, it would be Catfish Hunter.”