The 1972-1974 Oakland A's: How the Mustache Gang Won Three Straight World Series

Quick answer: The Oakland A's won the World Series in 1972, 1973 and 1974, beating the Cincinnati Reds in seven games, the New York Mets in seven and the Los Angeles Dodgers in five. Charlie Finley's mustachioed club, led by Reggie Jackson, Catfish Hunter and Rollie Fingers, remains the only team besides the Yankees to win three straight titles.

This is the story of the three-year run, season by season. For every player who appeared in the first championship year, see the full 1972 Oakland A's roster, and for how this dynasty fits alongside the franchise's other championships, see our Oakland A's World Series history.

Why Were the 1972-1974 A's Called the Mustache Gang?

The nickname started with Reggie Jackson. He reported to spring training in 1972 wearing a mustache. According to the SABR biography of Charlie Finley, the owner first tried privately to get Jackson to shave it off, then decided to cash in on it instead. Finley staged a "Mustache Night," let mustached fans in at a reduced price, and paid a bonus to every player who wore one for that game. The National Baseball Hall of Fame puts the offer at $300 per player.

Every player and coach went along, most kept the look all season, and a few grew beards. The press called the team the Mustache Gang, and the label stuck through all three titles. Rollie Fingers' handlebar became the most famous result; the Hall of Fame calls it his trademark.

The look fit the owner. Finley was a constant tinkerer who, by SABR's count, made 19 trades in 1972 alone. But the heart of the roster was homegrown. Between 1964 and 1966, while the club was still in Kansas City, Finley spent heavily signing some 200 players, a group that included Hunter, Fingers and Jackson, plus Joe Rudi, Gene Tenace, John "Blue Moon" Odom and Sal Bando.

The Three-Year Run at a Glance

• 1972: 93-62, first in the AL West under Dick Williams. Beat the Detroit Tigers 3 games to 2 in the ALCS, then the Cincinnati Reds 4 games to 3 in the World Series. World Series MVP: Gene Tenace.
• 1973: 94-68, first in the AL West under Williams. Beat the Baltimore Orioles 3-2 in the ALCS, then the New York Mets 4-3. World Series MVP: Reggie Jackson.
• 1974: 90-72, first in the AL West under Alvin Dark. Beat Baltimore 3-1 in the ALCS, then the Los Angeles Dodgers 4-1. World Series MVP: Rollie Fingers.

That adds up to 277 regular-season wins, three pennants and three championships. Oakland went 9-5 across the three ALCS and 12-7 across the three World Series. The 1972 club played only 155 games, which is why its record looks short next to the other two.

How Did the A's Win the 1972 World Series?

The 1972 A's won the division on pitching, led by Catfish Hunter at 21-7 with a 2.04 ERA. Ken Holtzman went 19-11, Blue Moon Odom went 15-6, and Fingers saved 21 games out of the bullpen. Joe Rudi hit .305 with 181 hits and finished second in the AL MVP voting.

The ALCS against Detroit went the full five games. Oakland won the deciding Game 5 by a score of 2-1 on October 12, with Odom getting the win and Vida Blue the save. It came at a cost. In that game, Jackson broke for home on a double steal and felt his hamstring give. As his SABR biography describes, he spent the World Series on crutches in the dugout with his foot in a cast.

Without their biggest star, the A's found an unlikely hero. Gene Tenace, a part-time catcher who had hit just five home runs in 82 regular-season games, homered in his first two World Series at-bats in Game 1 at Cincinnati, the first player ever to do that. He added home runs in Games 4 and 5 and finished the series with four homers, nine RBI and a .348 average, tying the record for home runs in a World Series. He was named World Series MVP.

It was one of the tightest Fall Classics ever played. Six of the seven games were decided by one run:

• Game 1, October 14: A's 3, Reds 2
• Game 2, October 15: A's 2, Reds 1 (Hunter win, Fingers save)
• Game 3, October 18: Reds 1, A's 0
• Game 4, October 19: A's 3, Reds 2 (Fingers win)
• Game 5, October 20: Reds 5, A's 4
• Game 6, October 21: Reds 8, A's 1
• Game 7, October 22: A's 3, Reds 2 (Hunter win, Fingers save)

Oakland won Game 7 in Cincinnati for the franchise's first championship since the Philadelphia A's of 1930.

How Did the A's Beat the Mets in 1973?

ld Series in 1972, 1973 and 1974, beating the Cincinnati Reds in seven games, the New York Mets in seven and the Los Angeles Dodgers in five.

The 1973 team was the most complete of the three. Oakland had three 20-game winners: Holtzman went 21-13, Hunter went 21-5, and Blue went 20-9. Jackson, healthy again, led the American League with 32 home runs and 117 RBI while batting .293. He was the unanimous AL MVP, taking all 24 first-place votes, per Baseball-Reference's 1973 awards voting. Sal Bando added 29 home runs and 98 RBI, Gene Tenace moved to first base and hit 24 homers, and new center fielder Bill North stole 53 bases.

The ALCS against Baltimore again went five games. Hunter won Game 2 and then closed it out in Game 5, a 3-0 win in Oakland on October 11.

The World Series against the Mets is remembered as much for Finley as for the baseball. After second baseman Mike Andrews made two errors in the 12th inning of Game 2, a 10-7 Mets win, Finley pressured Andrews into signing a statement that he was injured and tried to replace him on the roster. The players rallied around their teammate, and Commissioner Bowie Kuhn ordered Andrews reinstated. When he pinch-hit in Game 4 in New York, the Mets crowd gave him a long standing ovation.

The Mets took a 3-2 series lead with a 2-0 win in Game 5. Back in Oakland, Hunter beat Tom Seaver 3-1 in Game 6, with Fingers getting the save. In Game 7 on October 21, Holtzman won and Darold Knowles closed out a 5-2 victory. Jackson hit his first World Series home run in that game and finished the series at .310 with six RBI, earning World Series MVP. Knowles pitched in all seven games of the series without allowing an earned run.

The celebration was short. In the clubhouse after Game 7, Dick Williams announced he was quitting.

How Did the A's Finish the Three-Peat in 1974?

Finley refused to release Williams from his contract, the American League blocked his move to the Yankees, and the A's went without a manager until late February 1974, when Finley hired Alvin Dark. Dark's team won 90 games and a fourth straight division title.

Hunter went 25-12 with a league-leading 2.49 ERA and won the AL Cy Young Award, according to his Hall of Fame biography. Rudi hit .293 with 22 home runs, 99 RBI and 39 doubles, won a Gold Glove and finished second in the MVP voting for the second time in three years. Bando drove in 103 runs and finished third.

Finley also added one of the strangest roster spots in baseball history: Herb Washington, a world-class sprinter used only as a pinch runner. Washington appeared in 92 games in 1974 without a single plate appearance, stealing 29 bases and getting caught 16 times.

Baltimore won the ALCS opener 6-3, then managed one run in the next three games. Holtzman won Game 2, 5-0, Blue beat Jim Palmer 1-0 in Game 3, and Hunter won the 2-1 clincher on October 9 with Fingers saving it.

The World Series against the Dodgers was another one-run grind. Four of the five games ended 3-2:

• Game 1, October 12: A's 3, Dodgers 2 (Fingers win, Hunter save)
• Game 2, October 13: Dodgers 3, A's 2
• Game 3, October 15: A's 3, Dodgers 2 (Hunter win)
• Game 4, October 16: A's 5, Dodgers 2 (Holtzman win, Fingers save)
• Game 5, October 17: A's 3, Dodgers 2 (Odom win, Fingers save)

Fingers won one game and saved two, with a 1.93 ERA over 9.1 innings, and was named World Series MVP. Across the three Fall Classics, the Hall of Fame credits him with winning or saving eight of Oakland's 12 World Series victories.

Who Were the Key Players on the Mustache Gang?

Regular-season stats below are from Baseball-Reference's 1972, 1973 and 1974 Oakland Athletics pages.

Starting Pitchers

• Catfish Hunter: 21-7, 2.04 ERA (1972); 21-5, 3.34 (1973); 25-12, 2.49 (1974).
• Ken Holtzman: 19-11, 2.51 (1972); 21-13, 2.97 (1973); 19-17, 3.07 (1974).
• Vida Blue: 6-10, 2.80 (1972); 20-9, 3.28 (1973); 17-15, 3.25 (1974).
• Blue Moon Odom: 15-6, 2.50 (1972), plus two of Oakland's three wins in the 1972 ALCS.

Bullpen

• Rollie Fingers: 21 saves, 2.51 ERA (1972); 22 saves, 1.92 (1973); 18 saves, 2.65 in 76 games (1974).
• Darold Knowles: 1.37 ERA and 11 saves (1972); 9 saves (1973).
• Paul Lindblad: 2.06 ERA in 100.2 innings (1974), plus the win in Game 3 of the 1973 World Series.

Lineup

• Reggie Jackson, OF: 25 HR, 75 RBI (1972); 32 HR, 117 RBI, .293 (1973); 29 HR, 93 RBI, .289 (1974).
• Sal Bando, 3B: 15 HR, 77 RBI (1972); 29 HR, 98 RBI (1973); 22 HR, 103 RBI (1974).
• Joe Rudi, LF: .305, 181 hits (1972); .270 (1973); .293, 22 HR, 99 RBI (1974).
• Bert Campaneris, SS: 52 steals (1972); 34 steals in both 1973 and 1974, with a .290 average in 1974.
• Gene Tenace, C/1B: 82 games as a part-timer (1972); 24 HR, 101 walks (1973); 26 HR, 110 walks (1974).
• Bill North, CF: 53 steals (1973) and 54 steals (1974).
• Mike Epstein, 1B: 26 HR, .270 (1972).
• Dave Duncan and Ray Fosse, C: Duncan played 121 games with 19 HR in 1972; Fosse played 143 games in 1973.
• Dick Green, 2B: 133 games in 1973 and 100 in 1974.

Which Mustache Gang A's Are in the Hall of Fame?

Three players and one manager from these teams are in the National Baseball Hall of Fame:

• Catfish Hunter: elected in 1987.
• Rollie Fingers: inducted in 1992.
• Reggie Jackson: elected in 1993 (Hall of Fame profile).
• Dick Williams: elected in 2008 as a manager (Hall of Fame profile).

The award voting shows how deep the roster ran. Beyond Jackson's 1973 MVP and Hunter's 1974 Cy Young, Rudi was MVP runner-up in 1972 and 1974, Bando finished fourth in 1973 and third in 1974, and Hunter also placed fourth and third in the Cy Young voting in 1972 and 1973.

Why Did the A's Dynasty End?

Money ended it. After the 1974 season Hunter was declared a free agent because Finley failed to make payments his contract required, and he signed with the Yankees for $3.75 million over five years, as his Hall of Fame biography notes. Oakland still won the AL West in 1975, a fifth straight division title, but did not return to the World Series. Jackson was gone after 1975, and Fingers signed with San Diego as a free agent after 1976. The core that Finley signed in the mid-1960s was scattered within two years of the 1974 title.

The franchise would not reach another World Series until the Bash Brothers era, when Tony La Russa's clubs won three straight pennants from 1988 to 1990. Our look at the Bash Brothers A's covers that run.

What the Mustache Gang Means for Las Vegas Fans

Championships travel with the franchise, not the city. The three titles of 1972, 1973 and 1974 belong to the same club now building a ballpark on the Las Vegas Strip, and they remain the only three-peat outside the Bronx in World Series history. For a team starting over in a new market, that is a big part of the story it brings with it.

Sources

• Baseball-Reference, 1972, 1973 and 1974 Oakland Athletics season pages (records, managers, batting and pitching stats)
• Baseball-Reference World Series pages: 1972, 1973, 1974 (scores, dates, decisions, series stats, MVPs)
• Baseball-Reference ALCS pages: 1972, 1973, 1974
• Baseball-Reference awards voting: 1972, 1973, 1974, and the World Series history list
• SABR BioProject: Charlie Finley, Reggie Jackson, Gene Tenace, Herb Washington
• National Baseball Hall of Fame: Catfish Hunter, Rollie Fingers, Reggie Jackson, Dick Williams

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