This Date In Sox History 8/12

[Lip Man 1]

This Date In Sox History

August 12, 1972

Sox at Oakland

‘Outhouse or Penthouse?’

Wilbur Wood was a great pitcher... a three time All Star, a four time twenty game winner, he had 57 saves and 163 wins with the White Sox. He was named the 1968 American League Fireman Of The Year, he was named the American League Pitcher Of The Year in 1972 and was also named as the left handed starting pitcher on The Sporting News 1972 American League All Star Team.

Wood led the American League in 33 different categories during his playing days, most of them in the ‘good’ column but this was his greatest game.

The Sox had cut a seemingly safe A’s lead of eight and a half games down to one when they went into the Coliseum to play a monster four game series. They had split the first two games of this series and on Sunday, Wood took the mound against John ‘Blue Moon’ Odom. Odom and Wood matched each other pitch for pitch. The game was scoreless until the 9th when Dick Allen led off with a triple and was driven home on a Carlos May sacrifice fly. In the last of the 9th, Wood had two outs when pinch hitter Brant Alyea homered tying the game. Odom left with two outs in the 10th inning. Wood kept going and when Ed Spezio slammed a two run home run off Rollie Fingers in the 11th it made him the winning pitcher after he closed out Oakland in their half of the frame. It was Wilbur’s 20th win of the year. The game took only two hours and forty five minutes when he walked off the mound a 3-1 winner having fired a two hitter. The Sox were now tied for first place in the division.

As far as the four game series itself, it may have been the best series in the entire decade! The series began on a Friday night with a game that wound up being suspended due to curfew tied at three. It was picked up on Saturday afternoon and would go nineteen innings before the Sox lost 5-3 on a two run home run from Joe Rudi. In the regularly scheduled game, Cub castoff Dave Lemons would out duel "Catfish" Hunter as he and Cy Acosta combined to hold the A’s to two hits and win 1-0. Wood then repeated the feat on Sunday. The Monday game then saw Vida Blue shut out the Sox 3-0 for a split. It was quite a series.

Oh as far as the phrase, ‘outhouse or penthouse,’ that became the battle cry of the 1972 Sox and their fans. It was uttered by Sox outfielder Rick Reichardt after this game when asked by the media where the Sox were going. History shown the Sox didn’t go to either place finishing a memorable strike shortened season with 87 wins, the most since the 1967 season, and ended up only five and a half games behind the eventual World Champions.

Lip

[ode to veeck]

People talk about the Sox dark ages in the 70s, but that '72 team and that series against the A's was tough.

That A's team was arguably one of the better team of the last 50 years, and went on to threepeat WS wins, the only non-Yankee team to ever pull that one off.

(YankMes had a fourpeat in the 30s, a fivepeat in early 50s, and then another threepeat '98-'00).

[chisoxt]

This Date In Sox History

August 12, 1972

Sox at Oakland

‘Outhouse or Penthouse?’

Wilbur Wood was a great pitcher... a three time All Star, a four time twenty game winner, he had 57 saves and 163 wins with the White Sox. He was named the 1968 American League Fireman Of The Year, he was named the American League Pitcher Of The Year in 1972 and was also named as the left handed starting pitcher on The Sporting News 1972 American League All Star Team.

Wood led the American League in 33 different categories during his playing
days, most of them in the ‘good’ column but this was his greatest game.

The Sox had cut a seemingly safe A’s lead of eight and a half games down to one when they went into the Coliseum to play a monster four game series. They had split the first two games of this series and on Sunday, Wood took the mound against John ‘Blue Moon’ Odom. Odom and Wood matched each other pitch for pitch. The game was scoreless until the 9th when Dick Allen led off with a triple and was driven home on a Carlos May sacrifice fly. In the last of the 9th, Wood had two outs when pinch hitter Brant Alyea homered tying the game. Odom left with two outs in the 10th inning. Wood kept going and when Ed Spezio slammed a two run home run off Rollie Fingers in the 11th it made him the winning pitcher after he closed out Oakland in their half of the frame. It was Wilbur’s 20th win of the year. The game took only two hours and forty five minutes when he walked off the mound a 3-1 winner having fired a two hitter. The Sox were now tied for first place in the division.

Lip

The Sox starting pithers that year, Wood, Stan Bahnsen, Tom Bradley all pitched on either two or three days rest. Dave Lemons was only used as a spot starter.

Also, that year, they had a terriffic record at home but struggled on the road. Otherwise it was an absoutely phenominal year, especially considering how much the Sox blew from '68-70...I saw Dick Allen hit a home run in the centerfield bleachers that Harry Caray almost caught with his net!!! Also, I saw the game when Dick Allen hit a three-run walk-off HR in the bottom of the ninth off Sparky Lyle of the Yanks in the second game of a double header sweep.

Thanks for the great memories!

[TomBradley72]

If Melton hadn't hurt his back.....

[michned]

'72 was really the first year I followed baseball religiously, reading box scores, knowing player numbers, batting averages, etc. I vividly remember my Dad making sure I knew how special that year was. My boys still don't believe that that summer, I would wake up, run to the park to play baseball, come home for lunch, watch the Cubs lose, go out in the street and play more ball, eat dinner, and then watch the Sox in the evening.

[chisoxfan64]

'72 was really the first year I followed baseball religiously, reading box scores, knowing player numbers, batting averages, etc. I vividly remember my Dad making sure I knew how special that year was. My boys still don't believe that that summer, I would wake up, run to the park to play baseball, come home for lunch, watch the Cubs lose, go out in the street and play more ball, eat dinner, and then watch the Sox in the evening.

You just described what my friends and I did all summer as well.:D:

[TomBradley72]

You just described what my friends and I did all summer as well.:D:

Non stop wiffle ball from when the grass was wet with dew in the morning until the street lights went on at night.

Here's a link to retrosheet for the box score:

http://www.retrosheet.org/

If it wasn't for Brent Alyea...Wilbur had a no-no.

[Lip Man 1]

Chisoxt:

I was at both of the games you mentioned myself. I missed catching Allen's center field blast by about ten feet. I thought Harry was going to have his first heart attact right then and then when he almost caught the damn thing in his net.

Lip