Do you notice anything odd about the A's using so many players? Bert Campaneris played all nine positions in this game. That's not the full story.
Sure, the team did this as a publicity stunt.
Things that I didn't know about the game since it was before my time:
1. The game went 13 innings and the A's won.
2. Many of the A's players were rotated around the field to make this stunt work. The box score tracks that. The A's used 24 players.
3. Campaneris only played into the ninth inning. After pitching in the 8th inning he caught the top of the ninth inning tagging out a runner at home. He was then injured on a play at the plate in the ninth inning. I can't figure out this injury since the baseball-reference.com box score doesn't show him batting in the 9th. He was in the on-deck circle, so he must have been directing the runner who was tagged out to end the inning. He didn't play again for six days.
4. He stole a base during the game, his 49th of the season. He also scored the first run of the game.
5. He recorded 5 putouts (LF, CF) and 1 assist (in a run-down). He made an error on a fly ball in RF.
6. He gave up two walks, a single and one run in the 8th inning. He also gave up a stolen base to Ed Kirkpatrick who averaged just over two SBs per season.
7. Campaneris batted first for the A's. His cousin, Jose Cardenal, was also the lead-off hitter for the Angels in this game.
So . . . the A's moved, and then became dominant. I hadn't realized that. Worked out for KC anyway with the Royals.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know that that was a publicity stunt!