American League
Oakland A’s (97-65) v Boston Red Sox (85-77)
Boston with a mild upset, knocking off an unusually clumsy A’s outfit in four tight games to at least partway avenge the losses in ’70 and ’71. It is the Oakland BP that lets them down here as the Sox win two of the three late. Norm Cash is named MVP.
National League
Pittsburgh Pirates (101-61) v Los Angeles Dodgers (97-65)
With Koufax, Drysdale, Sutton and Bryant going for them, the Dodgers are an especially tricky prospect in these short series, but the boys pull out all the stops in a riveting four-game series to keep the title defence dream alive. It looks like the series will be going the distance as Dave Giusti has a rare (these days) implosion and we trail by one entering the 9th in Game 4, but we manufacture the tying run and then score 3 in the top 11th to lock it down. Roberto Clemente goes 7-for-19 with 2 homers and 5 ribbies to take the MVP.
