We love baseball; we really do. We just prefer it in the past tense … so, welcome back to MLB Monday! It’s time for another postseason in review; this time it’s ’72 … ha, that rhymes. This marks the start of the only non-Yankees organization to ever win three straight World Series: the Oakland Athletics. Ironic, eh? The Swingin’ A’s are still a cultural icon in the sport, thanks to colorful personalists you will see here this month.

1972 World Series MVP: Gene Tenace, UTL, Oakland (original, confirmed)

The A’s beat the Cincinnati Reds in seven games to win their first World Series since 1930 when they were in Philadelphia. Oakland won Game 7 by 1 run on the road, and part-time utility player Gene Tenace (4 HRs, 9 RBI, 1.313 OPS) won the MVP vote after having the week of his young life—including two RBI in Game 7. The only true candidate on the A’s was starting pitcher Catfish Hunter (2-0, 2.81) who won the clincher.

Reds starting pitcher Jack Billingham (1-0, 1 save, 0.00 ERA) could also be a candidate, but he started Game 7 and couldn’t get the job done on home turf. So this comes down to Tenace or Hunter: this was a matchup with six one-run games, four of which Oakland won—and Hunter won both Games 2 and 7 that way on the road. His Game 7 appearance was in relief after he was knocked around in Game 5 at home.

While Hunter didn’t lose Game 5, the A’s did … so we will go with Tenace here, who played in just 82 games during the regular season. But he stepped up in the Series due to the absence of star hitter Reggie Jackson, out with an injury. It’s hard to overlook what Tenace did, since the rest of the Oakland lineup combined hit just 1 HR and drove in just 7 runs. Maybe the A’s still win without Hunter, but they don’t win without Tenace.

1972 AL Championship Series MVP: Blue Moon Odom, SP, Oakland

Oakland beat Detroit in 5 games to claim the pennant, winning Game 5 on the road by one run after jumping out to a 2-0 lead in the short series with two home victories at the start. It’s easy to pick the MVP here, as A’s starter Blue Moon Odom was 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA over 14 innings pitched with victories in Games 2 and 5. He wasn’t dominant alone, but Odom got the job done in a tight series with gritty effort.

1972 NL Championship Series MVP: Ross Grimsley, SP, Cincinnati

Cincinnati beat Pittsburgh in 5 games to secure a second pennant in three seasons, winning Game 5 at home by one run. The Pirates had earned a 2-1 lead in the short series before the Reds came back to Games 4 and 5 at home. The Big Red Machine had multiple offensive stars in this matchup, so we look to the pitching: SP Ross Grimsley stands out for a complete-game, two-hit, one-run effort in Game 4 which tied the series.

1972 AL MOTY: Billy Martin, Detroit

The former New York infielder, Billy Martin, managed the Tigers to a 0.5-game edge in the AL East, which is weird since the Boston Red Sox played one less game and were not given a chance to even up games played for some reason. Either way, Martin’s effort (plus-2 PPP) was a huge factor here in Detroit’s success. While other AL managers were better in terms of overall PPP, Martin’s mark was the only true difference maker.

1972 NL MOTY: Sparky Anderson, Cincinnati

The Reds won the NL West by 10.5 games over the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Houston Astros, as Manager Sparky Anderson posted the only position PPP mark (plus-1) of any manager on a (truly) contending team in the senior circuit. Of the top five teams in the NL, only one other team got a positive effort from its manager, and that was the New York Mets—who finished 13.5 games behind the Pirates in the NL East.