Didn'tja always wonder if he was safe or out?

[JollyElm]

I've seen this card a million times, and have always wondered whether or not Tony Perez was safe or out at first. Be honest, haven't you also looked at this picture innumerable times and wondered whether or not The Big Dog's foot was going fast enough to overcome the velocity of that relay throw?? The card itself suggests he was out, as "A's Make It Two Straight" makes you think that this was some sort of game-clinching double play or such...

s-l1600-18.jpg

But in searching the web for a 1972 World Series Game 2 video, all that ever seems to appear is the version where a couple of innings are skipped over, with the broadcast 'resuming' in the 7th inning. I watched the entire thing, and this play is nowhere to be seen. Therefore, it had to have occurred sometime in the middle (edited out) portion of the game, probably in the 5th or 6th inning. Another thread here mentioned retrosheet.org, so I hightailed it over there and found the play-by-play listing of the game. The mystery is over!! Tony P was safe on a fielder's choice!!! Johnny Bench was (obviously) forced at second, after a walk.

Weird thing is, it ended up being a one-run game (2-1) and this play really did nothing (for either team) to affect the outcome. The result was one man out and a runner on first. That's it...but it is quite a cool photograph.

Here's the official verbiage:
"REDS 6TH: HEGAN REPLACED LEWIS (PLAYING 1B); Bench walked; Perez
forced Bench (third to second); Menke grounded out (pitcher to
first) [Perez to second]; Geronimo flied to center; 0 R, 0 H, 0
E, 1 LOB. Athletics 2, Reds 0."

Here's an odd postscript to add. Look at first baseman Mike Hegan's positioning, and how his right leg is stretching towards right field. The ball appears to be a bb fired from the right side of the second base bag (his mitt and straight right arm positioning confirms it)...but look how far away Dick Green is from the throw's probable origin. You would think that gunning the ball, then being toppled by a future HOF catcher and ending up in the dirt where he did would have taken longer to happen, but the ball still hasn't reached first base. Weird. Conclusion: high-speed photography is awesome. Look at the clouds of dust and dirt flying.

***If anyone finds a video of the actual play, please post a link.***