In the National League, the Cincinnati Reds returned for the second time in three years, and the Pittsburgh Pirates made their third straight postseason appearance.
Athletics shortstop Bert Campaneris came to bat, having had three hits, two runs scored, and two stolen bases in his first three at-bats in the game.
The benches cleared, and while there were no punches thrown or other incidents involving players, Tigers manager Billy Martin had to be restrained by umpires and teammates to prevent him from going after Campaneris.
[12][13] When the series shifted to Detroit for Game 3, the Tigers defeated the Athletics by a 3–0 score, as Joe Coleman pitched a complete-game shutout.
Oakland relief pitcher Joe Horlen then threw a wild pitch which advanced the runners to second and third and he walked Gates Brown to load the bases with no outs.
Bill Freehan then grounded an apparent double play ball to third, but the inexperienced Tenace at second dropped Sal Bando's throw.
Dave Hamilton then relieved Horlen and promptly walked Norm Cash to tie the game, and then gave up a walk-off single to Jim Northrup, a ball hit over right fielder Matty Alou's head (the outfield was drawn in), scoring Brown with the winning run as the Tigers evened the series and forced a fifth game.
In Game 5, the Tigers took an early lead in the bottom of the first, but the Athletics would put two unanswered runs on the board in the second and fourth innings respectively to secure the pennant.
In Game 4, the Reds blew out the Pirates by a 7–1 score off a two-hit complete-game performance from starting pitcher Ross Grimsley.
With the count 2–0 on César Gerónimo, Pirates' closer Dave Giusti was replaced with Game 2 starter Bob Moose.
This was the first championship of the four major North American sports leagues won by a team from the San Francisco Bay Area.
The Athletics' victory marked the start of a dynasty for the franchise, as they would win the World Series again in 1973 and 1974 over the New York Mets and Los Angeles Dodgers respectively to complete a three-peat.