1968 Oakland Athletics | ||
---|---|---|
League | American League | |
Ballpark | Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum | |
City | Oakland, California | |
Record | 82–80 (.506) | |
Owners | Charles O. Finley | |
Managers | Bob Kennedy | |
Television | KBHK-TV | |
Radio | KNBR (Monte Moore, Al Helfer) | |
|
The 1968 Oakland Athletics season was the franchise's 68th season and its first in Oakland, California. The team finished sixth in the American League with a record of 82 wins and 80 losses, placing them 21 games behind the eventual World Series champion Detroit Tigers. The Athletics' paid attendance for the season was 837,466.
The 1968 season represented a tremendous breakthrough for the Athletics organization. The campaign resulted in their first winning record since 1952, when they were still located in Philadelphia. Moreover, the Athletics' 82 wins marked a 20-win increase over the prior year's 62–99 mark. The team's young core of Jim "Catfish" Hunter, Joe Rudi, Bert Campaneris, Reggie Jackson, Sal Bando, Gene Tenace, and Rick Monday began to gel; all of these young players (with the exception of Monday, who would be traded in 1971 for pitcher Ken Holtzman) would power the Athletics' forthcoming 1970's dynasty.
Finley had persuaded Joe DiMaggio to take a position as Executive Vice President and consultant. DiMaggio needed two more years of baseball service to qualify for the league's maximum pension allowance. [3] In addition, Finley signed Phil Seghi to run the A's farm system (of note, Seghi signed Pete Rose to his first major league contract). [4]
The first game in Oakland A's history took place on the road, on April 10, 1968, against the Baltimore Orioles at Memorial Stadium. The Orioles defeated the Athletics, 3–1, behind starting pitcher Tom Phoebus and the efforts of three relievers. Jim "Catfish" Hunter started for Oakland and took the loss, with Reggie Jackson hitting the first home run in Oakland's MLB history to account for the A's only run, the blow coming in the eighth inning. [8] Seven days later, the Athletics made their home debut, also against the Orioles, and were again defeated, this time by a 4–1 score with Dave McNally besting Lew Krausse Jr. before 50,164 at Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum. [9]
19 | Bert Campaneris | SS |
9 | Reggie Jackson | RF |
6 | Sal Bando | 3B |
31 | Ramón Webster | 1B |
12 | John Donaldson | 2B |
17 | Jim Pagliaroni | C |
21 | Jim Gosger | LF |
7 | Rick Monday | CF |
27 | Catfish Hunter | P [8] |
On May 8 against the Minnesota Twins, Hunter pitched the first regular season perfect game in the American League since 1922, [11] but the paid attendance in Oakland was only 6,298 on a Wednesday night. [12] The game was scoreless until the bottom of the seventh when Hunter squeezed the first run in. In the eighth, he drove in two more with a bases-loaded single, and ended with three hits and three RBI. [13] Hunter was inducted in the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1987 and was the first to have his number retired by the franchise, in 1991. [10] [14]
American League | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Detroit Tigers | 103 | 59 | 0.636 | — | 56–25 | 47–34 |
Baltimore Orioles | 91 | 71 | 0.562 | 12 | 47–33 | 44–38 |
Cleveland Indians | 86 | 75 | 0.534 | 16½ | 43–37 | 43–38 |
Boston Red Sox | 86 | 76 | 0.531 | 17 | 46–35 | 40–41 |
New York Yankees | 83 | 79 | 0.512 | 20 | 39–42 | 44–37 |
Oakland Athletics | 82 | 80 | 0.506 | 21 | 44–38 | 38–42 |
Minnesota Twins | 79 | 83 | 0.488 | 24 | 41–40 | 38–43 |
California Angels | 67 | 95 | 0.414 | 36 | 32–49 | 35–46 |
Chicago White Sox | 67 | 95 | 0.414 | 36 | 36–45 | 31–50 |
Washington Senators | 65 | 96 | 0.404 | 37½ | 34–47 | 31–49 |
Sources: | |||||||||||||
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Team | BAL | BOS | CAL | CWS | CLE | DET | MIN | NYY | OAK | WSH | |||
Baltimore | — | 9–9 | 10–8 | 11–7 | 7–11 | 8–10 | 10–8 | 13–5 | 9–9 | 14–4 | |||
Boston | 9–9 | — | 9–9 | 14–4 | 10–8 | 6–12 | 9–9 | 10–8 | 8–10 | 11–7 | |||
California | 8–10 | 9–9 | — | 8–10 | 7–11 | 5–13 | 7–11 | 6–12 | 5–13 | 12–6 | |||
Chicago | 7–11 | 4–14 | 10–8 | — | 5–13 | 5–13 | 10–8 | 6–12 | 10–8 | 10–8 | |||
Cleveland | 11–7 | 8–10 | 11–7 | 13–5 | — | 6–12 | 14–4 | 10–8–1 | 6–12 | 7–10 | |||
Detroit | 10–8 | 12–6 | 13–5 | 13–5 | 12–6 | — | 10–8 | 10–8–1 | 13–5–1 | 10–8 | |||
Minnesota | 8–10 | 9–9 | 11–7 | 8–10 | 4–14 | 8–10 | — | 12–6 | 8–10 | 11–7 | |||
New York | 5–13 | 8–10 | 12–6 | 12–6 | 8–10–1 | 8–10–1 | 6–12 | — | 10–8 | 14–4 | |||
Oakland | 9–9 | 10–8 | 13–5 | 8–10 | 12–6 | 5–13–1 | 10–8 | 8–10 | — | 7–11 | |||
Washington | 4–14 | 7–11 | 6–12 | 8–10 | 10–7 | 8–10 | 7–11 | 4–14 | 11–7 | — |
1968 Oakland Athletics | |||||||||
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Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
| Catchers
Infielders
| Outfielders
Other batters | Manager
Coaches
|
Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
Pos | Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
C | Dave Duncan | 82 | 246 | 47 | .191 | 7 | 28 |
1B | Danny Cater | 147 | 504 | 146 | .290 | 6 | 62 |
2B | John Donaldson | 127 | 363 | 80 | .220 | 2 | 27 |
SS | Bert Campaneris | 159 | 642 | 177 | .276 | 4 | 38 |
3B | Sal Bando | 162 | 605 | 152 | .251 | 9 | 67 |
LF | Joe Rudi | 68 | 181 | 32 | .177 | 1 | 12 |
CF | Rick Monday | 148 | 482 | 132 | .274 | 8 | 49 |
RF | Reggie Jackson | 154 | 553 | 138 | .250 | 29 | 74 |
Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mike Hershberger | 99 | 246 | 67 | .272 | 5 | 32 |
Dick Green | 76 | 202 | 47 | .233 | 6 | 18 |
Jim Pagliaroni | 66 | 199 | 49 | .246 | 6 | 20 |
Ray Webster | 66 | 196 | 42 | .214 | 3 | 23 |
Jim Gosger | 88 | 150 | 27 | .180 | 0 | 5 |
Ted Kubiak | 48 | 120 | 30 | .250 | 0 | 8 |
Joe Keough | 34 | 98 | 21 | .214 | 2 | 18 |
Floyd Robinson | 53 | 81 | 20 | .247 | 1 | 14 |
Phil Roof | 34 | 64 | 12 | .188 | 1 | 2 |
Rene Lachemann | 19 | 60 | 9 | .150 | 0 | 4 |
Allan Lewis | 26 | 4 | 1 | .250 | 0 | 0 |
Tony La Russa | 5 | 3 | 1 | .333 | 0 | 0 |
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Catfish Hunter | 36 | 234.0 | 13 | 13 | 3.35 | 173 |
Blue Moon Odom | 32 | 231.1 | 16 | 10 | 2.45 | 143 |
Jim Nash | 34 | 228.2 | 13 | 13 | 2.28 | 169 |
Chuck Dobson | 35 | 225.1 | 12 | 14 | 3.00 | 168 |
Lew Krausse Jr. | 36 | 185.0 | 10 | 11 | 3.11 | 105 |
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tony Pierce | 17 | 32.2 | 1 | 2 | 3.86 | 16 |
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Jack Aker | 54 | 4 | 4 | 11 | 4.10 | 44 |
Diego Seguí | 52 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 2.39 | 72 |
Ed Sprague | 47 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3.28 | 34 |
Paul Lindblad | 47 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2.40 | 42 |
Warren Bogle | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.30 | 26 |
Ken Sanders | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3.38 | 6 |
Rollie Fingers | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27.00 | 0 |
George Lauzerique | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: GCL A's
Charles Oscar Finley, nicknamed "Charlie O" or "Charley O", was an American businessman who owned Major League Baseball's Oakland Athletics. Finley purchased the franchise while it was located in Kansas City, moving it to Oakland in 1968. He is also known as a short-lived owner of the National Hockey League's California Golden Seals and the American Basketball Association's Memphis Tams.
James Augustus Hunter, nicknamed "Catfish", was an American professional baseball player in Major League Baseball (MLB). From 1965 to 1979, he was a pitcher for the Kansas City / Oakland Athletics and New York Yankees. Hunter was the first pitcher since 1915 to win 200 games by age 31. He is often referred to as baseball's first big-money free agent, and was a member of five World Series championship teams.
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