1977 Oakland Athletics season

1977  Oakland Athletics
League	American League
Division	West
Ballpark	Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum
City	Oakland, California
Record	63–98 (.391)
Divisional place	7th
Owners	Charles O. Finley
Managers	Jack McKeon, Bobby Winkles
Television	KPIX-TV
Radio	KNBR (Monte Moore, Bob Waller)
←  1976 Seasons 1978  →

The 1977 Oakland Athletics season was the 77th season for the Oakland Athletics franchise, all as members of the American League, and their 10th season in Oakland. The team finished seventh in the American League West with a record of 63 wins and 98 losses. Paid attendance for the season was 495,578, one of the worst attendance figures for the franchise during the 1970s. ^[1]

Offseason

• November 5, 1976: Manager Chuck Tanner was traded by the Oakland Athletics to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Manny Sanguillén. ^[2]
• November 9, 1976: Billy Williams was released by the Athletics. ^[3]
• January 9, 1977: Craig Minetto was signed by the Athletics as a free agent. ^[4]
• February 25, 1977: Ken McMullen was purchased from the Athletics by the Milwaukee Brewers. ^[5]
• March 15, 1977: Phil Garner, Tommy Helms, and Chris Batton were traded by the Athletics to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Rick Langford, Tony Armas, Doug Bair, Dave Giusti, Doc Medich, and Mitchell Page. ^[6]
• March 15, 1977: Jim Todd was traded by the Athletics to the Chicago Cubs for Joe Coleman. ^[7]
• March 15, 1977: Jerry Tabb was purchased by the Athletics from the Chicago Cubs. ^[8]
• March 15, 1977: Gaylen Pitts was traded by the Athletics to the Chicago Cubs for Jim Tyrone. ^[9]
• March 16, 1977: Dick Allen was signed as a free agent by the Athletics. ^[10]

Regular season

After the 1976 season, most of the Athletics' veteran players who had become eligible for free agency left. In 1977, only three years after winning the World Series, the A's finished with the worst record in the American League West, behind even the expansion Seattle Mariners (though by only 1/2 game, as one game with the Minnesota Twins was canceled by weather and never made up).

On June 10, Jack McKeon was fired as manager and replaced by former Arizona State University coach Bobby Winkles. ^[11]

After the season, owner Charlie Finley attempted to trade Vida Blue to the Cincinnati Reds for a player of lesser stature and cash, but Commissioner Bowie Kuhn vetoed the deal. The commissioner claimed that it was tantamount to the sale of the star pitcher to the New York Yankees that the commissioner voided in 1976. The commissioner claimed that adding Blue to the Reds' already formidable pitching staff would make a mockery of the National League West race. Instead, Blue was traded across the bay to the San Francisco Giants in a multi-player trade that received the Commissioner's blessing.

Proposed sale

Kuhn and other owners thought that the Athletics relocating would alleviate baseball's problems in the Bay Area regarding poor attendance. Kuhn attempted to get an ownership group to purchase the Athletics and relocate to Washington, D.C., with the intention of moving them to the National League. ^[11]

Season standings

• v
• t
• e

AL West

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Kansas City Royals	102	60	.630	—	55‍–‍26	47‍–‍34
Texas Rangers	94	68	.580	8	44‍–‍37	50‍–‍31
Chicago White Sox	90	72	.556	12	48‍–‍33	42‍–‍39
Minnesota Twins	84	77	.522	17½	48‍–‍32	36‍–‍45
California Angels	74	88	.457	28	39‍–‍42	35‍–‍46
Seattle Mariners	64	98	.395	38	29‍–‍52	35‍–‍46
Oakland Athletics	63	98	.391	38½	35‍–‍46	28‍–‍52

Record vs. opponents

1977 American League record v t e Sources:
Team	BAL	BOS	CAL	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	MIL	MIN	NYY	OAK	SEA	TEX	TOR
Baltimore	—	6–8	5–6	5–5	11–4	12–3	4–7	11–4	6–4	8–7	8–2	7–3	4–6	10–5
Boston	8–6	—	7–3	3–7	8–7	9–6	5–5	9–6	4–6	8–7	8–3	10–1	6–4	12–3
California	6–5	3–7	—	8–7	6–4	4–6	6–9	5–5	7–8	4–7	5–10	9–6	5–10	6–4
Chicago	5–5	7–3	7–8	—	6–4	4–6	8–7	6–5	10–5	3–7	10–5	10–5	6–9	8–3
Cleveland	4–11	7–8	4–6	4–6	—	8–7	3–7	11–4	2–9	3–12	7–3	7–3	2–9	9–5
Detroit	3–12	6–9	6–4	6–4	7–8	—	3–8	10–5	5–5	6–9	5–5	5–6	2–8	10–5
Kansas City	7–4	5–5	9–6	7–8	7–3	8–3	—	8–2	10–5	5–5	9–6	11–4	8–7	8–2
Milwaukee	4–11	6–9	5–5	5–6	4–11	5–10	2–8	—	3–8	8–7	5–5	7–3	5–5	8–7
Minnesota	4–6	6–4	8–7	5–10	9–2	5–5	5–10	8–3	—	2–8	8–6	7–8	8–7	9–1
New York	7–8	7–8	7–4	7–3	12–3	9–6	5–5	7–8	8–2	—	9–2	6–4	7–3	9–6
Oakland	2–8	3–8	10–5	5–10	3–7	5–5	6–9	5–5	6–8	2–9	—	7–8	2–13	7–3
Seattle	3–7	1–10	6–9	5–10	3–7	6–5	4–11	3–7	8–7	4–6	8–7	—	9–6	4–6
Texas	6–4	4–6	10–5	9–6	9–2	8–2	7–8	5–5	7–8	3–7	13–2	6–9	—	7–4
Toronto	5–10	3–12	4–6	3–8	5–9	5–10	2–8	7–8	1–9	6–9	3–7	6–4	4–7	—

Opening Day lineup

1. Billy North, CF
2. Rodney Scott, 2B
3. Mitchell Page. LF
4. Dick Allen, 1B
5. Manny Sanguillén, C
6. Wayne Gross, 3B
7. Earl Williams, DH
8. Tony Armas, RF
9. Rob Picciolo, SS

• Mike Torrez, P ^{[12] [13]}

Notable transactions

• April 4, 1977: Sheldon Mallory was purchased by the Athletics from the New York Mets. ^[14]
• April 27, 1977: Mike Torrez was traded by the Athletics to the New York Yankees for Dock Ellis, Larry Murray and Marty Perez. ^[15]
• June 7, 1977: Shooty Babitt was drafted by the Athletics in the 25th round of the 1977 Major League Baseball draft. ^[16]
• June 15, 1977: Dock Ellis was purchased from the Athletics by the Texas Rangers. ^[15]
• June 15, 1977: Denny Walling was traded by the Athletics to the Houston Astros for Willie Crawford. ^[17]

Roster

1977 Oakland Athletics
Roster
Pitchers 45 Stan Bahnsen 17 Doug Bair 14 Vida Blue 15 Joe Coleman 24 Steve Dunning 36 Dock Ellis 31 Dave Giusti 27 Matt Keough 34 Bob Lacey 22 Rick Langford 54 Steve McCatty 33 Doc Medich 29 Craig Mitchell 24 Paul Mitchell 16 Mike Norris 28 Pablo Torrealba 24 Mike Torrez 30 Jim Umbarger		Catchers 25 Tim Hosley  5 Jeff Newman 35 Manny Sanguillén 32 Earl Williams Infielders 60 Dick Allen 10 Wayne Gross 18 Mike Jorgensen 21 Larry Lintz  9 Rich McKinney  7 Marty Perez  8 Rob Picciolo  3 Rodney Scott 12 Jerry Tabb		Outfielders  2 Matt Alexander 11 Tony Armas 99 Willie Crawford 29 Sheldon Mallory 20 Larry Murray  4 Billy North  6 Mitchell Page 26 Jim Tyrone 13 Mark Williams		Manager  1 Jack McKeon  1 Bobby Winkles Coaches 41 Cal Ermer -- Bobby Hofman 43 Red Schoendienst 42 Lee Stange

Player stats

= Indicates team leader

Batting

Starters by position

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	Manny Sanguillén	152	571	157	.275	6	58
1B	Dick Allen	54	171	41	.240	5	31
2B	Marty Perez	115	373	86	.231	2	23
3B	Wayne Gross	146	485	113	.233	22	63
SS	Rob Picciolo	148	419	84	.200	2	22
LF	Mitchell Page	145	501	154	.307	21	75
CF	Tony Armas	118	363	87	.240	13	53
RF	Jim Tyrone	96	294	72	.245	5	26
DH	Earl Williams	100	348	84	.241	13	38

Other batters

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
Rodney Scott	133	364	95	.261	0	20
Mike Jorgensen	66	203	50	.246	8	32
Rich McKinney	86	198	35	.177	6	21
Billy North	56	184	48	.261	1	9
Larry Murray	90	162	29	.179	1	9
Jeff Newman	94	162	36	.222	4	15
Jerry Tabb	51	144	32	.222	6	19
Willie Crawford	59	136	25	.184	1	16
Sheldon Mallory	64	126	27	.214	0	5
Tim Hosley	39	78	15	.192	1	10
Matt Alexander	90	42	10	.238	0	2
Larry Lintz	41	30	4	.133	0	0
Mark Williams	3	2	0	.000	0	1

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Vida Blue	38	279.2	14	19	3.83	157
Rick Langford	37	208.1	8	19	4.02	141
Doc Medich	26	147.2	10	6	4.69	74
Mike Norris	16	77.1	2	7	4.77	35
Matt Keough	7	42.2	1	3	4.85	23
Dock Ellis	7	26.0	1	5	9.69	11
Mike Torrez	4	26.1	3	1	4.44	12

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Joe Coleman	43	127.2	4	4	2.96	55
Pablo Torrealba	41	116.2	4	6	2.62	51
Jim Umbarger	12	44.0	1	5	6.55	24
Stan Bahnsen	11	22.0	1	2	6.14	21
Paul Mitchell	5	13.2	0	3	10.54	5
Steve McCatty	4	14.1	0	0	5.02	9
Craig Mitchell	3	5.2	0	1	7.94	1

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO
Doug Bair	45	4	6	8	3.46	68
Bob Lacey	64	6	8	7	3.03	69
Dave Giusti	40	3	3	6	2.98	28
Steve Dunning	6	1	0	0	3.93	4
Jeff Newman	1	0	0	0	0.00	0

Awards and honors

All-Stars

Main article: 1977 Major League Baseball All-Star Game

• Vida Blue, reserve
• Wayne Gross, reserve

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	San Jose Missions	Pacific Coast League	Rene Lachemann
AA	Chattanooga Lookouts	Southern League	George Farson
A	Modesto A's	California League	Tom Trebelhorn
Rookie	Medicine Hat A's	Pioneer League	Orlando Gómez

References

1. Charlie Finley: The Outrageous Story of Baseball's Super Showman, p. 272, G. Michael Green and Roger D. Launius. Walker Publishing Company, New York, 2010, ISBN   978-0-8027-1745-0
2. Chuck Tanner Trades and Transactions at Baseball Almanac
3. Billy Williams page at Baseball Reference
4. Craig Minetto page at Baseball Reference
5. Ken McMullen page at Baseball Reference
6. Rick Langford page at Baseball Reference
7. Jim Todd page at Baseball Reference
8. Jerry Tabb page at Baseball Reference
9. Jim Tyrone page at Baseball Reference
10. Dick Allen page at Baseball Reference
11. Charlie Finley: The Outrageous Story of Baseball's Super Showman, p. 271
12. "1977 Oakland Athletics Roster by Baseball Almanac".
13. 1977 A's Batting Orders at Baseball Reference
14. Sheldon Mallory page at Baseball Reference
15. Dock Ellis page at Baseball Reference
16. Shooty Babitt page at Baseball Reference
17. Denny Walling page at Baseball Reference

External links

• 1977 Oakland Athletics team page at Baseball Reference
• 1977 Oakland Athletics team page at www.baseball-almanac.com