1979 Oakland Athletics season

Last updated

1979  Oakland Athletics
League American League
Division West
Ballpark Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum
City Oakland, California
Record54–108 (.333)
Divisional place7th
Owners Charles O. Finley
Managers Jim Marshall
Television KPIX-TV
(Monte Moore, Bob Waller)
Radio KKIS
(Hal Ramey, Red Rush)
←  1978 Seasons 1980  →

The 1979 Oakland Athletics season was the 79th season for the Oakland Athletics franchise, all as members of the American League, and their 12th season in Oakland. The Athletics finished seventh in the American League West Division with a record of 54 wins and 108 losses. Only 306,763 paying customers (an average of 3,984 for 77 home dates; there were four doubleheaders) showed up to watch the A's in 1979, the team's worst attendance since leaving Philadelphia.

Contents

Team owner Charlie Finley nearly sold the team to buyers who would have moved them to New Orleans for 1979. Any deal to relocate fell through when the city of Oakland refused to release the A's from their lease. The city was in the midst of its battle with the Oakland Raiders over their move to Los Angeles and didn't want to lose both teams.

The Athletics' 54–108 finish was their worst since moving to Oakland in 1968 until it was surpassed in 2023, in which they finished 50–112 (.309). On a brighter note, the season saw the debut of Rickey Henderson. Henderson, a future Hall-of-Famer, would play for the team in four separate stints between 1979 and 1998.

Offseason

Regular season

On April 17, 1979, the A's had their smallest home crowd (and one of the smallest in a major league baseball game in the 20th century) when only 653 people came to the nearly 50,000 seat Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum [5] to see them beat the Seattle Mariners, 6 to 5.

On June 24, Rickey Henderson made his major league debut against the Texas Rangers. In four at bats, Henderson had two hits and a stolen base. [6]

Season standings

AL West
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
California Angels 8874.543—49‍–‍3239‍–‍42
Kansas City Royals 8577.525346‍–‍3539‍–‍42
Texas Rangers 8379.512544‍–‍3739‍–‍42
Minnesota Twins 8280.506639‍–‍4243‍–‍38
Chicago White Sox 7387.4561433‍–‍4640‍–‍41
Seattle Mariners 6795.4142136‍–‍4531‍–‍50
Oakland Athletics 54108.3333431‍–‍5023‍–‍58

Record vs. opponents

1979 American League record

Sources:
TeamBALBOSCALCWSCLEDETKCMILMINNYYOAKSEATEXTOR
Baltimore —8–59–38–38–57–66–68–58–45–68–410–26–611–2
Boston 5–8—5–75–66–78–58–48–49–35–89–38–46–69–4
California 3–97–5—9–46–64–87–67–59–47–510–37–65–87–5
Chicago 3–86–54–9—6–63–95–85–75–84–89–45–811–27–5
Cleveland 5–87–66–66–6—6–66–64–98–45–88–47–55–78–5
Detroit 6–75–88–49–36–6—5–76–74–87–67–57–56–69–4
Kansas City 6–64–86–78–56–67–5—5–77–65–79–47–66–79–3
Milwaukee 5–84–85–77–59–47–67–5—8–49–46–69–39–310–3
Minnesota 4–83–94–98–54–88–46–74–8—7–59–410–34–911–1
New York 6–58–55–78–48–56–77–54–95–7—9–36–68–49–4
Oakland 4–83–93–104–94–85–74–96–64–93–9—8–52–114–8
Seattle 2–104–86–78–55–75–76–73–93–106–65–8—6–78–4
Texas 6–66–68–52–117–56–67–63–99–44–811–27–6—7–5
Toronto 2–114–95–75–75–84–93–93–101–114–98–44–85–7—

Notable transactions

Roster

1979 Oakland Athletics
Roster
PitchersCatchers

Infielders

OutfieldersManager

Coaches

Player stats

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.PlayerGABHAvg.HRRBI
C Jeff Newman 143516119.2312271
1B Dave Revering 125472136.2881977
2B Mike Edwards 12240093.233123
SS Rob Picciolo 11534888.253227
3B Wayne Gross 13844299.2241450
LF Rickey Henderson 8935196.274126
CF Dwayne Murphy 12138899.2551140
RF Tony Armas 8027869.2481134
DH Mitchell Page 133478118.247942

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

PlayerGABHAvg.HRRBI
Jim Essian 9831376.243840
Mike Heath 7425866.256327
Larry Murray 10522642.186220
Dave Chalk 6621247.222213
Mario Guerrero 4616638.229018
Derek Bryant 3910619.179013
Miguel Diloné 309117.18716
Glenn Burke 238919.21304
Joe Wallis 237811.14113
Mickey Klutts 247314.19214
Milt Ramírez 286210.16103

Pitching

Starting pitchers

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

PlayerGIPWLERASO
Rick Langford 34218.212164.28101
Steve McCatty 31185.211124.2287
Matt Keough 30176.22175.0495
Brian Kingman 18112.2874.3158
John Henry Johnson 1484.2284.3650
Mike Morgan 1377.12105.9417

Other pitchers

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

PlayerGIPWLERASO
Mike Norris 29146.1584.8096
Craig Minetto 36118.1155.5564
Dave Hamilton 4082.2343.7052
Alan Wirth 512.0106.007

Relief pitchers

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

PlayerGWLSVERASO
Dave Heaverlo 6241194.2040
Jim Todd 512526.5626
Bob Lacey 421545.8533

Farm system

LevelTeamLeagueManager
AAA Ogden A's Pacific Coast League José Pagán
AA Waterbury A's Eastern League Ed Nottle
A Modesto A's California League Gaylen Pitts
A-Short Season Medford A's Northwest League Rich Morales

References

  1. ↑ Rico Carty page at Baseball Reference
  2. ↑ Lemmie Miller page at Baseball Reference
  3. ↑ Darryl Cias page at Baseball Reference
  4. ↑ Jim Todd page at Baseball Reference
  5. ↑ "Only 653 See A's Win, 6-5", AP report in Fresno (CA) Bee, April 18, 1979, p. C-4
  6. ↑ Rickey Henderson page at Baseball Reference
  7. ↑ Ronn Reynolds page at Baseball-Reference
  8. ↑ Mark Souza page at Baseball-Reference
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