1988 Oakland Athletics season

Last updated

1988  Oakland Athletics
American League Champions
American League West Champions
League American League
Division West
Ballpark Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum
City Oakland, California
Record104–58 (.642)
Divisional place1st
Owners Walter A. Haas Jr.
General managers Sandy Alderson
Managers Tony La Russa
Television KPIX/KICU-TV
(Monte Moore, Ray Fosse)
Radio KSFO
(Bill King, Lon Simmons, Ray Fosse)
KNTA
(Amaury Pi-Gonzalez, Evilio Mendoza)
  1987 Seasons 1989  

The 1988 Oakland Athletics season was the 88th season for the Oakland Athletics franchise, all as members of the American League, and their 21st season in Oakland. The Athletics won their first American League West title since 1981, with a record of 104 wins and 58 losses (the best record in the La Russa era). In 1988, the elephant was restored as the symbol of the Athletics and currently adorns the left sleeve of home and road uniforms. The elephant was retired as team mascot in 1963 by then-owner Charles O. Finley in favor of a Missouri mule. The A's defeated the Boston Red Sox in the ALCS, but lost the World Series to the Los Angeles Dodgers in five games, including a dramatic, classic walk-off home run by the Dodgers' Kirk Gibson in game one.

Contents

1988 was the first of three straight years the A's would represent the AL in the World Series.

Offseason

Regular season

José Canseco led the American League with 42 home runs, 124 RBIs and a .569 slugging percentage. Canseco became the first member of the Athletics to have three straight 100 RBI seasons. He also had 40 stolen bases and became the first major leaguer ever to hit 40 home runs and steal 40 bases in the same season.

Season standings

AL West
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
Oakland Athletics 10458.64254275031
Minnesota Twins 9171.5621347344437
Kansas City Royals 8477.52219½44364041
California Angels 7587.4632935464041
Chicago White Sox 7190.44132½40413149
Texas Rangers 7091.43533½38433248
Seattle Mariners 6893.42235½37443149

Record vs. opponents


Sources:
TeamBALBOSCALCWSCLEDETKCMILMINNYYOAKSEATEXTOR
Baltimore 4–95–74–74–95–80–124–93–93–104–87–56–65–8
Boston 9–48–47–58–56–76–610–37–59–43–96–68–42–11
California 7–54–89–48–45–75–83–94–96–64–96–78–56–6
Chicago 7–45–74–93–93–97–66–64–93–95–89–48–57–5
Cleveland 9–45–84–89–34–96–69–45–76–74–85–76–66–7
Detroit 8–57–67–59–39–48–45–81–118–54–89–38–45–8
Kansas City 12–06–68–56–76–64–83–97–66–68–57–57–64–8
Milwaukee 9–43–109–36–64–98–59–37–56–73–98–48–47–6
Minnesota 9–35–79–49–47–511–16–75–73–95–88–57–67–5
New York 10–34–96–69–37–65–86–67–69–36–65–75–66–7
Oakland 8–49–39–48–58–48–45–89–38–56–69–48–59–3
Seattle 5–76–67–64–97–53–95–74–85–87–54–96–75–7
Texas 6–64–85–85–86–64–86–74–86–76–55–87–66–6
Toronto 8–511–26–65–77–68–58–46–75–77–63–97–56–6

Notable Transactions

Roster

1988 Oakland Athletics
Roster
PitchersCatchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

Manager

Coaches

Game log

Regular season Game log

1988 regular season game log: 104–58 (Home: 54–27; Away: 50–31)
April: 16–7 (Home: 5–4; Away: 11–3)
#DateTime (PT)OpponentScoreWinLossSaveTime of GameAttendanceRecordBox/
Streak
1April 4 Mariners
2April 5 Mariners
3April 6 Mariners
4April 8@ Angels
5April 9@ Angels
6April 10@ Angels
7April 12@ Mariners
8April 13@ Mariners
9April 14@ Mariners
10April 15 White Sox
11April 16 White Sox
12April 17 White Sox
13April 18 Angels
14April 19 Angels
15April 20 Angels
16April 21@ White Sox
17April 22@ White Sox
18April 23@ White Sox
19April 24@ White Sox
20April 26@ Blue Jays
21April 27@ Blue Jays
22April 28@ Blue Jays
April 29@ Indians Postponed (Rain)(Makeup date: July 5)
23April 30@ Indians
May: 19–8 (Home: 11–4; Away: 8–4)
#DateTime (PT)OpponentScoreWinLossSaveTime of GameAttendanceRecordBox/
Streak
24May 1@ Indians
25May 2@ Tigers
26May 3@ Tigers
27May 4 Blue Jays
28May 5 Blue Jays
May 6 Indians Postponed (Rain)(Makeup date: July 19)
29May 7 Indians
30May 8 Indians
31May 9 Tigers
32May 10 Tigers
33May 11 Tigers
34May 13@ Orioles
35May 14@ Orioles
36May 15@ Orioles
37May 16@ Red Sox
38May 17@ Red Sox
39May 18@ Red Sox
40May 20@ Yankees
41May 21@ Yankees
42May 22@ Yankees
43May 23 Orioles
44May 24 Orioles
45May 25 Orioles
46May 27 Red Sox
47May 28 Red Sox
48May 29 Red Sox
49May 30 Yankees
50May 31 Yankees
June: 13–14 (Home: 6–8; Away: 7–6)
#DateTime (PT)OpponentScoreWinLossSaveTime of GameAttendanceRecordBox/
Streak
51June 1 Yankees
52June 3@ Twins
53June 4@ Twins
54June 5@ Twins
55June 6@ Royals
56June 7@ Royals
57June 8@ Royals
58June 9@ Rangers
59June 10@ Rangers
60June 11@ Rangers
61June 12@ Rangers
62June 14 Royals
63June 15 Royals
64June 16 Royals
65June 17 Rangers
66June 18 Rangers
67June 19 Rangers
68June 20@ Brewers
69June 21@ Brewers
70June 22@ Brewers
71June 24 Twins
72June 25 Twins
73June 26 Twins
74June 26 Twins
75June 27 Brewers
76June 28 Brewers
77June 29 Brewers
July: 16–12 (Home: 7–4; Away: 9–8)
#DateTime (PT)OpponentScoreWinLossSaveTime of GameAttendanceRecordBox/
Streak
78July 1@ Blue Jays
79July 2@ Blue Jays
80July 3@ Blue Jays
81July 4@ Indians
82July 5@ Indians
83July 5@ Indians
84July 6@ Indians
85July 7@ Tigers
86July 8@ Tigers
87July 9@ Tigers
88July 10@ Tigers
59th All-Star Game in Cincinnati, OH
89July 14 Blue Jays
90July 15 Blue Jays
91July 16 Blue Jays
92July 17 Blue Jays
93July 18 Indians
94July 19 Indians
95July 19 Indians
96July 20 Indians
97July 22 Tigers
98July 23 Tigers
99July 24 Tigers
100July 25@ Angels
101July 26@ Angels
102July 27@ Angels
103July 29@ Mariners
104July 30@ Mariners
105July 31@ Mariners
August: 20–9 (Home: 14–3; Away: 6–6)
#DateTime (PT)OpponentScoreWinLossSaveTime of GameAttendanceRecordBox/
Streak
106August 1@ White Sox
107August 2@ White Sox
108August 3@ White Sox
109August 4 Mariners
110August 5 Mariners
111August 6 Mariners
112August 7 Mariners
113August 8 White Sox
114August 9 White Sox
115August 10 White Sox
116August 11 Angels
117August 12 Angels
118August 13 Angels
119August 14 Angels
120August 16@ Orioles
121August 17@ Orioles
122August 18@ Orioles
123August 19@ Red Sox
124August 20@ Red Sox
125August 21@ Red Sox
126August 22@ Yankees
127August 23@ Yankees
128August 24@ Yankees
129August 26 Orioles
130August 27 Orioles
131August 28 Orioles
132August 29 Red Sox
133August 30 Red Sox
134August 31 Red Sox
September: 19–7 (Home: 10–3; Away: 9–4)
#DateTime (PT)OpponentScoreWinLossSaveTime of GameAttendanceRecordBox/
Streak
135September 2 Yankees
136September 3 Yankees
137September 4 Yankees
138September 5@ Rangers
139September 6@ Rangers
140September 7@ Rangers
141September 8@ Royals
142September 9@ Royals
143September 10@ Royals
144September 11@ Royals
145September 13 Rangers
146September 14 Rangers
147September 15 Rangers
148September 16 Royals
149September 17 Royals
150September 18 Royals
151September 19 Twins
152September 20 Twins
153September 21 Twins
154September 23@ Brewers
155September 24@ Brewers
156September 25@ Brewers
157September 27@ Twins
158September 28@ Twins
159September 29@ Twins
160September 30 Brewers
October: 1–1 (Home: 1–1; Away: 0–0)
#DateTime (PT)OpponentScoreWinLossSaveTime of GameAttendanceRecordBox/
Streak
161October 1 Brewers
162October 2 Brewers
Legend:       = Win       = Loss       = Postponement
Bold = Athletics team member

Postseason Game log

1988 Postseason game log: 5–4 (Home: 3–2; Away: 2–2)
AL Championship Series: vs. Boston Red Sox 4–0 (Home: 2–0; Away: 2–0)
#DateTime (PT)OpponentScoreWinLossSaveTime of GameAttendanceSeriesBox/
Streak
1October 5@ Red Sox
2October 6@ Red Sox
3October 8 Red Sox
4October 9 Red Sox
World Series: vs. Los Angeles Dodgers 1–4 (Home: 1–2; Away: 0–2)
#DateTime (PT)OpponentScoreWinLossSaveTime of GameAttendanceSeriesBox/
Streak
1October 15@ Dodgers
2October 16@ Dodgers
3October 18 Dodgers
4October 19 Dodgers
5October 20 Dodgers
Legend:       = Win       = Loss       = Postponement
Bold = Athletics team member

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

PosPlayerGABHAvg.HRRBI
RF José Canseco 158610187.30742124
CF Dave Henderson 146507154.3042494
3B Carney Lansford 150556155.279757
1B Mark McGwire 155550143.2603299
C Ron Hassey 10732383.257745
2B Glenn Hubbard 10529475.255333
SS Walt Weiss 147452113.250339
DH Don Baylor 9226458.220734
LF Luis Polonia 8428884.292227

Other batters

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

PlayerGABHAvg.HRRBI
Stan Javier 125397102.257235
Dave Parker 10137797.2571255
Terry Steinbach 10435193.265951
Mike Gallego 12927758.209220
Tony Phillips 7921243.203217
Doug Jennings 7110121.208115
Orlando Mercado 16243.12511
Matt Sinatro 1093.33305
Félix José 862.33301
Lance Blankenship 1030.00000
Ed Jurak 310.00000

Pitching

Starting pitchers

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

PlayerGGSIPWLERASO
Dave Stewart 3737275.221123.23192
Bob Welch 3636244.21793.64158
Storm Davis 3333201.21673.70127
Curt Young 2626156.11184.1469
Todd Burns 1714102.2823.1657
Steve Ontiveros 101054.2344.6130
Rich Bordi 227.2014.706

Other pitchers

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

PlayerGIPWLERASO
Dave Otto 310.0001.807

Relief pitchers

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

PlayerGWLSVERASO
Dennis Eckersley 6042452.3570
Greg Cadaret 585232.8964
Rick Honeycutt 553273.5047
Gene Nelson 549633.0667
Eric Plunk 497253.0079
Jim Corsi 110103.8010
Jeff Shaver 10000.000

ALCS

Game 1

October 5, Fenway Park

Team123456789RHE
Oakland000100100260
Boston000000100160
W: Rick Honeycutt (1-0)   L: Bruce Hurst (0-1)  S: Dennis Eckersley (1)
HR: OAK José Canseco (1)

Game 2

October 6, Fenway Park

Team123456789RHE
Oakland0000003014101
Boston000002100341
W: Gene Nelson (1-0)   L: Lee Smith (0-1)  S: Dennis Eckersley (2)
HR: OAK José Canseco (2)   BOS Rich Gedman (1)

Game 3

October 8, Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum

Team123456789RHE
Boston3200001006120
Oakland04201012X10151
W: Gene Nelson (2-0)   L: Mike Boddicker (0-1)  S: Dennis Eckersley (3)
HR: OAK Mark McGwire (1)   Carney Lansford (1)  Ron Hassey (1)   Dave Henderson (1)  BOS Mike Greenwell (1)

Game 4

October 9, Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum

Team123456789RHE
Boston000001000140
Oakland10100002X4101
W: Dave Stewart (1-0)   L: Bruce Hurst (0-2)  S: Dennis Eckersley (4)
HR: OAK José Canseco (3)

World Series

NL Los Angeles Dodgers (4) vs. AL Oakland Athletics (1)

GameScoreDateLocationAttendanceTime of Game
1A's – 4, Dodgers – 5October 15 Dodger Stadium (Los Angeles)55,9833:04
2A's – 0, Dodgers – 6October 16 Dodger Stadium (Los Angeles)56,0512:30
3Dodgers – 1, A's – 2October 18 Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum (Oakland)49,3163:21
4Dodgers – 4, A's – 3October 19 Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum (Oakland)49,3173:05
5Dodgers – 5, A's – 2October 20 Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum (Oakland)49,3172:51

Awards and honors

All-Star Game

Farm system

LevelTeamLeagueManager
AAA Tacoma Tigers Pacific Coast League Brad Fischer
AA Huntsville Stars Southern League Tommie Reynolds
A Modesto A's California League Jeff Newman
A Madison Muskies Midwest League Jim Nettles
A-Short Season Southern Oregon A's Northwest League Lenn Sakata
Rookie AZL Athletics Arizona League Dave Hudgens

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