| 1979 Oakland Athletics | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| League | American League | |||
| Division | West | |||
| Ballpark | Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum | |||
| City | Oakland, California | |||
| Record | 54–108 (.333) | |||
| Divisional place | 7th | |||
| Owners | Charles O. Finley | |||
| Managers | Jim Marshall | |||
| Television | KPIX-TV (Monte Moore, Bob Waller) | |||
| Radio | KKIS (Hal Ramey, Red Rush) | |||
| ||||
The1979 Oakland Athletics season was the 79th season for theOakland Athletics franchise, all as members of theAmerican League, and their 12th season inOakland. The Athletics finished seventh in theAmerican 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.
Team ownerCharlie Finley nearly sold the team to buyers who would have moved them toNew 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 theOakland 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 in2023, in which they finished 50–112 (.309). On a brighter note, the season saw the debut ofRickey Henderson. Henderson, a future Hall-of-Famer, would play for the team in four separate stints between 1979 and 1998.
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 seatOakland–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 theTexas Rangers. In fourat bats, Henderson had two hits and astolen base.[6]
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| California Angels | 88 | 74 | .543 | — | 49–32 | 39–42 |
| Kansas City Royals | 85 | 77 | .525 | 3 | 46–35 | 39–42 |
| Texas Rangers | 83 | 79 | .512 | 5 | 44–37 | 39–42 |
| Minnesota Twins | 82 | 80 | .506 | 6 | 39–42 | 43–38 |
| Chicago White Sox | 73 | 87 | .456 | 14 | 33–46 | 40–41 |
| Seattle Mariners | 67 | 95 | .414 | 21 | 36–45 | 31–50 |
| Oakland Athletics | 54 | 108 | .333 | 34 | 31–50 | 23–58 |
Sources:[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14] | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | BAL | BOS | CAL | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | MIL | MIN | NYY | OAK | SEA | TEX | TOR |
| Baltimore | — | 8–5 | 9–3 | 8–3 | 8–5 | 7–6 | 6–6 | 8–5 | 8–4 | 5–6 | 8–4 | 10–2 | 6–6 | 11–2 |
| Boston | 5–8 | — | 5–7 | 5–6 | 6–7 | 8–5 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 9–3 | 5–8 | 9–3 | 8–4 | 6–6 | 9–4 |
| California | 3–9 | 7–5 | — | 9–4 | 6–6 | 4–8 | 7–6 | 7–5 | 9–4 | 7–5 | 10–3 | 7–6 | 5–8 | 7–5 |
| Chicago | 3–8 | 6–5 | 4–9 | — | 6–6 | 3–9 | 5–8 | 5–7 | 5–8 | 4–8 | 9–4 | 5–8 | 11–2 | 7–5 |
| Cleveland | 5–8 | 7–6 | 6–6 | 6–6 | — | 6–6 | 6–6 | 4–9 | 8–4 | 5–8 | 8–4 | 7–5 | 5–7 | 8–5 |
| Detroit | 6–7 | 5–8 | 8–4 | 9–3 | 6–6 | — | 5–7 | 6–7 | 4–8 | 7–6 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 9–4 |
| Kansas City | 6–6 | 4–8 | 6–7 | 8–5 | 6–6 | 7–5 | — | 5–7 | 7–6 | 5–7 | 9–4 | 7–6 | 6–7 | 9–3 |
| Milwaukee | 5–8 | 4–8 | 5–7 | 7–5 | 9–4 | 7–6 | 7–5 | — | 8–4 | 9–4 | 6–6 | 9–3 | 9–3 | 10–3 |
| Minnesota | 4–8 | 3–9 | 4–9 | 8–5 | 4–8 | 8–4 | 6–7 | 4–8 | — | 7–5 | 9–4 | 10–3 | 4–9 | 11–1 |
| New York | 6–5 | 8–5 | 5–7 | 8–4 | 8–5 | 6–7 | 7–5 | 4–9 | 5–7 | — | 9–3 | 6–6 | 8–4 | 9–4 |
| Oakland | 4–8 | 3–9 | 3–10 | 4–9 | 4–8 | 5–7 | 4–9 | 6–6 | 4–9 | 3–9 | — | 8–5 | 2–11 | 4–8 |
| Seattle | 2–10 | 4–8 | 6–7 | 8–5 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 6–7 | 3–9 | 3–10 | 6–6 | 5–8 | — | 6–7 | 8–4 |
| Texas | 6–6 | 6–6 | 8–5 | 2–11 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 7–6 | 3–9 | 9–4 | 4–8 | 11–2 | 7–6 | — | 7–5 |
| Toronto | 2–11 | 4–9 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 5–8 | 4–9 | 3–9 | 3–10 | 1–11 | 4–9 | 8–4 | 4–8 | 5–7 | — |
| 1979 Oakland Athletics | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
| Pitchers | Catchers Infielders | Outfielders | 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 | Jeff Newman | 143 | 516 | 119 | .231 | 22 | 71 |
| 1B | Dave Revering | 125 | 472 | 136 | .288 | 19 | 77 |
| 2B | Mike Edwards | 122 | 400 | 93 | .233 | 1 | 23 |
| SS | Rob Picciolo | 115 | 348 | 88 | .253 | 2 | 27 |
| 3B | Wayne Gross | 138 | 442 | 99 | .224 | 14 | 50 |
| LF | Rickey Henderson | 89 | 351 | 96 | .274 | 1 | 26 |
| CF | Dwayne Murphy | 121 | 388 | 99 | .255 | 11 | 40 |
| RF | Tony Armas | 80 | 278 | 69 | .248 | 11 | 34 |
| DH | Mitchell Page | 133 | 478 | 118 | .247 | 9 | 42 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jim Essian | 98 | 313 | 76 | .243 | 8 | 40 |
| Mike Heath | 74 | 258 | 66 | .256 | 3 | 27 |
| Larry Murray | 105 | 226 | 42 | .186 | 2 | 20 |
| Dave Chalk | 66 | 212 | 47 | .222 | 2 | 13 |
| Mario Guerrero | 46 | 166 | 38 | .229 | 0 | 18 |
| Derek Bryant | 39 | 106 | 19 | .179 | 0 | 13 |
| Miguel Diloné | 30 | 91 | 17 | .187 | 1 | 6 |
| Glenn Burke | 23 | 89 | 19 | .213 | 0 | 4 |
| Joe Wallis | 23 | 78 | 11 | .141 | 1 | 3 |
| Mickey Klutts | 24 | 73 | 14 | .192 | 1 | 4 |
| Milt Ramírez | 28 | 62 | 10 | .161 | 0 | 3 |
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rick Langford | 34 | 218.2 | 12 | 16 | 4.28 | 101 |
| Steve McCatty | 31 | 185.2 | 11 | 12 | 4.22 | 87 |
| Matt Keough | 30 | 176.2 | 2 | 17 | 5.04 | 95 |
| Brian Kingman | 18 | 112.2 | 8 | 7 | 4.31 | 58 |
| John Henry Johnson | 14 | 84.2 | 2 | 8 | 4.36 | 50 |
| Mike Morgan | 13 | 77.1 | 2 | 10 | 5.94 | 17 |
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mike Norris | 29 | 146.1 | 5 | 8 | 4.80 | 96 |
| Craig Minetto | 36 | 118.1 | 1 | 5 | 5.55 | 64 |
| Dave Hamilton | 40 | 82.2 | 3 | 4 | 3.70 | 52 |
| Alan Wirth | 5 | 12.0 | 1 | 0 | 6.00 | 7 |
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dave Heaverlo | 62 | 4 | 11 | 9 | 4.20 | 40 |
| Jim Todd | 51 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 6.56 | 26 |
| Bob Lacey | 42 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 5.85 | 33 |
| Level | Team | League | Manager |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |