| 1988 Oakland Athletics | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| American League champions American League West champions | ||||
| League | American League | |||
| Division | West | |||
| Ballpark | Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum | |||
| City | Oakland, California | |||
| Record | 104–58 (.642) | |||
| Divisional place | 1st | |||
| 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) | |||
| ||||
The1988 Oakland Athletics season was the 88th season for theOakland Athletics franchise, all as members of theAmerican League, and their 21st season inOakland. The Athletics won their firstAmerican 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-ownerCharles O. Finley in favor of a Missouri mule. The A's defeated theBoston Red Sox in theALCS, but lost theWorld Series to theLos Angeles Dodgers in five games, including a dramatic, classic walk-off home run by the Dodgers'Kirk Gibson in game one.
1988 was the first of three straight years the A's would represent theAL in theWorld Series.
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.
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oakland Athletics | 104 | 58 | .642 | — | 54–27 | 50–31 |
| Minnesota Twins | 91 | 71 | .562 | 13 | 47–34 | 44–37 |
| Kansas City Royals | 84 | 77 | .522 | 19½ | 44–36 | 40–41 |
| California Angels | 75 | 87 | .463 | 29 | 35–46 | 40–41 |
| Chicago White Sox | 71 | 90 | .441 | 32½ | 40–41 | 31–49 |
| Texas Rangers | 70 | 91 | .435 | 33½ | 38–43 | 32–48 |
| Seattle Mariners | 68 | 93 | .422 | 35½ | 37–44 | 31–49 |
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 | — | 4–9 | 5–7 | 4–7 | 4–9 | 5–8 | 0–12 | 4–9 | 3–9 | 3–10 | 4–8 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 5–8 |
| Boston | 9–4 | — | 8–4 | 7–5 | 8–5 | 6–7 | 6–6 | 10–3 | 7–5 | 9–4 | 3–9 | 6–6 | 8–4 | 2–11 |
| California | 7–5 | 4–8 | — | 9–4 | 8–4 | 5–7 | 5–8 | 3–9 | 4–9 | 6–6 | 4–9 | 6–7 | 8–5 | 6–6 |
| Chicago | 7–4 | 5–7 | 4–9 | — | 3–9 | 3–9 | 7–6 | 6–6 | 4–9 | 3–9 | 5–8 | 9–4 | 8–5 | 7–5 |
| Cleveland | 9–4 | 5–8 | 4–8 | 9–3 | — | 4–9 | 6–6 | 9–4 | 5–7 | 6–7 | 4–8 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 6–7 |
| Detroit | 8–5 | 7–6 | 7–5 | 9–3 | 9–4 | — | 8–4 | 5–8 | 1–11 | 8–5 | 4–8 | 9–3 | 8–4 | 5–8 |
| Kansas City | 12–0 | 6–6 | 8–5 | 6–7 | 6–6 | 4–8 | — | 3–9 | 7–6 | 6–6 | 8–5 | 7–5 | 7–6 | 4–8 |
| Milwaukee | 9–4 | 3–10 | 9–3 | 6–6 | 4–9 | 8–5 | 9–3 | — | 7–5 | 6–7 | 3–9 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 7–6 |
| Minnesota | 9–3 | 5–7 | 9–4 | 9–4 | 7–5 | 11–1 | 6–7 | 5–7 | — | 3–9 | 5–8 | 8–5 | 7–6 | 7–5 |
| New York | 10–3 | 4–9 | 6–6 | 9–3 | 7–6 | 5–8 | 6–6 | 7–6 | 9–3 | — | 6–6 | 5–7 | 5–6 | 6–7 |
| Oakland | 8–4 | 9–3 | 9–4 | 8–5 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 5–8 | 9–3 | 8–5 | 6–6 | — | 9–4 | 8–5 | 9–3 |
| Seattle | 5–7 | 6–6 | 7–6 | 4–9 | 7–5 | 3–9 | 5–7 | 4–8 | 5–8 | 7–5 | 4–9 | — | 6–7 | 5–7 |
| Texas | 6–6 | 4–8 | 5–8 | 5–8 | 6–6 | 4–8 | 6–7 | 4–8 | 6–7 | 6–5 | 5–8 | 7–6 | — | 6–6 |
| Toronto | 8–5 | 11–2 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 7–6 | 8–5 | 8–4 | 6–7 | 5–7 | 7–6 | 3–9 | 7–5 | 6–6 | — |
| 1988 Oakland Athletics | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
| Pitchers | Catchers Infielders | Outfielders Other batters | Manager Coaches | ||||||
| = Indicates team leader |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RF | José Canseco | 158 | 610 | 187 | .307 | 42 | 124 |
| CF | Dave Henderson | 146 | 507 | 154 | .304 | 24 | 94 |
| 3B | Carney Lansford | 150 | 556 | 155 | .279 | 7 | 57 |
| 1B | Mark McGwire | 155 | 550 | 143 | .260 | 32 | 99 |
| C | Ron Hassey | 107 | 323 | 83 | .257 | 7 | 45 |
| 2B | Glenn Hubbard | 105 | 294 | 75 | .255 | 3 | 33 |
| SS | Walt Weiss | 147 | 452 | 113 | .250 | 3 | 39 |
| DH | Don Baylor | 92 | 264 | 58 | .220 | 7 | 34 |
| LF | Luis Polonia | 84 | 288 | 84 | .292 | 2 | 27 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stan Javier | 125 | 397 | 102 | .257 | 2 | 35 |
| Dave Parker | 101 | 377 | 97 | .257 | 12 | 55 |
| Terry Steinbach | 104 | 351 | 93 | .265 | 9 | 51 |
| Mike Gallego | 129 | 277 | 58 | .209 | 2 | 20 |
| Tony Phillips | 79 | 212 | 43 | .203 | 2 | 17 |
| Doug Jennings | 71 | 101 | 21 | .208 | 1 | 15 |
| Orlando Mercado | 16 | 24 | 3 | .125 | 1 | 1 |
| Matt Sinatro | 10 | 9 | 3 | .333 | 0 | 5 |
| Félix José | 8 | 6 | 2 | .333 | 0 | 1 |
| Lance Blankenship | 10 | 3 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Ed Jurak | 3 | 1 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
Note: G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | GS | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dave Stewart | 37 | 37 | 275.2 | 21 | 12 | 3.23 | 192 |
| Bob Welch | 36 | 36 | 244.2 | 17 | 9 | 3.64 | 158 |
| Storm Davis | 33 | 33 | 201.2 | 16 | 7 | 3.70 | 127 |
| Curt Young | 26 | 26 | 156.1 | 11 | 8 | 4.14 | 69 |
| Todd Burns | 17 | 14 | 102.2 | 8 | 2 | 3.16 | 57 |
| Steve Ontiveros | 10 | 10 | 54.2 | 3 | 4 | 4.61 | 30 |
| Rich Bordi | 2 | 2 | 7.2 | 0 | 1 | 4.70 | 6 |
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dave Otto | 3 | 10.0 | 0 | 0 | 1.80 | 7 |
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dennis Eckersley | 60 | 4 | 2 | 45 | 2.35 | 70 |
| Greg Cadaret | 58 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 2.89 | 64 |
| Rick Honeycutt | 55 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 3.50 | 47 |
| Gene Nelson | 54 | 9 | 6 | 3 | 3.06 | 67 |
| Eric Plunk | 49 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 3.00 | 79 |
| Jim Corsi | 11 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3.80 | 10 |
| Jeff Shaver | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 |
October 5,Fenway Park
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oakland | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 0 |
| Boston | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 0 |
| W:Rick Honeycutt (1-0) L:Bruce Hurst (0-1) S:Dennis Eckersley (1) | ||||||||||||
| HR:OAK –José Canseco (1) | ||||||||||||
October 6,Fenway Park
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oakland | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 10 | 1 |
| Boston | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 1 |
| W:Gene Nelson (1-0) L:Lee Smith (0-1) S:Dennis Eckersley (2) | ||||||||||||
| HR:OAK –José Canseco (2) BOS –Rich Gedman (1) | ||||||||||||
October 8,Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boston | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 12 | 0 |
| Oakland | 0 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | X | 10 | 15 | 1 |
| 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) | ||||||||||||
October 9,Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boston | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| Oakland | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | X | 4 | 10 | 1 |
| W:Dave Stewart (1-0) L:Bruce Hurst (0-2) S:Dennis Eckersley (4) | ||||||||||||
| HR:OAK –José Canseco (3) | ||||||||||||
NLLos Angeles Dodgers (4) vs. ALOakland Athletics (1)
| Game | Score | Date | Location | Attendance | Time of Game |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A's – 4,Dodgers – 5 | October 15 | Dodger Stadium (Los Angeles) | 55,983 | 3:04 |
| 2 | A's – 0,Dodgers – 6 | October 16 | Dodger Stadium (Los Angeles) | 56,051 | 2:30 |
| 3 | Dodgers – 1,A's – 2 | October 18 | Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum (Oakland) | 49,316 | 3:21 |
| 4 | Dodgers – 4, A's – 3 | October 19 | Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum (Oakland) | 49,317 | 3:05 |
| 5 | Dodgers – 5, A's – 2 | October 20 | Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum (Oakland) | 49,317 | 2:51 |