1970 Oakland Athletics season

The 1970 Oakland Athletics season involved the A's finishing second in the American League West with a record of 89 wins and 73 losses. In 1970, owner Charlie Finley officially changed the team name from the Athletics to the "A's". An "apostrophe-s" was added to the cap and uniform emblem to reflect that fact.

1970 Oakland Athletics
Major League affiliations
Location
Results
Record89–73 (.549)
Other information
Owner(s)Charles O. Finley
Manager(s)John McNamara
Local televisionKBHK
Local radioKNBR
(Monte Moore, Harry Caray)
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Offseason

During the off-season, Reggie Jackson sought an increase in salary, and A's owner Charlie Finley threatened to send Jackson to the minors. Commissioner Bowie Kuhn successfully intervened in their dispute. Reggie Jackson demanded $60,000 per season, while he was offered $40,000 by Charlie Finley. Both parties settled on $45,000,[1] but Jackson's numbers in 1970 dropped sharply, as he hit just 23 home runs while batting .237.

Notable transactions
Round 4: Mitchell Page (did not sign)
Secondary Phase[7]
Round 1: Vic Harris [8]

Regular season
  • During the 1970 season, there were rumours of the Athletics attempting to relocate to Toronto.[9]
  • At the end of May, the Athletics were 25–23, and 8 games back of the first place Minnesota Twins.[10]
  • September 21: Vida Blue threw a no-hitter versus the Minnesota Twins.[11]
  • The club hired Harry Caray to do the play by play for the Athletics. Charlie Finley wanted Caray to change his broadcast chant of Holy Cow to Holy Mule. Caray refused and left after the season.[12]

Season standings
AL West W L Pct. GB Home Road
Minnesota Twins 9864 0.605 — 51–30 47–34
Oakland Athletics 8973 0.549 9 49–32 40–41
California Angels 8676 0.531 12 43–38 43–38
Kansas City Royals 6597 0.401 33 35–44 30–53
Milwaukee Brewers 6597 0.401 33 38–42 27–55
Chicago White Sox 56106 0.346 42 31–53 25–53

Record vs. opponents
1970 American League Records

Sources:
Team BAL BOS CAL CWS CLE DET KC MIL MIN NYY OAK WSH
Baltimore —13–57–59–314–411–712–07–55–711–77–512–6
Boston 5–13—5–78–412–69–97–55–77–510–87–512–6
California 5–77–5—12–66–66–610–812–68–105–78–107–5
Chicago 3–94–86–12—6–66–67–117–116–125–72–164–8
Cleveland 4–146–126–66–6—7–118–47–56–68–107–511–7
Detroit 7–119–96–66–611–7—6–68–44–87–116–69–9
Kansas City 0–125–78–1011–74–86–6—12–65–131–117–116–6
Milwaukee 5–77–56–1211–75–74–86–12—5–133–9–18–105–7
Minnesota 7–55–710–812–66–68–413–513–5—5–713–56–6
New York 7–118–107–57–510–811–711–19–3–17–5—6–610–8
Oakland 5–75–710–816–25–76–611–710–85–136–6—10–2
Washington 6–126–125–78–47–119–96–67–56–68–102–10—

Notable transactions
Round 1: Dan Ford (18th pick)[15]

Roster
1970 Oakland Athletics
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders Manager

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 Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI
CFrank Fernández9425254.2141544
1BDon Mincher140463114.2462774
3BSal Bando155502132.2632075
SSBert Campaneris147603168.2792264
RFReggie Jackson149426101.2372366

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
Dave Duncan8623260.2591029
Tommy Davis6620058.290127
Steve Hovley7210019.19001
John Donaldson418922.247111
Roberto Peña195815.25903
Jim Driscoll215210.19212
Bob Johnson30468.17412
Tito Francona32338.24216
José Tartabull24133.23102

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
Chuck Dobson4126716153.74149
Catfish Hunter40262.118143.81178
Vida Blue638.2202.0935

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
Diego Seguí4716210102.5695
Rollie Fingers45148793.6579
Al Downing1041333.9526

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
Mudcat Grant7262241.8254
Paul Lindblad628232.7042
Marcel Lachemann413332.7839
Roberto Rodríguez60002.928
Fred Talbot101010.800

Awards and honors
  • Bert Campaneris led the American League in Stolen Bases[17]

Farm system
See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Iowa Oaks American Association Sherm Lollar
AA Birmingham A's Southern League Phil Cavarretta
A Burlington Bees Midwest League Roy Sievers
A-Short Season Coos Bay-North Bend A's Northwest League Harry Bright

References
  1. Charlie Finley: The Outrageous Story of Baseball's Super Showman, p.134, G. Michael Green and Roger D. Launius. Walker Publishing Company, New York, 2010, ISBN 978-0-8027-1745-0
  2. Manny Trillo page at Baseball Reference
  3. Danny Cater page at Baseball Reference
  4. Diego Seguí page at Baseball Reference
  5. Phil Roof page at Baseball Reference
  6. 1970 Oakland Athletics Picks in the MLB January Amateur Draft
  7. 1970 Oakland Athletics Picks in the MLB January Amateur Draft (Secondary Phase)
  8. Vic Harris page at Baseball Reference
  9. Charlie Finley: The Outrageous Story of Baseball's Super Showman, p.120, G. Michael Green and Roger D. Launius. Walker Publishing Company, New York, 2010, ISBN 978-0-8027-1745-0
  10. Charlie Finley: The Outrageous Story of Baseball's Super Showman, p.134, G. Michael Green and Roger D. Launius. Walker Publishing Company, New York, 2010, ISBN 978-0-8027-1745-0
  11. Charlie Finley: The Outrageous Story of Baseball's Super Showman, p.140, G. Michael Green and Roger D. Launius. Walker Publishing Company, New York, 2010, ISBN 978-0-8027-1745-0
  12. Charlie Finley: The Outrageous Story of Baseball's Super Showman, p.141, G. Michael Green and Roger D. Launius. Walker Publishing Company, New York, 2010, ISBN 978-0-8027-1745-0
  13. John Donaldson page at Baseball Reference
  14. 1970 Oakland Athletics Picks in the MLB June Amateur Draft
  15. Dan Ford page at Baseball Reference
  16. Steve Hovley page at Baseball Reference
  17. Charlie Finley: The Outrageous Story of Baseball's Super Showman, p.141, G. Michael Green and Roger D. Launius. Walker Publishing Company, New York, 2010, ISBN 978-0-8027-1745-0
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