1977 Oakland Athletics season

The 1977 Oakland Athletics season was a season in American baseball. The team finished 7th in the American League West with a record of 63 wins and 98 losses. Paid attendance for the season was 495,578, one of the worst attendance figures for the franchise during the 1970s.[1]

1977 Oakland Athletics
Major League affiliations
Location
Results
Record63–98 (.391)
Other information
Owner(s)Charles O. Finley
Manager(s)Jack McKeon, Bobby Winkles
Local televisionKPIX-TV
Local radioKNBR
(Monte Moore, Bob Waller)
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Offseason

Regular season

After the 1976 season, most of the Athletics' veteran players who had become eligible for free agency left. In 1977, only three years after winning the World Series, the A's finished with the worst record in the American League West, behind even the expansion Seattle Mariners (though by only 1/2 game, as one game with the Minnesota Twins was canceled by weather and never made up).

On June 10, Jack McKeon was fired as manager and replaced by former Arizona State University coach Bobby Winkles.[11]

After the season, owner Charlie Finley attempted to trade Vida Blue to the Cincinnati Reds for a player of lesser stature and cash, but Commissioner Bowie Kuhn vetoed the deal. The commissioner claimed that it was tantamount to the sale of the star pitcher to the New York Yankees that the commissioner voided in 1976. The commissioner claimed that adding Blue to the Reds' already formidable pitching staff would make a mockery of the National League West race. Instead, Blue was traded across the bay to the San Francisco Giants in a multi-player trade that received the Commissioner's blessing.

Proposed sale

Kuhn and other owners thought that the Athletics relocating would alleviate baseball's problems in the Bay Area regarding poor attendance. Kuhn attempted to get an ownership group to purchase the Athletics and relocate to Washington, D.C., with the intention of moving them to the National League.[11]

Season standings
AL West W L Pct. GB Home Road
Kansas City Royals 10260 0.630 — 55–26 47–34
Texas Rangers 9468 0.580 8 44–37 50–31
Chicago White Sox 9072 0.556 12 48–33 42–39
Minnesota Twins 8477 0.522 17½ 48–32 36–45
California Angels 7488 0.457 28 39–42 35–46
Seattle Mariners 6498 0.395 38 29–52 35–46
Oakland Athletics 6398 0.391 38½ 35–46 28–52

Record vs. opponents
1977 American League Records

Sources:
Team BAL BOS CAL CWS CLE DET KC MIL MIN NYY OAK SEA TEX TOR
Baltimore —6–85–65–511–412–34–711–46–48–78–27–34–610–5
Boston 8–6—7–33–78–79–65–59–64–68–78–310–16–412–3
California 6–53–7—8–76–44–66–95–57–84–75–109–65–106–4
Chicago 5–57–37–8—6–44–68–76–510–53–710–510–56–98–3
Cleveland 4–117–84–64–6—8–73–711–42–93–127–37–32–99–5
Detroit 3–126–96–46–47–8—3–810–55–56–95–55–62–810–5
Kansas City 7–45–59–67–87–38–3—8–210–55–59–611–48–78–2
Milwaukee 4–116–95–55–64–115–102–8—3–88–75–57–35–58–7
Minnesota 4–66–48–75–109–25–55–108–3—2–88–67–88–79–1
New York 7–87–87–47–312–39–65–57–88–2—9–26–47–39–6
Oakland 2–83–810–55–103–75–56–95–56–82–9—7–82–137–3
Seattle 3–71–106–95–103–76–54–113–78–74–68–7—9–64–6
Texas 6–44–610–59–69–28–27–85–57–83–713–26–9—7–4
Toronto 5–103–124–63–85–95–102–87–81–96–93–76–44–7—

Opening Day lineup
  1. Billy North, CF
  2. Rodney Scott, 2B
  3. Mitchell Page. LF
  4. Dick Allen, 1B
  5. Manny Sanguillén, C
  6. Wayne Gross, 3B
  7. Earl Williams, DH
  8. Tony Armas, RF
  9. Rob Picciolo, SS

Notable transactions

Roster
1977 Oakland Athletics
Roster
Pitchers
  • 15 Joe Coleman
 Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders Manager

Coaches

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

Pos Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI
CManny Sanguillén152571157.275658
1BDick Allen5417141.240531
2BMarty Perez11537386.231223
3BWayne Gross146485113.2332263
SSRob Picciolo14841984.200222
LFMitchell Page145501154.3072175
CFTony Armas11836387.2401353
RFJim Tyrone9629472.245526
DHEarl Williams10034884.2411338

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
Rodney Scott13336495.261020
Mike Jorgensen6620350.246832
Rich McKinney8619835.177621
Billy North5618448.26119
Larry Murray9016229.17919
Jeff Newman9416236.222415
Jerry Tabb5114432.222619
Willie Crawford5913625.184116
Sheldon Mallory6412627.21405
Tim Hosley397815.192110
Matt Alexander904210.23802
Larry Lintz41304.13300
Mark Williams320.00001

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
Vida Blue38279.214193.83157
Rick Langford37208.18194.02141
Doc Medich26147.21064.6974
Mike Norris1677.1274.7735
Matt Keough742.2134.8523
Dock Ellis726159.6911
Mike Torrez426.1314.4412

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
Joe Coleman43127.2442.9655
Pablo Torrealba41116.2462.6251
Jim Umbarger1244156.5524
Stan Bahnsen1122126.1421
Paul Mitchell513.20310.545
Steve McCatty414.1005.029
Craig Mitchell35.2017.941

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
Doug Bair454683.4668
Bob Lacey646873.0369
Dave Giusti403362.9828
Steve Dunning61003.934
Jeff Newman10000.000

Awards and honors

All-Stars
Main article: 1977 Major League Baseball All-Star Game

Farm system
See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA San Jose Missions Pacific Coast League Rene Lachemann
AA Chattanooga Lookouts Southern League George Farson
A Modesto A's California League Tom Trebelhorn
Rookie Medicine Hat A's Pioneer League Orlando Gómez

References
  1. Charlie Finley: The Outrageous Story of Baseball's Super Showman, p. 272, G. Michael Green and Roger D. Launius. Walker Publishing Company, New York, 2010, ISBN 978-0-8027-1745-0
  2. Chuck Tanner Trades and Transactions at Baseball Almanac
  3. Billy Williams page at Baseball Reference
  4. Craig Minetto page at Baseball Reference
  5. Ken McMullen page at Baseball Reference
  6. Rick Langford page at Baseball Reference
  7. Jim Todd page at Baseball Reference
  8. Jerry Tabb page at Baseball Reference
  9. Jim Tyrone page at Baseball Reference
  10. Dick Allen page at Baseball Reference
  11. Charlie Finley: The Outrageous Story of Baseball's Super Showman, p. 271
  12. http://baseball-almanac.com/teamstats/roster.php?y=1977&t=OAK
  13. 1977 A's Batting Orders at Baseball Reference
  14. Sheldon Mallory page at Baseball Reference
  15. Dock Ellis page at Baseball Reference
  16. Shooty Babitt page at Baseball Reference
  17. Denny Walling page at Baseball Reference
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