1980 Oakland Athletics season

The 1980 Oakland Athletics season was the team's thirteenth season in Oakland. The A's, under first-year manager Billy Martin, began the season with low expectations following their insipid 1979 campaign. Strong performances from pitchers Mike Norris, Matt Keough, and Rick Langford, along with the brilliant play of breakout star (and future Hall-of-Famer) Rickey Henderson, paved the way for a staggering 29-win increase over the previous year's output. The Athletics, only one year removed from baseball's worst record, swung to a second-place finish behind their 83-79 record.

1980 Oakland Athletics
Major League affiliations
Location
Results
Record83–79 (.512)
Other information
Owner(s)Charles O. Finley
Manager(s)Billy Martin
Local televisionKPIX-TV
(Monte Moore, Wayne Walker)
Local radioKDIA
(Ted Robinson, Red Rush, Dom Valentino)
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The season also marked the end of the Charlie Finley ownership era. Finley sold the team to Walter A. Haas, Jr. shortly before the start of the 1981 season. The A's would remain under Haas' ownership until 1995.

Offseason

Regular season

In 1980, Charlie O. Finley hired Billy Martin to manage the young team. The club was led by new young stars Rickey Henderson, Mike Norris, Tony Armas, and Dwayne Murphy. The starting pitching staff was also notable in that they completed 94 starts, virtually unheard of in the era of the relief pitcher. Rick Langford finished 28 of his 33 starts, totalling nearly 300 innings, and tallying a 19-12 record. Norris went 22-9 with a 2.53 ERA, completed 24 starts, and was runner-up to Steve Stone in the Cy Young Award balloting that year. Martin made believers of his young charges as "Billyball" (characterized as featuring aggressive base running) was used to market the team, and the Athletics finished second in 1980.

Rickey Henderson broke Ty Cobb's American League record for most stolen bases in one season (96) by recording 100 stolen bases.[3]

Season standings
AL West W L Pct. GB Home Road
Kansas City Royals 9765 0.599 — 49–32 48–33
Oakland Athletics 8379 0.512 14 46–35 37–44
Minnesota Twins 7784 0.478 19½ 44–36 33–48
Texas Rangers 7685 0.472 20½ 39–41 37–44
Chicago White Sox 7090 0.438 26 37–42 33–48
California Angels 6595 0.406 31 30–51 35–44
Seattle Mariners 59103 0.364 38 36–45 23–58

Record vs. opponents
1980 American League Records

Sources:
Team BAL BOS CAL CWS CLE DET KC MIL MIN NYY OAK SEA TEX TOR
Baltimore —8–510–26–66–710–36–67–610–27–67–56–66–611–2
Boston 5–8—9–36–47–68–55–76–76–63–109–37–55–77–6
California 2–103–9—3–104–65–75–86–67–62–103–1011–211–23–9
Chicago 6–64–610–3—5–72–105–85–75–85–76–76–76–7–25–7
Cleveland 7–66–76–47–5—3–105–73–109–35–86–68–46–68–5
Detroit 3–105–87–510–210–3—2–107–66–65–86–610–2–14–89–4
Kansas City 6–67–58–58–57–510–2—6–65–88–46–77–610–39–3
Milwaukee 6–77–66–67–510–36–76–6—7–55–87–59–35–75–8
Minnesota 2–106–66–78–53–96–68–55–7—4–86–77–69–37–5
New York 6–710–310–27–58–58–54–88–58–4—8–49–37–510–3
Oakland 5–73–910–37–66–66–67–65–77–64–8—8–57–68–4
Seattle 6–65–72–117–64–82–10–16–73–96–73–95–8—4–96–6
Texas 6–67–52–117–6–26–68–43–107–53–95–76–79–4—7–5
Toronto 2–116–79–37–55–84–93–98–55–73–104–86–65–7—

Notable transactions

Draft picks
  • June 3, 1980: Rich Bordi was drafted by the Athletics in the 3rd round of the 1980 Major League Baseball Draft.[5]

Roster
1980 Oakland Athletics
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders

Other batters

 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
CJim Essian8728566.232529
LFRickey Henderson158591179.303953
CFDwayne Murphy159573157.2741368
RFTony Armas158628175.27935109

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
Jeff Newman127438102.2331556
Dave McKay12329572.244129
Orlando González257017.24301
Mike Edwards465914.23703
Randy Elliott14395.12801

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
Rick Langford3529019123.26102
Mike Norris33284.12292.53180

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
Craig Minetto78027.885

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
Jeff Jones351352.8434
Dave Beard130113.3812
Ernie Camacho50006.949
Rick Lysander50007.905
Mark Souza50007.712
Alan Wirth20004.501
Rich Bordi10004.500

Awards and honors

League records
  • Rickey Henderson, American League record (since broken), Most stolen bases in one season (100)

League leaders
  • Rickey Henderson, American League leader, stolen bases (100)

Farm system
See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Ogden A's Pacific Coast League José Pagán
AA West Haven Whitecaps Eastern League Ed Nottle
A Modesto A's California League Keith Lieppman
A-Short Season Medford A's Northwest League Brad Fischer

References
  1. Jim Todd page at Baseball Reference
  2. Joe Wallis page at Baseball Reference
  3. Numbelievable!, p. 46, Michael X. Ferraro and John Venziano, Triumph Books, 2007, Chicago, Illinois, ISBN 978-1-57243-990-0
  4. Randy Elliott page at Baseball Reference
  5. Rich Bordi page at Baseball Reference
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