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1977 Oakland Athletics season

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1977 Oakland Athletics
LeagueAmerican League
DivisionWest
BallparkOakland-Alameda County Coliseum
CityOakland, California
Record63–98 (.391)
Divisional place7th
OwnersCharles O. Finley
ManagersJack McKeon, Bobby Winkles
TelevisionKPIX-TV
RadioKNBR
(Monte Moore, Bob Waller)
← 1976 Seasons 1978 →

The 1977 Oakland Athletics season was a season in American baseball. The team finished seventh 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]

Offseason

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Regular season

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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

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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

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AL West
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
Kansas City Royals 102 60 .630 — 55‍–‍26 47‍–‍34
Texas Rangers 94 68 .580 8 44‍–‍37 50‍–‍31
Chicago White Sox 90 72 .556 12 48‍–‍33 42‍–‍39
Minnesota Twins 84 77 .522 17½ 48‍–‍32 36‍–‍45
California Angels 74 88 .457 28 39‍–‍42 35‍–‍46
Seattle Mariners 64 98 .395 38 29‍–‍52 35‍–‍46
Oakland Athletics 63 98 .391 38½ 35‍–‍46 28‍–‍52

Record vs. opponents

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1977 American League record

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 — 6–8 5–6 5–5 11–4 12–3 4–7 11–4 6–4 8–7 8–2 7–3 4–6 10–5
Boston 8–6 — 7–3 3–7 8–7 9–6 5–5 9–6 4–6 8–7 8–3 10–1 6–4 12–3
California 6–5 3–7 — 8–7 6–4 4–6 6–9 5–5 7–8 4–7 5–10 9–6 5–10 6–4
Chicago 5–5 7–3 7–8 — 6–4 4–6 8–7 6–5 10–5 3–7 10–5 10–5 6–9 8–3
Cleveland 4–11 7–8 4–6 4–6 — 8–7 3–7 11–4 2–9 3–12 7–3 7–3 2–9 9–5
Detroit 3–12 6–9 6–4 6–4 7–8 — 3–8 10–5 5–5 6–9 5–5 5–6 2–8 10–5
Kansas City 7–4 5–5 9–6 7–8 7–3 8–3 — 8–2 10–5 5–5 9–6 11–4 8–7 8–2
Milwaukee 4–11 6–9 5–5 5–6 4–11 5–10 2–8 — 3–8 8–7 5–5 7–3 5–5 8–7
Minnesota 4–6 6–4 8–7 5–10 9–2 5–5 5–10 8–3 — 2–8 8–6 7–8 8–7 9–1
New York 7–8 7–8 7–4 7–3 12–3 9–6 5–5 7–8 8–2 — 9–2 6–4 7–3 9–6
Oakland 2–8 3–8 10–5 5–10 3–7 5–5 6–9 5–5 6–8 2–9 — 7–8 2–13 7–3
Seattle 3–7 1–10 6–9 5–10 3–7 6–5 4–11 3–7 8–7 4–6 8–7 — 9–6 4–6
Texas 6–4 4–6 10–5 9–6 9–2 8–2 7–8 5–5 7–8 3–7 13–2 6–9 — 7–4
Toronto 5–10 3–12 4–6 3–8 5–9 5–10 2–8 7–8 1–9 6–9 3–7 6–4 4–7 —


Opening Day lineup

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  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

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Roster

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1977 Oakland Athletics
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders Manager

Coaches

Player stats

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= Indicates team leader

Batting

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Starters by position

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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 Manny Sanguillén 152 571 157 .275 6 58
1B Dick Allen 54 171 41 .240 5 31
2B Marty Perez 115 373 86 .231 2 23
3B Wayne Gross 146 485 113 .233 22 63
SS Rob Picciolo 148 419 84 .200 2 22
LF Mitchell Page 145 501 154 .307 21 75
CF Tony Armas 118 363 87 .240 13 53
RF Jim Tyrone 96 294 72 .245 5 26
DH Earl Williams 100 348 84 .241 13 38

Other batters

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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 Scott 133 364 95 .261 0 20
Mike Jorgensen 66 203 50 .246 8 32
Rich McKinney 86 198 35 .177 6 21
Billy North 56 184 48 .261 1 9
Larry Murray 90 162 29 .179 1 9
Jeff Newman 94 162 36 .222 4 15
Jerry Tabb 51 144 32 .222 6 19
Willie Crawford 59 136 25 .184 1 16
Sheldon Mallory 64 126 27 .214 0 5
Tim Hosley 39 78 15 .192 1 10
Matt Alexander 90 42 10 .238 0 2
Larry Lintz 41 30 4 .133 0 0
Mark Williams 3 2 0 .000 0 1

Pitching

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Starting pitchers

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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 Blue 38 279.2 14 19 3.83 157
Rick Langford 37 208.1 8 19 4.02 141
Doc Medich 26 147.2 10 6 4.69 74
Mike Norris 16 77.1 2 7 4.77 35
Matt Keough 7 42.2 1 3 4.85 23
Dock Ellis 7 26.0 1 5 9.69 11
Mike Torrez 4 26.1 3 1 4.44 12

Other pitchers

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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 Coleman 43 127.2 4 4 2.96 55
Pablo Torrealba 41 116.2 4 6 2.62 51
Jim Umbarger 12 44.0 1 5 6.55 24
Stan Bahnsen 11 22.0 1 2 6.14 21
Paul Mitchell 5 13.2 0 3 10.54 5
Steve McCatty 4 14.1 0 0 5.02 9
Craig Mitchell 3 5.2 0 1 7.94 1

Relief pitchers

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Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G W L SV ERA SO
Doug Bair 45 4 6 8 3.46 68
Bob Lacey 64 6 8 7 3.03 69
Dave Giusti 40 3 3 6 2.98 28
Steve Dunning 6 1 0 0 3.93 4
Jeff Newman 1 0 0 0 0.00 0

Awards and honors

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All-Stars

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Main article: 1977 Major League Baseball All-Star Game

Farm system

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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

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  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. ^ a b Charlie Finley: The Outrageous Story of Baseball's Super Showman, p. 271
  12. ^ "1977 Oakland Athletics Roster by Baseball Almanac".
  13. ^ 1977 A's Batting Orders at Baseball Reference
  14. ^ Sheldon Mallory page at Baseball Reference
  15. ^ a b Dock Ellis page at Baseball Reference
  16. ^ Shooty Babitt page at Baseball Reference
  17. ^ Denny Walling page at Baseball Reference
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