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1990 Oakland Athletics season

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

1990 Oakland Athletics
American League Champions
American League West Champions
LeagueAmerican League
DivisionWest
BallparkOakland–Alameda County Coliseum
CityOakland, California
Record103–59 (.636)
Divisional place1st
OwnersWalter A. Haas, Jr.
General managersSandy Alderson
ManagersTony La Russa
TelevisionKPIX/KICU-TV
Sports Channel Bay Area
(Monte Moore, Ray Fosse)
RadioKSFO
(Bill King, Lon Simmons, Ray Fosse)
KNTA
(Amaury Pi-Gonzalez, Erwin Higueros)
← 1989 Seasons 1991 →

The Oakland Athletics' 1990 season was their 23rd season in Oakland, California and the 90th in franchise history. The team finished first in the American League West with a record of 103 wins 59 losses.

The Athletics' 1990 campaign ranks among the organization's finest. Oakland, by winning 103 games, led the league outright in wins for a third consecutive season; they remained the last major North American team to accomplish this until 2017, when the feat was matched by the nearby Golden State Warriors of the NBA. The Athletics benefited from stellar performances in all areas of the game. The team's offense was led by eventual Hall-of-Famer Rickey Henderson, who finished the season with 65 stolen bases, 28 home runs, a .325 batting average, and took home the 1990 American League MVP Award. The Athletics benefited from strong performances by superstars Mark McGwire and Jose Canseco. The pair clubbed 39 and 37 home runs, respectively; in doing so, they drove in a combined total of 209 runs. Over the course of the season, the team added to an already strong offense; the additions of recent All-Stars Willie Randolph, Willie McGee, and Harold Baines further widened the gap between the Athletics and the rest of the league. Established veterans (such as Carney Lansford, Terry Steinbach, Dave Henderson, and Mike Gallego) and promising young players (mainly Walt Weiss and Mike Bordick) rounded out arguably the deepest roster in all of Major League Baseball. Eight of the Athletics' nine main postseason starters (R. Henderson, McGwire, Canseco, McGee, Steinbach, Randolph, Baines, and Lansford) played in at least one All-Star Game between 1988 and 1990.

The Athletics pitching staff, in many regards, had an even stronger campaign. The starting rotation was led by veteran Bob Welch. Welch would finish the season with both an MLB-leading 27 wins and a 2.95 ERA; this performance was strong enough to net the 1990 Cy Young Award. Welch, as of 2021, remains the last MLB pitcher to win at least 25 games in a season.[1] Fellow starter Dave Stewart, winner of 22 games, finished in a tie (with Pittsburgh starter Doug Drabek) for the second-most wins in MLB. 1989 All-Star Mike Moore, 1991 All-Star Scott Sanderson, and longtime Athletic Curt Young rounded out the American League's top rotation. The Athletics' bullpen was led by superstar closer Dennis Eckersley, who posted a microscopic 0.61 ERA while recording 48 saves. As a team, the Athletics allowed only 570 runs (the fewest in the American League by a wide margin).

The Athletics easily won the American League West for a third consecutive season, en route to a third consecutive AL Pennant with a four-game sweep of the Boston Red Sox. The Athletics entered the 1990 World Series as heavy favorites, but were swept by the Cincinnati Reds. Neither team has reached the World Series since.

Offseason

[edit]
  • November 28, 1989: Rickey Henderson signed as a free agent with the Oakland Athletics.
  • December 13, 1989: The Athletics sign Scott Sanderson as a free agent.[2]
  • December 13, 1989: Jamie Quirk was signed as a free agent with the Oakland Athletics.[3]

Regular season

[edit]

Catfish
Hunter
Pitcher:
1965-67(KC)
1968-74(OAK)
Retired 1990
  • June 4, 1990: Todd Van Poppel was drafted by the Oakland Athletics in the 1st round (14th pick) of the 1990 amateur draft. Player signed July 16, 1990.
  • June 20, 1990 – Terry Steinbach has 6 RBIs in one game versus the Detroit Tigers.
  • July 25, 1990 – Jose Canseco had 6 RBIs in a game against the California Angels.

Season standings

[edit]
AL West
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
Oakland Athletics 103 59 .636 — 51‍–‍30 52‍–‍29
Chicago White Sox 94 68 .580 9 49‍–‍31 45‍–‍37
Texas Rangers 83 79 .512 20 47‍–‍35 36‍–‍44
California Angels 80 82 .494 23 42‍–‍39 38‍–‍43
Seattle Mariners 77 85 .475 26 38‍–‍43 39‍–‍42
Kansas City Royals 75 86 .466 27½ 45‍–‍36 30‍–‍50
Minnesota Twins 74 88 .457 29 41‍–‍40 33‍–‍48

Record vs. opponents

[edit]
1990 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 — 4–9 7–5 6–6 6–7 6–7 8–3 7–6 6–6 6–7 4–8 3–9 8–4 5–8
Boston 9–4 — 7–5 6–6 9–4 8–5 4–8 5–8 4–8 9–4 4–8 8–4 5–7 10–3
California 5–7 5–7 — 5–8 7–5 5–7 7–6 7–5 9–4 6–6 4–9 5–8 8–5 7–5
Chicago 6–6 6–6 8–5 — 5–7 5–7 9–4 10–2 7–6 10–2 8–5 8–5 7–6 5–7
Cleveland 7–6 4–9 5–7 7–5 — 5–8 6–6 9–4 7–5 5–8 4–8 7–5 7–5 4–9
Detroit 7–6 5–8 7–5 7–5 8–5 — 5–7 3–10 6–6 7–6 6–6 7–5 6–6 5–8
Kansas City 3–8 8–4 6–7 4–9 6–6 7–5 — 4–8 8–5 8–4 4–9 7–6 5–8 5–7
Milwaukee 6–7 8–5 5–7 2–10 4–9 10–3 8–4 — 4–8 6–7 5–7 4–8 5–7 7–6
Minnesota 6–6 8–4 4–9 6–7 5–7 6–6 5–8 8–4 — 6–6 6–7 6–7 5–8 3–9
New York 7–6 4–9 6–6 2–10 8–5 6–7 4–8 7–6 6–6 — 0–12 9–3 3–9 5–8
Oakland 8–4 8–4 9–4 5–8 8–4 6–6 9–4 7–5 7–6 12–0 — 9–4 8–5 7–5
Seattle 9–3 4–8 8–5 5–8 5–7 5–7 6–7 8–4 7–6 3–9 4–9 — 7–6 6–6
Texas 4–8 7–5 5–8 6–7 5–7 6–6 8–5 7–5 8–5 9–3 5–8 6–7 — 7–5
Toronto 8–5 3–10 5–7 7–5 9–4 8–5 7–5 6–7 9–3 8–5 5–7 6–6 5–7 —


Notable transactions

[edit]
  • May 13, 1990: Willie Randolph was traded by the Los Angeles Dodgers to the Oakland Athletics for Stan Javier.[4]
  • June 17, 1990: Ken Phelps was purchased by the Cleveland Indians from the Oakland Athletics.
  • July 15, 1990: Mike Norris was released by the Oakland Athletics.[5]
  • August 1, 1990: Ron Coomer was released by the Oakland Athletics.[6]
  • August 29, 1990: Willie McGee was traded by the St. Louis Cardinals to the Oakland Athletics for Felix Jose, Stan Royer, and Daryl Green (minors).[7]

Draft picks

[edit]
  • June 4, 1990: Ernie Young was drafted by the Oakland Athletics in the 10th round of the 1990 amateur draft. Player signed June 7, 1990.[8]
  • June 4, 1990: Izzy Molina was drafted by the Oakland Athletics in the 22nd round of the 1990 amateur draft. Player signed June 28, 1990.[9]

Roster

[edit]
1990 Oakland Athletics
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Designated Hitters

Manager

Coaches

Dave Stewart's No-Hitter

[edit]

On June 29, Dave Stewart no-hit the Toronto Blue Jays by a score of 5–0.

Player stats

[edit]
= Indicates team leader
= Indicates league leader

Batting

[edit]

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 Terry Steinbach 114 379 95 .291 9 57
1B Mark McGwire 156 523 123 .235 39 108
2B Willie Randolph 93 292 75 .257 1 21
3B Carney Lansford 134 507 136 .268 3 50
SS Walt Weiss 138 445 118 .265 2 35
LF Rickey Henderson 136 489 159 .325 28 61
CF Dave Henderson 127 450 122 .264 20 63
RF José Canseco 131 481 132 .274 37 101
DH Harold Baines 32 94 25 .266 3 21

Other batters

[edit]

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
Mike Gallego 140 389 80 .206 3 34
Félix José 101 341 90 .264 8 39
Ron Hassey 94 254 54 .213 5 22
Doug Jennings 64 156 30 .192 2 14
Lance Blankenship 86 136 26 .295 0 10
Jamie Quirk 56 121 34 .281 3 26
Willie McGee 29 113 31 .274 0 15
Ken Phelps 32 59 11 .186 1 6
Steve Howard 21 52 12 .231 0 1
Darren Lewis 25 35 8 .229 0 1
Stan Javier 19 33 8 .242 0 3
Dann Howitt 14 22 3 .136 0 1
Ozzie Canseco 9 19 2 .105 0 1
Troy Afenir 14 14 2 .143 0 2
Mike Bordick 25 14 1 .071 0 0
Scott Hemond 7 13 2 .154 0 1
Rick Honeycutt 66 2 0 .000 0 0

Pitching

[edit]

Starting pitchers

[edit]

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 Stewart 36 267.0 22 11 2.56 166
Bob Welch 35 238.0 27 6 2.95 127
Scott Sanderson 34 206.1 17 11 3.88 128
Mike Moore 33 199.1 13 15 4.65 73
Curt Young 26 124.1 9 6 4.85 56

Other pitchers

[edit]

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

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Reggie Harris 16 41.1 1 0 3.48 31
Mike Norris 14 27.0 1 0 3.00 16
Steve Chitren 8 17.2 1 0 1.02 19
Dave Otto 2 2.1 0 0 7.71 2

Relief pitchers

[edit]

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 63 4 2 48 0.61 73
Rick Honeycutt 63 2 2 7 2.70 38
Gene Nelson 51 3 3 5 1.57 38
Todd Burns 43 3 3 3 2.97 43
Joe Klink 40 0 0 1 2.04 19
Joe Bitker 1 0 0 0 0.00 2

ALCS

[edit]
Main article: 1990 American League Championship Series

Game 1

[edit]

October 6, 1990, at Fenway Park

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Oakland 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 7 9 13 0
Boston 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 5 1
W: Dave Stewart (1-0)   L: Larry Andersen (0-1)  
HR: BOS – Wade Boggs (1)

Game 2

[edit]

October 7, 1990, at Fenway Park

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Oakland 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 2 4 13 1
Boston 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 6 0
W: Bob Welch (1-0)   L: Greg Harris (0-1)  S: Dennis Eckersley (1)
HR: None

Game 3

[edit]

October 9, 1990, at Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Boston 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 8 3
Oakland 0 0 0 2 0 2 0 0 x 4 6 0
W: Mike Moore (1-0)   L: Mike Boddicker (0-1)  S: Dennis Eckersley (2)
HR: None

Game 4

[edit]

October 10, 1990, at Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Boston 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 4 1
Oakland 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 x 3 6 0
W: Dave Stewart (2-0)   L: Roger Clemens (0-1)  S: Rick Honeycutt (1)
HR: None

The 1990 World Series

[edit]
Main article: 1990 World Series

The four-game sweep to the Reds in the 1990, was reminiscent of the A's loss to the Boston Braves 76 years earlier.

NL Cincinnati Reds (4) vs. AL Oakland Athletics (0)

Game Score Date Location Attendance Time of Game
1 A's – 0, Reds – 7 October 16 Riverfront Stadium (Cincinnati) 55,830 2:48
2 A's – 4, Reds – 5 (10 inns) October 17 Riverfront Stadium (Cincinnati) 55,832 3:31
3 Reds – 8, A's – 3 October 19 Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum (Oakland) 48,269 3:01
4 Reds – 2, A's – 1 October 20 Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum (Oakland) 48,613 2:48

Awards and honors

[edit]

All-Star Game

  • Jose Canseco, outfielder
  • Dennis Eckersley, relief pitcher
  • Rickey Henderson, outfielder
  • Mark McGwire, first baseman
  • Bob Welch, starting pitcher
  • Tony La Russa, manager

Team leaders

[edit]
  • Home Runs – Mark McGwire (39)
  • RBI – Mark McGwire (108)
  • Batting Average – Rickey Henderson (.325)
  • Hits – Rickey Henderson (159)
  • Stolen Bases – Rickey Henderson (65)
  • Walks – Mark McGwire (110)
  • Wins – Bob Welch (27)
  • Earned Run Average – Dave Stewart (2.56)
  • Strikeouts – Dave Stewart (166)

Farm system

[edit]
See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Tacoma Tigers Pacific Coast League Brad Fischer
AA Huntsville Stars Southern League Jeff Newman
A Modesto A's California League Ted Kubiak
A Madison Muskies Midwest League Casey Parsons
A-Short Season Southern Oregon A's Northwest League Grady Fuson
Rookie AZL Athletics Arizona League Gary Jones

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p.99, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, ISBN 978-0-451-22363-0
  2. ^ Scott Sanderson Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com
  3. ^ Jamie Quirk Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com
  4. ^ Willie Randolph Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com
  5. ^ "Mike Norris Stats".
  6. ^ "Ron Coomer Stats".
  7. ^ Willie McGee Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com
  8. ^ "Ernie Young Stats".
  9. ^ Izzy Molina Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com
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