1979 Oakland Athletics season

1979 Oakland Athletics
Major League affiliations
American League (since 1901)
Western Division (since 1969)
Location
Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum (since 1968)
Oakland, California (since 1968)
Results
Record	54–108 (.333)
Other information
Owner(s)	Charles O. Finley
Manager(s)	Jim Marshall
Local television	KPIX-TV (Monte Moore, Bob Waller)
Local radio	KKIS (Hal Ramey, Red Rush)
< Previous season     Next season  >

The 1979 Oakland Athletics season involved the A's finishing 7th in the American League West with a record of 54 wins and 108 losses. Only 306,763 paying customers showed up to watch the A's in 1979, the team's worst attendance since leaving Philadelphia.

Team owner Charlie Finley nearly sold the team to buyers who would have moved them to New Orleans for 1979. Any deal to relocate fell through when the city of Oakland refused to release the A's from their lease. The city was in the midst of its battle with the Oakland Raiders over their move to Los Angeles and didn't want to lose both teams.

The Athletics' 54-108 finish remains, as of 2013, their worst (by far) since moving to Oakland in 1968. On a brighter note, the season saw the debut of Rickey Henderson. Henderson, a future Hall-of-Famer, would play for the team (in four separate stints) between 1979 and 1998.

Offseason

• October 3, 1978: Rico Carty was purchased from the Athletics by the Toronto Blue Jays.^[1]
• January 9, 1979: Lemmie Miller was drafted by the Athletics in the 1st round (6th pick) of the 1979 Major League Baseball Draft, but did not sign.^[2]
• February 26, 1979: Darryl Cias was purchased by the Athletics from the Salem Senators.^[3]
• February 28, 1979: Jim Todd was signed as a free agent by the Athletics.^[4]

Regular season

On June 24, Rickey Henderson made his major league debut against the Texas Rangers. In four at bats, Henderson had two hits and a stolen base.^[5]

Season standings

AL West	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
California Angels	88	74	0.543	—	49–32	39–42
Kansas City Royals	85	77	0.525	3	46–35	39–42
Texas Rangers	83	79	0.512	5	44–37	39–42
Minnesota Twins	82	80	0.506	6	39–42	43–38
Chicago White Sox	73	87	0.456	14	33–46	40–41
Seattle Mariners	67	95	0.414	21	36–45	31–50
Oakland Athletics	54	108	0.333	34	31–50	23–58

Record vs. opponents

1979 American League Records Sources:
Team	BAL	BOS	CAL	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	MIL	MIN	NYY	OAK	SEA	TEX	TOR
Baltimore	—	8–5	9–3	8–3	8–5	7–6	6–6	8–5	8–4	5–6	8–4	10–2	6–6	11–2
Boston	5–8	—	5–7	5–6	6–7	8–5	8–4	8–4	9–3	5–8	9–3	8–4	6–6	9–4
California	3–9	7–5	—	9–4	6–6	4–8	7–6	7–5	9–4	7–5	10–3	7–6	5–8	7–5
Chicago	3–8	6–5	4–9	—	6–6	3–9	5–8	5–7	5–8	4–8	9–4	5–8	11–2	7–5
Cleveland	5–8	7–6	6–6	6–6	—	6–6	6–6	4–9	8–4	5–8	8–4	7–5	5–7	8–5
Detroit	6–7	5–8	8–4	9–3	6–6	—	5–7	6–7	4–8	7–6	7–5	7–5	6–6	9–4
Kansas City	6–6	4–8	6–7	8–5	6–6	7–5	—	5–7	7–6	5–7	9–4	7–6	6–7	9–3
Milwaukee	5–8	4–8	5–7	7–5	9–4	7–6	7–5	—	8–4	9–4	6–6	9–3	9–3	10–3
Minnesota	4–8	3–9	4–9	8–5	4–8	8–4	6–7	4–8	—	7–5	9–4	10–3	4–9	11–1
New York	6–5	8–5	5–7	8–4	8–5	6–7	7–5	4–9	5–7	—	9–3	6–6	8–4	9–4
Oakland	4–8	3–9	3–10	4–9	4–8	5–7	4–9	6–6	4–9	3–9	—	8–5	2–11	4–8
Seattle	2–10	4–8	6–7	8–5	5–7	5–7	6–7	3–9	3–10	6–6	5–8	—	6–7	8–4
Texas	6–6	6–6	8–5	2–11	7–5	6–6	7–6	3–9	9–4	4–8	11–2	7–6	—	7–5
Toronto	2–11	4–9	5–7	5–7	5–8	4–9	3–9	3–10	1–11	4–9	8–4	4–8	5–7	—

Notable transactions

• June 5, 1979: Ronn Reynolds was drafted by the Athletics in the 5th round of the 1979 Major League Baseball Draft, but did not sign.^[6]
• June 15, 1979: Mark Souza was signed as a free agent by the Athletics.^[7]

Roster

1979 Oakland Athletics
Roster
Pitchers 33 Dave Hamilton 60 Dave Heaverlo 38 John Henry Johnson 27 Matt Keough 50 Brian Kingman 34 Bob Lacey 22 Rick Langford 54 Steve McCatty 32 Craig Minetto 15 Mike Morgan 17 Mike Norris 28 Jim Todd 30 Alan Wirth		Catchers 18 Jim Essian  5 Jeff Newman Infielders 16 Dave Chalk  7 Mike Edwards 10 Wayne Gross  3 Mario Guerrero 12 Mickey Klutts  8 Rob Picciolo 31 Milt Ramírez 24 Dave Revering		Outfielders 11 Tony Armas 23 Derek Bryant 14 Glenn Burke 19 Miguel Diloné 48 Mike Heath 35 Rickey Henderson 21 Dwayne Murphy 20 Larry Murray  6 Mitchell Page 9,43 Joe Wallis		Manager 25 Jim Marshall Coaches 44 George Mitterwald 42 Jim Saul 41 Lee Stange 43 Lee Walls

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
C	Newman, JeffJeff Newman	143	516	119	.231	22	71
1B	Revering, DaveDave Revering	125	472	136	.288	19	77
2B	Edwards, MikeMike Edwards	122	400	93	.233	1	23
LF	Henderson, RickeyRickey Henderson	89	351	96	.274	1	26
DH	Page, MitchellMitchell Page	133	478	118	.247	9	42

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
Essian, JimJim Essian	98	313	76	.243	8	40
Murray, LarryLarry Murray	105	226	42	.186	2	20
Bryant, DerekDerek Bryant	39	106	19	.179	0	13
Diloné, MiguelMiguel Diloné	30	91	17	.187	1	6
Burke, GlennGlenn Burke	23	89	19	.213	0	4
Wallis, JoeJoe Wallis	23	78	11	.141	1	3
Klutts, MickeyMickey Klutts	24	73	14	.192	1	4
Ramírez, MiltMilt Ramírez	28	62	10	.161	0	3

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
Keough, MattMatt Keough	30	176.2	2	17	5.04	95
Johnson, John HenryJohn Henry Johnson	14	84.2	2	8	4.36	50

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
Norris, MikeMike Norris	29	146.1	5	8	4.80	96
Minetto, CraigCraig Minetto	36	118.1	1	5	5.55	64
Hamilton, DaveDave Hamilton	40	82.2	3	4	3.70	52
Wirth, AlanAlan Wirth	5	12	1	0	6.00	7

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
Todd, JimJim Todd	51	2	5	2	6.56	26

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Ogden A's	Pacific Coast League	José Pagán
AA	Waterbury A's	Eastern League	Ed Nottle
A	Modesto A's	California League	Gaylen Pitts
A-Short Season	Medford A's	Northwest League	Rich Morales

References

1. Rico Carty page at Baseball Reference
2. Lemmie Miller page at Baseball Reference
3. Darryl Cias page at Baseball Reference
4. Jim Todd page at Baseball Reference
5. Rickey Henderson page at Baseball Reference
6. Ronn Reynolds page at Baseball-Reference
7. Mark Souza page at Baseball-Reference

External links

• 1979 Oakland Athletics team page at Baseball Reference
• 1979 Oakland Athletics team page at www.baseball-almanac.com