1980 Oakland Athletics
LeagueAmerican League
DivisionWest
BallparkOakland-Alameda County Coliseum
CityOakland, California
Record83–79 (.512)
Divisional place2nd
OwnersCharles O. Finley
ManagersBilly Martin
TelevisionKPIX-TV
(Monte Moore, Wayne Walker)
RadioKDIA
(Ted Robinson, Red Rush, Dom Valentino)
← 1979 Seasons 1981 →

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.

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 290 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 97 65 0.599 — 49–32 48–33
Oakland Athletics 83 79 0.512 14 46–35 37–44
Minnesota Twins 77 84 0.478 19½ 44–36 33–48
Texas Rangers 76 85 0.472 20½ 39–41 37–44
Chicago White Sox 70 90 0.438 26 37–42 33–48
California Angels 65 95 0.406 31 30–51 35–44
Seattle Mariners 59 103 0.364 38 36–45 23–58

Record vs. opponents

1980 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 — 8–5 10–2 6–6 6–7 10–3 6–6 7–6 10–2 7–6 7–5 6–6 6–6 11–2
Boston 5–8 — 9–3 6–4 7–6 8–5 5–7 6–7 6–6 3–10 9–3 7–5 5–7 7–6
California 2–10 3–9 — 3–10 4–6 5–7 5–8 6–6 7–6 2–10 3–10 11–2 11–2 3–9
Chicago 6–6 4–6 10–3 — 5–7 2–10 5–8 5–7 5–8 5–7 6–7 6–7 6–7–2 5–7
Cleveland 7–6 6–7 6–4 7–5 — 3–10 5–7 3–10 9–3 5–8 6–6 8–4 6–6 8–5
Detroit 3–10 5–8 7–5 10–2 10–3 — 2–10 7–6 6–6 5–8 6–6 10–2–1 4–8 9–4
Kansas City 6–6 7–5 8–5 8–5 7–5 10–2 — 6–6 5–8 8–4 6–7 7–6 10–3 9–3
Milwaukee 6–7 7–6 6–6 7–5 10–3 6–7 6–6 — 7–5 5–8 7–5 9–3 5–7 5–8
Minnesota 2–10 6–6 6–7 8–5 3–9 6–6 8–5 5–7 — 4–8 6–7 7–6 9–3 7–5
New York 6–7 10–3 10–2 7–5 8–5 8–5 4–8 8–5 8–4 — 8–4 9–3 7–5 10–3
Oakland 5–7 3–9 10–3 7–6 6–6 6–6 7–6 5–7 7–6 4–8 — 8–5 7–6 8–4
Seattle 6–6 5–7 2–11 7–6 4–8 2–10–1 6–7 3–9 6–7 3–9 5–8 — 4–9 6–6
Texas 6–6 7–5 2–11 7–6–2 6–6 8–4 3–10 7–5 3–9 5–7 6–7 9–4 — 7–5
Toronto 2–11 6–7 9–3 7–5 5–8 4–9 3–9 8–5 5–7 3–10 4–8 6–6 5–7 —


Notable transactions

Draft picks

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
C Jim Essian 87 285 66 .232 5 29
1B Dave Revering 106 376 109 .290 15 62
2B Jeff Cox 59 169 36 .213 0 9
SS Mario Guerrero 116 381 91 .239 2 23
3B Wayne Gross 113 366 103 .281 14 61
LF Rickey Henderson 158 591 179 .303 9 53
CF Dwayne Murphy 159 573 157 .274 13 68
RF Tony Armas 158 628 175 .279 35 109
DH Mitchell Page 110 348 85 .244 17 51

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 Newman 127 438 102 .233 15 56
Mike Heath 92 305 74 .243 1 33
Dave McKay 123 295 72 .244 1 29
Rob Picciolo 95 271 65 .240 5 18
Mickey Klutts 75 197 53 .269 4 21
Mike Davis 51 95 20 .211 1 8
Orlando González 25 70 17 .243 0 1
Mike Edwards 46 59 14 .237 0 3
Randy Elliott 14 39 5 .128 0 1
Ray Cosey 9 9 1 .111 0 0

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 Langford 35 290.0 19 12 3.26 102
Mike Norris 33 284.1 22 9 2.53 180
Matt Keough 34 250.0 16 13 2.92 121
Steve McCatty 33 221.2 14 14 3.86 114
Brian Kingman 32 211.1 8 20 3.83 116

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 Minetto 7 8.0 0 2 7.88 5

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
Bob Lacey 47 3 2 6 2.94 45
Jeff Jones 35 1 3 5 2.84 34
Dave Hamilton 21 0 3 0 11.40 23
Dave Beard 13 0 1 1 3.38 12
Ernie Camacho 5 0 0 0 6.94 9
Rick Lysander 5 0 0 0 7.90 5
Mark Souza 5 0 0 0 7.71 2
Alan Wirth 2 0 0 0 4.50 1
Rich Bordi 1 0 0 0 4.50 0

Awards and honors

League records

League leaders

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

External links

1980 MLB season by team
Oakland Athletics
Categories