1977 Oakland Athletics season

1977 Oakland Athletics
Major League affiliations
Location
  • Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum (since 1968)
Results
Record 63–98 (.391)
Other information
Owner(s) Charles O. Finley
Manager(s) Jack McKeon and Bobby Winkles
Local television KPIX-TV
Local radio KNBR
(Monte Moore, Bob Waller)
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The 1977 Oakland Athletics season was a season in American baseball. The team finished 7th 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

Regular season

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

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

AL West W L GB Pct.
Kansas City Royals 102 60 -- .630
Texas Rangers 94 68 8 .580
Chicago White Sox 90 72 12 .556
Minnesota Twins 84 77 17.5 .522
California Angels 74 88 28 .457
Seattle Mariners 64 98 38 .395
Oakland Athletics 63 98 38.5 .391

Opening Day lineup

  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

Roster

1977 Oakland Athletics
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders Manager

Coaches

Player stats

= Indicates team leader

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 Sanguillén, MannyManny Sanguillén 152 571 157 .275 6 58
1B Allen, DickDick Allen 54 171 41 .240 5 31
2B Perez, MartyMarty Perez 115 373 86 .231 2 23
3B Gross, WayneWayne Gross 146 485 113 .233 22 63
SS Picciolo, RobRob Picciolo 148 419 84 .200 2 22
LF Page, MitchellMitchell Page 145 501 154 .307 21 75
CF Armas, TonyTony Armas 118 363 87 .240 13 53
RF Tyrone, JimJim Tyrone 96 294 72 .245 5 26
DH Williams, EarlEarl Williams 100 348 84 .241 13 38

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
Scott, RodneyRodney Scott 133 364 95 .261 0 20
Jorgensen, MikeMike Jorgensen 66 203 50 .246 8 32
McKinney, RichRich McKinney 86 198 35 .177 6 21
North, BillyBilly North 56 184 48 .261 1 9
Murray, LarryLarry Murray 90 162 29 .179 1 9
Newman, JeffJeff Newman 94 162 36 .222 4 15
Tabb, JerryJerry Tabb 51 144 32 .222 6 19
Crawford, WillieWillie Crawford 59 136 25 .184 1 16
Mallory, SheldonSheldon Mallory 64 126 27 .214 0 5
Hosley, TimTim Hosley 39 78 15 .192 1 10
Alexander, MattMatt Alexander 90 42 10 .238 0 2
Lintz, LarryLarry Lintz 41 30 4 .133 0 0
Williams, MarkMark Williams 3 2 0 .000 0 1

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
Blue, VidaVida Blue 38 279.2 14 19 3.83 157
Langford, RickRick Langford 37 208.1 8 19 4.02 141
Medich, DocDoc Medich 26 147.2 10 6 4.69 74
Norris, MikeMike Norris 16 77.1 2 7 4.77 35
Keough, MattMatt Keough 7 42.2 1 3 4.85 23
Ellis, DockDock Ellis 7 26 1 5 9.69 11
Torrez, MikeMike Torrez 4 26.1 3 1 4.44 12

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
Coleman, JoeJoe Coleman 43 127.2 4 4 2.96 55
Torrealba, PabloPablo Torrealba 41 116.2 4 6 2.62 51
Umbarger, JimJim Umbarger 12 44 1 5 6.55 24
Bahnsen, StanStan Bahnsen 11 22 1 2 6.14 21
Mitchell, PaulPaul Mitchell 5 13.2 0 3 10.54 5
McCatty, SteveSteve McCatty 4 14.1 0 0 5.02 9
Mitchell, CraigCraig Mitchell 3 5.2 0 1 7.94 1

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
Bair, DougDoug Bair 45 4 6 8 3.46 68
Lacey, BobBob Lacey 64 6 8 7 3.03 69
Giusti, DaveDave Giusti 40 3 3 6 2.98 28
Dunning, SteveSteve Dunning 6 1 0 0 3.93 4
Newman, JeffJeff Newman 1 0 0 0 0.00 0

Awards and honors

All-Stars

Farm system

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

External links