1977 Oakland Athletics season

1977 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	63–98 (.391)
Other information
Owner(s)	Charles O. Finley
Manager(s)	Jack McKeon, 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

November 5, 1976: Manager Chuck Tanner was traded by the Oakland Athletics to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Manny Sanguillén.^[2]
November 9, 1976: Billy Williams was released by the Athletics.^[3]
January 9, 1977: Craig Minetto was signed by the Athletics as a free agent.^[4]
February 25, 1977: Ken McMullen was purchased from the Athletics by the Milwaukee Brewers.^[5]
March 15, 1977: Phil Garner, Tommy Helms, and Chris Batton were traded by the Athletics to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Rick Langford, Tony Armas, Doug Bair, Dave Giusti, Doc Medich, and Mitchell Page.^[6]
March 15, 1977: Jim Todd was traded by the Athletics to the Chicago Cubs for Joe Coleman.^[7]
March 15, 1977: Jerry Tabb was purchased by the Athletics from the Chicago Cubs.^[8]
March 15, 1977: Gaylen Pitts was traded by the Athletics to the Chicago Cubs for Jim Tyrone.^[9]
March 16, 1977: Dick Allen was signed as a free agent by the Athletics.^[10]

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	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Kansas City Royals	102	60	0.630	—	55–26	47–34
Texas Rangers	94	68	0.580	8	44–37	50–31
Chicago White Sox	90	72	0.556	12	48–33	42–39
Minnesota Twins	84	77	0.522	17½	48–32	36–45
California Angels	74	88	0.457	28	39–42	35–46
Seattle Mariners	64	98	0.395	38	29–52	35–46
Oakland Athletics	63	98	0.391	38½	35–46	28–52

Record vs. opponents

1977 American League Records Sources:
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

Mike Torrez, P^[12]^[13]

Notable transactions

April 4, 1977: Sheldon Mallory was purchased by the Athletics from the New York Mets.^[14]
April 27, 1977: Mike Torrez was traded by the Athletics to the New York Yankees for Dock Ellis, Larry Murray and Marty Perez.^[15]
June 7, 1977: Shooty Babitt was drafted by the Athletics in the 25th round of the 1977 Major League Baseball Draft.^[16]
June 15, 1977: Dock Ellis was purchased from the Athletics by the Texas Rangers.^[15]
June 15, 1977: Denny Walling was traded by the Athletics to the Houston Astros for Willie Crawford.^[17]

Roster

1977 Oakland Athletics

Roster

Pitchers

45 Stan Bahnsen

17 Doug Bair

14 Vida Blue

15 Joe Coleman

24 Steve Dunning

36 Dock Ellis

31 Dave Giusti

27 Matt Keough

34 Bob Lacey

22 Rick Langford

54 Steve McCatty

33 Doc Medich

29 Craig Mitchell

24 Paul Mitchell

16 Mike Norris

28 Pablo Torrealba

24 Mike Torrez

30 Jim Umbarger

Catchers

25 Tim Hosley

5 Jeff Newman

35 Manny Sanguillén

32 Earl Williams

Infielders

60 Dick Allen

10 Wayne Gross

18 Mike Jorgensen

21 Larry Lintz

9 Rich McKinney

7 Marty Perez

8 Rob Picciolo

3 Rodney Scott

12 Jerry Tabb

Outfielders

2 Matt Alexander

11 Tony Armas

99 Willie Crawford

29 Sheldon Mallory

20 Larry Murray

4 Billy North

6 Mitchell Page

26 Jim Tyrone

13 Mark Williams

Manager

1 Jack McKeon

1 Bobby Winkles

Coaches

41 Cal Ermer

-- Bobby Hofman

43 Red Schoendienst

42 Lee Stange

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

Main article: 1977 Major League Baseball All-Star Game

Vida Blue, reserve
Wayne Gross, reserve

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

↑ 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
↑ Chuck Tanner Trades and Transactions at Baseball Almanac
↑ Billy Williams page at Baseball Reference
↑ Craig Minetto page at Baseball Reference
↑ Ken McMullen page at Baseball Reference
↑ Rick Langford page at Baseball Reference
↑ Jim Todd page at Baseball Reference
↑ Jerry Tabb page at Baseball Reference
↑ Jim Tyrone page at Baseball Reference
↑ Dick Allen page at Baseball Reference
1 2 Charlie Finley: The Outrageous Story of Baseball's Super Showman, p. 271
↑ http://baseball-almanac.com/teamstats/roster.php?y=1977&t=OAK
↑ 1977 A's Batting Orders at Baseball Reference
↑ Sheldon Mallory page at Baseball Reference
1 2 Dock Ellis page at Baseball Reference
↑ Shooty Babitt page at Baseball Reference
↑ Denny Walling page at Baseball Reference

External links

1977 MLB season by team

AL East	Baltimore Boston Cleveland Detroit Milwaukee New York Toronto

AL West	California Chicago Kansas City Minnesota Oakland Seattle Texas

NL East	Chicago Montréal New York Philadelphia Pittsburgh St. Louis

NL West	Atlanta Cincinnati Houston Los Angeles San Diego San Francisco

1977 MLB draft 1977 All-Star Game 1977 World Series

Oakland Athletics

Formerly the Philadelphia Athletics and the Kansas City Athletics
Based in Oakland, California (Bay Area)

Franchise

Ballparks

Spring training: Barrs Field; Terry Park Ballfield; Wilmington Park; McCurdy Field; Connie Mack Field; McKechnie Field; Rendezvous Park; Scottsdale Stadium I; Phoenix Municipal Stadium; Hohokam Stadium

Culture

Lore

Rivalries

Key personnel

Owners: John J. Fisher & Lewis Wolff
President: Michael Crowley
Executive vice president: Billy Beane
General manager: David Forst
Manager: Bob Melvin

Important figures

Hall of Fame members	Home Run Baker Chief Bender Mickey Cochrane Eddie Collins Dennis Eckersley Rollie Fingers Jimmie Foxx Lefty Grove Rickey Henderson Catfish Hunter Reggie Jackson Nap Lajoie Connie Mack Eddie Plank Al Simmons Rube Waddell Dick Williams

Wall of Fame members	Sam Chapman Jack Coombs Jimmy Dykes George Earnshaw Ferris Fain Bob Johnson Eddie Joost Bing Miller Wally Moses Rube Oldring Bobby Shantz Eddie Rommel Elmer Valo Rube Walberg Gus Zernial

World Series
Champions (9)

American League
Championships (15)

AL West Division
Championships (16)

AL Wild Card (2)

2001
2014

Minors

AAA: Nashville Sounds
AA: Midland RockHounds
A Adv.: Stockton Ports
A: Beloit Snappers
Short A: Vermont Lake Monsters
Rookie: AZL Athletics; DSL Athletics

Seasons (117)

1900s	1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909

1910s	1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919

1920s	1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929

1930s	1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939

1940s	1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949

1950s	1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959

1960s	1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969

1970s	1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979

1980s	1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989

1990s	1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999

2000s	2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

2010s	2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

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