1980 Oakland Athletics season

March 2026 November 2013 Oakland Athletics 1980 American League West Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Oakland, California 83–79 (.512) Charles O. Finley Billy Martin KPIX-TV(Monte Moore, Wayne Walker) KDIA(Ted Robinson, Red Rush, Dom Valentino) 2nd 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 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 March 21, 1980: Jim Todd was released by the Athletics.Jim Todd page at Baseball Reference March 21, 1980: Joe Wallis was released by the Athletics.Joe Wallis page at Baseball Reference 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.Numbelievable!, p. 46, Michael X. Ferraro and John Venziano, Triumph Books, 2007, Chicago, Illinois, 978-1-57243-990-0 Season standings Oakland Athletics Record vs. opponents OAK Notable transactions April 10, 1980: Randy Elliott was signed as a free agent by the Athletics.Randy Elliott page at Baseball Reference Draft picks June 3, 1980: Rich Bordi was drafted by the Athletics in the 3rd round of the 1980 Major League Baseball draft.Rich Bordi page at Baseball Reference Roster 1980 Oakland Athletics Roster Pitchers 59 Dave Beard 28 Rich Bordi 52 Ernie Camacho 33 Dave Hamilton 38 Jeff Jones 27 Matt Keough 50 Brian Kingman 34 Bob Lacey 22 Rick Langford 29 Rick Lysander 54 Steve McCatty 32 Craig Minetto 17 Mike Norris 58 Mark Souza 38 Alan Wirth Catchers 18 Jim Essian 48 Mike Heath Infielders 19 Jeff Cox  7 Mike Edwards  4 Orlando González 10 Wayne Gross  3 Mario Guerrero 12 Mickey Klutts 39 Dave McKay  5 Jeff Newman  8 Rob Picciolo 13 Dave Revering Outfielders 11 Tony Armas 16 Mike Davis 35 Rickey Henderson 21 Dwayne Murphy Other batters 45 Ray Cosey  4 Randy Elliott  6 Mitchell Page Manager  1 Billy Martin Coaches 41 Clete Boyer 42 Art Fowler 44 George Mitterwald 43 Lee Walls Player stats = Indicates team leader = Indicates league 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; SB = Stolen bases Pos. Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI SB C Jim Essian 87 285 66 .232 5 291 1B Dave Revering 106 376 109 .290 15 621 2B Jeff Cox 59 169 36 .213 0 98 SS Mario Guerrero 116 381 91 .239 2 233 3B Wayne Gross 113 366 103 .281 14 615 LF Rickey Henderson 158 591 179 .303 9 53100 CF Dwayne Murphy 159 573 157 .274 13 6826 RF Tony Armas 158 628 175 .279 35 1095 DH Mitchell Page 110 348 85 .244 17 5114 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 Jeff Newman (baseball) 127 438 102 .233 15 56 Mike Heath 92 305 74 .243 1 33 Dave McKay Dave McKay (baseball) 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 Mike Edwards (second baseman) 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 Mike Norris (baseball) 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 Jeff Jones (pitcher) 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 Billy Martin, Associated Press AL Manager of the Year League records Rickey Henderson, American League record (since broken), Most stolen bases in one season (100) League leaders Rickey Henderson, American League leader, stolen bases (100) Farm system Minor League Baseball 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 2 External links 1980 Oakland Athletics team page at Baseball Reference 1980 Oakland Athletics team page at www.baseball-almanac.com Category:Oakland Athletics seasons Oakland Athletics season Oak Category:1980s in Oakland, California