1981 Oakland Athletics season

March 2026 November 2013 Oakland Athletics 1981 American League West champions American League West Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Oakland, California 64–45 (.587) Walter A. Haas, Jr. Billy Martin Billy Martin KPIX-TV(Bill King, Harmon Killebrew) KSFO(Bill King, Lon Simmons, Wayne Hagin)KIQI(Amaury Pi-Gonzalez, Julio Gonzalez) 1st thumb|right|280px|The Oakland Athletics playing host to the Texas Rangers at the Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum during a 1981 home game. The 1981 Oakland Athletics season was the 81st season for the Oakland Athletics franchise, all as members of the American League, and their 14th season in Oakland. The Athletics finished with an overall record of 64 wins and 45 losses. They finished the season with the best record in the American League (and second best in all of baseball; the Cincinnati Reds had the best record in the majors that year going 66-42 but missed the playoffs). Due to the infamous 1981 players strike, the league resorted to a split-season format; this new format saw the winners of both halves of the season playing in the first divisional playoff in MLB history. The A's qualified by posting the American League West's best record in the first half of the season. While they swept the Kansas City Royals in the ALDS, they were themselves swept by the New York Yankees in the ALCS. The Athletics' 1981 season ranks among the organization's most interesting. The A's, only two years removed from a disastrous 54–108 finish, won their first AL West crown since 1975 under second-year manager Billy Martin. The "Billyball" A's began the season with a then-AL record 11 consecutive wins (this record was later broken by the 1987 Milwaukee Brewers, who raced out to a 13–0 start). The squad followed its first loss of the season, a tough 3–2 loss to the Seattle Mariners, with six more victories. Their 17-1 start (through 18 games) remains unmatched. The A's starting rotation (consisting of Rick Langford, Matt Keough, Steve McCatty, Mike Norris, and Brian Kingman) received national attention during the torrid start; the unit was collectively featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated's April 27, 1981, edition. The periodic heroics of Tony Armas and Rickey Henderson also drew notice. The Athletics, however, slumped badly following the 17–1 start. While they regained some of their swagger during the season's second half, they ultimately played .500 baseball for the rest of the season. Even still, the A's won the AL West's first half with a 37–23 mark; they also led the division in total wins despite losing the second half to the Royals. The A's swept the Royals in the ALDS 3–0. The A's themselves were humbled in the ALCS, as the Yankees outscored Oakland 20–4 in a humiliating three-game rout. The 1981 ALCS is perhaps best remembered as the purported birthplace of "the wave"; while the phenomenon's origin is disputed, it is most commonly attributed to Krazy George Henderson, who introduced it to the Athletics' crowd during the series' final game. Despite high expectations, the A's collapsed in 1982. A rash of injuries, among other factors, saw the team plummet to an abysmal 68-94 record. The firing of Billy Martin at seasons' end brought a swift and unceremonious end to the "Billyball" era. All told, the A's would have to wait until 1988 for their next postseason appearance. Only one member of the 1981 team (Rich Bordi) also played on the 1988 team. Offseason October 23, 1980: Randy Elliott was released by the Athletics.Randy Elliott at Baseball Reference December 8, 1980: Brian Doyle was drafted by the Athletics from the New York Yankees in the 1980 rule 5 draft.Brian Doyle at Baseball Reference December 9, 1980: DeWayne Buice was drafted by the Oakland Athletics from the San Francisco Giants in the 1980 minor league draft.https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/buicede01.shtml DeWayne Buice Stats - Baseball-Reference.com Baseball-Reference.com December 11, 1980: Michael King (minors) was traded by the Athletics to the Chicago Cubs for Cliff Johnson and Keith Drumright.Keith Drumright at Baseball Reference January 13, 1981: Steve Kiefer was drafted by the Athletics in the 1st round of the 1981 Major League Baseball draft.Steve Kiefer at Baseball Reference February 10, 1981: The Athletics traded a player to be named later to the Houston Astros for Jimmy Sexton. The Athletics completed the trade by sending Rick Lysander to the Astros on October 20.Rick Lysander at Baseball Reference March 27, 1981: Bob Lacey and Roy Moretti (minors) were traded by the Athletics to the San Diego Padres for Kevin Bell, Tony Phillips and Eric Mustad (minors).Tony Phillips at Baseball Reference March 30, 1981: Alan Wirth was released by the Athletics.Alan Wirth at Baseball Reference Ownership Athletics owner Charlie O. Finley's wife sought a divorce and would not accept part of a baseball team in a property settlement. With most of his money tied up in the A's or his insurance empire, Finley had to sell the team. Though Finley found a buyer in businessman Marvin Davis, who would have moved the Athletics to Denver, the tentative deal hit a snag when the Raiders announced their move to Los Angeles. Oakland and Alameda County officials, not wanting to be held responsible for losing Oakland's status as a big-league city in its own right, refused to let Finley break the lease with the Coliseum. Finley then looked to local buyers, selling the A's to San Francisco clothing manufacturer Walter A. Haas, Jr., president of Levi Strauss & Co. prior to the 1981 season. Haas restored the official name of the club to "Athletics" in 1981, but retained the nickname "A's" for marketing purposes. At first, the word "Athletics" was restored only to the club's logo, underneath the much larger stylized-"A" that had come to represent the team since the early days. Former owner Charlie Finley banned the word "Athletics" from the club's name because he felt that name was too closely associated with former Philadelphia Athletics owner Connie Mack. During the Finley era, average home attendance from 1968–1980 was 777,000 per season, with 1,075,518 in 1975 being the highest attendance for a Finley-owned team. In marked contrast, during the first year of Haas' ownership, the Athletics drew 1,304,052—in a season shortened by a player strike. Were it not for the strike, the A's were on a pace to draw over 2.2 million in 1981. The A's finished with the second-best overall record in baseball, and the best record in the American League. Spring training The Oakland Athletics held spring training at Rendezvous Park in Mesa, Arizona. Regular season April 19, 1981: In the first game of a doubleheader with the Seattle Mariners, the A's won 6-1 to win their then-record 11th consecutive game to start a season. April 25, 1981: Prior to a game against the Seattle Mariners, Seattle manager Maury Wills advised the Kingdome groundskeepers to enlarge the batter's box by a foot.https://www.espn.com/page2/s/list/cheaters/ballplayers.html ESPN.com - Page2 - Biggest cheaters in baseball ESPN A's manager Billy Martin noticed. Martin showed umpire Bill Kunkel that the batter's box was seven feet long instead of six feet. Martin felt that batters being able to move up a foot in the box could cut at pitches before a curveball broke. Wills was suspended for two games and fined $500. Game log First half background:#003831; color:#FFD800; 1981 Regular Season Game Log First Half (37–23) (Home: 22–11; Road: 15–12) y background:#FFD800; color:#003831 April (18–3) (Home: 7–3; Road: 11–0) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record Report |- | 1 || April 9 || @ Twins |- | 2 || April 10 || @ Twins |- | 3 || April 11 || @ Twins |- | 4 || April 12 || @ Twins |- | 5 || April 13 || @ Angels |- | 6 || April 14 || @ Angels |- | 7 || April 15 || @ Angels |- | 8 || April 16 || @ Angels |- | 9 || April 17 || Mariners |- | 10 || April 18 || Mariners |- | 11 || April 19 || Mariners |- | 12 || April 19 || Mariners |- | 13 || April 20 || Twins |- | 14 || April 21 || Twins |- | 15 || April 22 || Twins |- | 16 || April 24 || @ Mariners |- | 17 || April 25 || @ Mariners |- | 18 || April 26 || @ Mariners |- | 19 || April 27 || Angels |- | 20 || April 28 || Angels |- | 21 || April 29 || Angels |- y background:#FFD800; color:#003831 May (13–17) (Home: 11–6; Road: 2–11) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record Report |- | 22 || May 1 || Yankees |- | 23 || May 2 || Yankees |- | 24 || May 3 || Yankees |- | 25 || May 3 || Yankees |- | 26 || May 5 || Tigers |- | 27 || May 6 || Tigers |- | 28 || May 7 || Tigers |- | 29 || May 8 || Brewers |- | 30 || May 9 || Brewers |- | 31 || May 10 || Brewers |- | 32 || May 12 || @ Yankees |- | 33 || May 13 || @ Yankees |- | 34 || May 14 || @ Yankees |- | 35 || May 15 || @ Brewers |- | 36 || May 16 || @ Brewers |- | 37 || May 17 || @ Brewers |- | 38 || May 18 || @ Orioles |- | 39 || May 19 || @ Orioles |- | 40 || May 20 || @ Red Sox |- | 41 || May 21 || @ Red Sox |- | 42 || May 22 || Blue Jays |- | 43 || May 23 || Blue Jays |- | 44 || May 24 || Blue Jays |- | 45 || May 24 || Blue Jays |- | 46 || May 25 || White Sox |- | 47 || May 26 || White Sox |- | 48 || May 27 || White Sox |- | 49 || May 29 || @ Blue Jays |- | 50 || May 30 || @ Blue Jays |- | 51 || May 31 || @ Blue Jays |- y background:#FFD800; color:#003831 June (6–3) (Home: 4–2; Road: 2–1) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record Report |- | 52 || June 2 || @ White Sox |- | 53 || June 3 || @ White Sox |- | 54 || June 4 || @ White Sox |- | 55 || June 5 || Red Sox |- | 56 || June 6 || Red Sox |- | 57 || June 7 || Red Sox |- | 58 || June 9 || Orioles |- | 59 || June 9 || Orioles |- | 60 || June 10 || Orioles |- Second half background:#003831; color:#FFD800; 1981 Regular Season Game Log Second Half (27–22) (Home: 12–11; Road: 15–12) y background:#FFD800; color:#003831 August (10–9) (Home: 7–4; Road: 3–5) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record Report |- style="text-align:center; background:#bbcaff;" |align="center" colspan="10"|All-Star Break: NL def. AL at Cleveland Stadium, 5–4 |- | 61 || August 10 || @ Twins |- | 62 || August 11 || @ Twins |- | 63 || August 12 || @ Twins |- | 64 || August 14 || Angels |- | 65 || August 15 || Angels |- | 66 || August 16 || Angels |- | 67 || August 18 || Red Sox |- | 68 || August 19 || Red Sox |- | 69 || August 20 || Red Sox |- | 70 || August 21 || Orioles |- | 71 || August 22 || Orioles |- | 72 || August 23 || Orioles |- | 73 || August 24 || Indians |- | 74 || August 25 || Indians |- | 75 || August 27 || @ Red Sox |- | 76 || August 28 || @ Red Sox |- | 77 || August 29 || @ Red Sox |- | 78 || August 30 || @ Red Sox |- | 79 || August 31 || @ Indians |- y background:#FFD800; color:#003831 September (15–12) (Home: 5–6; Road: 10–6) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record Report |- | 80 || September 2 || @ Indians |- | 81 || September 2 || @ Indians |- | 82 || September 3 || @ Orioles |- | 83 || September 4 || @ Orioles |- | 84 || September 5 || @ Orioles |- | 85 || September 6 || @ Orioles |- | 86 || September 7 || Rangers |- | 87 || September 8 || Rangers |- | 88 || September 9 || Rangers |- | 89 || September 11 || Royals |- | 90 || September 12 || Royals |- | 91 || September 13 || Royals |- | 92 || September 14 || @ Rangers |- | 93 || September 15 || @ Rangers |- | 94 || September 16 || @ Rangers |- | 95 || September 18 || @ White Sox |- | 96 || September 19 || @ White Sox |- | 97 || September 20 || @ White Sox |- | 98 || September 22 || @ Blue Jays |- | 99 || September 22 || @ Blue Jays |- | 100 || September 23 || @ Blue Jays |- | 101 || September 25 || White Sox |- | 102 || September 26 || White Sox |- | 103 || September 27 || White Sox |- | 104 || September 27 || White Sox |- | 105 || September 29 || Blue Jays |- | 106 || September 30 || Blue Jays |- y background:#FFD800; color:#003831 October (2–1) (Road: 2–1) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record Report |- | 107 || October 2 || @ Royals |- | 108 || October 3 || @ Royals |- | 109 || October 4 || @ Royals |- Legend Athletics win Athletics loss All-Star Game Game postponed Season standings Oakland Athletics Record vs. opponents OAK Notable transactions April 6, 1981: The Athletics traded a player to be named later and cash to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Bob Owchinko. The Athletics completed the trade by sending Ernie Camacho to the Pirates on April 10.Ernie Camacho at Baseball Reference April 9, 1981: Dave Heaverlo was signed as a free agent by the Athletics.Dave Heaverlo at Baseball Reference April 10, 1981: Gorman Heimueller was signed as a free agent by the Athletics.Gorman Heimueller at Baseball Reference April 14, 1981: Chris Codiroli was signed as a free agent by the Athletics.Chris Codiroli at Baseball Reference April 22, 1981: Chuck Hensley was signed as a free agent with the Oakland Athletics.https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/h/henslch01.shtml Chuck Hensley Stats - Baseball-Reference.com Baseball-Reference.com May 20, 1981: Dave Revering, Mike Patterson and Chuck Dougherty (minors) were traded by the Athletics to the New York Yankees for Jim Spencer and Tom Underwood.Dave Revering at Baseball Reference June 10, 1981: Rick Bosetti was purchased by the Athletics from the Toronto Blue Jays.Rick Bosetti at Baseball Reference August 27, 1981: Tim Hosley was released by the Athletics.Tim Hosley at Baseball Reference Draft picks June 8, 1981: 1981 Major League Baseball draft Mike Gallego was drafted by the Athletics in the 2nd round (33rd pick). Player signed June 12, 1981.Mike Gallego at Baseball Reference Rick Rodriguez was drafted by the Athletics in the 2nd round (41st pick).Rick Rodriguez at Baseball Reference Mickey Tettleton was drafted by the Athletics in the 5th round.Mickey Tettleton at Baseball Reference Billyball, year two Following the team's surprising success in 1980, manager Billy Martin was given the additional title of general manager in 1981. The team won the division title for the first time since 1975, winning the first half of the split season, then defeating the Royals in the divisional playoffs before losing to the Yankees in the ALCS. While the team was successful, it came at a high price, both for the team and for the pitching staff. Following a season in which the team led the league in complete games with 94—an astonishing number for the time—the Athletics again led the league with 60 complete games out of 109 total games in the strike-shortened season. For the second time, the pitching staff completed more than half their total number of games and more than double the number of the team with the second-highest total (The Indians and Tigers each had 33). The workload of the pitchers over the two seasons was blamed by the team's ownership for the team's fall to fifth place in 1982, which led to Martin's firing from both positions. Many of the pitchers suffered injuries, and none of the four main starting pitchers (Rick Langford, Steve McCatty, Mike Norris, Matt Keough) ever duplicated their success of 1980–81. Roster 1981 Oakland Athletics Roster Pitchers 55 Dave Beard 28 Rich Bordi 23 Ed Figueroa 60 Dave Heaverlo 38 Jeff Jones 27 Matt Keough 50 Brian Kingman 22 Rick Langford 54 Steve McCatty 34 Bo McLaughlin 32 Craig Minetto 17 Mike Norris 51 Bob Owchinko 31 Tom Underwood Catchers  2 Mike Heath 32 Bob Kearney  5 Jeff Newman Infielders  3 Shooty Babitt 48,49 Jeff Cox 18 Brian Doyle 14 Keith Drumright 10 Wayne Gross 25 Tim Hosley  9 Mickey Klutts 26 Kelvin Moore  8 Rob Picciolo 13 Dave Revering 15 Jimmy Sexton 12 Jim Spencer 11 Fred Stanley Outfielders 20 Tony Armas  7 Rick Bosetti 16 Mike Davis 35 Rickey Henderson 21 Dwayne Murphy 29 Jim Nettles 47 Mike Patterson Other batters 13,15 Mark Budaska 44 Cliff Johnson  6 Mitchell Page Manager  1 Billy Martin Coaches 41 Clete Boyer 42 Art Fowler 40 George Mitterwald 45 Jackie Moore 43 Lee Walls Player stats Batting = Indicates team leader = Indicates league leader 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 R H Avg. HR RBI SB C Mike Heath 84 301 26 71 .236 8 30 3 1B Jim Spencer 54 171 14 35 .205 2 9 1 2B Shooty Babitt 54 156 10 40 .256 0 14 5 3B Wayne Gross 82 243 29 50 .206 10 31 2 SS Rob Picciolo 82 179 23 48 .268 4 13 0 LF Rickey Henderson 108 423 89 135 .319 6 35 56 CF Dwayne Murphy 107 390 58 98 .251 15 60 10 RF Tony Armas 109 440 51 115 .261 22* 76 5 DH Cliff Johnson 84 273 40 71 .260 17 59 5https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/OAK/1981.shtml 1981 Oakland Athletics Statistics and Roster - Baseball-Reference.com 2009-06-24 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20090226225144/http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/OAK/1981.shtml February 26, 2009 mdy Tied with Dwight Evans (Boston), Bobby Grich (California) and Eddie Murray (Baltimore) 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 Dave McKay 79 224 59 .263 4 21 Jeff Newman 68 216 50 .231 3 15 Fred Stanley 66 145 28 .193 0 7 Mitchell Page 34 92 13 .141 4 13 Dave Revering 31 87 20 .230 2 10 Keith Drumright 31 86 25 .291 0 11 Kelvin Moore 14 47 12 .255 1 3 Mickey Klutts 15 46 17 .370 5 11 Brian Doyle 17 40 5 .125 0 3 Mark Budaska 9 32 5 .156 0 2 Mike Patterson 12 23 8 .348 0 1 Tim Hosley 18 21 2 .095 1 5 Mike Davis 17 20 1 .050 0 0 Rick Bosetti 9 19 2 .105 0 1 Jimmy Sexton 7 3 0 .000 0 0 Jeff Cox 2 0 0 ---- 0 0 Bob Kearney 1 0 0 ---- 0 0 Jim Nettles 1 0 0 ---- 0 0 Pitching Starting pitchers Note: G = Games played; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts Player G IP W L ERA SO Rick Langford 24 195.1 12 10 2.99 84 Mike Norris 23 172.2 12 9 3.75 78 Steve McCatty 22 185.2 14 7 2.33 91 Matt Keough 19 140.1 10 6 3.40 60 Brian Kingman 18 100.1 3 6 3.95 52 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 Tom Underwood 16 51.0 3 2 3.18 46 Ed Figueroa 2 8.1 0 0 5.40 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 Jeff Jones 33 4 1 3 3.39 43 Bob Owchinko 29 4 3 2 3.20 26 Bo McLaughlin 11 0 0 1 11.57 3 Dave Beard 8 1 1 3 2.77 15 Craig Minetto 8 0 0 0 2.70 4 Dave Heaverlo 6 1 0 0 1.59 2 Rich Bordi 2 0 0 0 0.00 0 Postseason ALDS 1981 American League Division Series Oakland wins series, 3-0. GameScoreDateLocationAttendance1Oakland 4, Kansas City 0October 6Royals Stadium40,5922Oakland 2, Kansas City 1October 7Royals Stadium40,2743Oakland 4, Kansas City 1October 9Oakland Coliseum40,002 ALCS 1981 American League Championship Series Yankees win the Series, 3-0 GameScoreDateLocationAttendance1Oakland – 1, New York – 3October 13Yankee Stadium55,7402Oakland – 3, New York – 13October 14Yankee Stadium48,4973New York – 4, Oakland – 0October 15Oakland Coliseum47,302 Game log background:#003831; color:#FFD800; 1981 Playoff Game Log y background:#FFD800; color:#003831 1981 American League Western Division Series vs. Kansas City Royals – Oakland wins series 3–0 # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Series Report |- | Game 1 || October 6 || @ Royals |- | Game 2 || October 7 || @ Royals |- | Game 3 || October 9 || Royals |- y background:#FFD800; color:#003831 1981 American League Championship Series vs. New York Yankees – New York Yankees wins series 3–0 # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Series Report |- | Game 1 || October 13 || @ Yankees |- | Game 2 || October 14 || @ Yankees |- | Game 3 || October 15 || Yankees |- Legend Athletics win Athletics loss Awards and honors Rickey Henderson, American League leader, HitsBaseball's Top 100: The Game's Greatest Records, p. 52, Kerry Banks, 2010, Greystone Books, Vancouver, BC, 978-1-55365-507-7 Billy Martin, Associated Press AL Manager of the Year Farm system Minor League Baseball AAA Tacoma Tigers Pacific Coast League Ed Nottle AA West Haven A's Eastern League Bob Didier A Modesto A's California League Keith Lieppman A-Short Season Medford A's Northwest League Brad Fischer LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Medford References External links 1981 Oakland Athletics at Baseball Reference 1981 Oakland Athletics at Baseball Almanac Category:Oakland Athletics seasons Oakland Athletics season Category:American League West champion seasons Oak Category:1980s in Oakland, California