1990 Oakland Athletics season

Major League Baseball season March 2026 November 2013 Oakland Athletics 1990 American League champions American League West champions American League West Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Oakland, California 103–59 (.636) Walter A. Haas, Jr. Sandy Alderson Tony La Russa KPIX/KICU-TVSports Channel Bay Area(Monte Moore, Ray Fosse) KSFO(Bill King, Lon Simmons, Ray Fosse) KNTA(Amaury Pi-Gonzalez, Erwin Higueros) 1st The Oakland Athletics' 1990 season was their 23rd season in Oakland, California and the 90th in franchise history. The team finished first in the American League West with a record of 103 wins 59 losses. The Athletics' 1990 campaign ranks among the organization's finest. Oakland, by winning 103 games, led the league outright in wins for a third consecutive season; they remained the last major North American team to accomplish this until 2017, when the feat was matched by the nearby Golden State Warriors of the NBA. The Athletics benefited from stellar performances in all areas of the game. The team's offense was led by eventual Hall-of-Famer Rickey Henderson, who finished the season with 65 stolen bases, 28 home runs, a .325 batting average, and took home the 1990 American League MVP Award. The Athletics benefited from strong performances by superstars Mark McGwire and Jose Canseco. The pair clubbed 39 and 37 home runs, respectively; in doing so, they drove in a combined total of 209 runs. Over the course of the season, the team added to an already strong offense; the additions of recent All-Stars Willie Randolph, Willie McGee, and Harold Baines further widened the gap between the Athletics and the rest of the league. Established veterans (such as Carney Lansford, Terry Steinbach, Dave Henderson, and Mike Gallego) and promising young players (mainly Walt Weiss and Mike Bordick) rounded out arguably the deepest roster in all of Major League Baseball. Eight of the Athletics' nine main postseason starters (R. Henderson, McGwire, Canseco, McGee, Steinbach, Randolph, Baines, and Lansford) played in at least one All-Star Game between 1988 and 1990. The Athletics pitching staff, in many regards, had an even stronger campaign. The starting rotation was led by veteran Bob Welch. Welch would finish the season with both an MLB-leading 27 wins and a 2.95 ERA; this performance was strong enough to net the 1990 Cy Young Award. Welch, as of 2021, remains the last MLB pitcher to win at least 25 games in a season.Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p.99, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, 978-0-451-22363-0 Fellow starter Dave Stewart, winner of 22 games, finished in a tie (with Pittsburgh starter Doug Drabek) for the second-most wins in MLB. 1989 All-Star Mike Moore, 1991 All-Star Scott Sanderson, and longtime Athletic Curt Young rounded out the American League's top rotation. The Athletics' bullpen was led by superstar closer Dennis Eckersley, who posted a microscopic 0.61 ERA while recording 48 saves. As a team, the Athletics allowed only 570 runs (the fewest in the American League by a wide margin). The Athletics easily won the American League West for a third consecutive season, en route to a third consecutive AL Pennant with a four-game sweep of the Boston Red Sox. The Athletics entered the 1990 World Series as heavy favorites, but were swept by the Cincinnati Reds. Neither team has reached the World Series since. Offseason November 28, 1989: Rickey Henderson signed as a free agent with the Oakland Athletics. December 13, 1989: The Athletics sign Scott Sanderson as a free agent.Scott Sanderson Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com December 13, 1989: Jamie Quirk was signed as a free agent with the Oakland Athletics.Jamie Quirk Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com Regular season 95pxCatfishHunterPitcher:1965-67(KC)1968-74(OAK)Retired 1990 June 4, 1990: Todd Van Poppel was drafted by the Oakland Athletics in the 1st round (14th pick) of the 1990 amateur draft. Player signed July 16, 1990. June 20, 1990 – Terry Steinbach has 6 RBIs in one game versus the Detroit Tigers. July 25, 1990 – Jose Canseco had 6 RBIs in a game against the California Angels. Season standings Oakland Athletics Record vs. opponents OAK Notable transactions May 13, 1990: Willie Randolph was traded by the Los Angeles Dodgers to the Oakland Athletics for Stan Javier.Willie Randolph Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com June 17, 1990: Ken Phelps was purchased by the Cleveland Indians from the Oakland Athletics. July 15, 1990: Mike Norris was released by the Oakland Athletics.https://www.baseball-reference.com/n/norrimi01.shtml Mike Norris Stats August 1, 1990: Ron Coomer was released by the Oakland Athletics.https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/coomero01.shtml?redir Ron Coomer Stats August 29, 1990: Willie McGee was traded by the St. Louis Cardinals to the Oakland Athletics for Felix Jose, Stan Royer, and Daryl Green (minors).Willie McGee Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com Draft picks June 4, 1990: Ernie Young was drafted by the Oakland Athletics in the 10th round of the 1990 amateur draft. Player signed June 7, 1990.https://www.baseball-reference.com/y/younger02.shtml Ernie Young Stats June 4, 1990: Izzy Molina was drafted by the Oakland Athletics in the 22nd round of the 1990 amateur draft. Player signed June 28, 1990.Izzy Molina Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com Roster 1990 Oakland Athletics Roster Pitchers 59 Joe Bitker 54 Todd Burns 49 Steve Chitren 43 Dennis Eckersley 57 Reggie Harris 40 Rick Honeycutt 58 Joe Klink 21 Mike Moore 19 Gene Nelson 17 Mike Norris 38 Dave Otto 22 Scott Sanderson 34 Dave Stewart 35 Bob Welch 29 Curt Young Catchers 52 Troy Afenir 27 Ron Hassey 3,6 Jamie Quirk 36 Terry Steinbach Infielders 12 Lance Blankenship 46 Mike Bordick  9 Mike Gallego 39 Scott Hemond  4 Carney Lansford 25 Mark McGwire 44 Ken Phelps 30 Willie Randolph  7 Walt Weiss Outfielders 33 José Canseco 55 Ozzie Canseco 42 Dave Henderson 24 Rickey Henderson 48 Steve Howard 23 Dann Howitt 28 Stan Javier  2 Doug Jennings 6,14 Félix José 16 Darren Lewis 51 Willie McGee Designated Hitters  3 Harold Baines Manager 10 Tony La Russa Coaches 18 Dave Duncan (pitching)  5 Art Kusnyer (bullpen) 15 Rene Lachemann (third base)  8 Dave McKay (first base) 45 Merv Rettenmund (hitting) 47 Tommie Reynolds (bench) Dave Stewart's No-Hitter On June 29, Dave Stewart no-hit the Toronto Blue Jays by a score of 5–0.https://retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1990/B06290TOR1990.htm Dave Stewart No-hitter at Retrosheet retrosheet.org November 29, 2025 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 Pos. Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI C Terry Steinbach 114 379 95 .291 9 57 1B Mark McGwire 156 523 123 .235 39 108 2B Willie Randolph 93 292 75 .257 1 21 3B Carney Lansford 134 507 136 .268 3 50 SS Walt Weiss 138 445 118 .265 2 35 LF Rickey Henderson 136 489 159 .325 28 61 CF Dave Henderson 127 450 122 .264 20 63 RF José Canseco 131 481 132 .274 37 101 DH Harold Baines 32 94 25 .266 3 21 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 Mike Gallego 140 389 80 .206 3 34 Félix José 101 341 90 .264 8 39 Ron Hassey 94 254 54 .213 5 22 Doug Jennings 64 156 30 .192 2 14 Lance Blankenship 86 136 26 .191 0 10 Jamie Quirk 56 121 34 .281 3 26 Willie McGee 29 113 31 .274 0 15 Ken Phelps 32 59 11 .186 1 6 Steve Howard 21 52 12 .231 0 1 Darren Lewis 25 35 8 .229 0 1 Stan Javier 19 33 8 .242 0 3 Dann Howitt 14 22 3 .136 0 1 Ozzie Canseco 9 19 2 .105 0 1 Troy Afenir 14 14 2 .143 0 2 Mike Bordick 25 14 1 .071 0 0 Scott Hemond 7 13 2 .154 0 1 Rick Honeycutt 5 2 0 .000 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 Dave Stewart 36 267.0 22 11 2.56 166 Bob Welch 35 238.0 27 6 2.95 127 Scott Sanderson 34 206.1 17 11 3.88 128 Mike Moore 33 199.1 13 15 4.65 73 Curt Young 26 124.1 9 6 4.85 56 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 Reggie Harris 16 41.1 1 0 3.48 31 Mike Norris 14 27.0 1 0 3.00 16 Steve Chitren 8 17.2 1 0 1.02 19 Dave Otto 2 2.1 0 0 7.71 2 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 Dennis Eckersley 63 4 2 48 0.61 73 Rick Honeycutt 63 2 2 7 2.70 38 Gene Nelson Gene Nelson (baseball) 51 3 3 5 1.57 38 Todd Burns 43 3 3 3 2.97 43 Joe Klink 40 0 0 1 2.04 19 Joe Bitker 1 0 0 0 0.00 2 ALCS 1990 American League Championship Series Game 1 October 6, 1990, at Fenway Park Team123456789RHEOakland0000001179130Boston000100000151W: Dave Stewart (1-0)   L: Larry Andersen (0-1)  HR: BOS – Wade Boggs (1) Game 2 October 7, 1990, at Fenway Park Team123456789RHEOakland0001001024131Boston001000000160W: Bob Welch (1-0)   L: Greg Harris (0-1)  S: Dennis Eckersley (1)HR: None Game 3 October 9, 1990, at Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Team123456789RHEBoston010000000183Oakland00020200x460W: Mike Moore (1-0)   L: Mike Boddicker (0-1)  S: Dennis Eckersley (2)HR: None Game 4 October 10, 1990, at Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Team123456789RHEBoston000000001141Oakland03000000x360W: Dave Stewart (2-0)   L: Roger Clemens (0-1)  S: Rick Honeycutt (1)HR: None The 1990 World Series 1990 World Series The four-game sweep to the Reds in the 1990, was reminiscent of the A's loss to the Boston Braves 76 years earlier. NL Cincinnati Reds (4) vs. AL Oakland Athletics (0) GameScoreDateLocationAttendanceTime of Game1 A's – 0, Reds – 7 October 16Riverfront Stadium (Cincinnati) 55,830 2:482 A's – 4, Reds – 5 (10 inns)October 17Riverfront Stadium (Cincinnati) 55,832 3:313 Reds – 8, A's – 3 October 19Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum (Oakland) 48,269 3:014 Reds – 2, A's – 1 October 20Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum (Oakland) 48,613 2:48 Awards and honors Rickey Henderson, American League Most Valuable Player Dave Stewart, ALCS MVP Dave Stewart, Pitcher, Roberto Clemente Award Bob Welch, AL Cy Young Award All-Star Game Jose Canseco, outfielder Dennis Eckersley, relief pitcher Rickey Henderson, outfielder Mark McGwire, first baseman Bob Welch, starting pitcher Tony La Russa, manager Team leaders Home Runs – Mark McGwire (39) RBI – Mark McGwire (108) Batting Average – Rickey Henderson (.325) Hits – Rickey Henderson (159) Stolen Bases – Rickey Henderson (65) Walks – Mark McGwire (110) Wins – Bob Welch (27) Earned Run Average – Dave Stewart (2.56) Strikeouts – Dave Stewart (166) Farm system Minor League Baseball AAA Tacoma Tigers Pacific Coast League Brad Fischer AA Huntsville Stars Southern League Jeff Newman A Modesto A's California League Ted Kubiak A Madison Muskies Midwest League Casey Parsons A-Short Season Southern Oregon A's Northwest League Grady Fuson Rookie AZL Athletics Arizona League Gary Jones References 1990 Oakland Athletics team page at Baseball Reference 1990 Oakland Athletics team page at www.baseball-almanac.com Johnson Lloyd Wolff Miles The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball 2nd Durham, North Carolina Baseball America 1997 978-0-9637189-8-3 Category:Oakland Athletics seasons Oakland Athletics season Category:American League West champion seasons Category:American League champion seasons Oak Category:1990s in Oakland, California