1988 Oakland Athletics season

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

1988 Oakland Athletics
1988 AL West Champions
1988 AL Champions
Major League affiliations
Location
Results
Record104–58 (.642)
Divisional place1st
Other information
Owner(s)Walter A. Haas Jr.
General manager(s)Sandy Alderson
Manager(s)Tony La Russa
Local televisionKPIX/KICU-TV
(Monte Moore, Ray Fosse)
Local radioKSFO
(Bill King, Lon Simmons, Ray Fosse)
KNTA
(Amaury Pi-Gonzalez, Evilio Mendoza)
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The Oakland Athletics' 1988 season involved the A's winning their first American League West title since 1981, with a record of 104 wins and 58 losses. In 1988, the elephant was restored as the symbol of the Athletics and currently adorns the left sleeve of home and road uniforms. The elephant was retired as team mascot in 1963 by then-owner Charles O. Finley in favor of a Missouri mule. The A's defeated the Boston Red Sox in the ALCS, but lost the World Series to the Los Angeles Dodgers in five games, including a dramatic, classic walk-off home run by the Dodgers' Kirk Gibson in game one.

1988 was the first of 3 straight years the A's would represent the AL in the World Series.

Offseason[]

  • October 12, 1987: Brian Harper was released by the Athletics.[1]
  • October 12, 1987: Jerry Willard was released by the Athletics.[2]
  • December 6, 1987: Ron Hassey was signed as a free agent by the Athletics.[3]
  • December 7, 1987: Gary Lavelle was signed as a free agent by the Athletics.[4]
  • December 8, 1987: José Rijo and Tim Birtsas were traded by the Athletics to the Cincinnati Reds for Dave Parker.[5]
  • December 11, 1987: Alfredo Griffin and Jay Howell were traded by the Athletics to the Los Angeles Dodgers, and Kevin Tapani and Wally Whitehurst were traded by the Athletics to the New York Mets as part of a three-team trade. Bob Welch and Matt Young were traded by the Dodgers to the Athletics. Jesse Orosco was traded by the Mets to the Dodgers. Jack Savage was traded by the Dodgers to the Mets.[6]
  • December 21, 1987: Dave Henderson was signed as a free agent by the Athletics.[7]
  • December 21, 1987: Rick Rodriguez was released by the Athletics.[8]
  • January 11, 1988: Glenn Hubbard was signed as a free agent by the Athletics.[9]
  • January 29, 1988: Rich Bordi was signed as a Free Agent with the Oakland Athletics.[10]
  • February 9, 1988: Don Baylor was signed as a free agent by the Athletics.[11]
  • March 9, 1988: Tony Phillips was signed as a free agent by the Athletics.[12]
  • March 28, 1988: Mickey Tettleton was released by the Athletics.[13]

Regular season[]

José Canseco led the American League with 42 Home Runs, 124 RBIs and a .569 slugging percentage. Canseco became the first member of the Athletics to have three straight 100 RBI seasons. He also had 40 stolen bases and became the first major leaguer ever to hit 40 home runs and steal 40 bases in the same season.

  • July 3, 1988: José Canseco had 3 home runs and 6 RBIs in a game against the Toronto Blue Jays.

Season standings[]

  • v
  • t
AL West 		W L Pct. GB Home Road
Oakland Athletics 104 58 0.642 — 54–27 50–31
Minnesota Twins 91 71 0.562 13 47–34 44–37
Kansas City Royals 84 77 0.522 19½ 44–36 40–41
California Angels 75 87 0.463 29 35–46 40–41
Chicago White Sox 71 90 0.441 32½ 40–41 31–49
Texas Rangers 70 91 0.435 33½ 38–43 32–48
Seattle Mariners 68 93 0.422 35½ 37–44 31–49

Record vs. opponents[]

1988 American League Records
  • v
  • t

Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14]
Team BAL BOS CAL CWS CLE DET KC MIL MIN NYY OAK SEA TEX TOR
Baltimore — 4–9 5–7 4–7 4–9 5–8 0–12 4–9 3–9 3–10 4–8 7–5 6–6 5–8
Boston 9–4 — 8–4 7–5 8–5 6–7 6–6 10–3 7–5 9–4 3–9 6–6 8–4 2–11
California 7–5 4–8 — 9–4 8–4 5–7 5–8 3–9 4–9 6–6 4–9 6–7 8–5 6–6
Chicago 7–4 5–7 4–9 — 3–9 3–9 7–6 6–6 4–9 3–9 5–8 9–4 8–5 7–5
Cleveland 9–4 5–8 4–8 9–3 — 4–9 6–6 9–4 5–7 6–7 4–8 5–7 6–6 6–7
Detroit 8–5 7–6 7–5 9–3 9–4 — 8–4 5–8 1–11 8–5 4–8 9–3 8–4 5–8
Kansas City 12–0 6–6 8–5 6–7 6–6 4–8 — 3–9 7–6 6–6 8–5 7–5 7–6 4–8
Milwaukee 9–4 3–10 9–3 6–6 4–9 8–5 9–3 — 7–5 6–7 3–9 8–4 8–4 7–6
Minnesota 9–3 5–7 9–4 9–4 7–5 11–1 6–7 5–7 — 3–9 5–8 8–5 7–6 7–5
New York 10–3 4–9 6–6 9–3 7–6 5–8 6–6 7–6 9–3 — 6–6 5–7 5–6 6–7
Oakland 8–4 9–3 9–4 8–5 8–4 8–4 5–8 9–3 8–5 6–6 — 9–4 8–5 9–3
Seattle 5–7 6–6 7–6 4–9 7–5 3–9 5–7 4–8 5–8 7–5 4–9 — 6–7 5–7
Texas 6–6 4–8 5–8 5–8 6–6 4–8 6–7 4–8 6–7 6–5 5–8 7–6 — 6–6
Toronto 8–5 11–2 6–6 5–7 7–6 8–5 8–4 6–7 5–7 7–6 3–9 7–5 6–6 —


Notable Transactions[]

  • June 1, 1988: Darren Lewis was drafted by the Athletics in the 18th round of the 1988 amateur draft. Player signed June 8, 1988.[14]

Roster[]

1988 Oakland Athletics
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

  • 12 Don Baylor
 Manager
  • 10 Tony La Russa

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
RF José Canseco 158 610 187 .307 42 124
CF Dave Henderson 146 507 154 .304 24 94
3B Carney Lansford 150 556 155 .279 7 57
1B Mark McGwire 155 550 143 .260 32 99
C Ron Hassey 107 323 83 .257 7 45
2B Glenn Hubbard 105 294 75 .255 3 33
SS Walt Weiss 147 452 113 .250 3 39
DH Don Baylor 92 264 58 .220 7 34
LF Luis Polonia 84 288 84 .292 2 27

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
Stan Javier 125 397 102 .257 2 35
Dave Parker 101 377 97 .257 12 55
Terry Steinbach 104 351 93 .265 9 51
Mike Gallego 129 277 58 .209 2 20
Tony Phillips 79 212 43 .203 2 17
Doug Jennings 71 101 21 .208 1 15
Orlando Mercado 16 24 3 .125 1 1
Matt Sinatro 10 9 3 .333 0 5
Félix José 8 6 2 .333 0 1
Lance Blankenship 10 3 0 .000 0 0
Ed Jurak 3 1 0 .000 0 0

Pitching[]

Starting pitchers[]

Note: G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G GS IP W L ERA SO
Dave Stewart 37 37 275.2 21 12 3.23 192
Bob Welch 36 36 244.2 17 9 3.64 158
Storm Davis 33 33 201.2 16 7 3.70 127
Curt Young 26 26 156.1 11 8 4.14 69
Todd Burns 17 14 102.2 8 2 3.16 57
Steve Ontiveros 10 10 54.2 3 4 4.61 30
Rich Bordi 2 2 7.2 0 1 4.70 6

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
Dave Otto 3 10 0 0 1.80 7

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 60 4 2 45 2.35 70
Greg Cadaret 58 5 2 3 2.89 64
Rick Honeycutt 55 3 2 7 3.50 47
Gene Nelson 54 9 6 3 3.06 67
Eric Plunk 49 7 2 5 3.00 79
Jim Corsi 11 0 1 0 3.80 10
Jeff Shaver 1 0 0 0 0.00 0

ALCS[]

Main article: 1988 American League Championship Series

Game 1[]

October 5, Fenway Park

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Oakland 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 2 6 0
Boston 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 6 0
W: Rick Honeycutt (1-0)   L: Bruce Hurst (0-1)  S: Dennis Eckersley (1)
HR: OAK – José Canseco (1)

Game 2[]

October 6, Fenway Park

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Oakland 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 1 4 10 1
Boston 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 3 4 1
W: Gene Nelson (1-0)   L: Lee Smith (0-1)  S: Dennis Eckersley (2)
HR: OAK – José Canseco (2)   BOS – Rich Gedman (1)

Game 3[]

October 8, Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Boston 3 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 6 12 0
Oakland 0 4 2 0 1 0 1 2 X 10 15 1
W: Gene Nelson (2-0)   L: Mike Boddicker (0-1)  S: Dennis Eckersley (3)
HR: OAK – Mark McGwire (1)  Carney Lansford (1)  Ron Hassey (1)  Dave Henderson (1)  BOS – Mike Greenwell (1)

Game 4[]

October 9, Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Boston 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 4 0
Oakland 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 X 4 10 1
W: Dave Stewart (1-0)   L: Bruce Hurst (0-2)  S: Dennis Eckersley (4)
HR: OAK – José Canseco (3)

World Series[]

Main article: 1988 World Series

NL Los Angeles Dodgers (4) vs. AL Oakland Athletics (1)

Game Score Date Location Attendance Time of Game
1 A's – 4, Dodgers – 5 October 15 Dodger Stadium (Los Angeles) 55,983 3:04
2 A's – 0, Dodgers – 6 October 16 Dodger Stadium (Los Angeles) 56,051 2:30
3 Dodgers – 1, A's – 2 October 18 Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum (Oakland) 49,316 3:21
4 Dodgers – 4, A's – 3 October 19 Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum (Oakland) 49,317 3:05
5 Dodgers – 5, A's – 2 October 20 Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum (Oakland) 49,317 2:51

Awards and honors[]

  • José Canseco – American League Leader Home Runs (42)
  • José Canseco – American League Leader RBIs (124)
  • José Canseco – American League Leader Slugging Percentage (.569)
  • José Canseco - American League Silver Slugger Award (OF)
  • Terry Steinbach - All-Star Game MVP
  • Walt Weiss - American League Rookie of the Year
  • Tony La Russa - American League Manager of the Year
  • Dennis Eckersley - American League Saves Leader (45)

All-Star Game

  • Terry Steinbach, Catcher, Starter
  • Mark McGwire, First Base, Starter
  • José Canseco, Outfield, Starter
  • Dennis Eckersley, Relief Pitcher, Reserve
  • Carney Lansford, Third Base, Reserve

Farm system[]

See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Tacoma Tigers Pacific Coast League Brad Fischer
AA Huntsville Stars Southern League Tommie Reynolds
A Modesto A's California League Jeff Newman
A Madison Muskies Midwest League Jim Nettles
A-Short Season Southern Oregon A's Northwest League Lenn Sakata
Rookie AZL Athletics Arizona League Dave Hudgens

References[]

  1. ^ "Brian Harper Stats - Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com.
  2. ^ "Jerry Willard Stats - Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com.
  3. ^ "Ron Hassey Stats - Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com.
  4. ^ "Gary Lavelle Stats - Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com.
  5. ^ "Dave Parker Stats - Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com.
  6. ^ "Jesse Orosco Stats - Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com.
  7. ^ "Dave Henderson Stats - Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com.
  8. ^ "Rick Rodriguez Stats - Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com.
  9. ^ "Glenn Hubbard Stats - Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com.
  10. ^ "Rich Bordi Stats - Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com.
  11. ^ "Don Baylor Stats - Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com.
  12. ^ "Tony Phillips Stats - Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com.
  13. ^ "Mickey Tettleton page at Baseball Reference". baseball-reference.com.[permanent dead link]
  14. ^ "Darren Lewis Stats - Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com.
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