1993 Oakland Athletics season

1993 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	68–94 (.420)
Divisional place	7th
Other information
Owner(s)	Walter A. Haas, Jr.
General manager(s)	Sandy Alderson
Manager(s)	Tony La Russa
Local television	KRON-TV (Dick Stockton, Ray Fosse) Sports Channel Pacific (Ray Fosse, Greg Papa)
Local radio	KNEW (AM) (Bill King, Lon Simmons, Ray Fosse)
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The Oakland Athletics' 1993 season was the team's 26th in Oakland, California. It was also the 93rd season in franchise history. The team finished seventh in the American League West with a record of 68-94.

The Athletics' disastrous 1993 campaign was mired by inconsistency, injuries, and free agent losses. The team lost key contributors Dave Stewart, Harold Baines, and Mike Moore to free agency; the players ended up (respectively) in Toronto, Chicago, and Detroit. The A's also traded Walt Weiss to the expansion Florida Marlins for Scott Baker and Eric Helfand. The Athletics' roster was further weakened by the retirement of longtime third baseman Carney Lansford.

The team's depleted pitching staff was no match for its American League (AL) competition. The Athletics, following a resurgent 1992 campaign, finished 1993 with a team ERA of 4.90; this was the worst such figure in the AL. The futility of Oakland's new-look starting rotation was especially noteworthy; of the team's five primary starters (Bobby Witt, Ron Darling, Bob Welch, Todd Van Poppel, and Shawn Hillegas), only one (Witt) managed a sub-5.00 ERA. On offense, the Athletics also struggled; the loss of their two best players (Mark McGwire and Rickey Henderson) to injury and a trade, respectively, contributed to their scoring only 715 runs (10th of 14 AL teams).

The Athletics' 68-94 finish was their worst since 1982. Moreover, the 1993 Athletics (as of 2020) remain the only team in Oakland history to finish last in the AL West after finishing first one-year earlier.

Offseason[]

• October 27, 1992: Jamie Quirk was released by the Athletics.^[1]
• November 17, 1992: Walt Weiss was traded by the Athletics to the Florida Marlins for Eric Helfand and a player to be named later. The Marlins completed the deal by sending Scott Baker to the Athletics on November 20.^[2]
• December 7, 1992: Rich Gossage was signed as a free agent by the Athletics.^[3]
• December 17, 1992: Ron Darling was signed as a free agent by the Athletics.^[4]
• January 21, 1993: Joe Boever was signed as a free agent by the Athletics.^[5]
• January 21, 1993: Dale Sveum was signed as a free agent by the Athletics.^[6]
• March 27, 1993: Mike Aldrete was signed as a free agent by the Athletics.^[7]

Regular season[]

Rollie Fingers Pitcher: 1968-76(OAK) Retired 1993

Season standings[]

v t AL West	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Chicago White Sox	94	68	0.580	—	45–36	49–32
Texas Rangers	86	76	0.531	8	50–31	36–45
Kansas City Royals	84	78	0.519	10	43–38	41–40
Seattle Mariners	82	80	0.506	12	46–35	36–45
California Angels	71	91	0.438	23	44–37	27–54
Minnesota Twins	71	91	0.438	23	36–45	35–46
Oakland Athletics	68	94	0.420	26	38–43	30–51

Record vs. opponents[]

1993 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	—	6–7	7–5	4–8	8–5	5–8	7–5	8–5	8–4	6–7	10–2	7–5	4–8	5–8
Boston	7–6	—	7–5	7–5	5–8	6–7	5–7	5–8	7–5	6–7	9–3	7–5	6–6	3–10
California	5–7	5–7	—	7–6	5–7	4–8	6–7	7–5	4–9	6–6	6–7	6–7	6–7	4–8
Chicago	8–4	5–7	6–7	—	9–3	7–5	6–7	9–3	10–3	4–8	7–6	9–4	8–5	6–6
Cleveland	5–8	8–5	7–5	3–9	—	6–7	7–5	8–5	4–8	6–7	8–4	3–9	7–5	4–9
Detroit	8–5	7–6	8–4	5–7	7–6	—	5–7	8–5	6–6	4–9	8–4	7–5	6–6	6–7
Kansas City	5–7	7–5	7–6	7–6	5–7	7–5	—	5–7	7–6	6–6	6–7	7–6	7–6	8–4
Milwaukee	5–8	8–5	5–7	3–9	5–8	5–8	7–5	—	7–5	4–9	7–5	4–8	4–8	5–8
Minnesota	4–8	5–7	9–4	3–10	8–4	6–6	6–7	5–7	—	4–8	8–5	4–9	7–6	2–10
New York	7–6	7–6	6–6	8–4	7–6	9–4	6–6	9–4	8–4	—	6–6	7–5	3–9	5–8
Oakland	2–10	3–9	7–6	6–7	4–8	4–8	7–6	5–7	5–8	6–6	—	9–4	5–8	5–7
Seattle	5–7	5–7	7–6	4–9	9–3	5���7	6–7	8–4	9–4	5–7	4–9	—	8–5	7–5
Texas	8–4	6–6	7–6	5–8	5–7	6–6	6–7	8–4	6–7	9–3	8–5	5–8	—	7–5
Toronto	8–5	10–3	8–4	6–6	9–4	7–6	4–8	8–5	10–2	8–5	7–5	5–7	5–7	—

Notable transactions[]

• June 3, 1993: 1993 Major League Baseball draft
  • Jeff D'Amico was drafted by the Athletics in the 2nd round.^[8]
  • Jason McDonald was drafted by the Athletics in the 4th round. Player signed July 27, 1993.^[9]
  • Scott Spiezio was drafted by the Athletics in the 6th round. Player signed June 24, 1993.^[10]
• June 17, 1993: Dale Sveum was released by the Athletics.^[6]
• July 17, 1993: Miguel Tejada was signed by the Athletics as an amateur free agent.^[11]
• July 31, 1993: Rickey Henderson was traded by the Athletics to the Toronto Blue Jays for Steve Karsay and a player to be named later. The Blue Jays completed the deal by sending José Herrera to the Athletics on August 6.^[12]
• August 15, 1993: Joe Boever was released by the Athletics.^[5]

Roster[]

1993 Oakland Athletics
Roster
Pitchers 46 Joe Boever 53 John Briscoe 55 Kevin Campbell 17 Ron Darling 15 Storm Davis 31 Kelly Downs 43 Dennis Eckersley 54 Goose Gossage 57 Shawn Hillegas 40 Rick Honeycutt 26 Vince Horsman 47 Miguel Jimenez 50 Steve Karsay 58 Mike Mohler 52 Edwin Núñez 37 Joe Slusarski 51 Roger Smithberg 59 Todd Van Poppel 35 Bob Welch 32 Bobby Witt 29 Curt Young		Catchers 48 Eric Helfand  2 Scott Hemond 39 Henry Mercedes 36 Terry Steinbach Infielders 23 Mike Aldrete 38 Marcos Armas 14 Mike Bordick 13 Brent Gates 25 Mark McGwire 16 Troy Neel  3 Craig Paquette 20 Kevin Seitzer  6 Dale Sveum		Outfielders 11 Kurt Abbott 12 Lance Blankenship  7 Scott Brosius 30 Jerry Browne 28 Eric Fox 42 Dave Henderson 24 Rickey Henderson 49 Scott Lydy 29 Rubén Sierra		Manager 10 Tony La Russa Coaches 18 Dave Duncan  5 Art Kusnyer -- Greg Luzinski  8 Dave McKay 47 Tommie Reynolds

Player stats[]

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	104	389	111	.285	10	43
1B	Mike Aldrete	95	255	68	.267	10	33
2B	Brent Gates	139	535	155	.290	7	69
3B	Craig Paquette	105	393	86	.219	12	46
SS	Mike Bordick	159	546	136	.249	3	48
LF	Rickey Henderson	90	318	104	.327	17	47
CF	Dave Henderson	107	382	84	.220	20	53
RF	Rubén Sierra	158	630	147	.233	22	101
DH	Troy Neel	123	427	124	.290	19	63

Other batters[]

Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
Eric Helfand	8	13	3	.231	0	1

Pitching[]

Starting pitchers[]

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO

Other pitchers[]

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO

Relief pitchers[]

Player	G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO
Rich Gossage	39	4	5	1	4.53	40
Kevin Campbell	11	0	0	0	7.31	9

Farm system[]

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Tacoma Tigers	Pacific Coast League	Bob Boone
AA	Huntsville Stars	Southern League	Casey Parsons
A	Modesto A's	California League	Ted Kubiak
A	Madison Muskies	Midwest League	Gary Jones
A-Short Season	Southern Oregon A's	Northwest League	Dick Scott
Rookie	AZL Athletics	Arizona League	Bruce Hines

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: AZL Athletics

References[]

• 1993 Oakland Athletics at Baseball Reference
• 1993 Oakland Athletics at Baseball Almanac
• Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (1997). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. ISBN 978-0-9637189-8-3.