1988 Oakland Athletics season

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 (the best record in the La Russa era). 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 Oakland Athletics
American League Champions American League West Champions
League	American League
Division	West
Ballpark	Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum
City	Oakland, California
Record	104–58 (.642)
Divisional place	1st
Owners	Walter A. Haas Jr.
General managers	Sandy Alderson
Managers	Tony La Russa
Television	KPIX/KICU-TV (Monte Moore, Ray Fosse)
Radio	KSFO (Bill King, Lon Simmons, Ray Fosse) KNTA (Amaury Pi-Gonzalez, Evilio Mendoza)
← 1987 Seasons 1989 →

1988 was the first of three 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
• e

AL West

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Oakland Athletics	104	58	.642	—	54‍–‍27	50‍–‍31
Minnesota Twins	91	71	.562	13	47‍–‍34	44‍–‍37
Kansas City Royals	84	77	.522	19½	44‍–‍36	40‍–‍41
California Angels	75	87	.463	29	35‍–‍46	40‍–‍41
Chicago White Sox	71	90	.441	32½	40‍–‍41	31‍–‍49
Texas Rangers	70	91	.435	33½	38‍–‍43	32‍–‍48
Seattle Mariners	68	93	.422	35½	37‍–‍44	31‍–‍49

Record vs. opponents

1988 American League record v t e Sources:
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 46 Rich Bordi 54 Todd Burns 32 Greg Cadaret 41 Jim Corsi 14 Storm Davis 43 Dennis Eckersley 40 Rick Honeycutt 19 Gene Nelson 53 Steve Ontiveros 38 Dave Otto 51 Eric Plunk 52 Jeff Shaver 34 Dave Stewart 35 Bob Welch 29 Curt Young		Catchers 24 Ron Hassey  3 Orlando Mercado 11 Matt Sinatro 36 Terry Steinbach Infielders 30 Lance Blankenship  9 Mike Gallego 17 Glenn Hubbard 27 Ed Jurak  4 Carney Lansford 25 Mark McGwire  2 Tony Phillips  7 Walt Weiss		Outfielders 33 José Canseco 42 Dave Henderson 28 Stan Javier 21 Doug Jennings  6 Félix José 39 Dave Parker 22 Luis Polonia Other batters 12 Don Baylor		Manager 10 Tony La Russa Coaches 18 Dave Duncan 15 Rene Lachemann  5 Jim Lefebvre  8 Dave McKay 45 Mike Paul 55 Bob Watson

Game log

Regular season Game log

1988 regular season game log: 104–58 (Home: 54–27; Away: 50–31)
April: 16–7 (Home: 5–4; Away: 11–3) # Date Time (PT) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/ Streak 1 April 4 Mariners 2 April 5 Mariners 3 April 6 Mariners 4 April 8 @ Angels 5 April 9 @ Angels 6 April 10 @ Angels 7 April 12 @ Mariners 8 April 13 @ Mariners 9 April 14 @ Mariners 10 April 15 White Sox 11 April 16 White Sox 12 April 17 White Sox 13 April 18 Angels 14 April 19 Angels 15 April 20 Angels 16 April 21 @ White Sox 17 April 22 @ White Sox 18 April 23 @ White Sox 19 April 24 @ White Sox 20 April 26 @ Blue Jays 21 April 27 @ Blue Jays 22 April 28 @ Blue Jays — April 29 @ Indians Postponed (Rain) (Makeup date: July 5) 23 April 30 @ Indians
May: 19–8 (Home: 11–4; Away: 8–4) # Date Time (PT) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/ Streak 24 May 1 @ Indians 25 May 2 @ Tigers 26 May 3 @ Tigers 27 May 4 Blue Jays 28 May 5 Blue Jays — May 6 Indians Postponed (Rain) (Makeup date: July 19) 29 May 7 Indians 30 May 8 Indians 31 May 9 Tigers 32 May 10 Tigers 33 May 11 Tigers 34 May 13 @ Orioles 35 May 14 @ Orioles 36 May 15 @ Orioles 37 May 16 @ Red Sox 38 May 17 @ Red Sox 39 May 18 @ Red Sox 40 May 20 @ Yankees 41 May 21 @ Yankees 42 May 22 @ Yankees 43 May 23 Orioles 44 May 24 Orioles 45 May 25 Orioles 46 May 27 Red Sox 47 May 28 Red Sox 48 May 29 Red Sox 49 May 30 Yankees 50 May 31 Yankees
June: 13–14 (Home: 6–8; Away: 7–6) # Date Time (PT) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/ Streak 51 June 1 Yankees 52 June 3 @ Twins 53 June 4 @ Twins 54 June 5 @ Twins 55 June 6 @ Royals 56 June 7 @ Royals 57 June 8 @ Royals 58 June 9 @ Rangers 59 June 10 @ Rangers 60 June 11 @ Rangers 61 June 12 @ Rangers 62 June 14 Royals 63 June 15 Royals 64 June 16 Royals 65 June 17 Rangers 66 June 18 Rangers 67 June 19 Rangers 68 June 20 @ Brewers 69 June 21 @ Brewers 70 June 22 @ Brewers 71 June 24 Twins 72 June 25 Twins 73 June 26 Twins 74 June 26 Twins 75 June 27 Brewers 76 June 28 Brewers 77 June 29 Brewers
July: 16–12 (Home: 7–4; Away: 9–8) # Date Time (PT) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/ Streak 78 July 1 @ Blue Jays 79 July 2 @ Blue Jays 80 July 3 @ Blue Jays 81 July 4 @ Indians 82 July 5 @ Indians 83 July 5 @ Indians 84 July 6 @ Indians 85 July 7 @ Tigers 86 July 8 @ Tigers 87 July 9 @ Tigers 88 July 10 @ Tigers 59th All-Star Game in Cincinnati, OH 89 July 14 Blue Jays 90 July 15 Blue Jays 91 July 16 Blue Jays 92 July 17 Blue Jays 93 July 18 Indians 94 July 19 Indians 95 July 19 Indians 96 July 20 Indians 97 July 22 Tigers 98 July 23 Tigers 99 July 24 Tigers 100 July 25 @ Angels 101 July 26 @ Angels 102 July 27 @ Angels 103 July 29 @ Mariners 104 July 30 @ Mariners 105 July 31 @ Mariners
August: 20–9 (Home: 14–3; Away: 6–6) # Date Time (PT) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/ Streak 106 August 1 @ White Sox 107 August 2 @ White Sox 108 August 3 @ White Sox 109 August 4 Mariners 110 August 5 Mariners 111 August 6 Mariners 112 August 7 Mariners 113 August 8 White Sox 114 August 9 White Sox 115 August 10 White Sox 116 August 11 Angels 117 August 12 Angels 118 August 13 Angels 119 August 14 Angels 120 August 16 @ Orioles 121 August 17 @ Orioles 122 August 18 @ Orioles 123 August 19 @ Red Sox 124 August 20 @ Red Sox 125 August 21 @ Red Sox 126 August 22 @ Yankees 127 August 23 @ Yankees 128 August 24 @ Yankees 129 August 26 Orioles 130 August 27 Orioles 131 August 28 Orioles 132 August 29 Red Sox 133 August 30 Red Sox 134 August 31 Red Sox
September: 19–7 (Home: 10–3; Away: 9–4) # Date Time (PT) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/ Streak 135 September 2 Yankees 136 September 3 Yankees 137 September 4 Yankees 138 September 5 @ Rangers 139 September 6 @ Rangers 140 September 7 @ Rangers 141 September 8 @ Royals 142 September 9 @ Royals 143 September 10 @ Royals 144 September 11 @ Royals 145 September 13 Rangers 146 September 14 Rangers 147 September 15 Rangers 148 September 16 Royals 149 September 17 Royals 150 September 18 Royals 151 September 19 Twins 152 September 20 Twins 153 September 21 Twins 154 September 23 @ Brewers 155 September 24 @ Brewers 156 September 25 @ Brewers 157 September 27 @ Twins 158 September 28 @ Twins 159 September 29 @ Twins 160 September 30 Brewers
October: 1–1 (Home: 1–1; Away: 0–0) # Date Time (PT) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/ Streak 161 October 1 Brewers 162 October 2 Brewers
Legend:        = Win        = Loss        = Postponement Bold = Athletics team member

Postseason Game log

1988 Postseason game log: 5–4 (Home: 3–2; Away: 2–2)
AL Championship Series: vs. Boston Red Sox 4–0 (Home: 2–0; Away: 2–0) # Date Time (PT) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Series Box/ Streak 1 October 5 @ Red Sox 2 October 6 @ Red Sox 3 October 8 Red Sox 4 October 9 Red Sox
World Series: vs. Los Angeles Dodgers 1–4 (Home: 1–2; Away: 0–2) # Date Time (PT) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Series Box/ Streak 1 October 15 @ Dodgers 2 October 16 @ Dodgers 3 October 18 Dodgers 4 October 19 Dodgers 5 October 20 Dodgers
Legend:        = Win        = Loss        = Postponement Bold = Athletics team member

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	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. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
2. "Jerry Willard Stats". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
3. "Ron Hassey Stats". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
4. "Gary Lavelle Stats". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
5. "Dave Parker Stats". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
6. "Jesse Orosco Stats". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
7. "Dave Henderson Stats". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
8. "Rick Rodriguez Stats". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
9. "Glenn Hubbard Stats". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
10. "Rich Bordi Stats". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
11. "Don Baylor Stats". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
12. "Tony Phillips Stats". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
13. "Mickey Tettleton Stats". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
14. "Darren Lewis Stats". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 10, 2024.

• 1988 Oakland Athletics team page at Baseball Reference
• 1988 Oakland Athletics team page at www.baseball-almanac.com
• 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.