1971 Oakland Athletics season

The 1971 Oakland Athletics season involved the A's finishing first in the American League West with a record of 101 wins and 60 losses (their best record in the Swingin' A's era). In their first postseason appearance of any kind since 1931, the A's were swept in three games by the Baltimore Orioles in the American League Championship Series.

1971 Oakland Athletics
American League West Champions
League	American League
Division	West
Ballpark	Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum
City	Oakland, California
Record	101–60 (.627)
Owners	Charles O. Finley
Managers	Dick Williams
Television	KBHK-TV
Radio	KEST (Monte Moore, Bob Elson, Red Rush)
← 1970 Seasons 1972 →

Offseason

• January 13, 1971: 1971 Major League Baseball draft (January draft) notable picks:^[1]

Round 5: Rich Dauer (did not sign)

Secondary Phase^[2]

Round 1: Phil Garner

Round 3: Steve Staggs (did not sign)

Regular season

Vida Blue became the first black player in the history of the American League to win the American League Cy Young Award.^[3] He was also the youngest AL player in the 20th century to win the MVP Award.^[4] During the year, Vida Blue was on the cover of Sports Illustrated and Time magazine.^[5]

Season standings

• v
• t
• e

AL West

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Oakland Athletics	101	60	.627	—	46‍–‍35	55‍–‍25
Kansas City Royals	85	76	.528	16	44‍–‍37	41‍–‍39
Chicago White Sox	79	83	.488	22½	39‍–‍42	40‍–‍41
California Angels	76	86	.469	25½	35‍–‍46	41‍–‍40
Minnesota Twins	74	86	.463	26½	37‍–‍42	37‍–‍44
Milwaukee Brewers	69	92	.429	32	34‍–‍48	35‍–‍44

Record vs. opponents

1971 American League record v t e Sources:
Team	BAL	BOS	CAL	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	MIL	MIN	NYY	OAK	WSH
Baltimore	—	9–9	7–5	8–4	13–5	8–10	6–5	9–3	10–2	11–7	7–4	13–3
Boston	9–9	—	6–6	10–2	11–7	12–6	1–11	6–6	8–4	7–11	3–9	12–6
California	5–7	6–6	—	8–10	8–4	6–6	8–10	6–12	12–6	6–6	7–11	4–8
Chicago	4–8	2–10	10–8	—	3–9	7–5	9–9	11–7	7–11	5–7	11–7	10–2
Cleveland	5–13	7–11	4–8	9–3	—	6–12	2–10	4–8	4–8	8–10	4–8	7–11
Detroit	10–8	6–12	6–6	5–7	12–6	—	8–4	10–2	6–6	10–8	4–8	14–4
Kansas City	5–6	11–1	10–8	9–9	10–2	4–8	—	8–10	9–9	5–7	5–13	9–3
Milwaukee	3–9	6–6	12–6	7–11	8–4	2–10	10–8	—	10–7	2–10	3–15	6–6
Minnesota	2–10	4–8	6–12	11–7	8–4	6–6	9–9	7–10	—	8–4	8–10	5–6
New York	7–11	11–7	6–6	7–5	10–8	8–10	7–5	10–2	4–8	—	5–7	7–11
Oakland	4–7	9–3	11–7	7–11	8–4	8–4	13–5	15–3	10–8	7–5	—	9–3
Washington	3–13	6–12	8–4	2–10	11–7	4–14	3–9	6–6	6–5	11–7	3–9	—

Opening day starters

• 1B Don Mincher
• 2B Dick Green
• 3B Sal Bando
• SS Bert Campaneris
• LF Felipe Alou
• CF Rick Monday
• RF Reggie Jackson
• C Dave Duncan
• P Vida Blue

Notable transactions

• May 8, 1971: Frank Fernández, Don Mincher, Paul Lindblad, and cash were traded by the Athletics to the Washington Senators for Darold Knowles and Mike Epstein.^[6]
• May 26, 1971: Rob Gardner was traded by the Athletics to the New York Yankees for Curt Blefary.^[7]
• June 12, 1971: Champ Summers was signed by the Athletics as an amateur free agent.^[8]

Roster

1971 Oakland Athletics
Roster
Pitchers 35 Vida Blue 29 Chuck Dobson 34 Rollie Fingers 56 Rob Gardner 16,56 Mudcat Grant 27 Catfish Hunter 17 Ron Klimkowski 32 Darold Knowles 14 Marcel Lachemann 25 Paul Lindblad 36 Bob Locker 13 Blue Moon Odom 16 Jim Panther 58 Daryl Patterson 33 Jim Roland 24 Diego Seguí		Catchers 39 Curt Blefary 10 Dave Duncan 16,39 Frank Fernández 38 Gene Tenace Infielders 11 Dwain Anderson  6 Sal Bando  8 Larry Brown 19 Bert Campaneris 12 Tommy Davis  5 Mike Epstein  1 Dick Green 20 Mike Hegan 42 Tony La Russa  5 Don Mincher 52 Ray Webster		Outfielders  8 Felipe Alou  3 Adrian Garrett 25 George Hendrick 28 Steve Hovley  9 Reggie Jackson  2 Ángel Mangual  7 Rick Monday 26 Joe Rudi Other batters  3 Ron Clark		Manager 23 Dick Williams Coaches 44 Vern Hoscheit 41 Jerry Lumpe 43 Irv Noren 40 Bill Posedel

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
C	Dave Duncan	103	363	92	.253	15	40
1B	Mike Epstein	104	329	77	.234	18	51
2B	Dick Green	144	475	116	.244	12	49
3B	Sal Bando	153	538	146	.271	24	74
SS	Bert Campaneris	134	569	143	.251	5	47
LF	Joe Rudi	127	513	137	.267	10	52
CF	Rick Monday	116	355	87	.245	18	56
RF	Reggie Jackson	150	567	157	.277	32	80

^[9]

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
Ángel Mangual	94	287	82	.286	4	30
Tommy Davis	79	219	71	.324	3	42
Larry Brown	70	189	37	.196	1	9
Gene Tenace	65	179	49	.274	7	25
George Hendrick	42	114	27	.237	0	8
Curt Blefary	50	101	22	.218	5	12
Don Mincher	28	98	22	.239	2	8
Mike Hegan	65	55	13	.236	0	3
Dwain Anderson	16	37	10	.270	0	3
Steve Hovley	24	27	3	.111	0	3
Adrian Garrett	14	21	3	.143	1	2
Frank Fernández	4	9	1	.111	0	1
Felipe Alou	2	8	2	.250	0	0
Tony LaRussa	23	8	0	.000	0	0
Ramon Webster	7	5	0	.000	0	0
Ron Clark	2	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
Vida Blue	39	312.0	24	8	1.82	301
Catfish Hunter	37	273.2	21	11	2.96	181
Chuck Dobson	30	189.0	15	5	3.81	100
Diego Seguí	26	146.1	10	8	3.14	81
Blue Moon Odom	25	140.2	10	12	4.29	69

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
Rob Gardner	4	7.2	0	0	2.35	5

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
Rollie Fingers	48	4	6	17	2.99	98
Bob Locker	47	7	2	6	2.86	46
Darold Knowles	43	5	2	7	3.59	40
Jim Roland	31	1	3	1	3.18	30
Ron Klimkowski	26	2	2	2	3.38	25
Mudcat Grant	15	1	0	3	1.98	13
Paul Lindblad	8	1	0	0	3.94	4
Daryl Patterson	4	0	0	0	7.94	2
Jim Panther	4	0	1	0	11.12	4
Marcel Lachemann	1	0	0	0	54.00	0

Awards and honors

• Vida Blue, P, American League Cy Young Award^[10][11]
• Vida Blue, P, American League Most Valuable Player Award.^[12][13] Sal Bando, second in American League MVP voting^[13]
• Dick Williams, Associated Press AL Manager of the Year^[14]

All-Stars

1971 Major League Baseball All-Star Game

• Vida Blue, pitcher, starter^[15]
• Dave Duncan, reserve^[15]
• Reggie Jackson, reserve^[15]

1971 American League Championship Series

Main article: 1971 American League Championship Series

Game 1

Sunday, October 3, 1971, at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore, Maryland

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Oakland	0	2	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	3	9	0
Baltimore	0	0	0	1	0	0	4	0	X	5	7	1
WP: Dave McNally (1–0)   LP: Vida Blue (0–1)   Sv: Eddie Watt (1)

Game 2

Monday, October 4, 1971, at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore, Maryland

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Oakland	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	6	0
Baltimore	0	1	1	0	0	0	1	2	X	5	7	0
WP: Mike Cuellar (1–0)   LP: Catfish Hunter (0–1) Home runs: OAK: None BAL: Brooks Robinson (1), Boog Powell 2 (2), Elrod Hendricks (1)

Game 3

Tuesday, October 5, 1971, at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum in Oakland, California

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Baltimore	1	0	0	0	2	0	2	0	0	5	12	0
Oakland	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	1	0	3	7	0
WP: Jim Palmer (1–0)   LP: Diego Seguí (0–1) Home runs: BAL: None OAK: Reggie Jackson 2 (2), Sal Bando (1)

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Iowa Oaks	American Association	Sherm Lollar
AA	Birmingham A's	Southern League	Phil Cavarretta
A	Burlington Bees	Midwest League	Harry Bright
A-Short Season	Coos Bay-North Bend A's	Northwest League	Jim Reinebold

References

1. 1971 Oakland Athletics Picks in the MLB June Amateur Draft
2. 1971 Oakland Athletics Picks in the MLB January Amateur Draft (secondary phase)
3. Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p. 199, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, ISBN 978-0-451-22363-0
4. Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p. 152
5. Charlie Finley: The Outrageous Story of Baseball's Super Showman, p.148, G. Michael Green and Roger D. Launius. Walker Publishing Company, New York, 2010, ISBN 978-0-8027-1745-0
6. Darold Knowles page at Baseball Reference
7. Curt Blefary page at Baseball Reference
8. Champ Summers page at Baseball Reference
9. 1971 Oakland Athletics at Baseball Reference
10. American League Cy Young Award winners at Baseball Reference
11. 1971 Cy Young Award voting results at Baseball Reference
12. American League Most Valuable Player Award winners at Baseball Reference
13. 1971 Most Valuable Player award voting results at Baseball Reference
14. www.rauzulusstreet.com
15. 1971 All-Star game at Baseball Reference

External links

• 1971 Oakland Athletics team page at Baseball Reference
• 1971 Oakland Athletics team page at www.baseball-almanac.com