1979 Oakland Athletics season

The 1979 Oakland Athletics season was the 79th season for the Oakland Athletics franchise, all as members of the American League, and their 12th season in Oakland. The Athletics finished seventh in the American League West Division with a record of 54 wins and 108 losses. Only 306,763 paying customers (an average of 3,984 for 77 home dates; there were four doubleheaders) showed up to watch the A's in 1979, the team's worst attendance since leaving Philadelphia.

1979 Oakland Athletics
League	American League
Division	West
Ballpark	Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum
City	Oakland, California
Record	54–108 (.333)
Divisional place	7th
Owners	Charles O. Finley
Managers	Jim Marshall
Television	KPIX-TV (Monte Moore, Bob Waller)
Radio	KKIS (Hal Ramey, Red Rush)
← 1978 Seasons 1980 →

Team owner Charlie Finley nearly sold the team to buyers who would have moved them to New Orleans for 1979. Any deal to relocate fell through when the city of Oakland refused to release the A's from their lease. The city was in the midst of its battle with the Oakland Raiders over their move to Los Angeles and didn't want to lose both teams.

The Athletics' 54–108 finish was their worst since moving to Oakland in 1968 until it was surpassed in 2023, in which they finished 50–112 (.309). On a brighter note, the season saw the debut of Rickey Henderson. Henderson, a future Hall-of-Famer, would play for the team in four separate stints between 1979 and 1998.

Offseason

• October 3, 1978: Rico Carty was purchased from the Athletics by the Toronto Blue Jays.^[1]
• January 9, 1979: Lemmie Miller was drafted by the Athletics in the 1st round (6th pick) of the 1979 Major League Baseball Draft, but did not sign.^[2]
• February 26, 1979: Darryl Cias was purchased by the Athletics from the Salem Senators.^[3]
• February 28, 1979: Jim Todd was signed as a free agent by the Athletics.^[4]

Regular season

On April 17, 1979, the A's had their smallest home crowd (and one of the smallest in a major league baseball game in the 20th century) when only 653 people came to the nearly 50,000 seat Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum^[5] to see them beat the Seattle Mariners, 6 to 5.

On June 24, Rickey Henderson made his major league debut against the Texas Rangers. In four at bats, Henderson had two hits and a stolen base.^[6]

Season standings

• v
• t
• e

AL West

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
California Angels	88	74	.543	—	49‍–‍32	39‍–‍42
Kansas City Royals	85	77	.525	3	46‍–‍35	39‍–‍42
Texas Rangers	83	79	.512	5	44‍–‍37	39‍–‍42
Minnesota Twins	82	80	.506	6	39‍–‍42	43‍–‍38
Chicago White Sox	73	87	.456	14	33‍–‍46	40‍–‍41
Seattle Mariners	67	95	.414	21	36‍–‍45	31‍–‍50
Oakland Athletics	54	108	.333	34	31‍–‍50	23‍–‍58

Record vs. opponents

1979 American League record v t e Sources:
Team	BAL	BOS	CAL	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	MIL	MIN	NYY	OAK	SEA	TEX	TOR
Baltimore	—	8–5	9–3	8–3	8–5	7–6	6–6	8–5	8–4	5–6	8–4	10–2	6–6	11–2
Boston	5–8	—	5–7	5–6	6–7	8–5	8–4	8–4	9–3	5–8	9–3	8–4	6–6	9–4
California	3–9	7–5	—	9–4	6–6	4–8	7–6	7–5	9–4	7–5	10–3	7–6	5–8	7–5
Chicago	3–8	6–5	4–9	—	6–6	3–9	5–8	5–7	5–8	4–8	9–4	5–8	11–2	7–5
Cleveland	5–8	7–6	6–6	6–6	—	6–6	6–6	4–9	8–4	5–8	8–4	7–5	5–7	8–5
Detroit	6–7	5–8	8–4	9–3	6–6	—	5–7	6–7	4–8	7–6	7–5	7–5	6–6	9–4
Kansas City	6–6	4–8	6–7	8–5	6–6	7–5	—	5–7	7–6	5–7	9–4	7–6	6–7	9–3
Milwaukee	5–8	4–8	5–7	7–5	9–4	7–6	7–5	—	8–4	9–4	6–6	9–3	9–3	10–3
Minnesota	4–8	3–9	4–9	8–5	4–8	8–4	6–7	4–8	—	7–5	9–4	10–3	4–9	11–1
New York	6–5	8–5	5–7	8–4	8–5	6–7	7–5	4–9	5–7	—	9–3	6–6	8–4	9–4
Oakland	4–8	3–9	3–10	4–9	4–8	5–7	4–9	6–6	4–9	3–9	—	8–5	2–11	4–8
Seattle	2–10	4–8	6–7	8–5	5–7	5–7	6–7	3–9	3–10	6–6	5–8	—	6–7	8–4
Texas	6–6	6–6	8–5	2–11	7–5	6–6	7–6	3–9	9–4	4–8	11–2	7–6	—	7–5
Toronto	2–11	4–9	5–7	5–7	5–8	4–9	3–9	3–10	1–11	4–9	8–4	4–8	5–7	—

Notable transactions

• June 5, 1979: Ronn Reynolds was drafted by the Athletics in the 5th round of the 1979 Major League Baseball Draft, but did not sign.^[7]
• June 15, 1979: Mark Souza was signed as a free agent by the Athletics.^[8]

Roster

1979 Oakland Athletics
Roster
Pitchers 33 Dave Hamilton 60 Dave Heaverlo 38 John Henry Johnson 27 Matt Keough 50 Brian Kingman 34 Bob Lacey 22 Rick Langford 54 Steve McCatty 32 Craig Minetto 15 Mike Morgan 17 Mike Norris 28 Jim Todd 30 Alan Wirth		Catchers 18 Jim Essian  5 Jeff Newman Infielders 16 Dave Chalk  7 Mike Edwards 10 Wayne Gross  3 Mario Guerrero 12 Mickey Klutts  8 Rob Picciolo 31 Milt Ramírez 24 Dave Revering		Outfielders 11 Tony Armas 23 Derek Bryant 14 Glenn Burke 19 Miguel Diloné 48 Mike Heath 35 Rickey Henderson 21 Dwayne Murphy 20 Larry Murray  6 Mitchell Page 9,43 Joe Wallis		Manager 25 Jim Marshall Coaches 44 George Mitterwald 42 Jim Saul 41 Lee Stange 43 Lee Walls

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	Jeff Newman	143	516	119	.231	22	71
1B	Dave Revering	125	472	136	.288	19	77
2B	Mike Edwards	122	400	93	.233	1	23
SS	Rob Picciolo	115	348	88	.253	2	27
3B	Wayne Gross	138	442	99	.224	14	50
LF	Rickey Henderson	89	351	96	.274	1	26
CF	Dwayne Murphy	121	388	99	.255	11	40
RF	Tony Armas	80	278	69	.248	11	34
DH	Mitchell Page	133	478	118	.247	9	42

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
Jim Essian	98	313	76	.243	8	40
Mike Heath	74	258	66	.256	3	27
Larry Murray	105	226	42	.186	2	20
Dave Chalk	66	212	47	.222	2	13
Mario Guerrero	46	166	38	.229	0	18
Derek Bryant	39	106	19	.179	0	13
Miguel Diloné	30	91	17	.187	1	6
Glenn Burke	23	89	19	.213	0	4
Joe Wallis	23	78	11	.141	1	3
Mickey Klutts	24	73	14	.192	1	4
Milt Ramírez	28	62	10	.161	0	3

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
Rick Langford	34	218.2	12	16	4.28	101
Steve McCatty	31	185.2	11	12	4.22	87
Matt Keough	30	176.2	2	17	5.04	95
Brian Kingman	18	112.2	8	7	4.31	58
John Henry Johnson	14	84.2	2	8	4.36	50
Mike Morgan	13	77.1	2	10	5.94	17

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
Mike Norris	29	146.1	5	8	4.80	96
Craig Minetto	36	118.1	1	5	5.55	64
Dave Hamilton	40	82.2	3	4	3.70	52
Alan Wirth	5	12.0	1	0	6.00	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
Dave Heaverlo	62	4	11	9	4.20	40
Jim Todd	51	2	5	2	6.56	26
Bob Lacey	42	1	5	4	5.85	33

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Ogden A's	Pacific Coast League	José Pagán
AA	Waterbury A's	Eastern League	Ed Nottle
A	Modesto A's	California League	Gaylen Pitts
A-Short Season	Medford A's	Northwest League	Rich Morales

References

1. Rico Carty page at Baseball Reference
2. Lemmie Miller page at Baseball Reference
3. Darryl Cias page at Baseball Reference
4. Jim Todd page at Baseball Reference
5. "Only 653 See A's Win, 6-5", AP report in Fresno (CA) Bee, April 18, 1979, p. C-4
6. Rickey Henderson page at Baseball Reference
7. Ronn Reynolds page at Baseball-Reference
8. Mark Souza page at Baseball-Reference

External links

• 1979 Oakland Athletics team page at Baseball Reference
• 1979 Oakland Athletics team page at www.baseball-almanac.com