The 1979 Oakland A's - (54-108)

[motnahp]

I almost called this association the "Triple A's". In reality, the 1978 A's were known as the Triple A's. I chose 1979 because this once-proud franchise hit rock bottom. All of the stars from the early & mid 70's were gone, signed by other teams with fatter wallets. Only lefthanded reliever Dave Hamilton experienced the joy of the 1972 - 1974 title years. Hamilton was traded away during the 1975 season, but has returned to a team of strangers. The only familiar face to Hamilton is pitcher Mike Norris, a rookie during the '75 season.

It will take much patience to manage this team of rookies, castoffs and underachievers. There is hope, however. Young starters Rick Langford, Norris, Steve McCatty, and Brian Kingman are on board. The bullpen has Hamilton, Dave Heaverlo, and Bob Lacey. 1979 was the rookie year of Rickey Henderson, a 20-year-old outfielder with good speed on the bases. There is some power in the lineup, as well. We have Mitchell Page, Tony Armas, and Dave Revering, along with a young Wayne Gross. Jeff Newman behind the plate has good power and a decent arm.

If the pitching can hold teams to under 5 runs a game, we might win a few. The PSPN pre-season rankings list the A's at #23 out of #26 teams.

It will be odd playing against some of those departed stars. Rudi and Campy are in California, Reggie and Catfish are with the Yankees, Bando and Fosse are in Milwaukee, and Claudell Washington is with the White Sox. Over the in NL, San Diego has Fingers and Tenace, Holtzman's with the Cubs, Blue and North are across the bay in San Francisco, and Phil Garner is a part of the Family in Pittsburgh.

Here we go.....................

[motnahp]

After looking at the spring training results and last year's stats, here is my opening day roster for the 1979 A's:

Rotation:
Rick Langford
Mike Norris
Steve McCatty
Matt Keough
John Henry Johnson

Bullpen:
Craig Minetto
Dave Hamilton
Dave Heaverlo
Jim Todd
Bob Lacey
Brian Kingman

Catchers:
Jeff Newman
Jim Essian

Infielders:
Dave Revering
Mike Edwards
Wayne Gross
Rob Picciolo
Mickey Klutts
Mario Guerrero

Outfielders:
Derek Bryant
Rickey Henderson
Miguel Dilone
Mitchell Page
Tony Armas
Dwayne Murphy

Down on the Farm:

Pitchers: Mike Morgan, Alan Wirth

Position Players: OF Larry Murray, OF Joe Wallis, OF Glenn Burke, IF Milt Ramirez

Fictional Scrubs: 4

[motnahp]

The A's opened up at home against Minnesota for a 3-game series.

Rick Langford went 8 strong innings and the A's got solo homers from Jeff Newman and Tony Armas in a 6-3 win. Newman and Dave Revering had three hits apiece. Everyone in the A's order except Wayne Gross had at least one hit, as Oakland pounded Jerry Koosman.

FRI APR 6

MIN_____3___9___0
OAK_____6__16___2

[motnahp]

The Oakland A's took 3 hours of batting practice today, collecting 20 hits and 20 runs against the Twins, winning 20-3. Tony Armas was 3-6, with 2 homers and 6 RBI. Mitchell Page went 4-5 with a homer and 5 RBI. Dave Revering was 2-5 with 3 RBI. Rob Picciolo and Wayne Gross both added 2-run homers. Minnesota starter Dave Goltz allowed 9 runs (8 earned) in 4 innings. Relievers Pete Redfern and Gary Serum combined to allow 10 earned runs in one inning of "work". Mike Norris allowed only 2 runs in 7 innings for the A's.

The linescore:

SAT APR 7

_______1___2___3___4___5___6___7___8___9___R___H___E
MIN____1___0___1___0___0___0___0___1___0___3__10___1
OAK____0___2___2___5___6___4___1___0___X__20__20___1

[motnahp]

The A's came crashing back down to earth, as they were hancuffed by Twins' starter Geoff Zahn. Zahn spun a 2-hit shutout and Minnesota cruised 8-0. The Twins scored 5 times in the 3rd inning off Matt Keough, capped by a 3-run homer from Ron Jackson. Keough settled down, but the A's couldn't solve Zahn, who struck out 5 and walked 1. Minnesota added 3 more runs in the 9th off Bob Lacey.

SUN APR 8

MIN_____8___12___0
OAK____0____2___0

[motnahp]

The A's opened a 3-game series in Seattle by dropping a tough, 7-6 decision to the Mariners. Julio Cruz' RBI groundout in the bottom of the 8th broke a 6-6 time and made a winner of Seattle starter Rick Honeycutt.

Oakland led 6-2 after 5 1/2 innings, but the bullpen collapsed. Starting pitcher Steve McCatty left in the 6th inning after the first two Seattle batters singled. Bill Stein greeted reliever Craig Minetto with a 3-run homer to cut the gap to 6-5. Dan Meyer would homer in the 7th off Minetto to tie the score. Jim Todd pitched the 8th and took the loss.

For the A's, Jeff Newman started at 1st base and contributed a 3-run homer. Backup catcher Jim Essian also homered.

MON APR 9

OAK_____6___8___1
SEA_____7__13___0

[motnahp]

Combine mediocre pitching with the cozy confines of the Kingdome and you get a football score. The Oakland A's dropped a 19-10 decision to the Mariners today. Bruce Bochte led the Seattle hit parade, going 4-4 with 2 HR and 4 RBI. Leon Roberts was 3-5 with 3 RBI. Bob Stinson went 2-4 with 3 RBI. Julio Cruz was 1-5, the one being a grand slam homer off A's reliever Brian Kingman.

Oakland threw four pitchers to the wolves: starter John Henry Johnson went 3-plus innings and allowed 7 earned runs. Brian Kingman brought a full gas can to the mound, going only 2/3 of an inning and allowing 6 earned runs. Dave Hamilton fared a little better, allowing 3 earned runs in 2 1/3 innings. Dave Heaverlo finished up by allowing 3 earned runs in 2 innings.

Seattle did a majority of their damage in the 4th inning, as they sent 18 batters to the plate, collected 9 hits, 6 walks, and scored 12 runs. Oakland trailed 19-4 and scored 6 times in the 9th inning to make the score sound a little more respectable.

TUE APR 10

OAK_____10___11___0
SEA_____19___19___1

[motnahp]

The Seattle Mariners took their 3rd straight from the A's, 6-2. Floyd Bannister and Odell Jones combined for the win. Oakland starter Rick Langford went the distance and gave the bullpen a much-needed rest. Langford allowed 4 earned runs in his 8 innings. Among Oakland's 11 hits was Tony Armas' solo homer, his league-leading 5th home run of the young season.

The A's face the Mariners again on Thursday.

WED APR 11

OAK_____2___11___1
SEA_____6___11___0

[motnahp]

The A's flew out of Seattle picking straw out of their behinds after being swept by the Mariners. Former Oakland hurler Glenn Abbott went 6 1/3 innings and picked up the win, as the Mariners slipped past the A's, 5-3. Seattle scored all of their runs in the first two innings, including a 3-run homer by Willie Horton. Dwayne Murphy popped a 2-run homer for the A's. Mike Norris went all 8 innings, giving the bullpen another day of rest. The A's return home for a 3-game weekend series with the Angels, followed by three games with the Mariners.

My agent negotiated two endorsement deals over the last couple of days. Thank you to the fine people at Tums and Excedrin. There was also a brief negotiation with Ben-Gay. I informed them that while I do use the product myself, I would feel awkward appearing in ads for them. With our club's proximity to San Francisco, I didn't want to send the wrong message to the hard-working folks of Oakland. The few fans who actually attend our games don't need any more reasons to be upset at the manager, and certainly don't need any extra motivation to create nasty signs or banners.

THUR APR 12

OAK_____3___7___0
SEA_____5___9___1

Season record: 2-5

[motnahp]

The Oakland bullpen imploded again, as the Angels topped the A's, 7-4. Starter Matt Keough pitched into the 8th, trailing 2-1. After California got runners on the corners with no outs, manager motnahp swallowed a couple of Tums and went to the mound. Don Baylor's sacrifice fly scored a run to make it 3-1. Later in the inning, Bob Lacey surrendered a run-scoring double to Rod Carew to make the score 4-1. Lacey then allowed a Joe Rudi homer in the 9th, before giving way to Dave Heaverlo. Willie Aikens belted a two-run shot off Heaverlo to put the game out of reach. Tony Armas hit a 2-run homer for the A's in the 9th, his 6th of the season. First baseman Dave Revering was 3-4, raising his average to .481.

Oh, where can I find me a good reliever? Thoughts of putting one of my starters in the pen certainly crosses my mind, but which one? Langford and Norris have both had two good outings. I really need them in the rotation. We'll see how McCatty and Johnson fare in the next two games. I'm leaning toward a 4-man rotation now. There's nothing helpful down on the farm, either.

FRI APR 13

CAL_____7___17___2
OAK_____4___13___0

[motnahp]

With a strong wind blowing out to left field, manager motnahp rested slugger Tony Armas. Not to worry, though, as the game of baseball is so unpredictable. Oakland used a 23-hit attack and bludgeoned the Angels, 14-2, snapping their 6-game losing streak. Every Oakland starter collected at least two hits. Included among the hits were home runs by Dave Revering (1), Jeff Newman (4), Wayne Gross (2), and Rob Picciolo (2). Pitcher Steve McCatty was dominant, going all the way, allowing only 5 hits, while striking out 5 and walking 3. The Tums stayed in the pants pocket today.

SAT APR 14

CAL_____2___5___0
OAK____14__23___1

[motnahp]

With a strong 20 MPH wind blowing out to left field, young A's lefty John Henry Johnson was in trouble. The Angels touched up John Henry for 6 runs in 5 innings on their way to an 8-4 defeat of the A's. Joe Rudi and Bobby Grich went deep for California in support of Frank Tanana, who went the distance for the win. Tony Armas hit his major league leading 7th homer for the A's.

SUN APR 15

CAL_____8___11___0
OAK_____4____8___0

Season record: 3-7

[motnahp]

The A's opened a three-game series at home against Seattle. Joe Simpson singled in Ruppert Jones with the go-ahead run in the top of the 11th, as the Mariners defeated the A's 6-5 in 11 innings. Oakland scored 5 runs in the 2nd inning to take a 5-1 lead, but Rick Langford could not hold the lead. Seattle tied the score at 5-5 with a 4 run 4th inning. Byron McLaughlin earned the relief win. Dave Hamilton pitched the final 4 innings and absorbed the loss.

It seems as if we are seeing lefty pitchers, and good ones, quite often. Three Oakland regulars are lefty swingers (Page, Revering, and Gross). We faced Frank Tanana and Floyd Bannister back-to-back and lost both games.

With our first off-day coming Thursday, fifth starter John Henry Johnson will be working out of the bullpen. This may be his final destination, as manager motnahp contemplates going to a 4-man rotation.

MON APR 16

SEA_____6___16___0
OAK_____5___11___0

[motnahp]

Mitchell Page, moved down to the #7 spot in the order, homered twice to lead the A's over the Mariners, 6-4. Wayne Gross also homered for Oakland. Mike Norris pitched into the 8th inning. After giving up a leadoff single in the 8th, manager motnahp broke out the Tums and summoned Dave Heaverlo, who promptly turned a 6-2 lead into a 6-4 lead by allowing a Willie Horton homer. Heaverlo then retired the side in the 8th. Motnahp then called on Bob Lacey and his 27.00 ERA in thew 9th. Lacey allowed a leadoff walk. Motnahp reached for another Tums. Lacey then retired the next 3 batters in order to earn a save.

TUE APR 17

SEA_____4___11___0
OAK_____6___11___0

[motnahp]

The A's took 2 out of 3 from the Mariners with a 4-3 win in the final game of the series. Matt Keough allowed 13 hits in 6 innings, but got the win. Manager motnahp fiddled with his roll of Tums over the last 3 innings, as Jim Todd notched a scoreless 7th and 8th, and Craig Minetto held Seattle off the board in the 9th to earn the save. Dave Revering went 4-5 with 3 RBI. Mike Edwards was 2-5 and scored 3 runs.

WED APR 18

SEA_____3___14___0
OAK_____4___12___1

Season record: 5-8

[motnahp]

Wow! Is it really still April. I guess I asked for this punishment!

The California Angels scored 10 runs in the first 2 innings, then withstood an Oakland rally, beating the A's in Anaheim, 12-7. Oakland starter Steve McCatty followed up his complete game victory against the Angels with a less than stellar performance. He allowed 8 earned runs in only 1 1/3 innings. Brian Kingman then allowed 4 earned runs in 4 2/3 innings of long relief. Heaverlo and Minetto pitched scoreless 7th and 8th innings, respectively.

On the hitting side, Dave Revering was 2-5 with 3 RBI and Mitchell Page was 3-5. The A's are batting .323 as a team, second to California's .327. California's ledger is misleading, though, as they have accumulated much of their success against Oakland's putrid pitching. The Angels have 50 hits in 142 AB against the A's, for a .352 average. I'm looking in the PS program for a report which shows batting average against. I didn't find one. Maybe it's good that I did not

Through 14 games, the staff ERA is 6.59, dead last in MLB (Atlanta is 6.31 in the NL). Vida Blue, where are you?

Blue: I was traded to San Francisco for a player to be named (Mario Guerrero), Gary Alexander (since traded to CLEV for AAA OF Joe Wallis), Gary Thomasson ((since traded to NYY for Mickey Klutts and Dell Alston (released)), Dave Heaverlo (AKA gas can), Phil Huffman (traded with Willie Horton to TOR for Rico Carty, who was then sold back to TOR), John Henry Johnson, Alan Wirth (AAA), and $300,000. All those players and cash money for me!

Let's see, Oakland got an over-the-hill, light-hitting SS, an AAA outfielder, another shortstop (only this one can't hit or field), a mediocre reliever, a promising lefty (who Oakland will trade soon in 1979), an AAA pitcher with control problems, and $300,000. Charlie O, you made a great deal.....NOT. San Francisco dumped a bunch of below average players on the A's, then threw in a little money. Where was Bowie Kuhn's sorry azz when this deal was done? He felt obligated to step in when Finley tried to sell off players before, using the (cue the haughty, country club voice) "best interests of baseball" [:-]. This was nothing more than a thinly-veiled sale of Blue to the Giants. Thomasson was decent, and Johnson had potential, but the rest of those guys were basically crap under a cap.

FRI APR 20

OAK_____7___14___2
CAL_____12__17___0

Following today's game, the Angels acquired veteran kicker Jim Turner from the Denver Broncos. Many of the 14, 206 fans in attendance booed mercilessly after both of California's missed extra points.

From the local news: The Orange County Sheriff's Department is investigating reports of an unidentified man selling tickets to a ficticious event. Several citizens have filed complaints, alleging they were duped by a man selling tickets to a hay-eating contest. The contest was to take place following this Sunday's Angels game against the Oakland A's. According to the victims, Angel owner Gene Autry's horse, Champion, was to be pitted against Oakland owner Charles O. Finley's mule, Charlie O. I only have one question here: Do mules really eat hay? Police are seeking a white male in his sixties. He was last seen dressed in a white sportscoat and white slacks. He is described as balding, with grayish hair. Anyone with further information on this subject can call the Orange County Sheriff's Department at (800) NHU- KKUF.

Authorities have released a composite sketch of the subject:

[motnahp]

The A's were beaten by another tough lefty, as Frank Tanana turned the trick again. The Angels took this one, 4-2. Oakland starter Rick Langford allowed all 4 runs on 12 hits during 7 innings.

SAT APR 21

OAK_____2___8___0
CAL_____4__12___0

[motnahp]

Broomed again. California swept the A's, 3-2. The Angels broke open a scoreless game with 3 runs in the last of the 6th on Carney Lansford's bases-loaded double and a Joe Rudi single. The A's rallied in the 9th, scoring twice, but stranding the tying run on third. With two out and pinch runner Rickey Henderson (SP = 78) on second, Rob Picciolo grounded a ball into right field. Henderson failed to score. He was either held up by the 3rd base coach, tripped and fell, or was somehow otherwise occupied. Angel closer Mark Clear then struck out Miguel Dilone and the game was over.

After on off-day on Monday, the A's return home to welcome Catfish and Reggie for a 3-game series. They will be followed by Baltimore and Boston. Manager motnahp has contacted his agent in regards to a re-negotiation of his Tums and Excedrin contracts. The free "samples" are gone and the stock needs to be replenished before this homestand!

SUN APR 22

OAK_____2___6___0
CAL_____3___8___2

Season record: 5-11

John Henry Johnson, now working out of the bullpen, made his first relief appearance of the season. He pitched to one batter and struck him out on 3 pitches. Why is this notable?

Following the game, Johnson's name on the Roster screen had disappeared. His text actually had turned white and he was barely visible, unless his box was highlighted. This is a fix for Shaun, but this little buggie brought something cute along with it. When viewing Johnson's player card, he is shown to be at 111%. I'm left to guess at what this means, since there is no adjective preceding the 111%. If 100% is "Feeling Great", what is 111%? "Absolutely Fantastic"? "At His Absolute Best"? "Above and Beyond"? "Better Than Ever"? Hmmmm......maybe steroids have been introduced into the program. Shaun, are you doing something we need to know about?[:-]

[motnahp]

Luis Tiant went the distance as the Yankees downed the A's 5-1. Oakland starter Matt Keough retired the first 12 Yankee batters, before surrendering two runs in both the 5th and 6th innings. Tony Armas provided the only offense for Oakland with his 8th home run.

John Henry "111%" Johnson pitched one scoreless inning of relief, allowing one hit and one walk. He is now showing "Good" and 84%. Looks like the buggie has disappeared.

TUE APR 24

NYY_____5___9___0
OAK____1___10___0

[motnahp]

The Oakland A's snapped a 2-2 tie with 4 runs in the 8th, then hung on for dear life as the Yankees rallied in the top of the 9th, but fell short, 6-5. Brian Kingman was credited with the win, while Don Hood took the loss.

WED APR 25

NYY_____5___15___0
OAK_____6___9___0