The 1980 Oakland A's - Rebuild #1 Continues

[motnahp]

The Orioles scored late and scored often again, whipping the A's 12-3. Eddie Murray homered twice (7,8) and drove in 5. Rick Dempsey homered (6) and drove in 3. Lee May was 2-4 with a homer (2) and 2 RBI. Steve Stone went 7 innings and improved to (6-2). Rick Langford (7-5) started for the A's. He was charged with 7 runs in 6 1/3 innings. Dave Revering homered (5) for Oakland, Mitchell Page had a RBI triple, and Rickey Henderson stole two bases (40,41).

TUE JUN 10

BAL_____12___13___1
OAK______3___12___1

[motnahp]

Matt Keough (6-2) went 8 2/3 strong innings and Dwayne Murphy belted a 3-run homer (7) as the A's took one from the Orioles 6-3. Rickey Henderson was 3-5 and hit his 4th homer. Mike Edwards also went 3-5. For the Orioles, starter Dennis Martinez lasted into the 7th inning and fell to 3-3. Rick Dempsey hit a pinch-hit 2-run homer in the 9th, his 7th homer of the season. Dempsey homered in all 3 games of the series. Oakland manager motnahp called upon starter Steve McCatty to finish the game after Dempsey's homer with 2 outs made the score 6-3.

The A's will take a day off on Thursday. The New York Yankees come to town on Friday for a doubleheader. There will be single games on Saturday and Sunday.

WED JUN 11

BAL_____3___9___0
OAK_____6__14___0

Season record 32-24, 2nd place in AL West, 2 1/2 GB 1st place Minnesota

[motnahp]

Rickey Henderson singled in Dwayne Murphy with the winning run with 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th, as the A's took the opener of a doubleheader with the Yankees, 4-3. Henderson was 4-5 on the day and also stole his 42nd base. Murphy was 2-4 with 2 runs scored. Bob Lacey (3-1) was credited with the win after recording one out in the top of the 9th, in relief of starter Mike Norris. Norris went 8 2/3 innings, allowing 3 runs and 9 hits. He also walked 7 men and was in trouble throughout.

The Yanks got homers from Reggie Jackson (17) and Eric Soderholm. Jackson was 3-4. Tommy John (4-9) went the distance and absorbed the loss.

FRI JUN 13 (1)

NYY_____3___9___1
OAK_____4___9___0

[motnahp]

The A's won again in the bottom of the 9th, as Tony Armas doubled off Ron Davis with one out, scoring Mike Heath with the winning run. The Yankees led 2-1 entering the bottom of the 8th. Oakland tied the game at 2-2 on a Wayne Gross triple and Mario Guerrero single off losing pitcher Ron Guidry (6-3). Oakland's Bob Lacey gets credit for the win in both games of the doubleheader, going 1 2/3 scoreless innings in relief of starter Brian Kingman. With his two wins, Lacey is now 4-1. Gross was 2-3. Armas was 2-5 with 2 RBI.

FRI JUN 13 (2)

NY______2___8___0
OAK_____3__10___1

[motnahp]

Steve McCatty (6-4) tossed his second shutout of the season and Tony Armas hit a 2-run homer (12) in the 1st inning for the only scoring, as the A's won their 4th in a row, 2-0 over the Yankees. Tom Underwood (7-4) pitched well, but took the loss.

SAT JUN 14

NY______0___7___2
OAK_____2___7___0

[motnahp]

Reggie Jackson singled in the decisive run in the top of the 12th, as the Yankees salvaged one game of the 4-game series, beating the A's 5-4. Ron Davis (2-0) picked up the relief win, while Dave Hamilton (1-4) took the loss. Bucky Dent was 5-6 for the Yankees with one RBI. Oakland's Dwayne Murphy went 6-for-6. The A's also ran wild on the bases. Rickey Henderson swiped 3 and now has 46 on the season. Murphy stole his 12th, and rookie Mike Davis picked up his 2nd.

The A's hit the road for two in Boston, two in Baltimore, and three in New York. Matt Keough will start the first game in Boston on his normal four days' rest. Due to Friday's doubleheader, manager motnahp will have to start either Mike Norris or Brian Kingman on 3 days' rest in the second game of the series.

SUN JUN 15

NY______5___15___0
OAK_____4___15___1 (12 innings)

Season record 35-25, 2nd place in AL West, 2 1/2 GB 1st place Minnesota

[motnahp]

Oakland opened the road trip with a close, 3-2 loss to the Red Sox. Dennis Eckersley (7-5) shut out the A's for 8 innings, before Oakland plated two in the 9th on Dave Revering's 2-run homer (6) off Tom Burgmeier (SV 11). Matt Keough allowed three 1st-inning runs, but went the distance and allowed only 4 hits. He did walk 6 and fell to 6-3. Dwayne Murphy stayed hot at the plate, going 2-4.

MON JUN 16

OAK_____2___8___0
BOS_____3___4___0

[motnahp]

Mike Torrez (6-5) fired a shutout at the A's, as Boston cruised 5-0. All Boston runs came in the 1st 2 innings off Oakland starter Mike Norris (4-6). Carl Yastrzemski swatted his 10th homer for the Sox. Wayne Gross was 3-4 at the plate for Oakland.

TUE JUN 17

OAK_____0___7___1
BOS_____5___8___0

Season record 35-27, 3rd place in AL West, 1/2 GB 2nd place Kansas City

[motnahp]

Oakland traveled to Baltimore and was crushed by the O's, 11-2. Gary Roenicke led the way, going 2-3 with a homer (6) and 5 RBI. Jim Palmer (6-5) went the distance for the win. Oakland pitchers walked nine men, six by starter and losing pitcher Brian Kingman (5-3), who walked his 6 in only 4 1/3 innings. He was charged with 8 earned runs. Tony Armas went 3-4 with a RBI for the A's.

The A's have now lost 4 straight. Steve McCatty will try to right the ship tomorrow against these same Orioles.

WED JUN 18

OAK_____2___10___0
BAL____11___14___0

[motnahp]

D-loaded 1.71 last night. Love some of the tweaks! I looked at all teams' rosters and free agents and found a total of 107 pitchers affected by the tweaking of "lesser-used" guys. I imported all of them into a "fake" association of similar size, noted their pitcher ratings (ST, VEL, CONT, END, HR), then changed these the ratings in this association to match the ratings I noted. Most all went up and a few went down. I also snatched up those free agents who wouldn't fit on a 35-man roster and placed them on their actual teams. Thank you, Shaun!!!

Now, back to business:

Steve McCatty allowed only 4 hits over 8 1/3 innings, as the A's edged the Orioles 2-1, snapping a 4-game losing streak. McCatty (7-4) entered the 9th with a two hit shutout, which was spoiled by Ken Singleton's RBI triple in a 12-pitch at-bat. Bob Lacey entered the game with Singleton at 3rd with one out, representing the tying run. Lacey walked Eddie Murray, putting runners on the corners. Lacey then induced Lee May to ground into a 6-4-3 double play to end the game and earn Lacey his 3rd save. Mike Flanagan (8-5) took the loss for Baltimore.

Dwayne Murphy was 3-4 at the plate, while Wayne Gross went 2-4 with an RBI.

The team heads north to face the Yankees in the Bronx for a 3-game series.

THUR JUN 19

OAK_____2___9___0
BAL_____1___4___0

Season record 36-28, 2nd place in AL West, 4 GB 1st place Minnesota.

[motnahp]

Oakland outlasted the New York Yankees 8-6 to take the 1st game of a 3-game series in the Bronx. Mike Heath was 3-5 and drove in two, Rickey Henderson had a 2-run double and also stole his 48th base, and Tony Armas drove in two with a pair of sacrifice flies to lead the Oakland attack. Rick Langford (8-5) survived a shaky start to get the win. He allowed 6 runs in 7 1/3 innings. Bob Lacey pitched the final 1 2/3 innings to notch his 4th save. Reggie Jackson doubled, homered (19) and drove in 2 for the Yankees. Doug Bird (1-3) took the loss in relief.

FRI JUN 20

OAK_____8___9___0
NY______6___12___0

[motnahp]

Matt Keough notched his 1st shutout of the season, allowing 8 hits, walking 4, and striking out 8 in the A's 2-0 blanking of the Yankees. Keough improved to 7-3. Rudy May also went the distance and fell to 6-8. Tony Armas was 3-3 and Mickey Klutts 3-4 for Oakland.

SAT JUN 21

OAK_____2___11___0
NY______0____8___0

[motnahp]

Dwayne Murphy (8) and Jeff Newman (2) hit 3-run homers to power the A's past the Yankees 9-5, sweeping the 3-game series. Mike Norris (5-6) went 7 innings and was credited with the win. He got scoreless relief help from Dave Hamilton and Jeff Jones. Rickey Henderson went 3-5 at the plate and added two stolen bases, bringing his season total of steals to 51. Tommy John took the loss and fell to 4-10. Eric Soderholm (9) had a 3-run homer for the Yanks.

After a 4-3 road trip, the A's return home to face Milwaukee for 3, followed by the White Sox for 3.

SUN JUN 22

OAK_____9___15___3
NY______5____7___2

Season record 39-28, 2nd place in AL West, 1 GB 1st place Minnesota

[motnahp]

The A's opened the homestand with a 3-2 win over the Brewers. Brian Kingman (6-3) went 8 1/3 innings, leaving with runners on 2nd and 3rd with one out. Bob Lacey (SV 5) allowed a run-scoring single to Sal Bando before inducing Robin Yount to ground into a double play and end the game. For the A's, Mike Davis, Wayne Gross, Jim Essian, and Rob Picciolo all had two hits. Jim Gantner was 4-4 for Milwaukee. Paul Mitchell (0-3) started and lost for the Brewers.

With this victory and a Minnesota loss, the A's (40-28) pull into a tie for 1st place with Minnesota (39-27).


MON JUN 23

MIL_____2___9___0
OAK____3___12___0

[motnahp]

Steve McCatty went the distance on a 5-hitter as the A's won their 6th straight game, 5-1 over the Brewers. McCatty struck out 3 and walked 3. He did not allow a hit until the 6th inning. Wayne Gross hit a solo homer (6) and Tony Armas drove in 2 with a single. Reggie Cleveland (3-3) took the loss.

TUE JUN 24

MIL_____1___5___3
OAK____5___8___1

[motnahp]

Sixto Lezcano's 2-out single in the top of the 9th scored Paul Molitor, as the Brewers overcame a 4-0 deficit to beat the A's, 5-4. Oakland led 4-0 after 7 innings, behind Rick Langford, but Milwaukee scored 3 times in the 8th and twice more in the 9th to pull it out. Dave Beard (1-1) allowed 2 runs in 2/3 of an inning to get the loss. Brewer starter Moose Haas (8-5) picked up the win, while Bob McClure survived a scare in the 9th to earn his 21st save.

Wayne Gross homered (7) for Oakland, Dwayne Murphy went 3-4 with an RBI, and Rickey Henderson stole two bases (52,53). For Milwaukee, Don Money contributed a 2-run pinch double.

The A's take Thursday off, before welcoming the Chicago White Sox for three games over the weekend.

MIL_____5___11___0
OAK____4___11___1

Season record 41-29, 2nd place in AL West, 1/2 GB 1st place Minnesota

[motnahp]

Lamar Johnson doubled twice, homered (5) and drove in a pair of runs to lead the White Sox past the A's, 6-2. Ross Baumgarten went six innings and leveled his record at 5-5. Ken Kravec pitched the final 3 innings and picked up his 1st save. Kravec induced double play grounders in each of his 3 innings to get out of trouble. Mitchell Page (10) homered for the A's. Matt Keough (7-4) allowed 5 runs in 5 2/3 innings and took the loss.

FRI JUN 27

CHI_____6___12___0
OAK_____2___12___1

[motnahp]

Mike Norris (6-6) tossed a 4-hit shutout as the A's blanked the White Sox 6-0. The young righthander walked 2 and struck out 9. Tony Armas was 2-4, including his 13th homer, and drove in 2 runs. Rob Picciolo was 3-4 with a RBI and Jeff Newman was 2-4. Rich Wortham (3-1) took the loss for Chicago.

SAT JUN 28

CHI_____0___4___0
OAK_____6__10___1

[motnahp]

Britt Burns (8-7) and Ed Farmer (SV 14) combined on a 6-hitter as the White Sox nipped the A's 1-0. The game's only run came on an infield single by Lamar Johnson in the top of the 5th. The unlucky losing pitcher was Brian Kingman, who falls to 6-4.

SUN JUN 29

CHI_____1___10___0
OAK_____0___6___0

Season record 42-31, 3rd place in AL West, 1/2 game behind 2nd place Minnesota and 1 GB 1st place Kansas City.

The A's now take to the road, for 4 games in Milwaukee and 4 in Chicago before the All-Star Break.

[motnahp]

Mitchell Page's double in the 10th inning scored Dwayne Murphy and the A's came off the mat to beat the Brewers in Milwaukee, 2-1. Milwaukee led 1-0 with 2 outs in the top of the 9th on the strength of Gorman Thomas' 17th homer. With 2 outs, pinch hitter Mike Heath singled in pinch runner Mike Davis with the tying run. Bob Lacey (2-1) pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings for the win, while John Flinn (1-4) took the loss. Starters Steve McCatty and Moose Haas pitched brilliantly, but neither got a decision.

MON JUN 30

OAK_____2___9___1
MIL______1___7___0

Standings at close of play on June 30th: