1975 Oakland A's: What Should Have Been

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Standings at the end of June:

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Ken Holtzman got the A's off to a great start in July, pitching his 4th shutout of the year, 2-0 over the White Sox. Holtzman allowed 5 hits, struck out 5 and walked 3, as he improved to 10-5 on the season. Phil Garner and Joe Rudi each went 2-4 off losing pitcher Wilbur Wood.

TUE JUL 1
OAK_____2___7___0
CHI_____0___5___0

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Lamar Johnson's infield single in the bottom of the 9th scored Deron Johnson with the winning run as the White Sox edged the A's 2-1. Rich Gossage picked up the win in relief. Catfish Hunter took the loss and falls to 9-6.

WED JUL 2

OAK_____1___9___1
CHI_____2___7___0

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The White Sox pounded Vida Blue for 7 runs in only 2 1/3 innings as Chicago earned a split in the series, 8-6.

THUR JUL 3

OAK_____6___11___0
CHI_____8___11___0

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The A's returned home and opened a 3-game series with the Angels, winning 6-5. Joe Rudi's grand slam in the bottom of the 7th was the key blow. Rudi finished with 5 RBI for the game. Reggie Jackson was 3-4, with a double and triple. Jim Perry went 7 2/3 innings and improved to 4-5. Rollie Fingers pitched the final 1 1/3 innings and earned his 10th save.

FRI JUL 4

CAL_____5___10___0
OAK_____6___10___2

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Kenny Holtzman tossed his 2nd straight shutout and improved to 11-5 as the A's blanked the Angels 9-0. Holtzman allowed 7 hits, waslked 2 and struck out 6. Reggie Jackson was 3-5 with 3 RBI. Joe Rudi was 2-5 with 3 RBI. Gene Tenace and Billy Williams hit back-to-back solo homers in the 8th.

SAT JUL 5

CAL_____0___7___2
OAK_____9__14___0

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Catfish Hunter and Rollie Fingers combined to shut down the Angels as the A's completed the sweep, 3-2. Ted Martinez had an RBI triple and Joe Rudi smacked a solo homer to help the cause. The A's now entertain Cleveland for a 3-game series.

SUN JUL 6

CAL_____2___6___0
OAK_____3___7___1

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Vida Blue went 7 strong innings and Claudell Washington drove in 3 as the A's defeated the Indians 5-1. Washington, Billy Williams, Sal Bando, and Bert Campaneris had 2 hits apiece for the A's.

MON JUL 7

CLE_____1___4___0
OAK_____5__10___1

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The All-Star teams were announced today. Claudell Washington was elected as one of the AL's starting outfielders. Claudell leads all of baseball with a .345 AVG, 65 runs scored, and 114 hits. He leads the AL with 25 doubles and 9 triples. He's also 3rd in stolen bases with 20.

Designated hitter Billy Williams was elected as a reserve. Williams is batting .281, with 13 HRs and 46 RBI.

Surprisingly, no Oakland pitchers were named to the team. Hunter, Holtzman, and Blue have all cracked double digits in wins with sub-3.00 ERAs, but were not selected.

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Billy Williams belted a pair of 2-run homers and the A's got 7 strong innings from Jim Perry to defeat the Indians 8-4. With the score tied at 4-4 in the bottom of the 8th, Williams connected for his 2nd 2-run homer of the game. The A's also scored on a two-run shot by Campy Campaneris, his 1st homer of the year, and RBI doubles from Reggie Jackson and Joe Rudi.

TUE JUL 8

CLE_____4___10___1
OAK_____8___10___0

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Billy North singled in pinch runner Matt Alexander in the bottom of the 8th with the go-ahead run as the A's swept Cleveland, 5-4. North was 3-5 with 3 RBI on the day. Reggie Jackson, Gene Tenace, Angel Mangual and Bert Campaneris all had two hits apiece. Rollie Fingers picked up the win in relief, after allowing the tying run to score in the top of the 8th in relief of Ken Holtzman. Oakland rested Claudell Washington and Sal Bando. The A's are off tomorrow, then host the Orioles for a 2-game series before the All-Star Break.

WED JUL 9

CLE_____4___10___0
OAK_____5___12___1

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Mike Torrez went the distance for the Orioles as Baltimore snapped the A's 6-game winning streak, 5-2. The Orioles scored 4 of their runs with homers off Catfish Hunter. Jim Northrup had a 2-run shot in the 3rd inning. Ken Singleton followed with a solo homer. Doug Decinces added a solo blast in the 8th.

FRI JUL 11

BAL_____5___11___0
OAK____2___12___0

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The A's lost a tough one to the Orioles, 15-10 in 10 innings. Oakland blew an 8-2 lead and fell behind 10-8. The A's scored twice in the bottom of the 9th to tie the game at 10-10, but Baltimore pushed across a 5-spot in the top of the 10th, capped by Al Bumbry's 3-run triple. For the A's, Claudell Washington was 5-6, Reggie Jackson went 3-5 with a homer, and Ray Fosse was 3-5 with his first homer and 4 RBI.

SAT JUL 12

BAL_____15___21___0
OAK_____10___18___1

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Back in action after a break....

The A's topped Baltimore 7-2 in the final game before the All-Star break. Ken Holtzman went 6 innings to improve to 12-5. Bert Campaneris drove in 3 runs with a bases-loaded double in the 1st as the A's plated 6 unearned runs off Jim Palmer. Reggie Jackson, Sal Bando, and Phil Garner all went 2-3.

SUN JUL 13

BAL_____2___9___1
OAK____7___8___1

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Standings at the All-Star Break:

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In the first of a two-game series at Cleveland, the A's used the long ball from some of their smaller players and pounded the Indians 8-3. Bill North, who entered the game with no homers on the season, went deep twice. Phil Garner also hit his first homer of the season, and Claudell Washington hit his sixth. Catfish Hunter went the distance on the mound and improved to 11-7. Before the game, the A's activated pitcher Dick Bosman from the disabled list and optioned rookie pitcher Mike Norris to AAA.

THUR JUL 17

OAK_____8___10___1
CLE_____3____7___2

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Cleveland used homers from George Hendrick and John Ellis and earned a split with the A's 6-3. Vida Blue allowed 5 earned runs in 6 innings and fell to 11-6 on the season. The A's now begin a stretch of 12 games in 9 days, starting with a Saturday doubleheader in Baltimore.

FRI JUL 18

OAK___3___10___1
CLE___6____8___0

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San Bando's sacrifice fly scored Reggie Jackson with the eventual game-winner, as the A's took the opening game of a doubleheader, 6-5 in 11 innings. Phil Garner was 2-6 with 3 RBI. Claudell Washington and Gene Tenace were both 3-6. Rollie Fingers (5-1) picked up the win with two scoreless innings in relief.

SAT JUL 19 (1)

OAK_____6___17___1
BAL_____5___12___1

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The A's completed the doubleheader sweep, 8-3 over the Orioles. Stan Bahnsen, acquired from the White Sox in June, made his Oakland debut. He went 5 1/3 innings, allowing 8 hits and 3 runs. He walked 5 and struck out no one. Glenn Abbott finished up with 3 2/3 innings of scoreless relief. Phil Garner was 4-6 at the plate, Sal Bando was 3-4, and Joe Rudi was 2-4 with 3 RBI.

SAT JUL 19 (2)

OAK_____8___15___0
BAL_____3____9___0

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Jim Palmer shut down the A's, supported by Larry Harlow's first homer of the season, and Baltimore bested Oakland 4-1.

SUN JUL 20

OAK_____1___6___1
BAL_____4__10___0