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Starting very soon. This is not done as a continuation of the 1979 Replay. I have re-imported all of the 1980 players and put them onto the teams where they actually started the season. Rosters checked, name pronunciations checked, stadiums and logos imported. All I need to do now is print myself off a list of the 1980 transactions and get going.

Based only on my own fading memory, 1980 was an interesting year. George Brett flirted with .400 and led KC to the World Series. This was the year that the Royals finally beat the Yankees in the ALCS. The Phillies had former, current, or future All-Stars at every position and beat KC in the World Series.

As for the A's, they brought in Billy Martin. Billy, from the Bay Area, came home from the Bronx Zoo to lead a young and talented team. He brought along friend Art Fowler as his pitching coach. Fowler taught the young staff new, um, pitches, and convinced them that going 9 innings wasn't too taxing on their arms. This group included Rick Langford, Matt Keough, Mike Norris, Steve McCatty, and Brian Kingman. On paper, these guys look great. The team had no real bullpen stopper and not much talent down there other than "past his prime" lefty Dave Hamilton.

Young Rickey Henderson learned how to make contact and was a demon on the basepaths. I believe he stole bases in the high 90's or low 100's that season. Power was provided by the same group from 1979: Revering, Gross, Page, Armas, and Newman. Mike Heath went behind the plate. Mike Davis was added to the outfield mix, joining Henderson, Dwayne Murphy, and Armas. Dave McKay, Mike Edwards, Mario Guerrero, and Rob Picciolo provided decent defenst but little offense from the 2B & SS positions. Mickey Klutts backed up Gross at 3B. Revering and Newman held down 1B. It looks like Mitchell Page will be the DH. I haven't made any roster decisions yet, so some of this is purely speculative.

The fun starts in the next day or three.

Do you play each season in Sandbox mode, or in replay season format?
Thanks

These are done in replay mode, although I believe it would work just as well in sandbox mode. I'm not sure why I chose replay over Sandbox, but I've had good success with both methods.

Apparently, the scouts and media weren't swayed by Oakland's good second half in 1979.

Manager motnahp will keep this baby tacked on the clubhouse bulletin board. Pittsburgh, Houston, and the Yankees are ranked 1-2-3. The rest:

Opening Day roster:

Pitchers

Dave Beard
Dave Hamilton
Jeff Jones
Matt Keough
Brian Kingman
Bob Lacey
Rick Langford
Rick Lysander
Steve McCatty
Mike Norris

Catchers

Jim Essian
Mike Heath
Jeff Newman

Infielders

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

Outfielders

Tony Armas
Mike Davis
Rickey Henderson
Dwayne Murphy
Mitchell Page

Jerry Koosman and Doug Corbett stifled the A's, as Minnesota took the season opener in Oakland, 3-1. Rob Wilfong homered for the Twins.

Rick Langford drew the opening day assignment and took the loss.

THUR APR 10

MIN_____3___9___0
OAK_____1___4___0

Mike Norris went the distance, striking out 11 and walking 2, as the A's topped the Twins, 6-4. Oakland got RBI doubles from Mitchell Page and Wayne Gross as part of a 5-run 1st inning off losing pitcher Geoff Zahn.

FRI APR 11

MIN_____4___11___1
OAK_____6___10___0

Roger Erickson handcuffed the A's, as the Twins shut out the A's 8-0 in Oakland. Mike Cubbage was 2-4 and smacked a grand slam homer. Ron Jackson was also 2-4, and knocked a 2-run home. Rick Sofield added a solo homer. Erickson walked 3 and struck out 4. Oakland starter Steve McCatty was charged with 6 earned runs in 6+ innings.

SAT APR 12

MIN_____8___8___1
OAK_____0___4___1

Minnesota pounded out 15 hits and took 3 out of 4 from the A's, winning 9-5. Mike Cubbage was 3-5 with a homer(2). Hosken Powell also wewnt 3-5, while Rick Sofield was 2-4 with a double and 3 RBI. Darrell Jackson and John Verhoeven combined on the mound for the Twins. Oakland started Matt Keough was roughed up for 8 runs on 12 hits in 5 1/3 innings. Mitchell Page was 3-5 and Mike Heath had a RBI triple for the A's. Oakland now welcomes the Seattle Mariners for a 3-game series.

SUN APR 13

MIN_____9___15___1
OAK_____5___11___0

Season record: 1-3, T6 in AL West, 2 1/2 GB first place California

Seattle struck for 4 runs in the top of the 10th to hand the A's their 3rd straight loss, 5-1. Mariner lefties Floyd Bannister and Shane Rawley held the A's scoreless until the bottom of the 9th. Bannister went 8 strong innings and was aided by double play grounders in both the 7th and 8th innings. In the 7th, Rickey Henderson came up with runners on 1st and 2nd and one out. His DP grounder ended the inning. In the 8th, it was Mike Heath's turn. Heath grounded into a DP with runners on the corners and one out. Henderson drove in the tying run off Shane Rawley with a 2-out single in the 9th, sending the game into extra innings tied 1-1.

Oakland's shaky bullpen combo of Dave Hamilton and Jeff Jones allowed 5 hits between them in the 10th, as Seattle put the game away. The A's went down meekly 1-2-3 in their half of the 10th.

The Oakland attack has yet to homer in 5 games, while hitting an anemic .219.

MON APR 14

SEA_____5___11___0 (10 innings)
OAK_____1____8___2

Rick Langford went the distance to improve his mark to 1-1, as the A's edged Seattle 5-4. Rookie OF Mike Davis, making his 1st appearance of the season, drew the start in RF for the slumping Tony Armas. Davis delivered, going 2-4 and smacking a tie-breaking solo homer in the bottom of the 6th. Wayne Gross was 3-4 with 2 RBI for the green & gold. Bruce Bochte and Willie Horton both hit their second homers of the season for the Mariners. Former Athletic hurler Glenn Abbott took the loss.

TUE APR 15

SEA_____4___11___0
OAK_____5___11___1

How do you counteract a weak bullpen? Complete games by a starting pitcher, of course. Mike Norris improved to 2-0, allowing 7 hits, walking 3 and fanning 8, as the A's beat the Mariners 2-1. Oakland scored both runs in the bottom of the 3rd. With 2 out, Rickey Henderson walked and stole second. Dave McKay drove him home with a double, then scored on a Dave Revering single. Seattle starter Rick Honeycutt (1-1) took the loss.

The A's have faced 5 lefties in the first 7 games of the season.

The A's will take Thursday off, then welcome the Angels for a 4-game series, including a Sunday doubleheader.

WED APR 16

SEA_____1___7___0
OAK_____2___5___0

Season record 3-4, T5 in AL West, 2 1/2 GB 1st place Kansas City

The A's recorded their 3rd straight complete game victory and 1st shutout, as Steve McCatty (1-1) blanked the Angels, 2-0. McCatty allowed 7 hits and 3 walks, while striking out 5. The Oakland runs came in the 2nd and 5th innings, on RBI singles from Jim Essian and Mitchell Page. The win evens the A's mark at 4-4. Angel starter Don Aase also went the distance and dropped to 1-1.

FRI APR 18

CAL_____0___7___1
OAK_____2___7___2

Make it 4 in a row, as Matt Keough (1-1) went the distance and allowed 7 hits, walked 2, and struck out 7 Angels and the A's dumped California 10-3. Oakland batters abused California starter Chris Knapp (0-1) for 8 runs in only 4 innings. Dave Revering was 2-3 with a homer (1), Mitchell Page went 3-4 with 2 RBI, Tony Armas was 2-4 with 2 RBI, Dave McKay was 2-4, and Wayne Gross drove in a pair.

SAT APR 19

CAL_____3___7___0
OAK____10__13___0

Alfredo Martinez (2-0) shut down the A's, allowing only one run on 6 hits as the Angels topped the A's, 5-1 in the first game of a doubleheader. California led only 1-0 until the top of the 8th, when Todd Cruz hit a bases-clearing double. Oakland starter Brian Kingman (0-1) went 7 innings and allowed only one run. The deadly duo of Jeff Jones and Dave Hamilton combined to allow 4 runs in 2 innings.

SUN APR 20 (1)

CAL_____5___10___0
OAK_____1____6___1

Rick Langford was brilliant, tossing a 4-hit shutout in the A's 3-0 win over the Angels. Langford (2-1) used only 78 pitches as the A's won for the 5th time in 6 tries and took 3 of 4 from California. Rob Picciolo was 2-2 with a triple and 3 RBI. Oakland's other run scored on a double play grounder by Jim Essian. Jim Barr (0-2) took the loss for California.

Oakland wrapped up the homestand 6-5. The team has only 2 homers in 11 games. The cold weather in the Bay Area has definitely been a factor. The A's fly north to Seattle and open a 3-game series with the Mariners Monday night.

SUN APR 20 (2)

CAL_____0___4___0
OAK_____3___8___0

Season record 6-5, 3rd place in AL West, 2 1/2 GB 1st place Minnesota

In a game where nothing went right, Seattle mercilessly pounded the A's 15-2. Seattle shortstop Jim Anderson entered the game batting .032, 1-31 on the season. The light-hitting Anderson went 3-4 with 2 homers and 8 RBI. He swatted a grand slam and a 3-run homer. Teammates Tom Paciorek, Willie Horton, Juan Beniquez, and Bill Stein had two hits apiece. Jim Beattie (2-1) went 6 1/3 innings to collect the win. Anderson's 8 runs batted in were his first RBI of the season.

Oakland starter Mike Norris was tagged for 8 runs in only 4 2/3 innings. Reliever Dave Beard allowed 6 runs in only 1 1/3 innings. Rickey Henderson accounted for the Oakland runs with a 2-run homer. Henderson, batting a paltry .119 coming into the game, was demoted from lead-off to the #9 position in the order.

MON APR 21

OAK_____2___9___1
SEA____15___16___0

Seattle outlasted Oakland 11-8 at the Kingdome. Jim Anderson again led the way, going 3-4 with a double, triple, and 4 RBI. Tom Paciorek was 3-5, while Juan Beniquez, Bill Stein, and Larry Cox each had 2 RBI. Mike Parrott (1-1) picked up the win. Shane Rawley pitched a scoreless 9th for his 3rd save.

For the A's, Dwayne Murphy was 3-4 with his first 2 homers of the season. Mitchell Page went 4-5 with his 1st homer, Mike Edwards was 3-4, and Wayne Gross hit his first homer of the season.

Before the game, Oakland optioned IF Mickey Klutts to AAA Tacoma and called up LHP Craig Minetto. Minetto made the start and was shelled for 7 runs in only 1 1/3 innings. Minetto, Oakland's most reliable starter last year (11-6, 3.18) suffered an arm injury early in spring training and appears headed back to the minor leagues and maybe to the operating room.

Willie Horton heard a hoo, smacking a 2-run homer (3) and then winning the game with a two-out single in the bottom of the 9th, as the Mariners swept the A's 6-5. Dan Meyer chipped in, going 3-5 with 2 RBI, while Jim Anderson continued his assault on Oakland pitching, going 2-4 with 2 runs scored. Floyd Bannister went all the way, escaping a 9th inning threat and improving to 2-1.

For the A's, Steve McCatty went the distance, saving the tired bullpen arms from further abuse. He fell to 1-2. Trailing 5-2, the A's rallied in the 7th, tying the game on Tony Armas' 3-run homer, his 1st of the season. Dave McKay was 3-5 with an RBI. The A's tried to take the lead in the top of the 9th, getting runners on the corners with one out. Bannister bore down, though, striking out Jeff Newman and getting Wayne Gross on a fly out to center. The A's take a much-needed day off Thursday, before opening a 3-game weekend series in Minnesota against the division-leading Twins.

Before the game, the A's returned LHP Craig Minetto to AAA and recalled IF Mickey Klutts.

WED APR 23

OAK_____5___13___1
SEA_____6___13___0

Season record 6-8, 6th place in AL West, 4 GB 1st place Minnesota

Tony Armas smacked two solo homers (2,3) and Brian Kingman went 9 innings on the mound, as the A's edged the Twins 3-2. Kingman (1-1) allowed only 5 hits, walked 2 and struck out 3. Rick Sofield's 2-run homer (2) provided all the offense for Minnesota. Geoff Zahn (2-2) also went 9 and took the loss.

FRI APR 25

OAK_____3___7___0
MIN_____2___5___1