The 1980 Oakland A's - Rebuild #1 Continues

[motnahp]

Dwayne Murphy's RBI single in the top of the 8th snapped a 4-4 tie and brought in Rickey Henderson with the eventual winning run as the A's defeated the Royals 5-4 to take 2 of 3 games from Kansas City and reclaim 1st place in the AL West. Tony Armas hit a 3-run homer (28) for the A's, and George Brett hit a 3-run shot (26) for the Royals. Mike Norris went 7 innings and improved to 16-10. The A's received perfect relief from Dave Beard and Bob Lacey (SV 20) in the 8th and 9th. Paul Splittorff (16-11) took the loss for KC.

The A's will take the day off Monday, then return home for the final homestand of the season, three games each with Chicago and Milwaukee.

SUN SEP 21

OAK_____5___9___1
KC______4___8___0

Season record: 88-63, 1st place in AL West, 1/2 game ahead of 2nd place Kansas City

UPDATE: The Royals won 2-1 in Seattle on Monday to pull even with the A's.

[motnahp]

Tony Armas' bases-loaded single in the bottom of the 8th scored the tying and go-ahead runs, as the A's edged the White Sox 3-2 in Oakland. Armas now has an even 100 RBI on the season. Dave Hamilton (4-5) picked up the win in relief. Bob Lacey pitched a 1-2-3 9th for his 21st save. Britt Burns (15-16) took the loss for the White Sox.

TUE SEP 23

CHI_____2___8___0
OAK_____3___5___0

The Royals lost to Seattle, 5-3 in the Kingdome. Oakland leads KC by one game in the west.

[motnahp]

Brian Kingman (10-6), Jeff Jones, and Alan Wirth combined to blank the White Sox, 7-0. Mitchell Page hit his 18th homer, a 3-run shot. Mario Guerrero was 2-3 with 2 RBI, and Rickey Henderson went 2-5 with 2 RBI. Rich Dotson fell to 11-18 with the loss.

WED SEP 24

CHI_____0___9___0
OAK_____7__11___0

The Mariners spanked the Royals 10-1. The A's are now 2 games up on KC.

[motnahp]

Mike Edwards drew a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the 8th to force in the go-ahead and eventual winning run, as the A's swept the White Sox 4-3. Oakland's other runs came courtesy of a 2-run Tony Armas homer (29) and an Armas bases-loaded walk. Tony now has 103 RBI this season. Dave Beard (4-2) collected the win in relief, while Bob Lacey notched save #22 with a perfect 9th inning. Chicago reliever Mike Proly (4-5) suffered the loss.

THUR SEP 25

CHI_____3___5___0
OAK_____4___8___0

Season record: 91-63, 1st place in AL West, 2 1/2 games ahead of 2nd place Kansas City. The Royals did not play Thursday.

[motnahp]

Dave Revering's 2-run homer in the bottom of the 7th erased a 5-4 Brewer lead and gave the A's their 5th straight win, 6-5. Revering now has 12 homers on the season. He drove in 4 runs. Wayne Gross was 2-4 with an RBI. Don Money (25), Ben Oglivie (34) and Cecil Cooper (21) all homered off A's starter Matt Keough, who got no decision. The win went to reliever Rick Lysander (5-2). Bob Lacey pitched a scoreless 9th for his 23rd save.

FRI SEP 26

MIL_____5___11___0
OAK_____6___10___1

The Royals won at Minnesota to remain 2 1/2 games behind the A's.

[motnahp]

Dwayne Murphy's 1-out grand slam in the bottom of the 12th gave the A's their 6th straight win, 5-1. The A's trailed 1-0 until Mitchell Page's sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 9th tied the score at 1-1. Murphy's blast, his 14th of the season, came off Brewer reliever John Flinn (4-7), and made a winner of Bob Lacey (8-4).

SAT SEP 27

MIL_____1___5___1 (12)
OAK____5___12___1

Kansas City 12, Minnesota 7. The Royals remain 2 1/2 back.

[motnahp]

The A's have now won 7 straight, after an 8-7 win over the Brewers. Dave Revering went 3-5 with a triple and RBI. Rickey Henderson was 1-3 with a homer (7) and 3 RBI, along with 2 walks. Mario Guerrero went 3-5 with an RBI. Jim Gantner went 4-5 with a homer (7) for Milwaukee. Craig Minetto (2-1) picked up the win in relief. Bob Lacey survived a scare in the 9th, but earned his 24th save. Reggie Cleveland (8-6) took the loss.

The team will take Monday off, then head to Chicago for a 3-game series against the White Sox.

SUN SEP 28

MIL_____7___12___1
OAK____8___16___0

Season record: 94-63, 1st place in AL West, 2 1/2 games ahead of 2nd place Kansas City

[motnahp]

The White Sox plated 3 in the bottom of the 8th to defeat the A's, 3-1. Leo Sutherland was 2-4 with 2 RBI for Chicago. Rich Dotson went the distance and improved to 12-18. Wayne Gross was 3-4 for Oakland. Dave Hamilton (4-6) suffered the loss.

TUE SEP 30

OAK_____1___6___0
CHI_____3___8___1

League standings at the end of September:

[motnahp]

The A's pounded out 19 hits and crushed the White Sox 14-2. Dwayne Murphy was 3-6 with 3 RBI, Jeff Newman was 3-6 with one RBI, and Rob Picciolo went 2-4 with 3 RBI. Rick Langford pitched into the 8th inning and improved to 16-10. Steve Trout fell to 10-16.

WED OCT 1

OAK_____14___19___0
CHI______2____7___0

Seattle 2, Kansas City 1 (12 innings). The A's now lead by 2 1/2 games.

[motnahp]

The A's are on the verge of an AL West championship following a 9-0 whitewash of the White Sox. Matt Keough and two relievers combined to hold Chicago off the board. Keough improved to 15-9. At the plate, Wayne Gross was 3-4 with a double and 3 runs scored, Dave Revering was 3-3 with a double, RBI, and 2 runs scored, while Rickey Henderson and Dwayne Murphy both had 2 RBI. For Chicago, Lamarr Hoyt (9-17) took the loss.

THUR OCT 2

OAK_____9___14___0
CHI_____0____11___2

Seattle 5, Kansas City 3. Break out the bubbly. The young Oakland A's are AL West division champions. Looking toward the East, Boston leads Baltimore by two games.

[motnahp]

Gorman Thomas' 40th home run, a 2-run shot off Craig Minetto (2-2) in the bottom of the 8th, provided the only scoring, as the Brewers clipped the A's 2-0. Moose Haas (19-12) and Bob McClure (SV 46) combined on the mound for Milwaukee.

SAT OCT 4

OAK_____0___5___0
MIL______2___6___0

[motnahp]

Steve McCatty and 4 relievers held down the powerful Milwaukee offense, and the A's nipped the Brewers 3-2 on the final day of the regular season. McCatty finished 15-11 on the season. Bob Lacey allowed a Gorman Thomas home run (41) in the 9th inning, but held on to collect his 25th save. Lary Sorensen (16-12) took the loss.

Tony Armas was 3-5 with 2 RBI, and Mike Edwards was 3-4 with one RBI. Cecil Cooper was 4-5 with an RBI for Milwaukee.

SUN OCT 5

OAK_____3___11___0
MIL______2___12___1

Final regular season record: 97-65, AL West Champions, 3 games ahead of 2nd place Kansas City.

In the AL East, Baltimore lost to Cleveland 4-2, while Boston was pounding Toronto 19-4. Boston leads by one game. The Orioles have finished their season at 86-76. Boston must make up a doubleheader at Cleveland on Monday. The Red Sox need only to win one of the two games to clinch the AL East.

[motnahp]

Monday October 6:

Boston 6, Cleveland 1 in the first game of a doubleheader. The Boston Red Sox clinch the AL East title.

[motnahp]

On to the playoffs:

Dave Revering's double in the bottom of the 9th drove home pinch runner Mike Davis with the winning run, as the A's edged the Red Sox 6-5 in the first game of the ALCS. Revering ended up 3-5 with a double, triple, and 3 RBI. Tony Armas was 3-5 with an RBI and scored 3 runs. Butch Hobson drove in 3 with a bases-loaded triple for Boston. Rick Langford went the distance on the mound for Oakland, while Keith Macwhorter took the loss in relief.

SAT OCT 11
ALCS GAME 1

BOS_____5___8___1
OAK_____6__16___1

Oakland leads series 1-0

NLCS GAME 1

PHA_____2___9___0
LA______6__11___1

Los Angeles leads series 1-0

[motnahp]

Mike Norris shut down the powerful Boston order, limiting the Sox to 3 hits. He struck out 7 and walked 2, as the A's went up 2-0 with a 4-1 win. Wayne Gross was 3-4 with a double and 3 RBI. Dwayne Murphy went 2-4 and scored 2 runs. Mike Torrez went the distance for Boston and took the loss.

SUN OCT 12
ALCS GAME 2

BOS_____1___3___0
OAK_____4__10___0

Oakland leads series 2-0.

NLCS GAME 2

PHA_____0___4___0
LA______1___7___1

Los Angeles leads series 2-0.

[motnahp]

The Red Sox knocked Oakland starter Brian Kingman out of the game in the 4th inning, and went on to post a 6-1 victory over the A's. Carlton Fisk was 2-4 and smacked a 2-run homer. Rick Burleson went 3-5 with a double, RBI, and 2 runs scored. For the A's, Dwayne Murphy went 3-5. John Tudor pitched 7 2/3 innings for the win for Boston.

TUE OCT 14
ALCS GAME 3

OAK_____1___9___0
BOS_____6__11___1

Oakland leads series 2-1.

NLCS GAME 3

LA______1____9___2 (10 innings)
PHA_____2____5___1

Los Angeles leads series 2-1.

[motnahp]

The Red Sox plated 3 runs in the bottom of the 8th and beat the A's 6-4. Bob Lacey relieved Matt Keough with two on and none out. Lacey allowed single, walk, single, and RBI groundout. He collected both a blown save and the loss. Dick Drago picked up the win in relief, while Tom Burgmeier notched a save with a 1-2-3 9th. At the plate, Dave Stapleton was 2-3 with a 2-run homer. Jim Rice went 2-4 with an RBI. Wayne Gross was 2-5, including a 3-run homer. Tony Armas was 3-5 with an RBI and Dwayne Murphy also went 3-5.

WED OCT 15
ALCS GAME 4

OAK_____4___14___0
BOS_____6___11___0

Series tied 2-2.

NLCS GAME 4

LA______4___7___0
PHA_____1___9___0

Los Angeles leads series 3-1.

[motnahp]

Dwight Evans homered off Bob Lacey with 2 out in the bottom of the 12th for the game's only run, as the Red Sox went up 3 games to 2. Keith Macwhorter gets credit for the win.

THUR OCT 16
ALCS GAME 5

OAK_____0___6___1 (12 innings)
BOS_____1___8___0

Boston leads series 3-2.

NLCS GAME 5

LA______8___10___0
PHA_____7___12___2

Los Angeles wins series 4-1.

[motnahp]

There will be a Game Seven in the 1980 ALCS, as the A's came back from a 3-0 deficit, scoring 1 in the 5th and 3 more in the 6th, then held on to beat the Red Sox 4-3. Mike Norris pitched into the 7th inning, then the A's got scoreless relief from Rick Lysander (2 IP) and Bob Lacey (1-2-3 9th). Mario Guerrero was 3-4 with an RBI, Dwayne Murphy went 2-4 with a double and RBI, and Dave McKay went 2-4. Dwight Evans was 2-3, including a 2-run homer for Boston. Mike Torrez went the distance and took the loss.

Oakland manager motnahp announced that Steve McCatty will start game 7. He has not appeared in the series, but was 15-11 on the season.

SAT OCT 18

ALCS GAME 6

BOS_____3___7___2
OAK_____4__10___1

Series tied 3-3.

[motnahp]

The Oakland A's are World Series bound following a 5-4 win over the Boston Red Sox in Game 7 of the ALCS. Steve McCatty went 7 innings, allowing 7 hits, walking 4 and striking out 4. Brian Kingman shut down the Sox in the 8th and 9th innings, striking out 4, walking one and allowing one hit.

Tony Armas went 1-3 with a homer and 3 RBI, Dave Revering was 1-3 with a 2-run double, Wayne Gross went 2-3, and Jeff Newman 2-4. Butch Hobson was 2-3 with a 2-run double for Boston. John Tudor went 7 innings and took the loss.

SUN OCT 19
ALCS GAME 7

BOS_____4___8___0
OAK_____5___9___1

Oakland wins series 4-3.

The A's will face the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series. LA finished the regular season with a 110-52 record. They sport the best rotation in the league. Bob Welch finished 21-7 with a 1.79 ERA. Lefty Jerry Reuss was 21-9 and 2.40. Burt Hooton went 20-6 with a 2.26, and veteran Don Sutton was 18-6, 2.77.

The Dodgers don't have the firepower of a Boston, but they do feature the switch-hitting slugger Reggie Smith (.270, 25, 100) in the middle of the order. There's no power shortage elsewhere, either, as Ron Cey (23), Steve Garvey (19) and Dusty Baker (19) are all threats to go deep. Rudy Law is the speed threat at the top of the order. He batted .302 and swiped 28 bases.

LA's mound staff posted a major league best 2.44 ERA, a full run lower than Oakland's 3.45.