1970 Oakland Athletics season

1970 Oakland Athletics
LeagueAmerican League
DivisionWest
BallparkOakland-Alameda County Coliseum
CityOakland, California
Record89–73 (.549)
OwnersCharles O. Finley
ManagersJohn McNamara
TelevisionKBHK-TV
RadioKNBR
(Monte Moore, Harry Caray)
← 1969 Seasons 1971 →

The 1970 Oakland Athletics season was the 70th season for the Oakland Athletics franchise, all as members of the American League, and their 3rd season in Oakland. The Athletics finished the season with a record of 89 wins and 73 losses. In 1970, owner Charlie Finley officially changed the team name from the Athletics to the "A's". An "apostrophe-s" was added to the cap and uniform emblem to reflect that fact.

Offseason

During the off-season, Reggie Jackson sought an increase in salary, and A's owner Charlie Finley threatened to send Jackson to the minors. Commissioner Bowie Kuhn successfully intervened in their dispute. Reggie Jackson demanded $60,000 per season, while he was offered $40,000 by Charlie Finley. Both parties settled on $45,000,[1] but Jackson's numbers in 1970 dropped sharply, as he hit just 23 home runs while batting .237.

Notable transactions

Round 4: Mitchell Page (did not sign)
Secondary Phase[7]
Round 1: Vic Harris[8]

Regular season

  • During the 1970 season, there were rumours of the Athletics attempting to relocate to Toronto.[9]
  • At the end of May, the Athletics were 25–23, and 8 games back of the first place Minnesota Twins.[10]
  • September 21: Vida Blue threw a no-hitter versus the Minnesota Twins, winning 6-0. A walk by Harmon Killebrew prevented Blue from pitching a perfect game.[11][12]
  • The club hired Harry Caray to do the play by play for the Athletics. Charlie Finley wanted Caray to change his broadcast chant of Holy Cow to Holy Mule. Caray refused and left after the season.[13]

Season standings

AL West
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
Minnesota Twins 98 64 .605 — 51‍–‍30 47‍–‍34
Oakland Athletics 89 73 .549 9 49‍–‍32 40‍–‍41
California Angels 86 76 .531 12 43‍–‍38 43‍–‍38
Kansas City Royals 65 97 .401 33 35‍–‍44 30‍–‍53
Milwaukee Brewers 65 97 .401 33 38‍–‍42 27‍–‍55
Chicago White Sox 56 106 .346 42 31‍–‍53 25‍–‍53

Record vs. opponents

1970 American League record

Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]
Team BAL BOS CAL CWS CLE DET KC MIL MIN NYY OAK WSH
Baltimore — 13–5 7–5 9–3 14–4 11–7 12–0 7–5 5–7 11–7 7–5 12–6
Boston 5–13 — 5–7 8–4 12–6 9–9 7–5 5–7 7–5 10–8 7–5 12–6
California 5–7 7–5 — 12–6 6–6 6–6 10–8 12–6 8–10 5–7 8–10 7–5
Chicago 3–9 4–8 6–12 — 6–6 6–6 7–11 7–11 6–12 5–7 2–16 4–8
Cleveland 4–14 6–12 6–6 6–6 — 7–11 8–4 7–5 6–6 8–10 7–5 11–7
Detroit 7–11 9–9 6–6 6–6 11–7 — 6–6 8–4 4–8 7–11 6–6 9–9
Kansas City 0–12 5–7 8–10 11–7 4–8 6–6 — 12–6 5–13 1–11 7–11 6–6
Milwaukee 5–7 7–5 6–12 11–7 5–7 4–8 6–12 — 5–13 3–9–1 8–10 5–7
Minnesota 7–5 5–7 10–8 12–6 6–6 8–4 13–5 13–5 — 5–7 13–5 6–6
New York 7–11 8–10 7–5 7–5 10–8 11–7 11–1 9–3–1 7–5 — 6–6 10–8
Oakland 5–7 5–7 10–8 16–2 5–7 6–6 11–7 10–8 5–13 6–6 — 10–2
Washington 6–12 6–12 5–7 8–4 7–11 9–9 6–6 7–5 6–6 8–10 2–10 —


Notable transactions

Round 1: Dan Ford (18th pick)[16]

Roster

1970 Oakland Athletics
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders Manager

Coaches

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Pos Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI
C Frank Fernández 94 252 54 .214 15 44
1B Don Mincher 140 463 114 .246 27 74
2B Dick Green 135 384 73 .190 4 29
SS Bert Campaneris 147 603 168 .279 22 64
3B Sal Bando 155 502 132 .263 20 75
LF Felipe Alou 154 575 156 .271 8 55
CF Rick Monday 112 376 109 .290 10 37
RF Reggie Jackson 149 426 101 .237 23 66

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI
Joe Rudi 106 350 108 .309 11 42
Dave Duncan 86 232 60 .259 10 29
Tommy Davis 66 200 58 .290 1 27
Tony La Russa 52 106 21 .198 0 6
Gene Tenace 38 105 32 .305 7 20
Steve Hovley 72 100 19 .190 0 1
John Donaldson 41 89 22 .247 1 11
Roberto Peña 19 58 15 .259 0 3
Jim Driscoll 21 52 10 .192 1 2
Bob Johnson 30 46 8 .174 1 2
Tito Francona 32 33 8 .242 1 6
Bobby Brooks 7 18 6 .333 2 5
José Tartabull 24 13 3 .231 0 2
Allan Lewis 9 8 2 .250 1 1
Larry Haney 2 2 0 .000 0 0

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Chuck Dobson 41 267.0 16 15 3.74 149
Catfish Hunter 40 262.1 18 14 3.81 178
Blue Moon Odom 29 156.1 9 8 3.80 88
Vida Blue 6 38.2 2 0 2.09 35

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Diego Seguí 47 162.0 10 10 2.56 95
Rollie Fingers 45 148.0 7 9 3.65 79
Al Downing 10 41.0 3 3 3.95 26
Darrell Osteen 3 5.2 1 0 6.35 3

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G W L SV ERA SO
Mudcat Grant 72 6 2 24 1.82 54
Paul Lindblad 62 8 2 3 2.70 42
Marcel Lachemann 41 3 3 3 2.78 39
Bob Locker 38 3 3 4 2.88 33
Jim Roland 28 3 3 2 2.70 26
Roberto Rodríguez 6 0 0 0 2.92 8
Dooley Womack 2 0 0 0 15.00 3
Fred Talbot 1 0 1 0 10.80 0

Awards and honors

  • Bert Campaneris led the American League in Stolen Bases (42)[18]

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Iowa Oaks American Association Sherm Lollar
AA Birmingham A's Southern League Phil Cavarretta
A Burlington Bees Midwest League Roy Sievers
A-Short Season Coos Bay-North Bend A's Northwest League Harry Bright

References

  1. ^ Charlie Finley: The Outrageous Story of Baseball's Super Showman, p.134, G. Michael Green and Roger D. Launius. Walker Publishing Company, New York, 2010, ISBN 978-0-8027-1745-0
  2. ^ Manny Trillo page at Baseball Reference
  3. ^ Danny Cater page at Baseball Reference
  4. ^ Diego Seguí page at Baseball Reference
  5. ^ Phil Roof page at Baseball Reference
  6. ^ 1970 Oakland Athletics Picks in the MLB January Amateur Draft
  7. ^ 1970 Oakland Athletics Picks in the MLB January Amateur Draft (secondary phase)
  8. ^ Vic Harris page at Baseball Reference
  9. ^ Charlie Finley: The Outrageous Story of Baseball's Super Showman, p.120, G. Michael Green and Roger D. Launius. Walker Publishing Company, New York, 2010, ISBN 978-0-8027-1745-0
  10. ^ Charlie Finley: The Outrageous Story of Baseball's Super Showman, p.134, G. Michael Green and Roger D. Launius. Walker Publishing Company, New York, 2010, ISBN 978-0-8027-1745-0
  11. ^ Charlie Finley: The Outrageous Story of Baseball's Super Showman, p.140, G. Michael Green and Roger D. Launius. Walker Publishing Company, New York, 2010, ISBN 978-0-8027-1745-0
  12. ^ "Boxscore of Vida Blue No-Hitter". baseball-reference.com. Retrieved July 25, 2023.
  13. ^ Charlie Finley: The Outrageous Story of Baseball's Super Showman, p.141, G. Michael Green and Roger D. Launius. Walker Publishing Company, New York, 2010, ISBN 978-0-8027-1745-0
  14. ^ John Donaldson page at Baseball Reference
  15. ^ 1970 Oakland Athletics Picks in the MLB June Amateur Draft
  16. ^ Dan Ford page at Baseball Reference
  17. ^ Steve Hovley page at Baseball Reference
  18. ^ Charlie Finley: The Outrageous Story of Baseball's Super Showman, p.141, G. Michael Green and Roger D. Launius. Walker Publishing Company, New York, 2010, ISBN 978-0-8027-1745-0