1981 Oakland Athletics season

The Oakland Athletics' 1981 season saw the A's finish with an overall record of 64 wins and 45 losses. They finished the season with the best record in the American League (and second best in all of baseball). Due to the infamous 1981 players strike, the league resorted to a split-season format; this new format saw the winners of both halves of the season playing in the first divisional playoff in MLB history. The A's qualified by posting the American League West's best record in the first half of the season. While they swept the Kansas City Royals in the ALDS, they were themselves swept by the New York Yankees in the ALCS.

1981 Oakland Athletics
American League West Champions
League	American League
Division	West
Ballpark	Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum
City	Oakland, California
Record	64–45 (.587)
Divisional place	1st
Owners	Walter A. Haas, Jr.
General managers	Billy Martin
Managers	Billy Martin
Television	KPIX-TV (Bill King, Harmon Killebrew)
Radio	KSFO (Bill King, Lon Simmons, Wayne Hagin) KIQI (Amaury Pi-Gonzalez, Julio Gonzalez)
Seasons

The Oakland Athletics playing host to the Texas Rangers at the Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum during a 1981 home game.

The Athletics' 1981 season ranks among the organization's most interesting. The A's, only two years removed from a disastrous 54–108 finish, won their first AL West crown since 1975 under second-year manager Billy Martin. The "Billyball" A's began the season with a then-AL record 11 consecutive wins (this record was later broken by the 1987 Milwaukee Brewers, who raced out to a 13-0 start). The squad followed its first loss of the season, a tough 3-2 loss to the Seattle Mariners, with six more victories. Their 17-1 start (through 18 games) remains unmatched. The A's starting rotation (consisting of Rick Langford, Matt Keough, Steve McCatty, Mike Norris, and Brian Kingman) received national attention during the torrid start; the unit was collectively featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated's April 27, 1981, edition. The periodic heroics of Tony Armas and Rickey Henderson also drew notice.

The Athletics, however, slumped badly following the 17-1 start. While they regained some of their swagger during the season's second half, they ultimately played .500 baseball for the rest of the season. Even still, the A's won the AL West's first half with a 37-23 mark; they also led the division in total wins despite losing the second half to the Royals. The A's swept these 50-53 Royals in the ALDS. The A's themselves were humbled in the ALCS, as the Yankees outscored Oakland 20-4 in a humiliating three-game rout. The 1981 ALCS is perhaps best remembered as the purported birthplace of "the wave"; while the phenomenon's origin is disputed, it is most commonly attributed to Krazy George Henderson, who introduced it to the Athletics' crowd during the series' final game.

Despite high expectations, the A's collapsed in 1982. A rash of injuries, among other factors, saw the team plummet to an abysmal 68-94 record. The firing of Billy Martin at seasons' end brought a swift and unceremonious end to the "Billyball" era. All told, the A's would have to wait until 1988 for their next postseason appearance. Only one member of the 1981 team (Rich Bordi) also played on the 1988 team.

Offseason

• October 23, 1980: Randy Elliott was released by the Athletics.
• December 8, 1980: Brian Doyle was drafted by the Athletics from the New York Yankees in the 1980 rule 5 draft.
• December 9, 1980: DeWayne Buice was drafted by the Oakland Athletics from the San Francisco Giants in the 1980 minor league draft.
• December 11, 1980: Michael King (minors) was traded by the Athletics to the Chicago Cubs for Cliff Johnson and Keith Drumright.
• January 13, 1981: Steve Kiefer was drafted by the Athletics in the 1st round of the 1981 Major League Baseball draft.
• February 10, 1981: The Athletics traded a player to be named later to the Houston Astros for Jimmy Sexton. The Athletics completed the trade by sending Rick Lysander to the Astros on October 20.
• March 27, 1981: Bob Lacey and Roy Moretti (minors) were traded by the Athletics to the San Diego Padres for Kevin Bell, Tony Phillips and Eric Mustad (minors).
• March 30, 1981: Alan Wirth was released by the Athletics.

Ownership

Athletics owner Charlie O. Finley's wife sought a divorce and would not accept part of a baseball team in a property settlement. With most of his money tied up in the A's or his insurance empire, Finley had to sell the team. Though Finley found a buyer in businessman Marvin Davis, who would have moved the Athletics to Denver, the tentative deal hit a snag when the Raiders announced their move to Los Angeles. Oakland and Alameda County officials, not wanting to be held responsible for losing Oakland's status as a big-league city in its own right, refused to let Finley break the lease with the Coliseum. Finley then looked to local buyers, selling the A's to San Francisco clothing manufacturer Walter A. Haas, Jr., president of Levi Strauss & Co. prior to the 1981 season.

Haas restored the official name of the club to "Athletics" in 1981, but retained the nickname "A's" for marketing purposes. At first, the word "Athletics" was restored only to the club's logo, underneath the much larger stylized-"A" that had come to represent the team since the early days. Former owner Charlie Finley banned the word "Athletics" from the club's name because he felt that name was too closely associated with former Philadelphia Athletics owner Connie Mack.

During the Finley era, average home attendance from 1968–1980 was 777,000 per season, with 1,075,518 in 1975 being the highest attendance for a Finley-owned team. In marked contrast, during the first year of Haas' ownership, the Athletics drew 1,304,052—in a season shortened by a player strike. Were it not for the strike, the A's were on a pace to draw over 2.2 million in 1981. The A's finished with the second-best overall record in baseball, and the best record in the American League.

Spring training

The Oakland Athletics held spring training at Rendezvous Park in Mesa, Arizona.

Regular season

• April 19, 1981: In the first game of a doubleheader with the Seattle Mariners, the A's won 6-1 to win their then-record 11th consecutive game to start a season.
• April 25, 1981: Prior to a game against the Seattle Mariners, Seattle manager Maury Wills advised the Kingdome groundskeepers to enlarge the batter's box by a foot. A's manager Billy Martin noticed. Martin showed umpire Bill Kunkel that the batter's box was seven feet long instead of six feet. Martin felt that batters being able to move up a foot in the box could cut at pitches before a curveball broke. Wills was suspended for two games and fined $500.

Game log

First half

1981 Regular Season Game Log First Half (37–23) (Home: 22–11; Road: 15–12)
April (18–3) (Home: 7–3; Road: 11–0) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record Report 1 April 9 @ Twins 2 April 10 @ Twins 3 April 11 @ Twins 4 April 12 @ Twins 5 April 13 @ Angels 6 April 14 @ Angels 7 April 15 @ Angels 8 April 16 @ Angels 9 April 17 Mariners 10 April 18 Mariners 11 April 19 Mariners 12 April 19 Mariners 13 April 20 Twins 14 April 21 Twins 15 April 22 Twins 16 April 24 @ Mariners 17 April 25 @ Mariners 18 April 26 @ Mariners 19 April 27 Angels 20 April 28 Angels 21 April 29 Angels
May (13–17) (Home: 11–6; Road: 2–11) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record Report 22 May 1 Yankees 23 May 2 Yankees 24 May 3 Yankees 25 May 3 Yankees 26 May 5 Tigers 27 May 6 Tigers 28 May 7 Tigers 29 May 8 Brewers 30 May 9 Brewers 31 May 10 Brewers 32 May 12 @ Yankees 33 May 13 @ Yankees 34 May 14 @ Yankees 35 May 15 @ Brewers 36 May 16 @ Brewers 37 May 17 @ Brewers 38 May 18 @ Orioles 39 May 19 @ Orioles 40 May 20 @ Red Sox 41 May 21 @ Red Sox 42 May 22 Blue Jays 43 May 23 Blue Jays 44 May 24 Blue Jays 45 May 24 Blue Jays 46 May 25 White Sox 47 May 26 White Sox 48 May 27 White Sox 49 May 29 @ Blue Jays 50 May 30 @ Blue Jays 51 May 31 @ Blue Jays
June (6–3) (Home: 4–2; Road: 2–1) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record Report 52 June 2 @ White Sox 53 June 3 @ White Sox 54 June 4 @ White Sox 55 June 5 Red Sox 56 June 6 Red Sox 57 June 7 Red Sox 58 June 9 Orioles 59 June 9 Orioles 60 June 10 Orioles

Second half

1981 Regular Season Game Log Second Half (27–22) (Home: 12–11; Road: 15–12)
August (10–9) (Home: 7–4; Road: 3–5) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record Report All-Star Break: NL def. AL at Cleveland Stadium, 5–4 61 August 10 @ Twins 62 August 11 @ Twins 63 August 12 @ Twins 64 August 14 Angels 65 August 15 Angels 66 August 16 Angels 67 August 18 Red Sox 68 August 19 Red Sox 69 August 20 Red Sox 70 August 21 Orioles 71 August 22 Orioles 72 August 23 Orioles 73 August 24 Indians 74 August 25 Indians 75 August 27 @ Red Sox 76 August 28 @ Red Sox 77 August 29 @ Red Sox 78 August 30 @ Red Sox 79 August 31 @ Indians
September (15–12) (Home: 5–6; Road: 10–6) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record Report 80 September 2 @ Indians 81 September 2 @ Indians 82 September 3 @ Orioles 83 September 4 @ Orioles 84 September 5 @ Orioles 85 September 6 @ Orioles 86 September 7 Rangers 87 September 8 Rangers 88 September 9 Rangers 89 September 11 Royals 90 September 12 Royals 91 September 13 Royals 92 September 14 @ Rangers 93 September 15 @ Rangers 94 September 16 @ Rangers 95 September 18 @ White Sox 96 September 19 @ White Sox 97 September 20 @ White Sox 98 September 22 @ Blue Jays 99 September 22 @ Blue Jays 100 September 23 @ Blue Jays 101 September 25 White Sox 102 September 26 White Sox 103 September 27 White Sox 104 September 27 White Sox 105 September 29 Blue Jays 106 September 30 Blue Jays
October (2–1) (Road: 2–1) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record Report 107 October 2 @ Royals 108 October 3 @ Royals 109 October 4 @ Royals

Legend
Athletics win	Athletics loss	All-Star Game	Game postponed

Season standings

AL West

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Oakland Athletics	64	45	.587	—	35‍–‍21	29‍–‍24
Texas Rangers	57	48	.543	5	32‍–‍24	25‍–‍24
Chicago White Sox	54	52	.509	8½	25‍–‍24	29‍–‍28
Kansas City Royals	50	53	.485	11	19‍–‍28	31‍–‍25
California Angels	51	59	.464	13½	26‍–‍28	25‍–‍31
Seattle Mariners	44	65	.404	20	20‍–‍37	24‍–‍28
Minnesota Twins	41	68	.376	23	24‍–‍36	17‍–‍32

AL West First Half Standings	W	L	Pct.	GB
Oakland Athletics	37	23	.617	—
Texas Rangers	33	22	.600	1+1⁄2
Chicago White Sox	31	22	.585	2+1⁄2
California Angels	31	29	.517	6
Kansas City Royals	20	30	.400	12
Seattle Mariners	21	36	.368	14+1⁄2
Minnesota Twins	17	39	.304	18

AL West Second Half Standings	W	L	Pct.	GB
Kansas City Royals	30	23	.566	—
Oakland Athletics	27	22	.551	1
Texas Rangers	24	26	.480	4+1⁄2
Minnesota Twins	24	29	.453	6
Seattle Mariners	23	29	.442	6+1⁄2
Chicago White Sox	23	30	.434	7
California Angels	20	30	.400	8+1⁄2

Record vs. opponents

1981 American League record Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14]
Team	BAL	BOS	CAL	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	MIL	MIN	NYY	OAK	SEA	TEX	TOR
Baltimore	—	2–2	6–6	3–6	4–2	6–7	5–3	2–4	6–0	7–6	7–5	4–2	2–1	5–2
Boston	2–2	—	2–4	5–4	7–6	6–1	3–3	6–7	2–5	3–3	7–5	9–3	3–6	4–0
California	6–6	4–2	—	6–7	7–5	3–3	0–6	4–3	3–3	2–2	2–8	6–4	2–4	6–6
Chicago	6–3	4–5	7–6	—	2–5	3–3	2–0	4–1	2–4	5–7	7–6	3–3	2–4	7–5
Cleveland	2–4	6–7	5–7	5–2	—	1–5	4–4	3–6	2–1	7–5	3–2	8–4	2–2	4–2
Detroit	7–6	1–6	3–3	3–3	5–1	—	3–2	5–8	9–3	3–7	1–2	5–1	9–3	6–4
Kansas City	3–5	3–3	6–0	0–2	4–4	2–3	—	4–5	9–4	2–10	3–3	6–7	3–4	5–3
Milwaukee	4–2	7–6	3–4	1–4	6–3	8–5	5–4	—	9–3	3–3	4–2	2–2	4–5	6–4
Minnesota	0–6	5–2	3–3	4–2	1–2	3–9	4–9	3–9	—	3–3	2–8	3–6–1	5–8	5–1
New York	6–7	3–3	2–2	7–5	5–7	7–3	10–2	3–3	3–3	—	4–3	2–3	5–4	2–3
Oakland	5–7	5–7	8–2	6–7	2–3	2–1	3–3	2–4	8–2	3–4	—	6–1	4–2	10–2
Seattle	2–4	3–9	4–6	3–3	4–8	1–5	7–6	2–2	6–3–1	3–2	1–6	—	5–8	3–3
Texas	1–2	6–3	4–2	4–2	2–2	3–9	4–3	5–4	8–5	4–5	2–4	8–5	—	6–2
Toronto	2–5	0–4	6–6	5–7	2–4	4–6	3–5	4–6	1–5	3–2	2–10	3–3	2–6	—

Notable transactions

• April 6, 1981: The Athletics traded a player to be named later and cash to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Bob Owchinko. The Athletics completed the trade by sending Ernie Camacho to the Pirates on April 10.
• April 9, 1981: Dave Heaverlo was signed as a free agent by the Athletics.
• April 10, 1981: Gorman Heimueller was signed as a free agent by the Athletics.
• April 14, 1981: Chris Codiroli was signed as a free agent by the Athletics.
• April 22, 1981: Chuck Hensley was signed as a free agent with the Oakland Athletics.
• May 20, 1981: Dave Revering, Mike Patterson and Chuck Dougherty (minors) were traded by the Athletics to the New York Yankees for Jim Spencer and Tom Underwood.
• June 10, 1981: Rick Bosetti was purchased by the Athletics from the Toronto Blue Jays.
• August 27, 1981: Tim Hosley was released by the Athletics.

Draft picks

• June 8, 1981: 1981 Major League Baseball draft
  • Mike Gallego was drafted by the Athletics in the 2nd round (33rd pick). Player signed June 12, 1981.
  • Rick Rodriguez was drafted by the Athletics in the 2nd round (41st pick).
  • Mickey Tettleton was drafted by the Athletics in the 5th round.

Billyball, year two

Following the team's surprising success in 1980, manager Billy Martin was given the additional title of general manager in 1981. The team won the division title for the first time since 1975, winning the first half of the split season, then defeating the Royals in the divisional playoffs before losing to the Yankees in the ALCS.

While the team was successful, it came at a high price, both for the team and for the pitching staff. Following a season in which the team led the league in complete games with 94—an astonishing number for the time—the Athletics again led the league with 60 complete games out of 109 total games in the strike-shortened season. For the second time, the pitching staff completed more than half their total number of games and more than double the number of the team with the second-highest total (The Indians and Tigers each had 33). The workload of the pitchers over the two seasons was blamed by the team's ownership for the team's fall to fifth place in 1982, which led to Martin's firing from both positions. Many of the pitchers suffered injuries, and none of the four main starting pitchers (Rick Langford, Steve McCatty, Mike Norris, Matt Keough) ever duplicated their success of 1980–81.

Roster

1981 Oakland Athletics
Roster
Pitchers 55 Dave Beard 28 Rich Bordi 23 Ed Figueroa 60 Dave Heaverlo 38 Jeff Jones 27 Matt Keough 50 Brian Kingman 22 Rick Langford 54 Steve McCatty 34 Bo McLaughlin 32 Craig Minetto 17 Mike Norris 51 Bob Owchinko 31 Tom Underwood		Catchers  2 Mike Heath 32 Bob Kearney  5 Jeff Newman Infielders  3 Shooty Babitt 48,49 Jeff Cox 18 Brian Doyle 14 Keith Drumright 10 Wayne Gross 25 Tim Hosley  9 Mickey Klutts 26 Kelvin Moore  8 Rob Picciolo 13 Dave Revering 15 Jimmy Sexton 12 Jim Spencer 11 Fred Stanley		Outfielders 20 Tony Armas  7 Rick Bosetti 16 Mike Davis 35 Rickey Henderson 21 Dwayne Murphy 29 Jim Nettles 47 Mike Patterson Other batters 13,15 Mark Budaska 44 Cliff Johnson  6 Mitchell Page		Manager  1 Billy Martin Coaches 41 Clete Boyer 42 Art Fowler 40 George Mitterwald 45 Jackie Moore 43 Lee Walls

Player stats

Batting

= Indicates team leader

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	R	H	Avg.	HR	RBI	SB
C	Mike Heath	84	301	26	71	.236	8	30	3
1B	Jim Spencer	54	171	14	35	.205	2	9	1
2B	Shooty Babitt	54	156	10	40	.256	0	14	5
3B	Wayne Gross	82	243	29	50	.206	10	31	2
SS	Rob Picciolo	82	179	23	48	.268	4	13	0
LF	Rickey Henderson	108	423	89	135	.319	6	35	56
CF	Dwayne Murphy	107	390	58	98	.251	15	60	10
RF	Tony Armas	109	440	51	115	.261	22	76	5
DH	Cliff Johnson	84	273	40	71	.260	17	59	5

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
Dave McKay	79	224	59	.263	4	21
Jeff Newman	68	216	50	.231	3	15
Fred Stanley	66	145	28	.193	0	7
Mitchell Page	34	92	13	.141	4	13
Dave Revering	31	87	20	.230	2	10
Keith Drumright	31	86	25	.291	0	11
Kelvin Moore	14	47	12	.255	1	3
Mickey Klutts	15	46	17	.370	5	11
Brian Doyle	17	40	5	.125	0	3
Mark Budaska	9	32	5	.156	0	2
Mike Patterson	12	23	8	.348	0	1
Tim Hosley	18	21	2	.095	1	5
Mike Davis	17	20	1	.050	0	0
Rick Bosetti	9	19	2	.105	0	1
Jimmy Sexton	7	3	0	.000	0	0
Jeff Cox	2	0	0	----	0	0
Bob Kearney	1	0	0	----	0	0
Jim Nettles	1	0	0	----	0	0

Pitching

Starting pitchers

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

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Rick Langford	24	195.1	12	10	2.99	84
Mike Norris	23	172.2	12	9	3.75	78
Steve McCatty	22	185.2	14	7	2.33	91
Matt Keough	19	140.1	10	6	3.40	60
Brian Kingman	18	100.1	3	6	3.95	52

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
Tom Underwood	16	51.0	3	2	3.18	46
Ed Figueroa	2	8.1	0	0	5.40	1

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
Jeff Jones	33	4	1	3	3.39	43
Bob Owchinko	29	4	3	2	3.20	26
Bo McLaughlin	11	0	0	1	11.57	3
Dave Beard	8	1	1	3	2.77	15
Craig Minetto	8	0	0	0	2.70	4
Dave Heaverlo	6	1	0	0	1.59	2
Rich Bordi	2	0	0	0	0.00	0

Postseason

ALDS

Main article: 1981 American League Division Series

Oakland wins series, 3-0.

Game	Score	Date	Location	Attendance
1	Oakland 4, Kansas City 0	October 6	Royals Stadium	40,592
2	Oakland 2, Kansas City 1	October 7	Royals Stadium	40,274
3	Oakland 4, Kansas City 1	October 9	Oakland Coliseum	40,002

ALCS

Main article: 1981 American League Championship Series

Yankees win the Series, 3-0

Game	Score	Date	Location	Attendance
1	Oakland – 1, New York – 3	October 13	Yankee Stadium	55,740
2	Oakland – 3, New York – 13	October 14	Yankee Stadium	48,497
3	New York – 4, Oakland – 0	October 15	Oakland Coliseum	47,302

Game log

1981 Playoff Game Log
1981 American League Western Division Series vs. Kansas City Royals – Oakland wins series 3–0 # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Series Report Game 1 October 6 @ Royals Game 2 October 7 @ Royals Game 3 October 9 Royals
1981 American League Championship Series vs. New York Yankees – New York Yankees wins series 3–0 # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Series Report Game 1 October 13 @ Yankees Game 2 October 14 @ Yankees Game 3 October 15 Yankees

Legend
Athletics win	Athletics loss

Awards and honors

• Rickey Henderson, American League leader, Hits
• Billy Martin, Associated Press AL Manager of the Year

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Tacoma Tigers	Pacific Coast League	Ed Nottle
AA	West Haven A's	Eastern League	Bob Didier
A	Modesto A's	California League	Keith Lieppman
A-Short Season	Medford A's	Northwest League	Brad Fischer

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Medford

External links

• 1981 Oakland Athletics at Baseball Reference
• 1981 Oakland Athletics at Baseball Almanac