1976 Oakland Athletics season

The 1976 Oakland Athletics season involved the A's finishing second in the American League West with a record of 87 wins and 74 losses, 2+1⁄2 games behind the Kansas City Royals. The A's failed to win the division (and make the playoffs) for the first time since 1970. The team set and still holds the American League record for most stolen bases with 341,^[1] second in Major League Baseball's modern era (since 1901) to the 1911 New York Giants, who had 347.^[2]

1976 Oakland Athletics
Major League affiliations
American League (since 1901) Western Division (since 1969)
Location
Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum (since 1968) Oakland, California (since 1968)
Results
Record	87–74 (.540)
Divisional place	2nd
Other information
Owner(s)	Charles O. Finley
Manager(s)	Chuck Tanner
Local television	KPIX-TV
Local radio	KNBR (Monte Moore, Bob Waller)
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The Athletics did not eclipse this season's win total until 1988 (104 wins). Nearly all of the team's stars (Sal Bando, Rollie Fingers, Gene Tenace, Joe Rudi, Bert Campaneris, Don Baylor, Phil Garner, Billy Williams, Claudell Washington, and an injury-plagued Willie McCovey) departed after this season. This staggering mass exodus led to a 24-win plunge in 1977 to last place in the standings and attendance.

Offseason

• October 10, 1975: Dal Maxvill was released.^[3]
• December 9, 1975: Ray Fosse was purchased by the Cleveland Indians.^[4]
• April 2, 1976: Reggie Jackson, Ken Holtzman, and Bill Van Bommell (minors) were traded to the Baltimore Orioles for Don Baylor, Mike Torrez, and Paul Mitchell.^[5][6] Owner Charlie Finley stated that he made the trade to obtain more pitching for the club.^[7] He later admitted that he had refused to agree to Jackson's salary demands.^[8]
• April 5, 1976: Ken McMullen was signed as a free agent.^[9]

Regular season

As the 1976 season got underway (on April 9 for Oakland), the basic rules of player contracts were changing. It was ruled that baseball's reserve clause only bound players for one season after their contract expired. All players not signed to multi-year contracts would be eligible for free agency at the end of the 1976 season. Finley reacted by trading star players and attempting to sell others. On June 15, Finley sold left fielder Joe Rudi and relief pitcher Rollie Fingers to the Boston Red Sox for $1 million each, and pitcher Vida Blue^[10] to the New York Yankees for $1.5 million. Three days later, Bowie Kuhn voided the transactions in the "best interests of baseball." Amid the turmoil, the A's still finished second in the A.L. West, 2.5 games behind the Royals.

Fire sale

• Before the June 15 trading deadline, Finley contacted the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox. He had proposed a trade to the Red Sox that would have involved Joe Rudi, Rollie Fingers, Vida Blue, Gene Tenace, and Sal Bando for outfielder Fred Lynn, catcher Carlton Fisk, and prospects.^[11] In trade talks with the Yankees, Finley proposed Vida Blue for catcher Thurman Munson, along with either outfielder Roy White or Elliott Maddox; he also offered Rudi for Munson.^[11]
• On June 14, Finley was unable to make any trades, and had started contacting other teams about the possibility of selling his players' contracts. Rudi, Blue, Baylor, and Tenace were worth $1 million each, while Bando could be acquired for $500,000. Boston general manager Dick O'Connell was in Oakland as the Red Sox would play the Athletics on June 15. Field manager Darrell Johnson had declared that he was interested in Rudi and Fingers; the Red Sox had agreed to purchase both contracts for one million dollars each.

O'Connell had contacted Detroit Tigers general manager Jim Campbell to purchase Vida Blue for one million dollars so that the New York Yankees could not get him.^[12] Gabe Paul of the Yankees advised that he would pay $1.5 million for the opportunity to acquire Blue. Finley offered Blue a three-year extension worth $485,000 per season to make the sale more attractive to the Yankees.^[12] With the extension, the Yankees agreed to purchase Blue.

• Finley had then proceeded to contact Bill Veeck of the Chicago White Sox about purchasing Sal Bando. He then contacted the Texas Rangers, as they were interested in acquiring Don Baylor for the one million dollar asking price.^[13]

Season standings

v t e AL West	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Kansas City Royals	90	72	0.556	—	49–32	41–40
Oakland Athletics	87	74	0.540	2½	51–30	36–44
Minnesota Twins	85	77	0.525	5	44–37	41–40
Texas Rangers	76	86	0.469	14	39–42	37–44
California Angels	76	86	0.469	14	38–43	38–43
Chicago White Sox	64	97	0.398	25½	35–45	29–52

• By May 18, the Athletics were 18–24 (.429), and seven and a half games out of first place.^[8]

Record vs. opponents

1976 American League Records v t e 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	TEX
Baltimore	—	7–11	8–4	8–4	7–11	12–6	6–6	11–7	4–8	13–5	4–8	8–4
Boston	11–7	—	7–5	6–6	9–9	14–4	3–9	12–6	7–5	7–11	4–8	3–9
California	4–8	5–7	—	11–7	7–5	6–6	8–10	4–8	8–10	5–7	6–12	12–6
Chicago	4–8	6–6	7–11	—	3–9	6–6	8–10	7–5	7–11	1–11	8–9	7–11
Cleveland	11–7	9–9	5–7	9–3	—	6–12	6–6	11–6	9–3	4–12	4–8	7–5
Detroit	6–12	4–14	6–6	6–6	12–6	—	4–8	12–6	4–8	9–8	6–6	5–7
Kansas City	6–6	9–3	10–8	10–8	6–6	8–4	—	8–4	10–8	7–5	9–9	7–11
Milwaukee	7–11	6–12	8–4	5–7	6–11	6–12	4–8	—	4–8	5–13	5–7	10–2
Minnesota	8–4	5–7	10–8	11–7	3–9	8–4	8–10	8–4	—	2–10	11–7	11–7
New York	5–13	11–7	7–5	11–1	12–4	8–9	5–7	13–5	10–2	—	6–6	9–3
Oakland	8–4	8–4	12–6	9–8	8–4	6–6	9–9	7–5	7–11	6–6	—	7–11
Texas	4–8	9–3	6–12	11–7	5–7	7–5	11–7	2–10	7–11	3–9	11–7	—

Notable transactions

• April 19: Tim Hosley was selected off waivers from the Chicago Cubs.^[14]
• June 8: 1976 Major League Baseball Draft
  • Rickey Henderson was drafted in the fourth round, and signed on July 9, 1976.^[15]
  • Ernie Camacho was drafted in the first round (18th pick) of the Secondary Phase.^[16]
• June 9: Nate Colbert was signed as a free agent.^[17]
• August 30: Willie McCovey was purchased from the San Diego Padres.^[18]

Roster

1976 Oakland Athletics
Roster
Pitchers 37 Glenn Abbott 39,45 Stan Bahnsen 32 Chris Batton 14 Vida Blue 17 Dick Bosman 34 Rollie Fingers 25 Paul Lindblad 29 Craig Mitchell 36 Paul Mitchell 16 Mike Norris 22 Jim Todd 24 Mike Torrez		Catchers 12 Larry Haney 30 Tim Hosley  5 Jeff Newman Infielders  6 Sal Bando 19 Bert Campaneris 11 Ron Fairly 2,3 Phil Garner 10 Wayne Gross 21,45 Larry Lintz 35 Ken McMullen 13 Tommy Sandt 18 Gene Tenace		Outfielders 31 Matt Alexander 20 Don Baylor  8 Ángel Mangual  4 Billy North 26 Joe Rudi 2,3 César Tovar  8 Denny Walling 15 Claudell Washington 28 Billy Williams 33 Gary Woods Other batters 23 Nate Colbert 38 Jim Holt  1 Don Hopkins 44 Willie McCovey		Manager  7 Chuck Tanner Coaches 44 Joe Lonnett 43 Alex Monchak 42 Wes Stock

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	Larry Haney	88	177	40	.226	0	10
1B	Gene Tenace	128	417	104	.249	22	66
2B	Phil Garner	159	555	145	.261	8	74
3B	Sal Bando	158	550	132	.240	27	84
SS	Bert Campaneris	149	536	137	.256	1	52
LF	Joe Rudi	130	500	135	.270	13	94
CF	Billy North	154	590	163	.276	2	31
RF	Claudell Washington	134	490	126	.257	5	53
DH	Billy Williams	120	351	74	.211	11	41

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
Don Baylor	157	595	147	.247	15	68
Ken McMullen	98	186	41	.220	5	23
Jeff Newman	43	77	15	.195	0	4
Tommy Sandt	41	67	14	.209	0	3
Tim Hosley	37	55	9	.164	1	4
Ron Fairly	15	46	11	.239	3	10
César Tovar	29	45	8	.178	0	4
Matt Alexander	61	30	1	.033	0	0
Willie McCovey	11	24	5	.208	0	0
Wayne Gross	10	18	4	.222	0	1
Ángel Mangual	8	12	2	.167	0	1
Denny Walling	3	11	3	.273	0	0
Gary Woods	6	8	1	.125	0	0
Jim Holt	4	7	2	.286	0	2
Nate Colbert	2	5	0	.000	0	0
Larry Lintz	68	1	0	.000	0	0
Don Hopkins	3	0	0	----	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
Vida Blue	37	298.1	18	13	2.35	166
Mike Torrez	39	266.1	16	12	2.50	115
Paul Mitchell	26	142.0	9	7	4.25	67
Mike Norris	24	96.0	4	5	4.78	44

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
Stan Bahnsen	35	143.0	8	7	3.34	82
Dick Bosman	27	112.0	4	2	4.10	34
Glenn Abbott	19	62.1	2	4	5.49	27
Chris Batton	2	4.0	0	0	9.00	4

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
Rollie Fingers	70	13	11	20	2.47	113
Paul Lindblad	65	6	5	5	3.06	37
Jim Todd	49	7	8	4	3.81	22
Craig Mitchell	1	0	0	0	2.70	0

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Tucson Toros	Pacific Coast League	Hank Aguirre and Lee Stange
AA	Chattanooga Lookouts	Southern League	Rene Lachemann
A	Modesto A's	California League	George Farson
A-Short Season	Boise A's	Northwest League	Tom Trebelhorn

References

1. "Team Stolen Base Records & Team Caught Stealing Records". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved April 17, 2022.
2. "1911 New York Giants Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved April 17, 2022.
3. Dal Maxvill page at Baseball Reference
4. Ray Fosse page at Baseball Reference
5. "A's trade Jackson, Holtzman". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. April 3, 1976. p. 1B.
6. Reggie Jackson page at Baseball Reference
7. Charlie Finley: The Outrageous Story of Baseball's Super Showman, p.244, G. Michael Green and Roger D. Launius. Walker Publishing Company, New York, 2010, ISBN 978-0-8027-1745-0
8. Charlie Finley: The Outrageous Story of Baseball's Super Showman, p.245, G. Michael Green and Roger D. Launius. Walker Publishing Company, New York, 2010, ISBN 978-0-8027-1745-0
9. Ken McMullen page at Baseball Reference
10. . Archived from the original on August 14, 2002. Retrieved July 4, 2008.
11. Charlie Finley: The Outrageous Story of Baseball's Super Showman, p.247, G. Michael Green and Roger D. Launius. Walker Publishing Company, New York, 2010, ISBN 978-0-8027-1745-0
12. Charlie Finley: The Outrageous Story of Baseball's Super Showman, p.248, G. Michael Green and Roger D. Launius. Walker Publishing Company, New York, 2010, ISBN 978-0-8027-1745-0
13. Charlie Finley: The Outrageous Story of Baseball's Super Showman, p.249, G. Michael Green and Roger D. Launius. Walker Publishing Company, New York, 2010, ISBN 978-0-8027-1745-0
14. Tim Hosley page at Baseball Reference
15. Rickey Henderson page at Baseball Reference
16. Ernie Camacho page at Baseball Reference
17. Nate Colbert page at Baseball Reference
18. Willie McCovey page at Baseball Reference

External links

• 1976 Oakland Athletics team page at Baseball Reference
• 1976 Oakland Athletics team page at www.baseball-almanac.com