The Oakland Athletics' 1995 season was the team's 28th in Oakland, California. It was also the 95th season in franchise history. The team finished fourth in the American League West with a record of 67–77.

The Athletics, for a third consecutive year, found themselves mired in mediocrity. As had been the case in both 1993 and 1994, an average-to-poor offense (headlined by Mark McGwire, Rickey Henderson, and Rubén Sierra) was sabotaged by one of the league's worst pitching staffs. For a third consecutive season, no Athletics starter posted an earned run average (ERA) of less than 4.50; only one such starter, Todd Stottlemyre, managed to record double-digit wins in the strike-shortened campaign.

The Athletics, despite their weak pitching, managed to contend in the first half of the season. On July 1, a win over the division-leading California Angels brought them within 1.5 games of first place; it also ran their record to a surprising 34–28. As had been the case in 1994, the A's followed their surprising start with a prolonged slump; between July 2 and August 15, the team went only 13–28. The collapse, along with an Angels surge (the Angels went 30–11 over the same span) left the A's 17.5 games out of first place. As had also been the case in 1994, Oakland mounted a dramatic comeback; an Angels collapse, combined with a surge of their own, allowed them to pull within five games of first place on September 20. The September 20th victory would be their last, as Oakland lost each of the regular season's final nine games. They finished the campaign eleven games behind the AL West champion Seattle Mariners.

The Athletics' on-field mediocrity, however, contained a few bright spots. Mark McGwire clubbed 39 home runs in a mere 104 games; he would hit at least 50 in each of the four subsequent seasons. The 1995 season also saw the debut of future superstar Jason Giambi. Giambi, in his first major league season, batted .256 with six home runs in 54 games. Lastly, the season was Tony La Russa's last as Oakland's manager. He, along with most of the Athletics' assistant coaches, would join the St. Louis Cardinals in 1996.

Offseason November 8, 1994: José Ortiz was signed as an amateur free agent by the Athletics.José Ortiz at Baseball Reference

Regular season Walter A.HaasOwner: 1981-95(OAK)Honored 1995

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Notable transactions April 8, 1995: Dave Stewart was signed as a free agent by the Athletics.Dave Stewart at Baseball Reference April 11, 1995: Todd Stottlemyre was signed as a free agent by the Athletics.Todd Stottlemyre at Baseball Reference April 12, 1995: Mike Gallego was signed as a free agent by the Athletics.Mike Gallego at Baseball Reference April 20, 1995: Brian Harper was signed as a free agent by the Athletics.Brian Harper at Baseball Reference June 1, 1995: Mark Bellhorn was drafted by the Athletics in the 2nd round of the 1995 Major League Baseball draft. Player signed June 24, 1995.Mark Bellhorn at Baseball Reference July 28, 1995: Rubén Sierra and Jason Beverlin were traded by the Athletics to the New York Yankees for Danny Tartabull.Danny Tartabull at Baseball Reference August 21, 1995: Ron Darling was released by the Athletics.Ron Darling at Baseball Reference

Roster 1995 Oakland Athletics Roster Pitchers Catchers

Infielders Outfielders Manager

Coaches (Pitching) (Bullpen) (Bench) (Hitting) (First Base) (Third Base)

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 Terry Steinbach 114 406 113 .278 15 65 1B Mark McGwire 104 317 87 .274 39 90 2B Brent Gates 136 524 133 .254 5 56 SS 126 428 113 .264 8 44 3B Craig Paquette 105 283 64 .226 13 49 LF Rickey Henderson 112 407 122 .300 9 54 CF Stan Javier 130 442 123 .278 8 56 RF 70 264 70 .265 12 42 DH Gerónimo Berroa 141 546 152 .278 22 88

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 Scott Brosius 123 389 102 .262 17 46 Jason Giambi 54 176 45 .256 6 25 Mike Aldrete 60 125 34 .272 4 21 43 120 28 .233 0 8 Danny Tartabull 24 88 23 .261 2 7 Eric Helfand 38 86 14 .163 0 7 Andy Tomberlin 46 85 18 .212 4 10 29 79 23 .291 3 14 José Herrera 33 70 17 .243 0 2 Ernie Young 26 50 10 .200 2 5 Fausto Cruz 8 23 5 .217 0 5 Brian Harper 2 7 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 31 209.2 14 7 4.55 205 Steve Ontiveros 22 129.2 9 6 4.37 77 21 104.0 4 7 6.23 69 16 81.0 3 7 6.89 58 Mike Harkey 14 66.0 4 6 6.27 28 Doug Johns 11 54.2 5 3 4.61 25

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 Todd Van Poppel 36 138.1 4 8 4.88 122 Ariel Prieto 14 58.0 2 6 4.97 37 14 48.2 2 3 5.18 13 John Wasdin 5 17.1 1 1 4.67 6

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 Dennis Eckersley 52 4 6 29 4.83 40 Rick Honeycutt 49 5 1 2 2.42 21 43 1 2 0 5.71 47 Carlos Reyes 40 4 6 0 5.09 48 Jim Corsi 38 2 4 2 2.20 26 Mike Mohler 28 1 1 1 3.04 15 Dave Leiper 24 1 1 0 3.57 10 Don Wengert 19 1 1 0 3.34 16 John Briscoe 16 0 1 0 8.35 19 Chris Eddy 6 0 0 0 7.36 2 Scott Baker 1 0 0 0 9.82 3 Steve Phoenix 1 0 0 0 32.40 3 Ramón Fermín 1 0 0 0 13.50 0

Awards and records Mark McGwire, Major League Record, Most Home Runs in a season in under 350 At-Bats (39)Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p.371, David Nemec and Scott latow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York,

Farm system

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: AZL Athletics

References

1995 Oakland Athletics at Baseball Reference 1995 Oakland Athletics at Baseball Almanac