The 1980 Oakland Athletics season was the team's thirteenth season in Oakland. The A's, under first-year manager Billy Martin, began the season with low expectations following their 1979 campaign. Strong performances from pitchers Mike Norris, Matt Keough, and Rick Langford, along with the brilliant play of breakout star (and future Hall-of-Famer) Rickey Henderson, paved the way for a staggering 29-win increase over the previous year's output. The Athletics, only one year removed from baseball's worst record, swung to a second-place finish behind their 83–79 record.
The season also marked the end of the Charlie Finley ownership era. Finley sold the team to Walter A. Haas, Jr. shortly before the start of the 1981 season. The A's would remain under Haas' ownership until 1995.
Offseason March 21, 1980: Jim Todd was released by the Athletics.Jim Todd page at Baseball Reference March 21, 1980: Joe Wallis was released by the Athletics.Joe Wallis page at Baseball Reference
Regular season In 1980, Charlie O. Finley hired Billy Martin to manage the young team. The club was led by new young stars Rickey Henderson, Mike Norris, Tony Armas, and Dwayne Murphy. The starting pitching staff was also notable in that they completed 94 starts, virtually unheard of in the era of the relief pitcher. Rick Langford finished 28 of his 33 starts, totalling 290 innings, and tallying a 19-12 record. Norris went 22-9 with a 2.53 ERA, completed 24 starts, and was runner-up to Steve Stone in the Cy Young Award balloting that year. Martin made believers of his young charges as "Billyball" (characterized as featuring aggressive base running) was used to market the team, and the Athletics finished second in 1980.
Rickey Henderson broke Ty Cobb's American League record for most stolen bases in one season (96) by recording 100 stolen bases.Numbelievable!, p. 46, Michael X. Ferraro and John Venziano, Triumph Books, 2007, Chicago, Illinois,
Season standings
Record vs. opponents
Notable transactions April 10, 1980: Randy Elliott was signed as a free agent by the Athletics.Randy Elliott page at Baseball Reference
Draft picks June 3, 1980: Rich Bordi was drafted by the Athletics in the 3rd round of the 1980 Major League Baseball draft.Rich Bordi page at Baseball Reference
Roster 1980 Oakland Athletics Roster Pitchers Catchers
Infielders Outfielders
Other batters Manager
Coaches
Player stats = Indicates team leader = Indicates league leader 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; SB = Stolen bases Pos. Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI SB C 87 285 66 .232 5 291 1B Dave Revering 106 376 109 .290 15 621 2B Jeff Cox 59 169 36 .213 0 98 SS Mario Guerrero 116 381 91 .239 2 233 3B Wayne Gross 113 366 103 .281 14 615 LF 158 591 179 .303 9 53100 CF 159 573 157 .274 13 6826 RF 158 628 175 .279 35 1095 DH Mitchell Page 110 348 85 .244 17 5114
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 127 438 102 .233 15 56 Mike Heath 92 305 74 .243 1 33 123 295 72 .244 1 29 Rob Picciolo 95 271 65 .240 5 18 Mickey Klutts 75 197 53 .269 4 21 Mike Davis 51 95 20 .211 1 8 25 70 17 .243 0 1 46 59 14 .237 0 3 14 39 5 .128 0 1 Ray Cosey 9 9 1 .111 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 35 290.0 19 12 3.26 102 33 284.1 22 9 2.53 180 Matt Keough 34 250.0 16 13 2.92 121 Steve McCatty 33 221.2 14 14 3.86 114 Brian Kingman 32 211.1 8 20 3.83 116
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 7 8.0 0 2 7.88 5
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 Bob Lacey 47 3 2 6 2.94 45 35 1 3 5 2.84 34 Dave Hamilton 21 0 3 0 11.40 23 13 0 1 1 3.38 12 5 0 0 0 6.94 9 5 0 0 0 7.90 5 5 0 0 0 7.71 2 2 0 0 0 4.50 1 1 0 0 0 4.50 0
Awards and honors Billy Martin, Associated Press AL Manager of the Year
League records Rickey Henderson, American League record (since broken), Most stolen bases in one season (100)
League leaders Rickey Henderson, American League leader, stolen bases (100)
Farm system
References
External links 1980 Oakland Athletics team page at Baseball Reference 1980 Oakland Athletics team page at www.baseball-almanac.com