1994 Oakland Athletics
LeagueAmerican League
DivisionWest
BallparkOakland–Alameda County Coliseum
CityOakland, California
Record51–63 (.447)
Divisional place2nd
OwnersWalter A. Haas, Jr.
General managersSandy Alderson
ManagersTony La Russa
TelevisionKRON-TV
(Dick Stockton, Ray Fosse)
Sports Channel Pacific
(Ray Fosse, Greg Papa)
RadioKFRC
(Bill King, Lon Simmons, Ray Fosse)
Seasons

The 1994 Oakland Athletics' season was the team's 27th season in Oakland, California. It was also the 94th season in franchise history. The team finished second in the American League West with a record of 51–63.

The Athletics' 1994 campaign ranks among the most unusual in franchise history. A disastrous 1993 campaign, attributable mainly to inept pitching, had tempered expectations in Oakland; while several established stars (namely Dennis Eckersley, Bob Welch, Terry Steinbach, Mark McGwire, and a recently re-signed Rickey Henderson) remained with the team in 1994, questions about the starting rotation, bullpen, and infield kept expectations low.

The Athletics belied these low expectations with a 7–5 start. The team's pitching staff continued to hemorrhage runs (allowing 79 in 12 games); the staff was bailed out, however, by their red-hot offense (which scored 93 runs over the same span). On April 17 (the day of Oakland's seventh win), the A's were 1.5 games ahead of the second-place California Angels.

The Athletics' offense soon cooled down, however. This drop in production, combined with continued pitching woes, set the stage for a monumental collapse. Between April 19 and May 29, Oakland lost 31 games in 37 tries; at the end of this span, their record stood at 13–36. The A's, then firmly in last place, trailed the division-leading Angels (who also had a sub-.500 record) by nine games. Oakland continued to lose ground over the following two weeks; at their absolute nadir, the Athletics' 19–43 record trailed the division-leading Rangers (who had since overtaken the Angels) by 12.5 games.

The A's, instead, launched themselves back into contention with a turnaround. Over their next 22 games, the Athletics went 19–3; this surge raised their record to 38–46. Oakland's much-maligned pitching staff powered the resurgence; over the 22-game span, Athletics pitchers allowed 3.27 runs per game (while pitching six shutouts). The rest of the division struggled over the same span; as such, Oakland's 38th victory allowed it to pull within three games of the first-place Rangers. The A's cooled down in subsequent weeks; poor play from the rest of the division, however, allowed them to gain further ground. The team finished with a 51–63 record; despite being 12 games under .500, the A's were only one game behind the first-place Rangers. All four of the American League West's teams finished the strike-shortened season with losing records. This is the only such instance in MLB history.

The 1994 Players' strike ended the season (and the A's postseason hopes) entirely. While the Rangers would win their first-ever division title in 1996, the A's would have to wait until 2000 to return to the postseason.

Offseason

Regular season

Despite compiling a record of 51–63 by Friday, August 12, the Athletics were only one game behind the Texas Rangers for the lead in the AL West Division. They had scored 549 runs (4.82 per game) and allowed 589 runs (5.17 per game).[6]

The Athletics finished the strike-shortened season 28th in triples, with just 13, but they led the Majors in sacrifice flies, with 51.[7]

Despite walking an MLB-high 510 batters, the Athletics tied the Chicago White Sox for the most shutouts pitched, with 9.[7]

Transactions

Season standings

AL West W L Pct. GB Home Road
Texas Rangers 5262 0.456 — 31–32 21–30
Oakland Athletics 5163 0.447 1 24–32 27–31
Seattle Mariners 4963 0.438 2 22–22 27–41
California Angels 4768 0.409 5½ 23–40 24–28
Division leaders W L Pct.
New York Yankees 7043 0.619
Chicago White Sox 6746 0.593
Texas Rangers 5262 0.456
Wild Card team
(Top team qualifies for postseason)		 W L Pct. GB
Cleveland Indians 6647 0.584 —
Baltimore Orioles 6349 0.562 2½
Kansas City Royals 6451 0.557 3
Toronto Blue Jays 5560 0.478 12
Boston Red Sox 5461 0.470 13
Minnesota Twins 5360 0.469 13
Detroit Tigers 5362 0.461 14
Milwaukee Brewers 5362 0.461 14
Oakland Athletics 5163 0.447 15½
Seattle Mariners 4963 0.438 16½
California Angels 4768 0.409 20

Record vs. opponents

1994 American League record

Sources:
Team BAL BOS CAL CWS CLE DET KC MIL MIN NYY OAK SEA TEX TOR
Baltimore —4–28–42–44–63–44–17–34–54–67–54–63–37–2
Boston 2–4—7–52–43–74–24–25–51–83–79–36–61–57–3
California 4–85–7—5–50–53–46–43–33–34–83–62–76–43–4
Chicago 4–24–25–5—7–58–43–79–32–44–26–39–14–52–3
Cleveland 6–47–35–05–7—8–21–45–29–30–96–03–25–76–4
Detroit 4–32–44–34–82–8—4–86–43–33–35–46–35–75–4
Kansas City 1–42–44–67–34–18–4—5–76–44–27–36–44–36–6
Milwaukee 3–75–53–33–92–54–67–5—6–62–74–14–23–37–3
Minnesota 5–48–13–34–23–93–34–66–6—4–52–53–34–54–8
New York 6–47–38–42–49–03–32–47–25–4—7–58–43–23–4
Oakland 5–73–96–33–60–64–53–71–45–25–7—4–37–35–1
Seattle 4–66–67–21–92–33–64–62–43–34–83–4—9–11–5
Texas 3–35–14–65–47–57–53–43–35–42–33–71–9—4–8
Toronto 2–73–74–33–24–64–56–63–78–44–31–55–18–4—

Roster

1994 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
CTerry Steinbach103369105.2851157
1BTroy Neel8327874.2661548
2BBrent Gates6423366.283224
SSMike Bordick11439199.253237
3BScott Brosius9632477.2381449
LFRickey Henderson8729677.260620
CFStan Javier109419114.2721044
RFRubén Sierra110426114.2682392
DHGerónimo Berroa96340104.3061365

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 Hemond9119844.222320
Mike Aldrete7617843.242418
Mark McGwire4713534.252925
Craig Paquette14497.14300
Eric Fox26449.20511
Junior Noboa174013.32506
Ernie Young11302.06703
Fausto Cruz17283.10700
Francisco Matos14287.25002
Mike Brumley11256.24002
Steve Sax7246.25001
Jim Bowie6143.21400
Jeff Schaefer681.12500
Eric Helfand761.16701

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
Ron Darling25160.010114.50108
Bobby Witt24135.28105.04111
Todd Van Poppel23116.27106.0983
Miguel Jimenez834.0147.4122
Steve Karsay428.0112.5715
Mike Mohler12.1017.714

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
Steve Ontiveros27115.1642.6556
Carlos Reyes2778.0034.1557
Bob Welch2568.2367.0844

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 Eckersley4554194.2647
Billy Taylor411313.5048
John Briscoe374214.0145
Mark Acre345103.4121
Vince Horsman330104.9120
Dave Leiper260011.9314
Ed Vosberg160203.9512
Edwin Núñez1500012.0015
Dave Righetti700016.714
Steve Phoenix20006.233
Roger Smithberg200015.433

Farm system

Level Team League Manager
AAA Tacoma Tigers Pacific Coast League Casey Parsons
AA Huntsville Stars Southern League Gary Jones
A Modesto A's California League Dick Scott
A West Michigan Whitecaps Midwest League Jim Colborn
A-Short Season Southern Oregon A's Northwest League Tom Dunton
Rookie AZL Athletics Arizona League Tony DeFrancesco

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Huntsville

References

  1. ↑ "Mike Aldrete Stats - Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved November 24, 2017.
  2. ↑ "Billy Taylor Stats - Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved November 24, 2017.
  3. ↑ "Rickey Henderson Stats - Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved November 24, 2017.
  4. ↑ "Kerwin Moore Stats - Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved November 24, 2017.
  5. 1 2 "Dave Righetti Stats - Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved November 24, 2017.
  6. ↑ "1994 American League Season Summary - Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved November 24, 2017.
  7. 1 2 "1994 Major League Baseball Season Summary - Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved November 24, 2017.
  8. ↑ "Steve Sax Stats - Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved November 24, 2017.
  9. ↑ "Jeff Schaefer Stats - Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved November 24, 2017.
  10. ↑ "Jason Beverlin Stats - Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved November 24, 2017.
  11. ↑ "Tim Hudson Stats - Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved November 24, 2017.
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