1970 Oakland Athletics season

Major League Baseball team season

1970 Oakland Athletics

League| American League
Division| West
Ballpark| Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum
City| Oakland, California
Record| 89–73 (.549)
Owners| Charles O. Finley
Managers| John McNamara
Television| KBHK-TV
Radio| KNBR
(Monte Moore, Harry Caray)
| <- 1969 | Seasons | 1971 ->

|
|

The 1970 Oakland Athletics season was the 70th season for the Oakland Athletics franchise, all as members of the American League, and their 3rd season in Oakland. The Athletics finished the season with a record of 89 wins and 73 losses. In 1970, owner Charlie Finley officially changed the team name from the Athletics to the "A's". An "apostrophe-s" was added to the cap and uniform emblem to reflect that fact.

## Offseason

[edit]

During the off-season, Reggie Jackson sought an increase in salary, and A's owner Charlie Finley threatened to send Jackson to the minors. Commissioner Bowie Kuhn successfully intervened in their dispute. Reggie Jackson demanded $60,000 per season, while he was offered $40,000 by Charlie Finley. Both parties settled on $45,000,[1] but Jackson's numbers in 1970 dropped sharply, as he hit just 23 home runs while batting .237.

### Notable transactions

[edit]

* December 1, 1969: Manny Trillo was drafted by the Athletics from the Philadelphia Phillies in the 1969 rule 5 draft.[2]
* December 5, 1969: Danny Cater and Ossie Chavarria were traded by the Athletics to the New York Yankees for Al Downing and Frank Fernández.[3]
* December 7, 1969: George Lauzerique and Ted Kubiak were traded by the Athletics to the Milwaukee Brewers for Diego Seguí and Ray Oyler.[4]
* January 15, 1970: Phil Roof, Mike Hershberger, Lew Krausse Jr., and Ken Sanders were traded by the Athletics to the Milwaukee Brewers for Don Mincher and Ron Clark.[5]
* January 17, 1970: 1970 Major League Baseball draft (January draft) notable picks:[6]

Round 4: Mitchell Page (did not sign)
Secondary Phase[7]

Round 1: Vic Harris[8]

## Regular season

[edit]

* During the 1970 season, there were rumours of the Athletics attempting to relocate to Toronto.[9]
* At the end of May, the Athletics were 25–23, and 8 games back of the first place Minnesota Twins.[10]
* September 21: Vida Blue threw a no-hitter versus the Minnesota Twins, winning 6-0. A walk by Harmon Killebrew prevented Blue from pitching a perfect game.[11][12]
* The club hired Harry Caray to do the play by play for the Athletics. Charlie Finley wanted Caray to change his broadcast chant of Holy Cow to Holy Mule. Caray refused and left after the season.[13]

### Season standings

[edit]

* v
* t
* e

AL West Team  | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road

|
|
|
|
|
|

Minnesota Twins | 98 | 64  | .605  | —  | 51‍–‍30  | 47‍–‍34
Oakland Athletics | 89 | 73  | .549  | 9  | 49‍–‍32  | 40‍–‍41
California Angels | 86 | 76  | .531  | 12  | 43‍–‍38  | 43‍–‍38
Kansas City Royals | 65 | 97  | .401  | 33  | 35‍–‍44  | 30‍–‍53
Milwaukee Brewers | 65 | 97  | .401  | 33  | 38‍–‍42  | 27‍–‍55
Chicago White Sox | 56 | 106  | .346  | 42  | 31‍–‍53  | 25‍–‍53

### Record vs. opponents

[edit]

1970 American League record

* 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  | WSH
Baltimore | — | 13–5 | 7–5 | 9–3 | 14–4 | 11–7 | 12–0 | 7–5 | 5–7 | 11–7 | 7–5 | 12–6
Boston | 5–13 | — | 5–7 | 8–4 | 12–6 | 9–9 | 7–5 | 5–7 | 7–5 | 10–8 | 7–5 | 12–6
California | 5–7 | 7–5 | — | 12–6 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 10–8 | 12–6 | 8–10 | 5–7 | 8–10 | 7–5
Chicago | 3–9 | 4–8 | 6–12 | — | 6–6 | 6–6 | 7–11 | 7–11 | 6–12 | 5–7 | 2–16 | 4–8
Cleveland | 4–14 | 6–12 | 6–6 | 6–6 | — | 7–11 | 8–4 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 8–10 | 7–5 | 11–7
Detroit | 7–11 | 9–9 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 11–7 | — | 6–6 | 8–4 | 4–8 | 7–11 | 6–6 | 9–9
Kansas City | 0–12 | 5–7 | 8–10 | 11–7 | 4–8 | 6–6 | — | 12–6 | 5–13 | 1–11 | 7–11 | 6–6
Milwaukee | 5–7 | 7–5 | 6–12 | 11–7 | 5–7 | 4–8 | 6–12 | — | 5–13 | 3–9–1 | 8–10 | 5–7
Minnesota | 7–5 | 5–7 | 10–8 | 12–6 | 6–6 | 8–4 | 13–5 | 13–5 | — | 5–7 | 13–5 | 6–6
New York | 7–11 | 8–10 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 10–8 | 11–7 | 11–1 | 9–3–1 | 7–5 | — | 6–6 | 10–8
Oakland | 5–7 | 5–7 | 10–8 | 16–2 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 11–7 | 10–8 | 5–13 | 6–6 | — | 10–2
Washington | 6–12 | 6–12 | 5–7 | 8–4 | 7–11 | 9–9 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 8–10 | 2–10 | —

### Notable transactions

[edit]

* May 18, 1970: Roberto Peña was traded by the Athletics to the Milwaukee Brewers for John Donaldson.[14]
* June 4, 1970: 1970 Major League Baseball draft (June Draft) notable picks:[15]

Round 1: Dan Ford (18th pick)[16]

* June 11, 1970: Al Downing and Tito Francona were traded by the Athletics to the Milwaukee Brewers for Steve Hovley.[17]

### Roster

[edit]

1970 Oakland Athletics

Roster
Pitchers

* 17,35 Vida Blue
* 29 Chuck Dobson
* 38 Al Downing
* 34 Rollie Fingers
* 28 Mudcat Grant
* 27 Catfish Hunter
* 14,16 Marcel Lachemann
* 25 Paul Lindblad
* 36 Bob Locker
* 13 Blue Moon Odom
* 35 Darrell Osteen
* 45 Roberto Rodríguez
* 33 Jim Roland
* 24 Diego Seguí
* 46 Fred Talbot
* 16 Dooley Womack

|  | Catchers

* 10 Dave Duncan
* 39 Frank Fernández
* 12 Larry Haney
* 38,54 Gene Tenace

Infielders

* 6 Sal Bando
* 19 Bert Campaneris
* 2 John Donaldson
* 2,21 Jim Driscoll
* 36 Tito Francona
* 1 Dick Green
* 32 Bob Johnson
* 22 Tony La Russa
* 5,30 Don Mincher
* 14 Roberto Peña

|  | Outfielders

* 8 Felipe Alou
* 15 Bobby Brooks
* 12,42 Tommy Davis
* 23 Steve Hovley
* 9 Reggie Jackson
* 32 Allan Lewis
* 7 Rick Monday
* 26 Joe Rudi
* 31 José Tartabull

|  | Manager

* 11 John McNamara

Coaches

* 5 Joe DiMaggio (Hitting)
* 43 Bobby Hofman (Third base)
* 41 Charley Lau (First base)
* 44 Vern Hoscheit (Bullpen)
* 40 Bill Posedel (Pitching)

## Player stats

[edit]

### Batting

[edit]

#### Starters by position

[edit]

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 | Frank Fernández | 94 | 252 | 54 | .214 | 15 | 44
1B | Don Mincher | 140 | 463 | 114 | .246 | 27 | 74
2B | Dick Green | 135 | 384 | 73 | .190 | 4 | 29
SS | Bert Campaneris | 147 | 603 | 168 | .279 | 22 | 64
3B | Sal Bando | 155 | 502 | 132 | .263 | 20 | 75
LF | Felipe Alou | 154 | 575 | 156 | .271 | 8 | 55
CF | Rick Monday | 112 | 376 | 109 | .290 | 10 | 37
RF | Reggie Jackson | 149 | 426 | 101 | .237 | 23 | 66

#### Other batters

[edit]

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

|
|
|
|
|
|

Joe Rudi | 106 | 350 | 108 | .309 | 11 | 42
Dave Duncan | 86 | 232 | 60 | .259 | 10 | 29
Tommy Davis | 66 | 200 | 58 | .290 | 1 | 27
Tony La Russa | 52 | 106 | 21 | .198 | 0 | 6
Gene Tenace | 38 | 105 | 32 | .305 | 7 | 20
Steve Hovley | 72 | 100 | 19 | .190 | 0 | 1
John Donaldson | 41 | 89 | 22 | .247 | 1 | 11
Roberto Peña | 19 | 58 | 15 | .259 | 0 | 3
Jim Driscoll | 21 | 52 | 10 | .192 | 1 | 2
Bob Johnson | 30 | 46 | 8 | .174 | 1 | 2
Tito Francona | 32 | 33 | 8 | .242 | 1 | 6
Bobby Brooks | 7 | 18 | 6 | .333 | 2 | 5
José Tartabull | 24 | 13 | 3 | .231 | 0 | 2
Allan Lewis | 9 | 8 | 2 | .250 | 1 | 1
Larry Haney | 2 | 2 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0

### Pitching

[edit]

#### Starting pitchers

[edit]

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

Player  | G  | IP  | W  | L  | ERA  | SO

|
|
|
|
|
|

Chuck Dobson | 41 | 267.0 | 16 | 15 | 3.74 | 149
Catfish Hunter | 40 | 262.1 | 18 | 14 | 3.81 | 178
Blue Moon Odom | 29 | 156.1 | 9 | 8 | 3.80 | 88
Vida Blue | 6 | 38.2 | 2 | 0 | 2.09 | 35

#### Other pitchers

[edit]

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

Player  | G  | IP  | W  | L  | ERA  | SO

|
|
|
|
|
|

Diego Seguí | 47 | 162.0 | 10 | 10 | 2.56 | 95
Rollie Fingers | 45 | 148.0 | 7 | 9 | 3.65 | 79
Al Downing | 10 | 41.0 | 3 | 3 | 3.95 | 26
Darrell Osteen | 3 | 5.2 | 1 | 0 | 6.35 | 3

#### Relief pitchers

[edit]

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player  | G  | W  | L  | SV  | ERA  | SO

|
|
|
|
|
|

Mudcat Grant | 72 | 6 | 2 | 24 | 1.82 | 54
Paul Lindblad | 62 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 2.70 | 42
Marcel Lachemann | 41 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2.78 | 39
Bob Locker | 38 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 2.88 | 33
Jim Roland | 28 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2.70 | 26
Roberto Rodríguez | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.92 | 8
Dooley Womack | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15.00 | 3
Fred Talbot | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 10.80 | 0

## Awards and honors

[edit]

* Bert Campaneris led the American League in Stolen Bases (42)[18]

## Farm system

[edit]

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level  | Team  | League  | Manager

|
|
|

AAA | Iowa Oaks | American Association | Sherm Lollar
AA | Birmingham A's | Southern League | Phil Cavarretta
A | Burlington Bees | Midwest League | Roy Sievers
A-Short Season | Coos Bay-North Bend A's | Northwest League | Harry Bright

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Charlie Finley: The Outrageous Story of Baseball's Super Showman, p.134, G. Michael Green and Roger D. Launius. Walker Publishing Company, New York, 2010, ISBN 978-0-8027-1745-0
2. ^ Manny Trillo page at Baseball Reference
3. ^ Danny Cater page at Baseball Reference
4. ^ Diego Seguí page at Baseball Reference
5. ^ Phil Roof page at Baseball Reference
6. ^ 1970 Oakland Athletics Picks in the MLB January Amateur Draft
7. ^ 1970 Oakland Athletics Picks in the MLB January Amateur Draft (secondary phase)
8. ^ Vic Harris page at Baseball Reference
9. ^ Charlie Finley: The Outrageous Story of Baseball's Super Showman, p.120, G. Michael Green and Roger D. Launius. Walker Publishing Company, New York, 2010, ISBN 978-0-8027-1745-0
10. ^ Charlie Finley: The Outrageous Story of Baseball's Super Showman, p.134, G. Michael Green and Roger D. Launius. Walker Publishing Company, New York, 2010, ISBN 978-0-8027-1745-0
11. ^ Charlie Finley: The Outrageous Story of Baseball's Super Showman, p.140, G. Michael Green and Roger D. Launius. Walker Publishing Company, New York, 2010, ISBN 978-0-8027-1745-0
12. ^ "Boxscore of Vida Blue No-Hitter". baseball-reference.com. Retrieved July 25, 2023.
13. ^ Charlie Finley: The Outrageous Story of Baseball's Super Showman, p.141, G. Michael Green and Roger D. Launius. Walker Publishing Company, New York, 2010, ISBN 978-0-8027-1745-0
14. ^ John Donaldson page at Baseball Reference
15. ^ 1970 Oakland Athletics Picks in the MLB June Amateur Draft
16. ^ Dan Ford page at Baseball Reference
17. ^ Steve Hovley page at Baseball Reference
18. ^ Charlie Finley: The Outrageous Story of Baseball's Super Showman, p.141, G. Michael Green and Roger D. Launius. Walker Publishing Company, New York, 2010, ISBN 978-0-8027-1745-0

## External links

[edit]

* 1970 Oakland Athletics team page at Baseball Reference
* 1970 Oakland Athletics team page at www.baseball-almanac.com

* v
* t
* e

1970 MLB season by team

| AL East|

* Baltimore
* Boston
* Cleveland
* Detroit
* New York
* Washington

|

AL West|

* California
* Chicago
* Kansas City
* Milwaukee
* Minnesota
* Oakland

| NL East|

* Chicago
* Montréal
* New York
* Philadelphia
* Pittsburgh
* St. Louis

|

NL West|

* Atlanta
* Cincinnati
* Houston
* Los Angeles
* San Diego
* San Francisco

* 1970 MLB draft
* 1970 All-Star Game
* 1970 World Series

* v
* t
* e

Athletics

* Established in 1901
* Formerly the Philadelphia Athletics, the Kansas City Athletics and the Oakland Athletics
* Based in West Sacramento, California

Franchise|

* History
* in Philadelphia
* in Kansas City
* in Oakland
* pending relocation to Las Vegas
* Seasons
* Records
* No-hitters
* Players
* Owners and executives
* Managers
* Broadcasters
* Radio network
* Award winners and league leaders
* First-round draft picks
* Opening Day starting pitchers

Ballparks|

* Columbia Park
* Shibe Park
* Municipal Stadium
* Oakland Coliseum
* Sutter Health Park (temporary 2025–2027)
* New Las Vegas Stadium (proposed)

Spring training
Latta Park Baseball Field
Barrs Field
Cramton Bowl
Terry Park Ballfield
Wilmington Park
McCurdy Field
Connie Mack Field
McKechnie Field
Rendezvous Park
Scottsdale Stadium I
Phoenix Municipal Stadium
Hohokam Stadium

Culture|

* Philadelphia Athletics (football)
* Philadelphia Baseball Wall of Fame
* The Baseball Bug
* Champagne and Baloney
* Charlie-O
* Dick Callahan
* Stomper
* $100,000 infield
* "Holy Toledo!"
* Swingin' A's
* Billyball
* Big Three
* Highway to Heaven
* Moneyball
* book
* film
* Mount Davis
* Hal the Hot Dog Guy
* The Mustache Gang
* Oakland Ballpark

Lore|

* The Mack Attack
* Grandstand Managers Night
* Perfect games
* Catfish Hunter
* Dallas Braden
* Bash Brothers
* 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake
* 20 game win streak
* MLB Japan Opening Series 2008
* Philadelphia Athletics 18, Cleveland Indians 17 (1932)

Rivalries|

* Los Angeles Angels
* Philadelphia Phillies
* San Francisco Giants

Key personnel|

* Owners: John Fisher
* President: Dave Kaval
* Executive vice president: Billy Beane
* General manager: David Forst
* Manager: Mark Kotsay

World Series
Champions (9)|

* 1910
* 1911
* 1913
* 1929
* 1930
* 1972
* 1973
* 1974
* 1989

American League
Championships (15)|

* 1902
* 1905
* 1910
* 1911
* 1913
* 1914
* 1929
* 1930
* 1931
* 1972
* 1973
* 1974
* 1988
* 1989
* 1990

AL West Division
Championships (17)|

* 1971
* 1972
* 1973
* 1974
* 1975
* 1981
* 1988
* 1989
* 1990
* 1992
* 2000
* 2002
* 2003
* 2006
* 2012
* 2013
* 2020

AL Wild Card (4)|

* 2001
* 2014
* 2018
* 2019

Minors|

Triple-A
Las Vegas Aviators
Double-A
Midland RockHounds
High-A
Lansing Lugnuts
Single-A
Stockton Ports
Rookie
ACL Athletics
DSL Athletics

Seasons (125)

1900s|

* 1900 ·  1901
* 1902
* 1903
* 1904
* 1905
* 1906
* 1907
* 1908
* 1909

1910s|

* 1910
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1920s|

* 1920
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1930s|

* 1930
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1940s|

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1950s|

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1960s|

* 1960
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1970s|

* 1970
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1980s|

* 1980
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