The 1987 Oakland Athletics season was the 87th season for the Oakland Athletics franchise, all as members of the American League, and their 20th season in Oakland. The Athletics finished third in the American League West with a record of 81 wins and 81 losses. Mark McGwire set a rookie record by hitting 49 home runs.Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p.344, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, At the beginning of the season, the word "Athletics" returned, in script lettering, to the front of the team's jerseys. Former A's owner, Charles O. Finley banned the word "Athletics" from the club's name in the past because he felt that name was too closely associated with former Philadelphia Athletics owner Connie Mack. In his first full Major League season, Mark McGwire hit 49 home runs, a single-season record for a rookie; he was named the American League Rookie of the Year. McGwire would be the first American League rookie since Al Rosen of the Cleveland Indians in 1950 to lead the American League in home runs.Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p.346, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, The 1987 season also saw the return of Reggie Jackson to Oakland.
Offseason December 11, 1986: Donnie Hill was traded by the Athletics to the Chicago White Sox for Gene Nelson and Bruce Tanner.Donnie Hill page at Baseball Reference January 20, 1987: Vida Blue was signed as a free agent by the Athletics.Vida Blue page at Baseball Reference January 22, 1987: Jim Eppard was purchased from the Athletics by the California Angels.Jim Eppard page at Baseball Reference February 6, 1987: Johnnie LeMaster was signed as a free agent with the Oakland Athletics. February 23, 1987: Jeff Kaiser was traded by the Athletics to the Cleveland Indians for Curt Wardle.Jeff Kaiser page at Baseball Reference
Regular season
Season standings
Record vs. opponents
Opening Day starters Jose Canseco Mike Davis Alfredo Griffin Reggie Jackson Carney Lansford Rob Nelson Dwayne Murphy Tony Phillips Curt Young Mickey Tettleton
Notable transactions April 3, 1987: Brian Guinn (minors), Dave Wilder (minors), and Mark Leonette (minors) were traded by the Athletics to the Chicago Cubs for Dennis Eckersley and Dan Rohn.Dennis Eckersley page at Baseball Reference April 27, 1987: Dennis Lamp was signed as a free agent by the Athletics.Dennis Lamp page at Baseball Reference April 30, 1987: Bill Caudill was signed as a free agent by the Athletics.Bill Caudill page at Baseball Reference May 12, 1987: Brian Harper was signed as a free agent by the Athletics.Brian Harper page at Baseball Reference June 29, 1987: Bill Mooneyham was traded by the Athletics to the Milwaukee Brewers for Russ McGinnis.Bill Mooneyham page at Baseball Reference July 29, 1987: Johnnie LeMaster was released by the Oakland Athletics. August 29, 1987: Tim Belcher was traded by the Athletics to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Rick Honeycutt.Tim Belcher page at Baseball Reference August 30, 1987: The Athletics traded players to be named later to the San Diego Padres for Storm Davis. The Athletics completed the deal by sending Dave Leiper to the Padres on August 31 and Rob Nelson to the Padres on September 8.Rob Nelson page at Baseball Reference August 31, 1987: Gary Lavelle was signed as a free agent by the Athletics.Gary Lavelle page at Baseball Reference
Draft picks June 2, 1987: Ron Coomer was drafted by the Oakland Athletics in the 14th round of the 1987 amateur draft. Player signed June 6, 1987. June 2, 1987: Scott Brosius was drafted by the Athletics in the 20th round of the 1987 Major League Baseball draft. Player signed June 9, 1987.Scott Brosius page at Baseball Reference
All-Star Game The 1987 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was the 58th playing of the midsummer classic between the all-stars of the American League (AL) and National League (NL), the two leagues comprising Major League Baseball. The game was held on July 14, 1987, at the Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum in Oakland, California, the home of the Oakland Athletics of the American League. The game resulted in the National League defeating the American League 2–0 in 13 innings. Montreal Expos outfielder Tim Raines was named the Most Valuable Player.
Roster 1987 Oakland Athletics Roster Pitchers Catchers
Infielders Outfielders Manager
Coaches (Pitching) (First base) (Third base) (Hitting) (Bullpen) (Bullpen) (Bench)
Player stats = Indicates team 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 R H Avg. HR RBI SB C Terry Steinbach 122 391 66 111 .284 16 56 1 1B Mark McGwire 151 557 97 161 .289 49 118 1 2B Tony Phillips 111 379 48 91 .240 10 46 7 3B Carney Lansford 151 554 89 160 .289 19 76 27 SS Alfredo Griffin 144 494 69 130 .263 3 60 26 LF José Canseco 159 630 81 162 .257 31 113 15 CF Dwayne Murphy 82 219 39 51 .233 8 35 4 RF Mike Davis 139 494 69 131 .265 22 72 19 DH Reggie Jackson 115 336 42 74 .220 15 43 2
Other batters Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases Player G AB R H Avg. HR RBI SB Luis Polonia 125 435 78 125 .287 4 49 29 Tony Bernazard 61 214 34 57 .266 3 19 4 Mickey Tettleton 82 211 19 41 .194 8 26 1 Stan Javier 81 151 22 28 .185 2 9 3 Mike Gallego 72 124 18 31 .250 2 14 0 Steve Henderson 46 114 14 33 .289 3 9 0 Ron Cey 45 104 12 23 .221 4 11 0 Walt Weiss 16 26 3 12 .462 0 1 1 Johnnie LeMaster 20 24 3 2 .083 0 1 0 Rob Nelson 7 24 1 4 .167 0 0 0 Brian Harper 11 17 1 4 .235 0 3 0 Jerry Willard 7 6 1 1 .167 0 0 0 Alejandro Sánchez 2 3 0 0 .000 0 0 0 Matt Sinatro 6 3 0 0 .000 0 0 0
Pitching
Starting pitchers Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L= Losses; ERA = Earned run average; CG = Complete games; SO = Strikeouts Player G IP W L ERA CG SO Dave Stewart 37 261.1 20 13 3.68 8 205 Curt Young 31 203.0 13 7 4.08 6 124 José Rijo 21 82.1 2 7 5.90 1 67 Joaquín Andújar 13 60.2 3 5 6.08 1 32 Moose Haas 9 40.2 2 2 5.75 0 13 Storm Davis 5 30.1 1 1 3.26 0 28 Chris Codiroli 3 11.1 0 2 8.74 0 4
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 Ontiveros 35 150.2 10 8 4.00 97 Eric Plunk 32 95.0 4 6 4.74 90 Rick Honeycutt 7 23.2 1 4 5.32 10
Relief pitchers Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts Player G IP W L SV ERA SO Dennis Eckersley 54 115.2 6 8 16 3.03 113 54 123.2 6 5 3 3.93 94 Dave Leiper 45 52.1 2 1 1 3.78 33 Jay Howell 36 44.1 3 4 16 5.89 35 Dennis Lamp 36 56.2 1 3 0 5.08 36 Greg Cadaret 29 39.2 6 2 0 4.54 30 Rick Rodriguez 15 24.1 1 0 0 2.96 9 Bill Caudill 6 8.0 0 0 1 9.00 8 Dave Otto 3 6.0 0 0 0 9.00 3 Dave Von Ohlen 4 6.0 0 0 0 7.50 3 Bill Krueger 9 5.2 0 3 0 9.53 2 Gary Lavelle 6 4.1 0 0 0 8.31 6
Awards and records Mark McGwire, American League Rookie of the Year Mark McGwire, Rookie Record, Most Home Runs in One Season (49)
All-Star Game
Jay Howell, P, Reserve Mark McGwire, 1B, Reserve
McGwire's rookie record 49 home runs Home Run Game Date Inning Location Opposing Pitcher Team 1 4 04-10-1987 7th Oakland Donnie Moore Angels 2 15 04-21-1987 4th Oakland Urbano Lugo Angels 3 18 04-25-1987 3rd Oakland Scott Bankhead Mariners 4 22 04-29-1987 2nd Oakland Ted Higuera Brewers 5 24 05-01-1987 3rd Oakland Walt Terrell Tigers 6 29 05-08-1987 4th Detroit Frank Tanana Tigers 7 29 05-08-1987 8th Detroit Frank Tanana Tigers 8 30 05-09-1987 6th Detroit Eric King Tigers 9 31 05-10-1987 2nd Detroit Jack Morris Tigers 10 31 05-10-1987 4th Detroit Jack Morris Tigers 11 35 05-16-1987 1st Oakland Jimmy Key Blue Jays 12 37 05-18-1987 7th Oakland Tim Stoddard Yankees 13 38 05-19-1987 3rd Oakland Dennis Rasmussen Yankees 14 39 05-20-1987 2nd Oakland Charles Hudson Yankees 15 41 05-23-1987 2nd Oakland Mike Boddicker Orioles 16 42 05-24-1987 2nd Oakland Jeff Ballard Orioles 17 44 05-27-1987 4th Toronto Joe Johnson Blue Jays 18 48 05-31-1987 2nd New York Tommy John Yankees 19 48 05-31-1987 7th New York Tommy John Yankees 20 59 06-13-1987 4th Arlington Stadium Ed Correa Rangers 21 61 06-15-1987 4th Kansas City Charlie Leibrandt Royals 22 66 06-21-1987 8th Oakland Jose Guzman Rangers 23 72 06-27-1987 1st Cleveland Ken Schrom Indians 24 72 06-27-1987 5th Cleveland Ed Vande Berg Indians 25 72 06-27-1987 9th Cleveland Scott Bailes Indians 26 73 06-28-1987 4th Cleveland Tom Candiotti Indians 27 73 06-28-1987 7th Cleveland Tom Candiotti Indians 28 75 06-30-1987 1st Chicago Scott Nielsen White Sox 29 79 07-04-1987 5th Boston Bruce Hurst Red Sox 30 80 07-05-1987 4th Boston Oil Can Boyd Red Sox 31 83 07-08-1987 6th Oakland Jeff Robinson Tigers 32 86 07-11-1987 2nd Oakland Bill Wegman Brewers 33 86 07-11-1987 8th Oakland Dan Plesac Brewers 34 89 07-17-1987 10th Boston Calvin Schiraldi Red Sox 35 93 07-21-1987 10th Detroit Eric King Tigers 36 94 07-22-1987 8th Detroit Mark Thurmond Tigers 37 101 07-29-1987 4th Oakland Don Sutton Angels 38 113 08-11-1987 7th Seattle Mike Moore Mariners 39 115 08-14-1987 6th Anaheim Don Sutton Angels 40 129 08-29-1987 10th Toronto Mark Eichhorn Blue Jays 41 134 09-04-1987 5th Baltimore Mike Boddicker Orioles 42 136 09-05-1987 2nd Baltimore Jon Habyan Orioles 43 142 09-12-1987 2nd Oakland Charlie Leibrandt Royals 44 145 09-15-1987 4th Arlington Stadium Greg Harris Rangers 45 145 09-15-1987 6th Arlington Stadium Greg Harris Rangers 46 148 09-19-1987 1st Kansas City Mélido Pérez Royals 47 153 09-24-1987 9th Oakland Scott Bannister White Sox 48 154 09-25-1987 9th Oakland Bobby Thigpen White Sox 49 157 09-29-1987 1st Oakland John Farrell Indians
Farm system
References
1987 Oakland Athletics team page at Baseball Reference 1987 Oakland Athletics team page at www.baseball-almanac.com