The 1977 Oakland Athletics season was the 77th season for the Oakland Athletics franchise, all as members of the American League, and their 10th season in Oakland. The team finished seventh in the American League West with a record of 63 wins and 98 losses. Paid attendance for the season was 495,578, one of the worst attendance figures for the franchise during the 1970s.Charlie Finley: The Outrageous Story of Baseball's Super Showman, p. 272, G. Michael Green and Roger D. Launius. Walker Publishing Company, New York, 2010,

Offseason November 5, 1976: Manager Chuck Tanner was traded by the Oakland Athletics to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Manny Sanguillén.Chuck Tanner Trades and Transactions at Baseball Almanac November 9, 1976: Billy Williams was released by the Athletics.Billy Williams page at Baseball Reference January 9, 1977: Craig Minetto was signed by the Athletics as a free agent.Craig Minetto page at Baseball Reference February 25, 1977: Ken McMullen was purchased from the Athletics by the Milwaukee Brewers.Ken McMullen page at Baseball Reference March 15, 1977: Phil Garner, Tommy Helms, and Chris Batton were traded by the Athletics to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Rick Langford, Tony Armas, Doug Bair, Dave Giusti, Doc Medich, and Mitchell Page.Rick Langford page at Baseball Reference March 15, 1977: Jim Todd was traded by the Athletics to the Chicago Cubs for Joe Coleman.Jim Todd page at Baseball Reference March 15, 1977: Jerry Tabb was purchased by the Athletics from the Chicago Cubs.Jerry Tabb page at Baseball Reference March 15, 1977: Gaylen Pitts was traded by the Athletics to the Chicago Cubs for Jim Tyrone.Jim Tyrone page at Baseball Reference March 16, 1977: Dick Allen was signed as a free agent by the Athletics.Dick Allen page at Baseball Reference

Regular season After the 1976 season, most of the Athletics' veteran players who had become eligible for free agency left. In 1977, only three years after winning the World Series, the A's finished with the worst record in the American League West, behind even the expansion Seattle Mariners (though by only 1/2 game, as one game with the Minnesota Twins was canceled by weather and never made up).

On June 10, Jack McKeon was fired as manager and replaced by former Arizona State University coach Bobby Winkles.Charlie Finley: The Outrageous Story of Baseball's Super Showman, p. 271

After the season, owner Charlie Finley attempted to trade Vida Blue to the Cincinnati Reds for a player of lesser stature and cash, but Commissioner Bowie Kuhn vetoed the deal. The commissioner claimed that it was tantamount to the sale of the star pitcher to the New York Yankees that the commissioner voided in 1976. The commissioner claimed that adding Blue to the Reds' already formidable pitching staff would make a mockery of the National League West race. Instead, Blue was traded across the bay to the San Francisco Giants in a multi-player trade that received the Commissioner's blessing.

Proposed sale Kuhn and other owners thought that the Athletics relocating would alleviate baseball's problems in the Bay Area regarding poor attendance. Kuhn attempted to get an ownership group to purchase the Athletics and relocate to Washington, D.C., with the intention of moving them to the National League.

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Opening Day lineup Billy North, CF Rodney Scott, 2B Mitchell Page. LF Dick Allen, 1B Manny Sanguillén, C Wayne Gross, 3B Earl Williams, DH Tony Armas, RF Rob Picciolo, SS Mike Torrez, P1977 A's Batting Orders at Baseball Reference

Notable transactions April 4, 1977: Sheldon Mallory was purchased by the Athletics from the New York Mets.Sheldon Mallory page at Baseball Reference April 27, 1977: Mike Torrez was traded by the Athletics to the New York Yankees for Dock Ellis, Larry Murray and Marty Perez.Dock Ellis page at Baseball Reference June 7, 1977: Shooty Babitt was drafted by the Athletics in the 25th round of the 1977 Major League Baseball draft.Shooty Babitt page at Baseball Reference June 15, 1977: Dock Ellis was purchased from the Athletics by the Texas Rangers. June 15, 1977: Denny Walling was traded by the Athletics to the Houston Astros for Willie Crawford.Denny Walling page at Baseball Reference

Roster 1977 Oakland Athletics Roster Pitchers Catchers

Infielders Outfielders Manager

Coaches

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 Pos Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI C 152 571 157 .275 6 58 1B 54 171 41 .240 5 31 2B 115 373 86 .231 2 23 3B 146 485 113 .233 22 63 SS 148 419 84 .200 2 22 LF 145 501 154 .307 21 75 CF 118 363 87 .240 13 53 RF 96 294 72 .245 5 26 DH 100 348 84 .241 13 38

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 133 364 95 .261 0 20 66 203 50 .246 8 32 86 198 35 .177 6 21 56 184 48 .261 1 9 90 162 29 .179 1 9 94 162 36 .222 4 15 51 144 32 .222 6 19 59 136 25 .184 1 16 64 126 27 .214 0 5 39 78 15 .192 1 10 90 42 10 .238 0 2 41 30 4 .133 0 0 3 2 0 .000 0 1

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 38 279.2 14 19 3.83 157 37 208.1 8 19 4.02 141 26 147.2 10 6 4.69 74 16 77.1 2 7 4.77 35 7 42.2 1 3 4.85 23 7 26.0 1 5 9.69 11 4 26.1 3 1 4.44 12

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 43 127.2 4 4 2.96 55 41 116.2 4 6 2.62 51 12 44.0 1 5 6.55 24 11 22.0 1 2 6.14 21 5 13.2 0 3 10.54 5 4 14.1 0 0 5.02 9 3 5.2 0 1 7.94 1

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 45 4 6 8 3.46 68 64 6 8 7 3.03 69 40 3 3 6 2.98 28 6 1 0 0 3.93 4 1 0 0 0 0.00 0

Awards and honors

All-Stars

Vida Blue, reserve Wayne Gross, reserve

Farm system

References

External links 1977 Oakland Athletics team page at Baseball Reference 1977 Oakland Athletics team page at www.baseball-almanac.com