1968 Oakland Athletics
LeagueAmerican League
BallparkOakland-Alameda County Coliseum
CityOakland, California
Record82–80 (.506)
OwnersCharles O. Finley
ManagersBob Kennedy
TelevisionKBHK-TV
RadioKNBR
(Monte Moore, Al Helfer)
Seasons

The 1968 Oakland Athletics season was the franchise's 68th season and its first in Oakland, California. The team finished sixth in the American League with a record of 82 wins and 80 losses, placing them 21 games behind the eventual World Series champion Detroit Tigers. The Athletics' paid attendance for the season was 837,466.

The 1968 season represented a tremendous breakthrough for the Athletics organization. The campaign resulted in their first winning record since 1952, when they were still located in Philadelphia. Moreover, the Athletics' 82 wins marked a 20-win increase over the prior year's 62–99 mark. The team's young core of Jim "Catfish" Hunter, Joe Rudi, Bert Campaneris, Reggie Jackson, Sal Bando, Gene Tenace, and Rick Monday began to gel; all of these young players (with the exception of Monday, who would be traded in 1971 for pitcher Ken Holtzman) would power the Athletics' forthcoming 1970's dynasty.

Offseason

Relocation to Oakland

  • On October 18, 1967, American League owners at last gave Charles O. Finley permission to move the Athletics from Kansas City, Missouri to Oakland for the 1968 season. According to some reports, AL President Joe Cronin promised Finley that he could move the team after the 1967 season as an incentive to sign the new lease with Municipal Stadium in Kansas City. The move came in spite of approval by voters in Jackson County, Missouri of a bond issue for a brand new baseball stadium (the eventual Kauffman Stadium) to be completed in 1973. During their 13-year stay in Kansas City, the Athletics were arguably one of the worst teams in baseball history, finishing last or next-to-last place in 10 of those years. Their overall record was 829–1,224, for a winning percentage of .404.
  • October 22, 1967: Charlie Finley arrived at the Oakland Airport and was greeted by 400 fans.[1] Finley had signed a 20-year lease ($125,000 per year or 5% of gate revenues if attendance passed 1.45 million a season) to bring the A's to Oakland.[2]

Front office

Finley had persuaded Joe DiMaggio to take a position as Executive Vice President and consultant. DiMaggio needed two more years of baseball service to qualify for the league's maximum pension allowance.[3] In addition, Finley signed Phil Seghi to run the A's farm system (of note, Seghi signed Pete Rose to his first major league contract).[4]

Notable transactions

Round 1: George Hendrick
Round 2: Reggie Sanders
Secondary Phase:[7]
Round 2: Ray Peters (did not sign)

Regular season

Opening day

The first game in Oakland A's history took place on the road, on April 10, 1968, against the Baltimore Orioles at Memorial Stadium. The Orioles defeated the Athletics, 3–1, behind starting pitcher Tom Phoebus and the efforts of three relievers. Jim "Catfish" Hunter started for Oakland and took the loss, with Reggie Jackson hitting the first home run in Oakland's MLB history to account for the A's only run, the blow coming in the eighth inning.[8] Seven days later, the Athletics made their home debut, also against the Orioles, and were again defeated, this time by a 4–1 score with Dave McNally besting Lew Krausse Jr. before 50,164 at Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum.[9]

Starting lineup, April 10, 1968

19Bert Campaneris    SS
  9Reggie JacksonRF
  6Sal Bando   3B
31Ramón Webster1B
12John Donaldson2B
17Jim Pagliaroni   C
21Jim Gosger   LF
  7Rick MondayCF
27Catfish HunterP[8]

Hunter's perfect game

Catfish Hunter's number 27 was retired by the Oakland Athletics in 1991[10].

On May 8 against the Minnesota Twins, Hunter pitched the first regular season perfect game in the American League since 1922,[11] but the paid attendance in Oakland was only 6,298 on a Wednesday night.[12] The game was scoreless until the bottom of the seventh when Hunter squeezed the first run in. In the eighth, he drove in two more with a bases-loaded single, and ended with three hits and three RBI.[13] Hunter was inducted in the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1987 and was the first to have his number retired by the franchise, in 1991.[10][14]

Season standings

American League W L Pct. GB Home Road
Detroit Tigers 10359 0.636 — 56–25 47–34
Baltimore Orioles 9171 0.562 12 47–33 44–38
Cleveland Indians 8675 0.534 16½ 43–37 43–38
Boston Red Sox 8676 0.531 17 46–35 40–41
New York Yankees 8379 0.512 20 39–42 44–37
Oakland Athletics 8280 0.506 21 44–38 38–42
Minnesota Twins 7983 0.488 24 41–40 38–43
California Angels 6795 0.414 36 32–49 35–46
Chicago White Sox 6795 0.414 36 36–45 31–50
Washington Senators 6596 0.404 37½ 34–47 31–49

Record vs. opponents

1968 American League record

Sources:
Team BAL BOS CAL CWS CLE DET MIN NYY OAK WSH
Baltimore —9–910–811–77–118–1010–813–59–914–4
Boston 9–9—9–914–410–86–129–910–88–1011–7
California 8–109–9—8–107–115–137–116–125–1312–6
Chicago 7–114–1410–8—5–135–1310–86–1210–810–8
Cleveland 11–78–1011–713–5—6–1214–410–8–16–127–10
Detroit 10–812–613–513–512–6—10–810–8–113–5–110–8
Minnesota 8–109–911–78–104–148–10—12–68–1011–7
New York 5–138–1012–612–68–10–18–10–16–12—10–814–4
Oakland 9–910–813–58–1012–65–13–110–88–10—7–11
Washington 4–147–116–128–1010–78–107–114–1411–7—

Notable transactions

Round 1: Pete Broberg (did not sign)
Round 6: Rich Troedson (did not sign).[16]
Round 26: John Strohmayer

Roster

1968 Oakland Athletics
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders

Other batters

 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
CDave Duncan8224647.191728
1BDanny Cater147504146.290662
2BJohn Donaldson12736380.220227
SSBert Campaneris159642177.276438
3BSal Bando162605152.251967
LFJoe Rudi6818132.177112
CFRick Monday148482132.274849
RFReggie Jackson154553138.2502974

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
Mike Hershberger9924667.272532
Dick Green7620247.233618
Jim Pagliaroni6619949.246620
Ray Webster6619642.214323
Jim Gosger8815027.18005
Ted Kubiak4812030.25008
Joe Keough349821.214218
Floyd Robinson538120.247114
Phil Roof346412.18812
Rene Lachemann19609.15004
Allan Lewis2641.25000
Tony La Russa531.33300

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
Catfish Hunter36234.013133.35173
Blue Moon Odom32231.116102.45143
Jim Nash34228.213132.28169
Chuck Dobson35225.112143.00168
Lew Krausse Jr.36185.010113.11105

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
Tony Pierce1732.2123.8616

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
Jack Aker5444114.1044
Diego Seguí526562.3972
Ed Sprague473443.2834
Paul Lindblad474322.4042
Warren Bogle160004.3026
Ken Sanders70103.386
Rollie Fingers100027.000
George Lauzerique10000.000

Farm system

  • Life Magazine had declared the A's to have the best minor league system in professional baseball.[17] Finley had spent $2.5 million on bonus contracts as a way of getting prospects to sign with his club.
Level Team League Manager
AAA Vancouver Mounties Pacific Coast League Mickey Vernon
AA Birmingham A's Southern League Gus Niarhos
A Peninsula Grays Carolina League Jimmy Williams
A Leesburg Athletics Florida State League Al Ronning
A Burlington Bees Midwest League Jim Hughes
Rookie GCL A's Gulf Coast League Billy Herman

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: GCL A's

References

  1. ↑ Charlie Finley: The Outrageous Story of Baseball's Super Showman, p.118, G. Michael Green and Roger D. Launius. Walker Publishing Company, New York, 2010, ISBN 978-0-8027-1745-0
  2. ↑ 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
  3. ↑ Charlie Finley: The Outrageous Story of Baseball's Super Showman, p.119, G. Michael Green and Roger D. Launius. Walker Publishing Company, New York, 2010, ISBN 978-0-8027-1745-0
  4. ↑ Charlie Finley: The Outrageous Story of Baseball's Super Showman, p.121, G. Michael Green and Roger D. Launius. Walker Publishing Company, New York, 2010, ISBN 978-0-8027-1745-0
  5. ↑ Andy Kosco page at Baseball Reference
  6. ↑ 1968 Oakland Athletics Picks in the MLB January Amateur Draft
  7. ↑ 1968 Oakland Athletics Picks in the MLB January Amateur Draft – Secondary Phase
  8. 1 2 Retrosheet box score: 1968-04-10
  9. ↑ Retrosheet box score: 1968-04-17
  10. 1 2 "'Catfish' has number retired by Oakland". Union Democrat. Sonora, California. Associated Press. June 10, 1991. p. 2B.
  11. ↑ Catfish Hunter perfect game box score by Baseball Almanac
  12. ↑ Charlie Finley: The Outrageous Story of Baseball's Super Showman, p.126, G. Michael Green and Roger D. Launius. Walker Publishing Company, New York, 2010, ISBN 978-0-8027-1745-0
  13. ↑ "'Catfish' spins first perfect regular AL game in 46 years". Eugene Register-Guard. Associated Press. May 9, 1968. p. 1D.
  14. ↑ "Catfish's number retired". Gadsden Times. Associated Press photo. June 10, 1991. p. B3.
  15. ↑ 1968 Oakland Athletics Picks in the MLB June Amateur Draft
  16. ↑ Rich Troedson page at Baseball Reference
  17. ↑ Charlie Finley: The Outrageous Story of Baseball's Super Showman, p.85, G. Michael Green and Roger D. Launius. Walker Publishing Company, New York, 2010, ISBN 978-0-8027-1745-0
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