1971 Oakland Athletics season

1971 Oakland Athletics
1971 AL West Champions
Major League affiliations
American League (since 1901)
Western Division (since 1969)
Location
Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum (since 1968)
Oakland, California (since 1968)
Results
Record	101–60 (.627)
Other information
Owner(s)	Charles O. Finley
Manager(s)	Dick Williams
Local television	KBHK
Local radio	KEST (Monte Moore, Bob Elson, Red Rush)
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The 1971 Oakland Athletics season involved the A's finishing first in the American League West with a record of 101 wins and 60 losses. In their first postseason appearance of any kind since 1931, the A's were swept in three games by the Baltimore Orioles in the American League Championship Series.

Offseason

• January 13, 1971: 1971 Major League Baseball Draft (January Draft) notable picks:^[1]

Round 5: Rich Dauer (did not sign)

Secondary Phase^[2]

Round 1: Phil Garner

Round 3: Steve Staggs (did not sign)

Regular season

Vida Blue became the first black player in the history of the American League to win the American League Cy Young Award.^[3] He was also the youngest AL player in the 20th century to win the MVP Award.^[4] During the year, Vida Blue was on the cover of Sports Illustrated and Time magazine.^[5]

Season standings

AL West	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Oakland Athletics	101	60	0.627	—	46–35	55–25
Kansas City Royals	85	76	0.528	16	44–37	41–39
Chicago White Sox	79	83	0.488	22½	39–42	40–41
California Angels	76	86	0.469	25½	35–46	41–40
Minnesota Twins	74	86	0.463	26½	37–42	37–44
Milwaukee Brewers	69	92	0.429	32	34–48	35–44

Record vs. opponents

1971 American League Records Sources:
Team	BAL	BOS	CAL	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	MIL	MIN	NYY	OAK	WSH
Baltimore	—	9–9	7–5	8–4	13–5	8–10	6–5	9–3	10–2	11–7	7–4	13–3
Boston	9–9	—	6–6	10–2	11–7	12–6	1–11	6–6	8–4	7–11	3–9	12–6
California	5–7	6–6	—	8–10	8–4	6–6	8–10	6–12	12–6	6–6	7–11	4–8
Chicago	4–8	2–10	10–8	—	3–9	7–5	9–9	11–7	7–11	5–7	11–7	10–2
Cleveland	5–13	7–11	4–8	9–3	—	6–12	2–10	4–8	4–8	8–10	4–8	7–11
Detroit	10–8	6–12	6–6	5–7	12–6	—	8–4	10–2	6–6	10–8	4–8	14–4
Kansas City	5–6	11–1	10–8	9–9	10–2	4–8	—	8–10	9–9	5–7	5–13	9–3
Milwaukee	3–9	6–6	12–6	7–11	8–4	2–10	10–8	—	10–7	2–10	3–15	6–6
Minnesota	2–10	4–8	6–12	11–7	8–4	6–6	9–9	7–10	—	8–4	8–10	5–6
New York	7–11	11–7	6–6	7–5	10–8	8–10	7–5	10–2	4–8	—	5–7	7–11
Oakland	4–7	9–3	11–7	7–11	8–4	8–4	13–5	15–3	10–8	7–5	—	9–3
Washington	3–13	6–12	8–4	2–10	11–7	4–14	3–9	6–6	6–5	11–7	3–9	—

Opening Day starters

• 1B Don Mincher
• 2B Dick Green
• 3B Sal Bando
• SS Bert Campaneris
• LF Felipe Alou
• CF Rick Monday
• RF Reggie Jackson
• C Dave Duncan
• P Vida Blue

Notable transactions

• May 8, 1971: Frank Fernández, Don Mincher, Paul Lindblad, and cash were traded by the Athletics to the Washington Senators for Darold Knowles and Mike Epstein.^[6]
• May 26, 1971: Rob Gardner was traded by the Athletics to the New York Yankees for Curt Blefary.^[7]
• June 12, 1971: Champ Summers was signed by the Athletics as an amateur free agent.^[8]

Roster

1971 Oakland Athletics
Roster
Pitchers 35 Vida Blue 29 Chuck Dobson 34 Rollie Fingers 56 Rob Gardner 16,56 Mudcat Grant 27 Catfish Hunter 17 Ron Klimkowski 32 Darold Knowles 14 Marcel Lachemann 25 Paul Lindblad 36 Bob Locker 13 Blue Moon Odom 16 Jim Panther 58 Daryl Patterson 33 Jim Roland 24 Diego Seguí		Catchers 39 Curt Blefary 10 Dave Duncan 16,39 Frank Fernández 38 Gene Tenace Infielders 11 Dwain Anderson  6 Sal Bando  8 Larry Brown 19 Bert Campaneris 12 Tommy Davis  5 Mike Epstein  1 Dick Green 20 Mike Hegan 42 Tony La Russa  5 Don Mincher 52 Ray Webster		Outfielders  8 Felipe Alou  3 Adrian Garrett 25 George Hendrick 28 Steve Hovley  9 Reggie Jackson  2 Ángel Mangual  7 Rick Monday 26 Joe Rudi Other batters  3 Ron Clark		Manager 23 Dick Williams Coaches 44 Vern Hoscheit 41 Jerry Lumpe 43 Irv Noren 40 Bill Posedel

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
1B	Epstein, MikeMike Epstein	104	329	77	.234	18	51
3B	Bando, SalSal Bando	153	538	146	.271	24	74

^[9]

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
Mangual, ÁngelÁngel Mangual	94	287	82	.286	4	30
Brown, LarryLarry Brown	70	189	37	.196	1	9
Mincher, DonDon Mincher	28	98	22	.239	2	8
Hovley, SteveSteve Hovley	24	27	3	.111	0	3
Fernández, FrankFrank Fernández	4	9	1	.111	0	1
Alou, FelipeFelipe Alou	2	8	2	.250	0	0

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
Blue, VidaVida Blue	39	312	24	8	1.82	301
Hunter, CatfishCatfish Hunter	37	273.2	21	11	2.96	181
Dobson, ChuckChuck Dobson	30	189	15	5	3.81	100
Seguí, DiegoDiego Seguí	26	146.1	10	8	3.14	81

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
Gardner, RobRob Gardner	4	7.2	0	0	2.35	5

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
Fingers, RollieRollie Fingers	48	4	6	17	2.99	98
Knowles, DaroldDarold Knowles	43	5	2	7	3.59	40
Grant, MudcatMudcat Grant	15	1	0	3	1.98	13
Lindblad, PaulPaul Lindblad	8	1	0	0	3.94	4
Panther, JimJim Panther	4	0	1	0	11.12	4

Awards and honors

• Vida Blue, P, American League Cy Young Award^[10][11]
• Vida Blue, P, American League Most Valuable Player Award.^[12][13] Sal Bando, second in American League MVP voting^[13]
• Dick Williams, Associated Press AL Manager of the Year^[14]

All-Stars

1971 Major League Baseball All-Star Game

• Vida Blue, pitcher, starter^[15]
• Dave Duncan, reserve^[15]
• Reggie Jackson, reserve^[15]

1971 American League Championship Series

Game 1

Sunday, October 3, 1971 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore, Maryland

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Oakland	0	2	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	3	9	0
Baltimore	0	0	0	1	0	0	4	0	X	5	7	1
WP: Dave McNally (1–0)   LP: Vida Blue (0–1)   Sv: Eddie Watt (1)

Game 2

Monday, October 4, 1971 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore, Maryland

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Oakland	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	6	0
Baltimore	0	1	1	0	0	0	1	2	X	5	7	0
WP: Mike Cuellar (1–0)   LP: Catfish Hunter (0–1) Home runs: OAK: None BAL: Brooks Robinson (1), Boog Powell 2 (2), Elrod Hendricks (1)

Game 3

Tuesday, October 5, 1971 at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum in Oakland, California

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Baltimore	1	0	0	0	2	0	2	0	0	5	12	0
Oakland	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	1	0	3	7	0
WP: Jim Palmer (1–0)   LP: Diego Seguí (0–1) Home runs: BAL: None OAK: Reggie Jackson 2 (2), Sal Bando (1)

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Iowa Oaks	American Association	Sherm Lollar
AA	Birmingham A's	Southern League	Phil Cavarretta
A	Burlington Bees	Midwest League	Harry Bright
A-Short Season	Coos Bay-North Bend A's	Northwest League	Jim Reinebold

References

1. 1971 Oakland Athletics Picks in the MLB June Amateur Draft
2. 1971 Oakland Athletics Picks in the MLB January Amateur Draft (Secondary Phase)
3. Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p. 199, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, ISBN 978-0-451-22363-0
4. Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p. 152
5. Charlie Finley: The Outrageous Story of Baseball's Super Showman, p.148, G. Michael Green and Roger D. Launius. Walker Publishing Company, New York, 2010, ISBN 978-0-8027-1745-0
6. Darold Knowles page at Baseball Reference
7. Curt Blefary page at Baseball Reference
8. Champ Summers page at Baseball Reference
9. 1971 Oakland Athletics at Baseball Reference
10. American League Cy Young Award winners at Baseball Reference
11. 1971 Cy Young Award voting results at Baseball Reference
12. American League Most Valuable Player Award winners at Baseball Reference
13. 1971 Most Valuable Player award voting results at Baseball Reference
14. www.rauzulusstreet.com
15. 1971 All-Star game at Baseball Reference

External links

• 1971 Oakland Athletics team page at Baseball Reference
• 1971 Oakland Athletics team page at www.baseball-almanac.com