1985 Oakland Athletics season

1985 Oakland Athletics
Major League affiliations
American League (since 1901)
Western Division (since 1969)
Location
Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum (since 1968)
Oakland, California (since 1968)
Results
Record	77–85 (.475)
Other information
Owner(s)	Walter A. Haas, Jr.
General manager(s)	Sandy Alderson
Manager(s)	Jackie Moore
Local television	KPIX (Bill King, Lon Simmons, Monte Moore)
Local radio	KSFO (Bill King, Lon Simmons, Ted Robinson)
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The A's hosting a game at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum in 1985.

The Oakland Athletics' 1985 season involved the A's finishing 4th in the American League West with a record of 77 wins and 85 losses. While the Athletics' on-field performance continued to disappoint, the debut of slugger Jose Canseco gave fans a measure of hope.

Offseason

• December 5, 1984: Rickey Henderson, Bert Bradley and cash were traded by the Athletics to the New York Yankees for Stan Javier, Jay Howell, José Rijo, Eric Plunk, and Tim Birtsas.^[1]
• December 7, 1984: Ray Burris, Eric Barry (minors) and a player to be named later were traded by the Athletics to the Milwaukee Brewers for Don Sutton. The Athletics completed the deal by sending Ed Myers (minors) to the Brewers on March 25, 1985.^[2]
• December 8, 1984: Bill Caudill was traded by the Athletics to the Toronto Blue Jays for Alfredo Griffin, Dave Collins, and cash.^[3]
• February 5, 1985: Rob Picciolo was signed as a Free Agent with the Oakland Athletics.^[4]

Regular season

• September 2, 1985: José Canseco made his major league debut in a game against the Baltimore Orioles. Canseco had one at bat without a hit.^[5]
• September 22, 1985: José Canseco became the 27th player to hit a Home Run over the roof of Comiskey Park.

Season standings

AL West	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Kansas City Royals	91	71	0.562	—	50–32	41–39
California Angels	90	72	0.556	1	49–30	41–42
Chicago White Sox	85	77	0.525	6	45–36	40–41
Minnesota Twins	77	85	0.475	14	49–35	28–50
Oakland Athletics	77	85	0.475	14	43–36	34–49
Seattle Mariners	74	88	0.457	17	42–41	32–47
Texas Rangers	62	99	0.385	28½	37–43	25–56

Record vs. opponents

1985 American League Records Sources:
Team	BAL	BOS	CAL	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	MIL	MIN	NYY	OAK	SEA	TEX	TOR
Baltimore	—	5–8	7–5	8–4	8–5	6–7	6–6	9–4	6–6	1–12	7–5	6–6	10–2	4–8
Boston	8–5	—	5–7	4–8–1	8–5	6–7	5–7	5–8	7–5	5–8	8–4	6–6	5–7	9–4
California	5–7	7–5	—	8–5	8–4	8–4	4–9	9–3	9–4	3–9	6–7	9–4	9–4	5–7
Chicago	4–8	8–4–1	5–8	—	10–2	6–6	5–8	5–7	6–7	6–6	8–5	9–4	10–3	3–9
Cleveland	5–8	5–8	4–8	2–10	—	5–8	2–10	7–6	4–8	6–7	3–9	6–6	7–5	4–9
Detroit	7–6	7–6	4–8	6–6	8–5	—	5–7	9–4	3–9	9–3	8–4	5–7	7–5	6–7
Kansas City	6–6	7–5	9–4	8–5	10–2	7–5	—	8–4	7–6	5–7	8–5	3–10	6–7	7–5
Milwaukee	4–9	8–5	3–9	7–5	6–7	4–9	4–8	—	9–3	7–6	3–9	4–8	8–3	4–9
Minnesota	6–6	5–7	4–9	7–6	8–4	9–3	6–7	3–9	—	3–9	8–5	6–7	8–5	4–8
New York	12–1	8–5	9–3	6–6	7–6	3–9	7–5	6–7	9–3	—	7–5	9–3	8–4	6–7
Oakland	5–7	4–8	7–6	5–8	9–3	4–8	5–8	9–3	5–8	5–7	—	8–5	6–7	5–7
Seattle	6–6	6–6	4–9	4–9	6–6	7–5	10–3	8–4	7–6	3–9	5–8	—	6–7	2–10
Texas	2–10	7–5	4–9	3–10	5–7	5–7	7–6	3–8	5–8	4–8	7–6	7–6	—	3–9
Toronto	8–4	4–9	7–5	9–3	9–4	7–6	5–7	9–4	8–4	7–6	7–5	10–2	9–3	—

Transactions

• April 15, 1985: Bob Owchinko was signed as a Free Agent with the Oakland Athletics.^[6]
• April 26, 1985: Bill Mooneyham was signed as a free agent by the Athletics.^[7]
• July 12, 1985: Tommy John was signed as a free agent by the Athletics.^[8]
• July 17, 1985: Bob Owchinko was purchased by the Chicago White Sox from the Oakland Athletics.^[6]
• September 10, 1985: Don Sutton was traded by the Athletics to the California Angels for players to be named later. The Angels completed the deal by sending Robert Sharpnack (minors) and Jerome Nelson (minors) to the Athletics on September 25.^[3]

Draft Picks

• June 3, 1985: 1985 Major League Baseball Draft
  • Walt Weiss was drafted by the Athletics in the 1st round (11th pick). Player signed June 5, 1985.^[9]
  • Dave Otto was drafted by the Athletics in the 2nd round.^[10]
  • Wally Whitehurst was drafted by the Athletics in the 3rd round.^[11]
  • Jim Pena was drafted by the Athletics in the 24th round, but did not sign.^[12]

Roster

1985 Oakland Athletics
Roster
Pitchers 55 Keith Atherton 48 Tim Birtsas 23 Chris Codiroli 24 Tim Conroy 30 Jay Howell 25 Tommy John 40 Jeff Kaiser 32 Bill Krueger 22 Rick Langford 54 Steve McCatty 36 Steve Mura 53 Steve Ontiveros 38 José Rijo 20,27 Don Sutton 34 Tom Tellmann 43 Mike Warren 29 Curt Young		Catchers  2 Mike Heath  7 Charlie O'Brien  6 Mickey Tettleton Infielders 12 Dusty Baker 20 Bruce Bochte  9 Mike Gallego  3 Alfredo Griffin 25 Donnie Hill 28 Steve Kiefer  4 Carney Lansford 12,13 Dan Meyer 18 Tony Phillips  8 Rob Picciolo		Outfielders 33 Jose Canseco 11 Dave Collins 16 Mike Davis  5 Steve Henderson 21 Dwayne Murphy Other batters 10 Dave Kingman		Manager 42 Jackie Moore Coaches 41 Clete Boyer 45 Bob Didier 46 Dave McKay 44 Wes Stock 26 Billy Williams

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

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
Baker, DustyDusty Baker	111	343	92	.268	14	52
Canseco, JoséJosé Canseco	29	96	29	.302	5	13
Kiefer, SteveSteve Kiefer	40	66	13	.197	1	10

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
Rijo, JoséJosé Rijo	12	63.2	6	4	3.53	65

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

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
Howell, JayJay Howell	63	9	8	29	2.85	68
Atherton, KeithKeith Atherton	56	4	7	3	4.30	77
Kaiser, JeffJeff Kaiser	15	0	0	0	14.58	10

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Tacoma Tigers	Pacific Coast League	Keith Lieppman
AA	Huntsville Stars	Southern League	Brad Fischer
A	Modesto A's	California League	George Mitterwald
A	Madison Muskies	Midwest League	Jim Nettles
A-Short Season	Medford A's	Northwest League	Grady Fuson
Rookie	Pocatello Gems	Pioneer League	Dave Hudgens

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Huntsville

References

1. Rickey Henderson page at Baseball Reference
2. Don Sutton page at Baseball Reference
3. Bill Caudill page at Baseball Reference
4. http://www.baseball-reference.com/p/picciro01.shtml
5. José Canseco page at Baseball Reference
6. http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/o/owchibo01.shtml
7. Bill Mooneyham page at Baseball Reference
8. Tommy John page at Baseball Reference
9. Walt Weiss page at Baseball Reference
10. Dave Otto page at Baseball Reference
11. Wally Whitehurst page at Baseball Reference
12. http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/p/penaji01.shtml

External links

• 1985 Oakland Athletics team page at Baseball Reference
• 1985 Oakland Athletics team page at www.baseball-almanac.com