# 1970 Oakland Athletics season

The 1970 Oakland Athletics season was the 70th season for the Oakland Athletics franchise, all as members of the American League, and their 3rd season in Oakland. The Athletics finished the season with a record of 89 wins and 73 losses. In 1970, owner Charlie Finley officially changed the team name from the Athletics to the "A's". An "apostrophe-s" was added to the cap and uniform emblem to reflect that fact.

## Offseason

During the off-season, Reggie Jackson sought an increase in salary, and A's owner Charlie Finley threatened to send Jackson to the minors. Commissioner Bowie Kuhn successfully intervened in their dispute. Reggie Jackson demanded $60,000 per season, while he was offered $40,000 by Charlie Finley. Both parties settled on $45,000, but Jackson's numbers in 1970 dropped sharply, as he hit just 23 home runs while batting .237.

### Notable transactions

* December 1, 1969: Manny Trillo was drafted by the Athletics from the Philadelphia Phillies in the 1969 rule 5 draft.
* December 5, 1969: Danny Cater and Ossie Chavarria were traded by the Athletics to the New York Yankees for Al Downing and Frank Fernández.
* December 7, 1969: George Lauzerique and Ted Kubiak were traded by the Athletics to the Milwaukee Brewers for Diego Seguí and Ray Oyler.
* January 15, 1970: Phil Roof, Mike Hershberger, Lew Krausse Jr., and Ken Sanders were traded by the Athletics to the Milwaukee Brewers for Don Mincher and Ron Clark.
* January 17, 1970: 1970 Major League Baseball draft (January draft) notable picks:
       Round 4: Mitchell Page (did not sign)
    Secondary Phase
       Round 1: Vic Harris

## Regular season

* During the 1970 season, there were rumours of the Athletics attempting to relocate to Toronto.
* At the end of May, the Athletics were 25–23, and 8 games back of the first place Minnesota Twins.
* September 21: Vida Blue threw a no-hitter versus the Minnesota Twins, winning 6-0. A walk by Harmon Killebrew prevented Blue from pitching a perfect game.
* The club hired Harry Caray to do the play by play for the Athletics. Charlie Finley wanted Caray to change his broadcast chant of Holy Cow to Holy Mule. Caray refused and left after the season.

### Season standings

vteAL West :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Minnesota Twins | 98 | 64 | .605 | — | 51‍–‍30 | 47‍–‍34 |
| Oakland Athletics | 89 | 73 | .549 | 9 | 49‍–‍32 | 40‍–‍41 |
| California Angels | 86 | 76 | .531 | 12 | 43‍–‍38 | 43‍–‍38 |
| Kansas City Royals | 65 | 97 | .401 | 33 | 35‍–‍44 | 30‍–‍53 |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 65 | 97 | .401 | 33 | 38‍–‍42 | 27‍–‍55 |
| Chicago White Sox | 56 | 106 | .346 | 42 | 31‍–‍53 | 25‍–‍53 |

### Record vs. opponents

1970 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BAL | BOS | CAL | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | MIL | MIN | NYY | OAK | WSH |
| Baltimore | — | 13–5 | 7–5 | 9–3 | 14–4 | 11–7 | 12–0 | 7–5 | 5–7 | 11–7 | 7–5 | 12–6 |
| Boston | 5–13 | — | 5–7 | 8–4 | 12–6 | 9–9 | 7–5 | 5–7 | 7–5 | 10–8 | 7–5 | 12–6 |
| California | 5–7 | 7–5 | — | 12–6 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 10–8 | 12–6 | 8–10 | 5–7 | 8–10 | 7–5 |
| Chicago | 3–9 | 4–8 | 6–12 | — | 6–6 | 6–6 | 7–11 | 7–11 | 6–12 | 5–7 | 2–16 | 4–8 |
| Cleveland | 4–14 | 6–12 | 6–6 | 6–6 | — | 7–11 | 8–4 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 8–10 | 7–5 | 11–7 |
| Detroit | 7–11 | 9–9 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 11–7 | — | 6–6 | 8–4 | 4–8 | 7–11 | 6–6 | 9–9 |
| Kansas City | 0–12 | 5–7 | 8–10 | 11–7 | 4–8 | 6–6 | — | 12–6 | 5–13 | 1–11 | 7–11 | 6–6 |
| Milwaukee | 5–7 | 7–5 | 6–12 | 11–7 | 5–7 | 4–8 | 6–12 | — | 5–13 | 3–9–1 | 8–10 | 5–7 |
| Minnesota | 7–5 | 5–7 | 10–8 | 12–6 | 6–6 | 8–4 | 13–5 | 13–5 | — | 5–7 | 13–5 | 6–6 |
| New York | 7–11 | 8–10 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 10–8 | 11–7 | 11–1 | 9–3–1 | 7–5 | — | 6–6 | 10–8 |
| Oakland | 5–7 | 5–7 | 10–8 | 16–2 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 11–7 | 10–8 | 5–13 | 6–6 | — | 10–2 |
| Washington | 6–12 | 6–12 | 5–7 | 8–4 | 7–11 | 9–9 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 8–10 | 2–10 | — |

### Notable transactions

* May 18, 1970: Roberto Peña was traded by the Athletics to the Milwaukee Brewers for John Donaldson.
* June 4, 1970: 1970 Major League Baseball draft (June Draft) notable picks:
       Round 1: Dan Ford (18th pick)
* June 11, 1970: Al Downing and Tito Francona were traded by the Athletics to the Milwaukee Brewers for Steve Hovley.

### Roster
## 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 |
| C | Frank Fernández | 94 | 252 | 54 | .214 | 15 | 44 |
| 1B | Don Mincher | 140 | 463 | 114 | .246 | 27 | 74 |
| 2B | Dick Green | 135 | 384 | 73 | .190 | 4 | 29 |
| SS | Bert Campaneris | 147 | 603 | 168 | .279 | 22 | 64 |
| 3B | Sal Bando | 155 | 502 | 132 | .263 | 20 | 75 |
| LF | Felipe Alou | 154 | 575 | 156 | .271 | 8 | 55 |
| CF | Rick Monday | 112 | 376 | 109 | .290 | 10 | 37 |
| RF | Reggie Jackson | 149 | 426 | 101 | .237 | 23 | 66 |

#### 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 |
| Joe Rudi | 106 | 350 | 108 | .309 | 11 | 42 |
| Dave Duncan | 86 | 232 | 60 | .259 | 10 | 29 |
| Tommy Davis | 66 | 200 | 58 | .290 | 1 | 27 |
| Tony La Russa | 52 | 106 | 21 | .198 | 0 | 6 |
| Gene Tenace | 38 | 105 | 32 | .305 | 7 | 20 |
| Steve Hovley | 72 | 100 | 19 | .190 | 0 | 1 |
| John Donaldson | 41 | 89 | 22 | .247 | 1 | 11 |
| Roberto Peña | 19 | 58 | 15 | .259 | 0 | 3 |
| Jim Driscoll | 21 | 52 | 10 | .192 | 1 | 2 |
| Bob Johnson | 30 | 46 | 8 | .174 | 1 | 2 |
| Tito Francona | 32 | 33 | 8 | .242 | 1 | 6 |
| Bobby Brooks | 7 | 18 | 6 | .333 | 2 | 5 |
| José Tartabull | 24 | 13 | 3 | .231 | 0 | 2 |
| Allan Lewis | 9 | 8 | 2 | .250 | 1 | 1 |
| Larry Haney | 2 | 2 | 0 | .000 | 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 |
| Chuck Dobson | 41 | 267.0 | 16 | 15 | 3.74 | 149 |
| Catfish Hunter | 40 | 262.1 | 18 | 14 | 3.81 | 178 |
| Blue Moon Odom | 29 | 156.1 | 9 | 8 | 3.80 | 88 |
| Vida Blue | 6 | 38.2 | 2 | 0 | 2.09 | 35 |

#### 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 |
| Diego Seguí | 47 | 162.0 | 10 | 10 | 2.56 | 95 |
| Rollie Fingers | 45 | 148.0 | 7 | 9 | 3.65 | 79 |
| Al Downing | 10 | 41.0 | 3 | 3 | 3.95 | 26 |
| Darrell Osteen | 3 | 5.2 | 1 | 0 | 6.35 | 3 |

#### 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 |
| Mudcat Grant | 72 | 6 | 2 | 24 | 1.82 | 54 |
| Paul Lindblad | 62 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 2.70 | 42 |
| Marcel Lachemann | 41 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2.78 | 39 |
| Bob Locker | 38 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 2.88 | 33 |
| Jim Roland | 28 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2.70 | 26 |
| Roberto Rodríguez | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.92 | 8 |
| Dooley Womack | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15.00 | 3 |
| Fred Talbot | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 10.80 | 0 |

## Awards and honors

* Bert Campaneris led the American League in Stolen Bases (42)

## 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 | Roy Sievers |
| A-Short Season | Coos Bay-North Bend A's | Northwest League | Harry Bright |