# 1984 Oakland Athletics season

The 1984 Oakland Athletics season was the 84th season for the Oakland Athletics franchise, all as members of the American League, and their 17th season in Oakland. The Athletics finished fourth in the American League West with a record of 77 wins and 85 losses. While the A's struggled for a third consecutive season, they staged a major coup by drafting future superstar Mark McGwire with the tenth overall pick of the 1984 Major League Baseball Draft. The season also marked the end of Rickey Henderson's first (of four) stints with the Athletics. His second stint would begin in 1989.

## Offseason

* October 28, 1983: Joe Rudi was released by the Athletics.
* November 21, 1983: Dave Beard and Bob Kearney were traded by the Athletics to the Seattle Mariners for Bill Caudill and Darrel Akerfelds.
* December 13, 1983: Joe Morgan was signed as a free agent by the Athletics.
* December 7, 1983: Rusty McNealy and cash were traded by the Athletics to the Montreal Expos for Ray Burris.
* January 3, 1984: Luis Polonia was signed by the Athletics as an amateur free agent.
* January 3, 1984: Félix José was signed by the Athletics as an amateur free agent.
* January 16, 1984: Jack Daugherty was released by the Athletics.
* February 8, 1984: Tim Belcher was chosen by the Athletics from the New York Yankees as a free agent compensation pick.

## Regular season

* August 19, 1984: In a game against the Athletics, Cliff Johnson of the Toronto Blue Jays hit the 19th pinch home run of his career, breaking Jerry Lynch's mark of 18.

### Season standings

vteAL West :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Kansas City Royals | 84 | 78 | .519 | — | 44‍–‍37 | 40‍–‍41 |
| California Angels | 81 | 81 | .500 | 3 | 37‍–‍44 | 44‍–‍37 |
| Minnesota Twins | 81 | 81 | .500 | 3 | 47‍–‍34 | 34‍–‍47 |
| Oakland Athletics | 77 | 85 | .475 | 7 | 44‍–‍37 | 33‍–‍48 |
| Chicago White Sox | 74 | 88 | .457 | 10 | 43‍–‍38 | 31‍–‍50 |
| Seattle Mariners | 74 | 88 | .457 | 10 | 42‍–‍39 | 32‍–‍49 |
| Texas Rangers | 69 | 92 | .429 | 14½ | 34‍–‍46 | 35‍–‍46 |

### Record vs. opponents

1984 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BAL | BOS | CAL | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | MIL | MIN | NYY | OAK | SEA | TEX | TOR |
| Baltimore | — | 6–7 | 8–4 | 7–5 | 7–6 | 7–6 | 5–7 | 7–6 | 5–7 | 5–8 | 6–6 | 9–3 | 9–3 | 4–9 |
| Boston | 7–6 | — | 9–3 | 7–5 | 10–3 | 7–6 | 3–9 | 9–4 | 6–6 | 7–6 | 7–5 | 4–8 | 5–7 | 5–8 |
| California | 4–8 | 3–9 | — | 8–5 | 8–4 | 4–8 | 6–7 | 8–4 | 4–9 | 8–4 | 7–6 | 9–4 | 5–8 | 7–5 |
| Chicago | 5–7 | 5–7 | 5–8 | — | 8–4 | 4–8 | 5–8 | 7–5 | 8–5 | 7–5 | 6–7 | 5–8 | 5–8 | 4–8 |
| Cleveland | 6–7 | 3–10 | 4–8 | 4–8 | — | 4–9 | 6–6 | 9–4 | 7–5 | 2–11 | 7–5 | 8–4 | 9–3 | 6–7–1 |
| Detroit | 6–7 | 6–7 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 9–4 | — | 7–5 | 11–2 | 9–3 | 7–6 | 9–3 | 6–6 | 10–2 | 8–5 |
| Kansas City | 7–5 | 9–3 | 7–6 | 8–5 | 6–6 | 5–7 | — | 6–6 | 6–7 | 5–7 | 5–8 | 9–4 | 6–7 | 5–7 |
| Milwaukee | 6–7 | 4–9 | 4–8 | 5–7 | 4–9 | 2–11 | 6–6 | — | 5–7 | 6–7 | 4–8 | 6–6 | 5–6 | 10–3 |
| Minnesota | 7–5 | 6–6 | 9–4 | 5–8 | 5–7 | 3–9 | 7–6 | 7–5 | — | 8–4 | 8–5 | 7–6 | 8–5 | 1–11 |
| New York | 8–5 | 6–7 | 4–8 | 5–7 | 11–2 | 6–7 | 7–5 | 7–6 | 4–8 | — | 8–4 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 8–5 |
| Oakland | 6–6 | 5–7 | 6–7 | 7–6 | 5–7 | 3–9 | 8–5 | 8–4 | 5–8 | 4–8 | — | 8–5 | 8–5 | 4–8 |
| Seattle | 3–9 | 8–4 | 4–9 | 8–5 | 4–8 | 6–6 | 4–9 | 6–6 | 6–7 | 5–7 | 5–8 | — | 10–3 | 5–7 |
| Texas | 3–9 | 7–5 | 8–5 | 8–5 | 3–9 | 2–10 | 7–6 | 6–5 | 5–8 | 6–6 | 5–8 | 3–10 | — | 6–6 |
| Toronto | 9–4 | 8–5 | 5–7 | 8–4 | 7–6–1 | 5–8 | 7–5 | 3–10 | 11–1 | 5–8 | 8–4 | 7–5 | 6–6 | — |

### Notable transactions

* June 4, 1984: 1984 Major League Baseball Draft
** Mark McGwire was drafted by the Athletics in the 1st round (10th pick). Player signed July 20, 1984.
** Todd Burns was drafted by the Athletics in the 7th round.
* June 9, 1984: Chuck Hensley was purchased by the Milwaukee Brewers from the Oakland Athletics.
* July 3, 1984: Mike Torrez was signed as a free agent by the Athletics.
* August 9, 1984: Mike Torrez was released by the Athletics.

### 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 | Mike Heath | 140 | 475 | 118 | .248 | 13 | 64 |
| 1B | Bruce Bochte | 148 | 469 | 124 | .264 | 5 | 52 |
| 2B | Joe Morgan | 116 | 365 | 89 | .244 | 6 | 43 |
| SS | Tony Phillips | 154 | 451 | 120 | .266 | 4 | 37 |
| 3B | Carney Lansford | 151 | 597 | 179 | .300 | 14 | 74 |
| LF | Rickey Henderson | 142 | 502 | 147 | .293 | 16 | 58 |
| CF | Dwayne Murphy | 153 | 559 | 143 | .256 | 33 | 88 |
| RF | Mike Davis | 134 | 382 | 88 | .230 | 9 | 46 |
| DH | Dave Kingman | 147 | 549 | 147 | .268 | 35 | 118 |

#### 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 |
| Davey Lopes | 72 | 230 | 59 | .257 | 9 | 36 |
| Bill Almon | 106 | 211 | 47 | .223 | 7 | 16 |
| Donnie Hill | 73 | 174 | 40 | .230 | 2 | 16 |
| Jim Essian | 63 | 136 | 32 | .235 | 2 | 10 |
| Mark Wagner | 80 | 87 | 20 | .230 | 0 | 12 |
| Mickey Tettleton | 33 | 76 | 20 | .263 | 1 | 5 |
| Jeff Burroughs | 58 | 71 | 15 | .211 | 2 | 8 |
| Garry Hancock | 51 | 60 | 13 | .217 | 0 | 8 |
| Steve Kiefer | 23 | 40 | 7 | .175 | 0 | 2 |
| Dan Meyer | 20 | 22 | 7 | .318 | 0 | 4 |

### 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 |
| Ray Burris | 34 | 211.2 | 13 | 10 | 3.15 | 93 |
| Steve McCatty | 33 | 179.2 | 8 | 14 | 4.76 | 63 |
| Bill Krueger | 26 | 142.0 | 10 | 10 | 4.75 | 61 |
| Curt Young | 20 | 108.2 | 9 | 4 | 4.06 | 41 |

#### 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 |
| Lary Sorensen | 46 | 183.1 | 6 | 13 | 4.91 | 63 |
| Tim Conroy | 38 | 93.0 | 1 | 6 | 5.23 | 69 |
| Mike Warren | 24 | 90.0 | 3 | 6 | 4.90 | 61 |
| Chris Codiroli | 28 | 89.1 | 6 | 4 | 5.84 | 44 |
| Rick Langford | 3 | 8.2 | 0 | 0 | 8.31 | 2 |

#### 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 |
| Bill Caudill | 68 | 9 | 7 | 36 | 2.71 | 89 |
| Keith Atherton | 57 | 7 | 6 | 2 | 4.33 | 58 |
| Tom Burgmeier | 17 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2.35 | 8 |
| Chuck Rainey | 16 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6.75 | 10 |
| Jeff Jones | 13 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3.55 | 19 |
| Dave Leiper | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 9.00 | 3 |
| Gorman Heimueller | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6.14 | 3 |
| Jeff Bettendorf | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4.66 | 5 |
| Mike Torrez | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27.00 | 2 |
| Mark Wagner | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 1 |
| Garry Hancock | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Tacoma Tigers | Pacific Coast League | Ed Nottle |
| AA | Albany-Colonie A's | Eastern League | Keith Lieppman |
| A | Modesto A's | California League | George Mitterwald |
| A | Madison Muskies | Midwest League | Brad Fischer |
| A-Short Season | Medford A's | Northwest League | Dennis Rogers |
| Rookie | Idaho Falls A's | Pioneer League | Jim Nettles |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Modesto