# 2002 Oakland Athletics season

The 2002 Oakland Athletics season was the 102nd season in franchise history and the 35th season in Oakland, California. The Athletics finished first in the American League West with a record of 103–59.
The Athletics' 2002 campaign ranks among the most famous in franchise history. Following the 2001 season, Oakland saw the departure of three key players. Billy Beane, the team's general manager, responded with a series of under-the-radar free agent signings. The new-look Athletics, despite a comparative lack of star power, surprised the baseball world by besting the 2001 team's regular season record. The team is most famous, however, for winning 20 consecutive games between August 13 and September 4, 2002. The Athletics' season was the subject of Michael Lewis's 2003 book Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game (Lewis was given the opportunity to follow the team around throughout the season). A film adaptation of the book, titled Moneyball, was released in 2011.

## Offseason

* November 2, 2001: Mark Bellhorn was traded by the Oakland Athletics to the Chicago Cubs for Adam Morrissey (minors).
* December 7, 2001: Billy Koch was traded to the Oakland Athletics by the Toronto Blue Jays for Eric Hinske and Justin Miller.
* December 14, 2001: David Justice was traded to the Oakland Athletics by the New York Yankees for Mark Guthrie and Tyler Yates. This trade was preceded by a swap between the New York Mets and New York Yankees of Robin Ventura for Justice one week prior.
* January 2, 2002: Scott Hatteberg was signed as a free agent by the Oakland Athletics.
* January 11, 2002: Randy Velarde was signed as a free agent by the Oakland Athletics.
* January 14, 2002: Carlos Peña and Mike Venafro were traded to the Oakland Athletics by the Texas Rangers for Jason Hart, Gerald Laird, Ryan Ludwick, and Mario Ramos.
* March 19, 2002: Justin Duchscherer was traded to the Oakland Athletics by the Texas Rangers for Luis Vizcaíno.

## Regular season
### Summary

Oakland's 2002 campaign began on a tumultuous note. During the 2001–02 offseason, the team lost three key free agents to larger-market teams: 2000 AL MVP Jason Giambi to the New York Yankees, outfielder Johnny Damon to the Boston Red Sox, and closer Jason Isringhausen to the St. Louis Cardinals. General manager Billy Beane sought to replace Damon and Giambi with free agent hitters Scott Hatteberg and David Justice. Beane also made a number of key pitching acquisitions; most notably, he traded for Toronto Blue Jays reliever Billy Koch, who ultimately succeeded Isringhausen as the team's closer. Beane also traded for then-unheralded starter Ted Lilly and for second baseman Ray Durham. The season also saw the MLB debuts of second baseman Mark Ellis and eventual starter Aaron Harang.
The new-look Athletics experienced a bumpy start to the season. The team followed a respectable 15–10 start with an abysmal 5–16 run; at the end of their slump, on May 23, the team's record stood at 20–26. From that point forward, the Athletics' fortunes improved significantly. In a prelude to the team's famous late-season winning streak, the Athletics went 16–1 from June 6 to June 24. The surge propelled the club to within two games of first place, but a prolonged funk saw the A's play roughly .500 baseball for the next month and a half. That ended with an unremarkable 2–1 loss in Oakland to the Toronto Blue Jays on Monday, August 12.
On August 13, the Athletics began their then-AL-record 20-game win streak. The streak's first win came courtesy of Barry Zito, who allowed three runs (one earned) over eight innings in a 5–4 victory over the Jays. Over the next several weeks, stellar pitching, hitting, and defense propelled the Athletics' surge. Most notable were the efforts of fourth starter Cory Lidle. During August, Lidle went 5–0 while posting a scant 0.20 earned run average (he allowed one run his final start of the month); three of his five winning decisions were during the streak. Many of the Athletics' victories were by narrow margins: closer Billy Koch recorded either a win or save in 12 of the streak's 20 games.
The Athletics' 18th and 19th wins came courtesy of game ending hits by shortstop Miguel Tejada. On September 4, Oakland sought to win its 20th consecutive game; in doing so, the team hoped to break the 1947 New York Yankees' American League record of 19 consecutive wins. Their opponent was the Kansas City Royals. Over the first three innings of the game, Oakland shelled Kansas City pitchers Paul Byrd and Darrell May for a total of 11 runs, building a seemingly insurmountable 11–0 lead. Sloppy play down the stretch, however, allowed the Royals to score five runs apiece in the fourth and eighth innings. In the ninth, Koch surrendered a two-out single to Royals pinch hitter Luis Alicea; the single allowed pinch runner Kit Pellow to score the tying run. So the Athletics entered the bottom of the ninth inning with the score tied at 11–11. Pinchhitter Scott Hatteberg then hit a one-out solo walkoff home run off of Kansas City reliever Jason Grimsley. The home run clinched the AL-record 20th consecutive victory for the Athletics.
Oakland's streak came to an end with a 6–0 loss to the Minnesota Twins on September 6. The A's continued to play well down the stretch, and finished with a record of 103–59. The club's late-season surge allowed it to hold off the Anaheim Angels, who finished four games behind them at 99–63. Oakland's regular season exploits, however, once again failed to translate into postseason success. The team again lost the American League Division Series (this time to the Twins) in five games.
Tejada and starting pitcher Barry Zito went on to win the American League MVP and Cy Young Award, respectively. Tejada left the Athletics following the 2003 season, while Zito stayed until the end of the 2006 campaign.

### Game log

2002 Game Log (103–59) :
April: 15–11 (Home: 10–6; Away: 5–5)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecordStreak
1April 1Rangers8–3Mulder (1–0)Park (0–1)—43,9081–0W1
2April 2Rangers3–2Koch (1–0)Miceli (0–1)—10,2672–0W2
3April 3Rangers9–6Mecir (1–0)Rodriguez (0–1)Koch (1)23,2593–0W3
4April 4Rangers5–7Davis (1–0)Lidle (0–1)—15,0813–1L1
5April 5@ Mariners1–7Baldwin (1–0)Hiljus (0–1)—40,3033–2L2
6April 6@ Mariners8–3Mulder (2–0)García (0–2)—45,0934–2W1
7April 7@ Mariners6–5Hudson (1–0)Moyer (0–1)Koch (2)39,8705–2W2
8April 9@ Rangers5–4 (11)Koch (2–0)Seánez (0–1)—20,1586–2W3
9April 10@ Rangers2–4Burba (1–0)Lidle (0–2)Rocker (1)21,3846–3L1
10April 11@ Rangers0–7Davis (2–0)Mulder (2–1)—21,9036–4L2
11April 12@ Angels5–1Hudson (2–0)Ortiz (1–1)—31,8157–4W1
12April 13@ Angels7–2Hiljus (1–1)Washburn (0–2)—33,5548–4W2
13April 14@ Angels1–4Appier (1–1)Zito (0–1)Levine (3)32,8818–5L1
14April 16Mariners2–6 (7)Piñeiro (1–0)Lidle (0–3)—13,0228–6L2
15April 17Mariners4–7Moyer (2–1)Hudson (2–1)Sasaki (4)31,2608–7L3
16April 18Angels4–2Hiljus (2–1)Ortiz (1–2)Koch (3)9,1459–7W1
17April 19Angels7–9Washburn (1–2)Fyhrie (0–1)Percival (2)12,4689–8L1
18April 20Angels8–7Bradford (1–0)Levine (1–1)Koch (4)20,25310–8W1
19April 21Angels6–5Venafro (1–0)Percival (0–1)—20,08811–8W2
20April 23Yankees1–2Hernández (3–1)Hudson (2–2)Rivera (6)40,36011–9L1
21April 24Yankees5–8Stanton (1–0)Magnante (0–1)Rivera (7)54,51311–10L2
22April 25Yankees6–2Zito (1–1)Mussina (3–1)—31,87012–10W1
23April 26White Sox6–4Lidle (1–3)Parque (0–1)Koch (5)10,12913–10W2
24April 27White Sox16–1Fyhrie (1–1)Buehrle (4–2)—26,11114–10W3
25April 28White Sox10–0Hudson (3–2)Ritchie (2–2)—20,36515–10W4
26April 30@ Yankees2–8Wells (4–0)Zito (1–2)—32,88815–11L1 :
May: 10–17 (Home: 5–7; Away: 5–10)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecordStreak
27May 1@ Yankees4–1Hiljus (3–1)Mussina (3–2)Koch (6)31,00616–11W1
28May 2@ Yankees2–9Clemens (4–2)Lidle (1–4)—30,46316–12L1
29May 3@ White Sox1–6Buehrle (5–2)Fyhrie (1–2)—15,74616–13L2
30May 4@ White Sox2–10Ritchie (3–2)Hudson (3–3)—27,51116–14L3
31May 5@ White Sox3–2Zito (2–2)Wright (3–3)Koch (7)27,27517–14W1
32May 7Red Sox7–9Arrojo (2–0)Mecir (1–1)Urbina (12)19,71517–15L1
33May 8Red Sox6–12Burkett (3–0)Hiljus (3–2)—40,15517–16L2
34May 9Red Sox1–5Lowe (5–1)Hudson (3–4)—18,47717–17L3
35May 10Blue Jays2–6Prokopec (2–4)Mulder (2–2)—10,82417–18L4
36May 11Blue Jays7–4Zito (3–2)Miller (2–1)—21,11518–18W1
37May 12Blue Jays4–11Halladay (3–1)Lidle (1–5)Walker (1)19,51918–19L1
38May 14@ Red Sox2–6Burkett (4–0)Hudson (3–5)—31,40418–20L2
39May 15@ Red Sox2–8Lowe (6–1)Hiljus (3–3)—32,34618–21L3
40May 16@ Red Sox5–0Zito (4–2)Castillo (2–4)—33,05719–21W1
41May 17@ Blue Jays1–7Halladay (4–1)Mulder (2–3)—14,06119–22L1
42May 18@ Blue Jays3–6Miller (3–1)Fyhrie (1–3)Escobar (7)17,84619–23L2
43May 19@ Blue Jays0–11Loaiza (2–0)Hudson (3–6)—23,40819–24L3
44May 21Orioles4–6 (14)Driskill (1–0)Venafro (1–1)Julio (9)10,24519–25L4
45May 22Orioles7–6Fyhrie (2–3)Maduro (2–4)Koch (8)20,44420–25W1
46May 23Orioles3–11Ponson (3–3)Mulder (2–4)—11,73720–26L1
47May 24Devil Rays9–8Mecir (2–1)Zambrano (1–4)Koch (9)25,45821–26W1
48May 25Devil Rays6–0Harang (1–0)Harper (1–2)Bradford (1)31,69722–26W2
49May 26Devil Rays7–0Zito (5–2)Kennedy (1–2)—15,94323–26W3
50May 28@ Orioles5–2Mulder (3–4)Maduro (2–5)Koch (10)24,82524–26W4
51May 29@ Orioles5–10Bauer (2–2)Fyhrie (2–4)—24,91324–27L1
52May 30@ Devil Rays3–4 (13)Harper (2–2)Bradford (1–1)—10,13024–28L2
53May 31@ Devil Rays13–9Venafro (2–1)Yan (2–2)—10,22725–28W1 :
June: 21–7 (Home: 10–3; Away: 11–4)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecordStreak
54June 1@ Devil Rays8–3Zito (6–2)Kennedy (3–5)—14,07326–28W2
55June 2@ Devil Rays4–2Mulder (4–4)Rupe (5–6)Koch (11)10,56327–28W3
56June 3Mariners1–4García (7–4)Harang (1–1)Sasaki (13)14,18827–29L1
57June 4Mariners3–2 (10)Koch (3–0)Hasegawa (3–1)—13,52828–29W1
58June 5Mariners0–5Moyer (5–2)Lidle (1–6)—35,64728–30L1
59June 6Mariners10–4Zito (7–2)Baldwin (4–5)—27,34429–30W1
60June 7Astros5–3Mulder (5–4)Oswalt (6–4)Koch (12)17,45330–30W2
61June 8Astros5–1Harang (2–1)Reynolds (3–6)—27,11531–30W3
62June 9Astros7–6Koch (4–0)Dotel (3–3)—35,06532–30W4
63June 10Brewers8–6Bradford (2–1)de los Santos (1–2)Koch (13)10,58433–30W5
64June 11Brewers11–2Zito (8–2)Figueroa (1–4)—11,22334–30W6
65June 12Brewers8–0Mulder (6–4)Sheets (3–7)—20,84735–30W7
66June 14@ Giants3–2Hudson (4–6)Schmidt (2–2)Koch (14)41,45736–30W8
67June 15@ Giants2–6Zerbe (2–0)Harang (2–2)—41,29836–31L1
68June 16@ Giants2–1Zito (9–2)Rueter (7–5)Koch (15)41,55037–31W1
69June 18@ Pirates4–2Mulder (7–4)Fogg (7–5)Koch (16)21,94338–31W2
70June 19@ Pirates3–2 (10)Bradford (3–1)Williams (1–2)Koch (17)30,56239–31W3
71June 20@ Pirates5–3Hudson (5–6)Benson (0–4)Koch (18)22,46440–31W4
72June 21@ Reds5–3Harang (3–2)Williamson (2–1)Koch (19)26,10141–31W5
73June 22@ Reds10–3Zito (10–2)Chen (2–4)—27,24342–31W6
74June 23@ Reds5–1Mulder (8–4)Reitsma (3–5)—23,96143–31W7
75June 24@ Mariners13–2Lidle (2–6)García (10–5)—45,60244–31W8
76June 25@ Mariners1–7Baldwin (6–6)Hudson (5–7)—43,98544–32L1
77June 26@ Mariners0–1Hasegawa (4–1)Bradford (3–2)Sasaki (18)42,12044–33L2
78June 27@ Mariners4–7Halama (3–2)Zito (10–3)Rhodes (1)42,15944–34L3
79June 28Giants10–6Mulder (9–4)Hernández (6–9)—46,34545–34W1
80June 29Giants3–5Schmidt (4–2)Lidle (2–7)Nen (21)53,50145–35L1
81June 30Giants7–0Hudson (6–7)Ortiz (6–5)—54,12346–35W1 :
July: 15–12 (Home: 8–7; Away: 7–5)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecordStreak
82July 1Twins4–5Romero (4–1)Venafro (2–2)Guardado (25)13,50346–36L1
83July 2Twins4–3Bradford (4–2)Guardado (1–2)—15,31747–36W1
84July 3Twins1–2Santana (4–1)Mulder (9–5)Guardado (26)30,21347–37L1
85July 4Royals3–2Koch (5–0)Hernández (1–1)—28,31548–37W1
86July 5Royals4–3Mecir (3–1)Hernández (1–2)—53,80249–37W2
87July 6Royals3–4 (10)Mullen (1–2)Koch (5–1)Voyles (1)18,25949–38L1
88July 7Royals3–2Zito (11–3)Byrd (11–6)Koch (20)31,67650–38W1
All–Star Break (July 8–10)
89July 11@ Orioles4–1Mulder (10–5)Erickson (3–9)Koch (21)32,50751–38W2
90July 12@ Orioles1–0Hudson (7–7)Johnson (3–6)Koch (22)33,36652–38W3
91July 13@ Orioles6–0Zito (12–3)Driskill (6–2)—36,10053–38W4
92July 14@ Orioles3–6López (9–3)Lidle (2–8)Julio (18)32,85353–39L1
93July 15@ Devil Rays4–0Lilly (4–6)Rupe (5–10)—10,11654–39W1
94July 16@ Devil Rays2–1Mulder (11–5)Sosa (0–2)Koch (23)10,59255–39W2
95July 17Angels4–10Appier (8–7)Hudson (7–8)—38,54755–40L1
96July 18Angels2–0Zito (13–3)Sele (7–7)Koch (24)15,73356–40W1
97July 19Rangers10–0Lidle (3–8)Myette (0–1)—21,44557–40W2
98July 20Rangers6–5Koch (6–1)Burba (4–5)—31,12958–40W3
99July 21Rangers3–7 (12)Powell (2–1)Mecir (3–2)—27,56758–41L1
100July 23@ Angels2–1Zito (14–3)Appier (8–8)Koch (25)25,37059–41W1
101July 24@ Angels1–5Sele (8–7)Hudson (7–9)—25,24059–42L1
102July 25@ Angels4–5Shields (3–1)Mecir (3–3)Weber (5)31,65359–43L2
103July 26@ Rangers4–12Rodriguez (1–1)Mulder (11–6)—34,58559–44L3
104July 27@ Rangers6–10 (10)Kolb (1–0)Koch (6–2)—35,35959–45L4
105July 28@ Rangers12–2Zito (15–3)Alvarez (0–3)—24,02260–45W1
106July 29Indians6–8Mulholland (1–0)Magnante (0–2)Wohlers (1)18,29760–46L1
107July 30Indians4–5Drese (9–8)Lidle (3–9)Wohlers (2)14,73760–47L2
108July 31Indians6–4Mulder (12–6)Westbrook (0–1)Koch (26)47,57461–47W1 :
August: 24–4 (Home: 10–2; Away: 14–2)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecordStreak
109August 1Tigers5–3Bowie (1–0)Sparks (5–11)Koch (27)13,86162–47W2
110August 2Tigers1–3Redman (7–9)Zito (15–4)Acevedo (19)17,19762–48L1
111August 3Tigers8–4Hudson (8–9)Lima (2–5)—29,64863–48W1
112August 4Tigers4–0Lidle (4–9)Maroth (3–4)—24,54664–48W2
113August 6@ Red Sox9–1Mulder (13–6)Wakefield (5–4)—34,05965–48W3
114August 7@ Red Sox3–2Harang (4–2)Burkett (10–5)Koch (28)33,32566–48W4
115August 8@ Red Sox2–4Lowe (16–5)Zito (15–5)Urbina (26)33,85566–49L1
116August 9@ Yankees3–2 (16)Bowie (2–0)Hitchcock (1–1)—54,31667–49W1
117August 10@ Yankees8–0Lidle (5–9)Wells (12–6)—54,43968–49W2
118August 11@ Yankees5–8Mussina (14–6)Mulder (13–7)—54,70368–50L1
119August 12Blue Jays1–2Loaiza (5–6)Harang (4–3)Escobar (24)14,17868–51L2
120August 13Blue Jays5–4Zito (16–5)Carpenter (4–5)Koch (29)17,46669–51W1
121August 14Blue Jays4–2Hudson (9–9)Walker (5–3)Koch (30)40,52870–51W2
122August 16White Sox1–0Lidle (6–9)Buehrle (15–9)Koch (31)22,62271–51W3
123August 17White Sox9–2Mulder (14–7)Garland (8–9)—40,65872–51W4
124August 18White Sox7–4Zito (17–5)Wright (8–11)—31,48973–51W5
125August 19@ Indians8–1Hudson (10–9)Báez (9–10)—27,69674–51W6
126August 20@ Indians6–3Harang (5–3)Westbrook (1–2)Koch (32)27,52775–51W7
127August 21@ Indians6–0Lidle (7–9)Rodríguez (0–1)—26,91676–51W8
128August 22@ Indians9–3Mulder (15–7)Phillips (1–2)Bradford (2)27,75977–51W9
129August 23@ Tigers9–1Zito (18–5)Powell (1–3)—21,80778–51W10
130August 24@ Tigers12–3Hudson (11–9)Lima (4–6)—19,04579–51W11
131August 25@ Tigers10–7Mecir (4–3)Walker (1–1)Koch (33)24,34680–51W12
132August 26@ Royals6–3Lidle (8–9)May (3–9)Koch (34)11,09681–51W13
133August 27@ Royals6–4Mulder (16–7)Hernández (3–3)Koch (35)13,07782–51W14
134August 28@ Royals7–1Zito (19–5)Sedlacek (3–4)—15,95283–51W15
135August 30Twins4–2Hudson (12–9)Radke (6–4)Koch (36)25,22184–51W16
136August 31Twins6–3Mecir (5–3)Romero (8–2)Koch (37)42,84185–51W17 :
September: 18–8 (Home: 11–2; Away: 7–6)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecordStreak
137September 1Twins7–5Koch (7–2)Guardado (1–3)—37,67686–51W18
138September 2Royals7–6Koch (8–2)Grimsley (3–5)—26,32587–51W19
139September 4Royals12–11Koch (9–2)Grimsley (3–6)—55,52888–51W20
140September 6@ Twins0–6Radke (7–4)Lidle (8–10)—27,40988–52L1
141September 7@ Twins2–0Mulder (17–7)Mays (3–6)Koch (38)43,62889–52W1
142September 8@ Twins6–0Zito (20–5)Milton (13–8)—20,10290–52W2
143September 9@ Angels2–1Hudson (13–9)Appier (14–10)Koch (39)28,14591–52W3
144September 10@ Angels2–5Ortiz (13–9)Lilly (4–7)Percival (36)35,32391–53L1
145September 11@ Angels5–6Shields (4–3)Tam (0–1)Percival (37)34,30291–54L2
146September 12@ Angels6–7Donnelly (1–1)Koch (9–3)—31,30491–55L3
147September 13Mariners5–0Zito (21–5)Valdez (8–11)—38,21092–55W1
148September 14Mariners1–0Hudson (14–9)Moyer (13–8)—40,30993–55W2
149September 15Mariners3–6Piñeiro (14–6)Harang (5–4)Sasaki (35)38,78393–56L1
150September 16Angels4–3Koch (10–3)Levine (4–4)—22,32694–56W1
151September 17Angels0–1 (10)Weber (7–2)Koch (10–4)Percival (40)25,89494–57L1
152September 18Angels7–4Zito (22–5)Callaway (1–1)Koch (40)50,73095–57W1
153September 19Angels5–3Hudson (15–9)Appier (14–11)Koch (41)27,43596–57W2
154September 20Rangers4–2Mecir (6–3)Kolb (3–5)Rincón (1)25,28197–57W3
155September 21Rangers6–3Tam (1–1)Nitkowski (0–1)Koch (42)24,86298–57W4
156September 22Rangers7–5Mulder (18–7)Park (9–7)Koch (43)35,69799–57W5
157September 24@ Mariners7–8Hasegawa (8–2)Tam (1–2)Rhodes (2)39,03799–58L1
158September 25@ Mariners2–3Rhodes (10–4)Mecir (6–4)Sasaki (37)39,77699–59L2
159September 26@ Mariners5–3 (10)Koch (11–4)Hasegawa (8–3)—45,822100–59W1
160September 27@ Rangers3–2Mulder (19–7)Park (9–8)Koch (44)31,521101–59W2
161September 28@ Rangers10–8Lilly (5–7)Kolb (3–6)Mecir (1)44,442102–59W3
162September 29@ Rangers8–7Zito (23–5)Benoit (4–5)—34,529103–59W4 :
Legend:        = Win        = Loss        = Postponement Bold = Athletics team member     Source: baseball-reference.com :

### Season standings

vteAL West :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Oakland Athletics | 103 | 59 | .636 | — | 54‍–‍27 | 49‍–‍32 |
| Anaheim Angels | 99 | 63 | .611 | 4 | 54‍–‍27 | 45‍–‍36 |
| Seattle Mariners | 93 | 69 | .574 | 10 | 48‍–‍33 | 45‍–‍36 |
| Texas Rangers | 72 | 90 | .444 | 31 | 42‍–‍39 | 30‍–‍51 |
vteDivision leaders :
| Team | W | L | Pct. |
| New York Yankees | 103 | 58 | .640 |
| Minnesota Twins | 94 | 67 | .584 |
| Oakland Athletics | 103 | 59 | .636 |
vteWild Card team (Top team qualifies for postseason) :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB |
| Anaheim Angels | 99 | 63 | .611 | — |
| Boston Red Sox | 93 | 69 | .574 | 6 |
| Seattle Mariners | 93 | 69 | .574 | 6 |
| Chicago White Sox | 81 | 81 | .500 | 18 |
| Toronto Blue Jays | 78 | 84 | .481 | 21 |
| Cleveland Indians | 74 | 88 | .457 | 25 |
| Texas Rangers | 72 | 90 | .444 | 27 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 67 | 95 | .414 | 32 |
| Kansas City Royals | 62 | 100 | .383 | 37 |
| Detroit Tigers | 55 | 106 | .342 | 43½ |
| Tampa Bay Devil Rays | 55 | 106 | .342 | 43½ |

### Record vs. opponents

2002 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | ANA | BAL | BOS | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | MIN | NYY | OAK | SEA | TB | TEX | TOR | NL |
| Anaheim | — | 7–2 | 3–4 | 6–3 | 6–3 | 8–1 | 6–3 | 4–5 | 3–4 | 9–11 | 9–10 | 8–1 | 12–7 | 7–2 | 11–7 |
| Baltimore | 2–7 | — | 6–13 | 3–4 | 1–5 | 2–4 | 7–0 | 5–1 | 6–13 | 4–5 | 5–4 | 10–9 | 3–6 | 4–15 | 9–9 |
| Boston | 4–3 | 13–6 | — | 2–4 | 5–4 | 5–4 | 4–2 | 3–3 | 9–10 | 6–3 | 4–5 | 16–3 | 4–3 | 13–6 | 5–13 |
| Chicago | 3–6 | 4–3 | 4–2 | — | 9–10 | 12–7 | 11–8 | 8–11 | 2–4 | 2–7 | 5–4 | 4–3 | 5–4 | 4–2 | 8–10 |
| Cleveland | 3–6 | 5–1 | 4–5 | 10–9 | — | 10–9 | 9–10 | 8–11 | 3–6 | 2–5 | 3–4 | 4–2 | 4–5 | 3–3 | 6–12 |
| Detroit | 1–8 | 4–2 | 4–5 | 7–12 | 9–10 | — | 9–10 | 4–14 | 1–8 | 1–6 | 2–5 | 2–4 | 5–4 | 0–6 | 6–12 |
| Kansas City | 3–6 | 0–7 | 2–4 | 8–11 | 10–9 | 10–9 | — | 5–14 | 1–5 | 1–8 | 3–6 | 4–2 | 7–2 | 3–4 | 5–13 |
| Minnesota | 5–4 | 1–5 | 3–3 | 11–8 | 11–8 | 14–4 | 14–5 | — | 0–6 | 3–6 | 5–4 | 5–2 | 6–3 | 6–1 | 10–8 |
| New York | 4–3 | 13–6 | 10–9 | 4–2 | 6–3 | 8–1 | 5–1 | 6–0 | — | 5–4 | 4–5 | 13–5 | 4–3 | 10–9 | 11–7 |
| Oakland | 11–9 | 5–4 | 3–6 | 7–2 | 5–2 | 6–1 | 8–1 | 6–3 | 4–5 | — | 8–11 | 8–1 | 13–6 | 3–6 | 16–2 |
| Seattle | 10–9 | 4–5 | 5–4 | 4–5 | 4–3 | 5–2 | 6–3 | 4–5 | 5–4 | 11–8 | — | 5–4 | 13–7 | 6–3 | 11–7 |
| Tampa Bay | 1–8 | 9–10 | 3–16 | 3–4 | 2–4 | 4–2 | 2–4 | 2–5 | 5–13 | 1–8 | 4–5 | — | 4–5 | 8–11 | 7–11 |
| Texas | 7–12 | 6–3 | 3–4 | 4–5 | 5–4 | 4–5 | 2–7 | 3–6 | 3–4 | 6–13 | 7–13 | 5–4 | — | 8–1 | 9–9 |
| Toronto | 2–7 | 15–4 | 6–13 | 2–4 | 3–3 | 6–0 | 4–3 | 1–6 | 9–10 | 6–3 | 3–6 | 11–8 | 1–8 | — | 9–9 |

### Draft picks (first round)

The following were drafted in the first round of the 2002 MLB draft by the Athletics on June 4, 2002:
* Nick Swisher (16th pick, compensatory)
* Joe Blanton (24th pick, compensatory)
* John McCurdy (26th pick)
* Benjamin Fritz (30th pick, compensatory)
* Jeremy Brown (35th pick, compensatory)
* Mark Teahen (39th pick, compensatory)

### Trades

* May 22, 2002: John Mabry was traded by the Philadelphia Phillies to the Oakland Athletics for Jeremy Giambi.
* June 21, 2002: Bob Ryan was traded to the Boston Red Sox for cash considerations.
* July 5, 2002: Jeff Weaver was traded by the Detroit Tigers to the New York Yankees, and cash was sent by the Tigers to the Oakland Athletics, as part of a 3-team trade. The Athletics sent Carlos Peña, Franklyn Germán, and a player to be named later to the Tigers. The Yankees sent Ted Lilly, John-Ford Griffin, and Jason Arnold (minors) to the Athletics. The Athletics completed the trade by sending Jeremy Bonderman to the Tigers on August 22, 2002.
* July 25, 2002: Ray Durham was traded by the Chicago White Sox to the Oakland Athletics with cash for Jon Adkins.
* July 30, 2002: Ricardo Rincón was traded by the Cleveland Indians to the Oakland Athletics for Marshall McDougall.

### Roster
## Postseason

The Athletics clinched the American League West with a regular season record of 103–59, advancing to the first round of the postseason. They were defeated in the 2002 American League Division Series three games to two by the American League Central champion Minnesota Twins. The Twins would later be defeated in the 2002 American League Championship Series by the eventual World Series champion Anaheim Angels.

### Postseason game log

2002 Postseason Game Log (2–3) :
2002 AL Division Series vs. Minnesota Twins: Athletics lose 2–3
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceSeries
1October 1Twins5–7Radke (1–0)Lilly (0–1)Guardado (1)34,853MIN 1–0
2October 2Twins9–1Mulder (1–0)Mays (0–1)—31,953Tied 1–1
3October 4@ Twins6–3Zito (1–0)Reed (0–1)Koch (1)55,932OAK 2–1
4October 5@ Twins2–11Milton (1–0)Hudson (0–1)—55,960Tied 2–2
5October 6Twins4–5Radke (2–0)Mulder (1–1)—32,146MIN 3–2 :
Legend:        = Win        = Loss        = Postponement Bold = Athletics team member      Source: baseball-reference.com :

## Player statistics
### Pitching

Note: POS = Position; G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | POS | G | IP | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
| Tim Hudson | SP | 34 | 238.1 | 15 | 9 | 0 | 2.98 | 152 |
| Barry Zito | SP | 35 | 229.1 | 23 | 5 | 0 | 2.75 | 182 |
| Mark Mulder | SP | 30 | 207.1 | 19 | 7 | 0 | 3.47 | 159 |
| Cory Lidle | SP | 31 | 192.0 | 8 | 10 | 0 | 3.89 | 111 |
| Billy Koch | CP | 84 | 93.2 | 11 | 4 | 44 | 3.27 | 93 |
| Aaron Harang | SP | 16 | 78.1 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 4.83 | 64 |
| Chad Bradford | RP | 75 | 75.1 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3.11 | 56 |
| Jim Mecir | RP | 61 | 67.2 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 4.26 | 53 |
| Jeff Tam | RP | 40 | 40.1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5.13 | 14 |
| Mike Fyhrie | RP/SP | 16 | 48.2 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 4.44 | 29 |
| Erik Hiljus | RP/SP | 9 | 45.2 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6.50 | 29 |
| Mike Venafro | RP | 47 | 37.0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4.62 | 16 |
| Mike Magnante | RP | 32 | 28.2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5.97 | 11 |
| Ted Lilly | RP/SP | 6 | 23.1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4.63 | 18 |
| Ricardo Rincón | RP | 25 | 20.1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3.10 | 19 |
| Mike Holtz | RP | 16 | 14.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.43 | 7 |
| Micah Bowie | RP | 13 | 12.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1.50 | 8 |
| Team Totals | Team Totals | Team Totals | 1452.0 | 103 | 59 | 48 | 3.68 | 1021 |
| AL Ranking / 14 | AL Ranking / 14 | AL Ranking / 14 | 2 | 1 | 13 | 4 | 1 | 7 |
Source:

### Batting

Note: POS = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; AVG = Batting average; OBP = On base percentage; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Player | POS | G | AB | AVG | OBP | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI |
| Ramón Hernández | C | 136 | 403 | .233 | .313 | 94 | 20 | 0 | 7 | 42 |
| Scott Hatteberg | 1B | 136 | 492 | .280 | .374 | 138 | 22 | 4 | 15 | 61 |
| Mark Ellis | 2B | 98 | 345 | .272 | .359 | 94 | 16 | 4 | 6 | 35 |
| Eric Chavez | 3B | 153 | 585 | .275 | .348 | 161 | 31 | 3 | 34 | 109 |
| Miguel Tejada | SS | 162 | 662 | .308 | .354 | 204 | 30 | 0 | 34 | 131 |
| David Justice | LF | 118 | 398 | .266 | .376 | 106 | 18 | 3 | 11 | 49 |
| Terrence Long | CF | 162 | 587 | .240 | .298 | 141 | 32 | 4 | 16 | 67 |
| Jermaine Dye | RF | 131 | 488 | .252 | .333 | 123 | 27 | 1 | 24 | 86 |
| Ray Durham | DH | 54 | 219 | .274 | .350 | 60 | 14 | 4 | 6 | 22 |
| John Mabry | LF | 89 | 193 | .275 | .322 | 53 | 13 | 1 | 11 | 40 |
| Jeremy Giambi | LF | 42 | 157 | .274 | .390 | 43 | 7 | 0 | 8 | 17 |
| Olmedo Sáenz | 1B | 68 | 156 | .276 | .354 | 43 | 10 | 1 | 6 | 18 |
| Greg Myers | C | 65 | 144 | .222 | .341 | 32 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 21 |
| Randy Velarde | 2B | 56 | 133 | .226 | .325 | 30 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 8 |
| Frank Menechino | 2B | 38 | 132 | .312 | .312 | 27 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 15 |
| Adam Piatt | LF | 55 | 137 | .234 | .303 | 32 | 8 | 0 | 5 | 18 |
| Carlos Peña | 1B | 40 | 124 | .218 | .305 | 27 | 4 | 0 | 7 | 16 |
| Eric Byrnes | UT | 90 | 94 | .245 | .291 | 23 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 11 |
| Esteban Germán | 2B | 9 | 35 | .200 | .300 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mike Colangelo | OF | 20 | 23 | .174 | .240 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Larry Sutton | UT | 7 | 19 | .105 | .150 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Jason Grabowski | LF | 4 | 8 | .375 | .545 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Jose Flores | UT | 7 | 3 | .000 | .400 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Cody McKay | C | 2 | 3 | .667 | .500 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Barry Zito | P | 35 | 4 | .000 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tim Hudson | P | 34 | 5 | .200 | .333 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mark Mulder | P | 30 | 5 | .000 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Aaron Harang | P | 16 | 3 | .000 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Cory Lidle | P | 31 | 1 | .000 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Team Totals | Team Totals | Team Totals | 5558 | .261 | .339 | 1450 | 279 | 28 | 205 | 772 |
| AL Ranking / 14 | AL Ranking / 14 | AL Ranking / 14 | 9 | 8 | 5 | 9 | 12 | 10 | 4 | — |
Note: Only players with at least one at-bat are listed.
Source:

## Farm system

* Baseball portal
| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Sacramento River Cats | Pacific Coast League | Bob Geren |
| AA | Midland RockHounds | Texas League | Tony DeFrancesco |
| A | Modesto A's | California League | Greg Sparks |
| A | Visalia Oaks | California League | Webster Garrison |
| A-Short Season | Vancouver Canadians | Northwest League | Orv Franchuk |
| Rookie | AZL Athletics | Arizona League | Ruben Escalera |