# 1995 Oakland Athletics season

The Oakland Athletics' 1995 season was the team's 28th in Oakland, California. It was also the 95th season in franchise history. The team finished fourth in the American League West with a record of 67–77.
The Athletics, for a third consecutive year, found themselves mired in mediocrity. As had been the case in both 1993 and 1994, an average-to-poor offense (headlined by Mark McGwire, Rickey Henderson, and Rubén Sierra) was sabotaged by one of the league's worst pitching staffs. For a third consecutive season, no Athletics starter posted an earned run average (ERA) of less than 4.50; only one such starter, Todd Stottlemyre, managed to record double-digit wins in the strike-shortened campaign.
The Athletics, despite their weak pitching, managed to contend in the first half of the season. On July 1, a win over the division-leading California Angels brought them within 1.5 games of first place; it also ran their record to a surprising 34–28. As had been the case in 1994, the A's followed their surprising start with a prolonged slump; between July 2 and August 15, the team went only 13–28. The collapse, along with an Angels surge (the Angels went 30–11 over the same span) left the A's 17.5 games out of first place. As had also been the case in 1994, Oakland mounted a dramatic comeback; an Angels collapse, combined with a surge of their own, allowed them to pull within five games of first place on September 20. The September 20th victory would be their last, as Oakland lost each of the regular season's final nine games. They finished the campaign eleven games behind the AL West champion Seattle Mariners.
The Athletics' on-field mediocrity, however, contained a few bright spots. Mark McGwire clubbed 39 home runs in a mere 104 games; he would hit at least 50 in each of the four subsequent seasons. The 1995 season also saw the debut of future superstar Jason Giambi. Giambi, in his first major league season, batted .256 with six home runs in 54 games. Lastly, the season was Tony La Russa's last as Oakland's manager. He, along with most of the Athletics' assistant coaches, would join the St. Louis Cardinals in 1996.

## Offseason

* November 8, 1994: José Ortiz was signed as an amateur free agent by the Athletics.

## Regular season

* Walter A. Haas Owner: 1981-95(OAK) Honored 1995

### Season standings

vteAL West :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Seattle Mariners | 79 | 66 | .545 | — | 46‍–‍27 | 33‍–‍39 |
| California Angels | 78 | 67 | .538 | 1 | 39‍–‍33 | 39‍–‍34 |
| Texas Rangers | 74 | 70 | .514 | 4½ | 41‍–‍31 | 33‍–‍39 |
| Oakland Athletics | 67 | 77 | .465 | 11½ | 38‍–‍34 | 29‍–‍43 |

### Record vs. opponents

1995 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BAL | BOS | CAL | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | MIL | MIN | NYY | OAK | SEA | TEX | TOR |
| Baltimore | — | 4–9 | 9–4 | 6–1 | 2–10 | 8–5 | 4–5 | 7–5 | 3–6 | 6–7 | 5–7 | 6–7 | 4–1 | 7–6 |
| Boston | 9–4 | — | 11–3 | 5–3 | 6–7 | 8–5 | 3–2 | 8–4 | 5–4 | 5–8 | 8–4 | 7–5 | 3–4 | 8–5 |
| California | 4–9 | 3–11 | — | 10–2 | 3–2 | 6–2 | 5–7 | 5–2 | 8–5 | 7–5 | 6–7 | 7–6 | 6–7 | 8–2 |
| Chicago | 1–6 | 3–5 | 2–10 | — | 5–8 | 8–4 | 8–5 | 6–7 | 10–3 | 3–2–1 | 7–5 | 4–9 | 5–7 | 6–5 |
| Cleveland | 10–2 | 7–6 | 2–3 | 8–5 | — | 10–3 | 11–1 | 9–4 | 9–4 | 6–6 | 7–0 | 5–4 | 6–3 | 10–3 |
| Detroit | 5–8 | 5–8 | 2–6 | 4–8 | 3–10 | — | 3–4 | 8–5 | 7–5 | 5–8 | 2–3 | 5–5 | 4–8 | 7–6 |
| Kansas City | 5–4 | 2–3 | 7–5 | 5–8 | 1–11 | 4–3 | — | 10–2 | 6–7 | 3–7 | 5–8 | 7–5 | 8–6 | 7–5 |
| Milwaukee | 5–7 | 4–8 | 2–5 | 7–6 | 4–9 | 5–8 | 2–10 | — | 9–4 | 5–6 | 7–2 | 3–2 | 5–7 | 7–5 |
| Minnesota | 6–3 | 4–5 | 5–8 | 3–10 | 4–9 | 5–7 | 7–6 | 4–9 | — | 3–4 | 5–7 | 4–8 | 5–8 | 1–4 |
| New York | 7–6 | 8–5 | 5–7 | 2–3–1 | 6–6 | 8–5 | 7–3 | 6–5 | 4–3 | — | 4–9 | 4–9 | 6–3 | 12–1 |
| Oakland | 7–5 | 4–8 | 7–6 | 5–7 | 0–7 | 3–2 | 8–5 | 2–7 | 7–5 | 9–4 | — | 7–6 | 5–8 | 3–7 |
| Seattle | 7–6 | 5–7 | 6–7 | 9–4 | 4–5 | 5–5 | 5–7 | 2–3 | 8–4 | 9–4 | 6–7 | — | 10–3 | 3–4 |
| Texas | 1–4 | 4–3 | 7–6 | 7–5 | 3–6 | 8–4 | 6–8 | 7–5 | 8–5 | 3–6 | 8–5 | 3–10 | — | 9–3 |
| Toronto | 6–7 | 5–8 | 2–8 | 5–6 | 3–10 | 6–7 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 4–1 | 1–12 | 7–3 | 4–3 | 3–9 | — |

### Notable transactions

* April 8, 1995: Dave Stewart was signed as a free agent by the Athletics.
* April 11, 1995: Todd Stottlemyre was signed as a free agent by the Athletics.
* April 12, 1995: Mike Gallego was signed as a free agent by the Athletics.
* April 20, 1995: Brian Harper was signed as a free agent by the Athletics.
* June 1, 1995: Mark Bellhorn was drafted by the Athletics in the 2nd round of the 1995 Major League Baseball draft. Player signed June 24, 1995.
* July 28, 1995: Rubén Sierra and Jason Beverlin were traded by the Athletics to the New York Yankees for Danny Tartabull.
* August 21, 1995: Ron Darling 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 | Terry Steinbach | 114 | 406 | 113 | .278 | 15 | 65 |
| 1B | Mark McGwire | 104 | 317 | 87 | .274 | 39 | 90 |
| 2B | Brent Gates | 136 | 524 | 133 | .254 | 5 | 56 |
| SS | Mike Bordick | 126 | 428 | 113 | .264 | 8 | 44 |
| 3B | Craig Paquette | 105 | 283 | 64 | .226 | 13 | 49 |
| LF | Rickey Henderson | 112 | 407 | 122 | .300 | 9 | 54 |
| CF | Stan Javier | 130 | 442 | 123 | .278 | 8 | 56 |
| RF | Rubén Sierra | 70 | 264 | 70 | .265 | 12 | 42 |
| DH | Gerónimo Berroa | 141 | 546 | 152 | .278 | 22 | 88 |

#### 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 |
| Scott Brosius | 123 | 389 | 102 | .262 | 17 | 46 |
| Jason Giambi | 54 | 176 | 45 | .256 | 6 | 25 |
| Mike Aldrete | 60 | 125 | 34 | .272 | 4 | 21 |
| Mike Gallego | 43 | 120 | 28 | .233 | 0 | 8 |
| Danny Tartabull | 24 | 88 | 23 | .261 | 2 | 7 |
| Eric Helfand | 38 | 86 | 14 | .163 | 0 | 7 |
| Andy Tomberlin | 46 | 85 | 18 | .212 | 4 | 10 |
| George Williams | 29 | 79 | 23 | .291 | 3 | 14 |
| José Herrera | 33 | 70 | 17 | .243 | 0 | 2 |
| Ernie Young | 26 | 50 | 10 | .200 | 2 | 5 |
| Fausto Cruz | 8 | 23 | 5 | .217 | 0 | 5 |
| Brian Harper | 2 | 7 | 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 |
| Todd Stottlemyre | 31 | 209.2 | 14 | 7 | 4.55 | 205 |
| Steve Ontiveros | 22 | 129.2 | 9 | 6 | 4.37 | 77 |
| Ron Darling | 21 | 104.0 | 4 | 7 | 6.23 | 69 |
| Dave Stewart | 16 | 81.0 | 3 | 7 | 6.89 | 58 |
| Mike Harkey | 14 | 66.0 | 4 | 6 | 6.27 | 28 |
| Doug Johns | 11 | 54.2 | 5 | 3 | 4.61 | 25 |

#### 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 |
| Todd Van Poppel | 36 | 138.1 | 4 | 8 | 4.88 | 122 |
| Ariel Prieto | 14 | 58.0 | 2 | 6 | 4.97 | 37 |
| Steve Wojciechowski | 14 | 48.2 | 2 | 3 | 5.18 | 13 |
| John Wasdin | 5 | 17.1 | 1 | 1 | 4.67 | 6 |

#### 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 |
| Dennis Eckersley | 52 | 4 | 6 | 29 | 4.83 | 40 |
| Rick Honeycutt | 49 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2.42 | 21 |
| Mark Acre | 43 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5.71 | 47 |
| Carlos Reyes | 40 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 5.09 | 48 |
| Jim Corsi | 38 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2.20 | 26 |
| Mike Mohler | 28 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3.04 | 15 |
| Dave Leiper | 24 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3.57 | 10 |
| Don Wengert | 19 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3.34 | 16 |
| John Briscoe | 16 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8.35 | 19 |
| Chris Eddy | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7.36 | 2 |
| Scott Baker | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9.82 | 3 |
| Steve Phoenix | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 32.40 | 3 |
| Ramón Fermín | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13.50 | 0 |

## Awards and records

* Mark McGwire, Major League Record, Most Home Runs in a season in under 350 At-Bats (39)

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Edmonton Trappers | Pacific Coast League | Gary Jones |
| AA | Huntsville Stars | Southern League | Dick Scott |
| A | Modesto A's | California League | Glenn Ezell |
| A | West Michigan Whitecaps | Midwest League | Jim Colborn |
| A-Short Season | Southern Oregon A's | Northwest League | Tony DeFrancesco |
| Rookie | AZL Athletics | Arizona League | Juan Navarrette |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: AZL Athletics