1976 Oakland Athletics season
The 1976 Oakland Athletics season involved the A's finishing second in the American League West with a record of 87 wins and 74 losses, games behind the Kansas City Royals. The A's failed to win the division (and make the playoffs) for the first time since 1970. The team set and still holds the American League record for most stolen bases with 341, second in Major League Baseball's modern era (since 1901) to the 1911 New York Giants, who had 347. The Athletics did not eclipse this season's win total until 1988  (104 wins). Nearly all of the team's stars (Sal Bando, Rollie Fingers, Gene Tenace, Joe Rudi, Bert Campaneris, Don Baylor, Phil Garner, Billy Williams, Claudell Washington, and an injury-plagued Willie McCovey) departed after this season. This staggering mass exodus led to a 24-win plunge in 1977 to last place in the standings and attendance. Regular season. As the season got underway (on April 9 for Oakland), the basic rules of player contracts were changing. It was ruled that baseball's reserve clause only bound players for one season after their contract expired. All players not signed to  multi-year contracts would be eligible for free agency at the end of the 1976 season. Finley reacted by trading star players and attempting to sell others. On June 15, Finley sold left fielder Joe Rudi and relief pitcher Rollie Fingers to the Boston Red Sox for $1 million each, and pitcher Vida Blue to the New York Yankees for $1.5 million. Three days later, Bowie Kuhn voided the transactions in the "best interests of baseball." Amid the turmoil, the A's still finished second in the A.L. West, 2.5 games behind the Royals. Fire sale. O'Connell had  contacted Detroit Tigers general manager Jim Campbell to purchase Vida Blue for one million dollars so that the New York Yankees could not get him. Gabe Paul of the Yankees advised that he would pay $1.5 million for the opportunity to acquire Blue. Finley offered Blue a three-year extension worth $485,000 per season to make the sale more attractive to the Yankees. With the extension, the Yankees agreed to purchase Blue. 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" Other batters. "Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in" Pitching. Starting pitchers. "Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts" Other pitchers. "Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts" Relief pitchers. "Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV  = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts"