Best 50 — 1989 Oakland Athletics (#28)
Even an earthquake can’t stop the title-bound A’s
The subject of today’s newsletter is the 1989 Oakland Athletics, who are No. 28 in the Best 50, my list of the greatest ballclubs in history. The rankings come from my new book, Baseball’s Best (and Worst) Teams.
Here’s a quick boilerplate explanation that I’m appending to every story in this series:
I compiled the Best 50 by analyzing 2,544 major-league teams from 1903 to 2024. Those clubs have been ranked by their team scores (TS), which are plotted on a 100-point scale. (A given club’s all-time percentile is the percentage of the other 2,543 teams that it outperformed.)
See my book for an explanation of my TS calculations. The book also offers separate breakdowns of the best and worst clubs for every decade and franchise, comprehensive profiles of the Best 50 (including position-by-position lineups and much more information than you’ll find in this newsletter), and similar summaries of the 10 worst teams of all time.
Now on to today’s profile.
Facts and figures
Team: 1989 Oakland Athletics
Team score: 86.713 points
All-time rank: 28 of 2,544
All-time percentile: 98.94%
Season record: 99-63 (.611)
Season position: First place in American League West
Final status: World champion
Season summary
The Athletics suffered five consecutive losing seasons from 1982 to 1986. Their renaissance finally began after Tony La Russa became their manager in July of ’86. Young talent followed. Oakland players won three straight Rookie of the Year Awards: right fielder Jose Canseco in 1986, first baseman Mark McGwire in 1987, shortstop Walt Weiss in 1988.
The initial payoff was a berth in the ’88 World Series, which the Athletics lost to the Dodgers. La Russa believed his club relied too heavily on home runs. “Stop trying to hit every damned ball out of the park,” he barked at his hitters. La Russa went looking for a sparkplug for his batting order and another reliable arm for his starting rotation. The A’s met those needs through a midseason trade with the Yankees for left fielder Rickey Henderson and the free-agent signing of pitcher Mike Moore.
Oakland battled the California Angels for first place in the American League West until mid-August 1989, when the A’s finally took control. They finished with a seven-game cushion.
Baseball’s Best (and Worst) Teams
Get the complete lowdown on the 50 greatest (and 10 weakest) clubs of all time
Postseason summary
Oakland breezed through 1989’s American League Championship Series, eliminating Toronto in five games. Rickey Henderson led the A’s by reaching base 13 times, stealing eight bases, and scoring eight runs.
The World Series was even easier, though in a strange way. The Athletics and Giants were warming up for Game Three when a devastating earthquake struck San Francisco. Oakland already had two victories in the bank. It notched a pair more — completing a sweep — when the series resumed after a 12-day hiatus. Starters Dave Stewart and Mike Moore registered two wins apiece.
Slugger Mark McGwire insisted that the best was yet to come for the youthful Athletics. “There’s no reason we can’t keep winning,” he declared, “no reason we can’t become a dynasty.”
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Lineup summary
The Athletics had traded Rickey Henderson to the Yankees in 1984, yet they happily reacquired him in mid-1989. “Rickey is the single most devastating player in baseball,” raved Tony La Russa. “He’s worth two to three runs a game by himself.” The left fielder batted .294 for the A’s, and he led the American League with full-season totals of 113 runs, 126 walks, and 77 stolen bases.
Third baseman Carney Lansford was the most consistent hitter in Oakland’s batting order. His .336 average ranked as the league’s second-best. First baseman Mark McGwire (33 home runs) and designated hitter Dave Parker (97 runs batted in) supplied power, though La Russa generally preferred to play what he called “little ball.” Oakland finished sixth in the AL in homers, but second in stolen bases.
Pitching was the team’s greatest strength. “Oakland has at least three pitchers who would be considered No. 1 — no worse than No. 2 — on the staff of nearly any team,” said Angels manager Doug Rader. Those aces were Dave Stewart, Mike Moore, and Bob Welch, who combined for 57 wins. Stewart would accumulate at least 20 victories each year from 1987 through 1990 without receiving a Cy Young Award. He claimed he didn’t mind. “Winning 20 ballgames, that’s something,” he said, “because they don’t have to vote on 20 wins.”
Dennis Eckersley anchored Oakland’s bullpen with 33 saves and a 1.56 ERA. Many historians classify Eckersley as the first reliever to serve as a ninth-inning specialist, known today as a closer.