Deane: Billy Martin, beyond the 1982 A’s
From SABR member Bill Deane at WordPress on April 28, 2020:
When you mention Billy Martin, a lot of people remember him only as the manager who blew out the arms of a staff of young pitchers in Oakland. Under Martin, the A’s had an unheard-of 94 complete games out of 162 in 1980 (no other team that year had more than 48), and 60 out of 109 in ’81. But in 1982, all the starting pitchers on the staff turned up lame, and the team sunk to a 68-94 record.
Nobody seems to remember that this was the only full losing season in Martin’s entire managerial career, hardly representative of his life’s work. And Billy offered a different explanation for the pitchers’ collapse, involving the 1981 players’ strike.
Read the full article here: https://dizzydeane.wordpress.com/2020/04/28/billy-martin-beyond-the-1982-as/
Originally published: May 1, 2020. Last Updated: May 1, 2020.