Jackson: 1980 Oakland starters; A’s for effort
From SABR member Frank Jackson at The Hardball Times on December 20, 2018:
If you love a parade, you’re probably enamored of current trends in handling pitchers. Fashion has dictated that starters can leave after five or six innings without disgrace, thus making way for a parade of relievers. From there, one good inning is usually enough to get a “well done” from the manager; in some cases just getting one batter out is sufficient for a pat on the back.
Maybe you yearn for the days of yore when complete games were commonplace. Well, you don’t have to go all the way back to the Cy Young era to find a stable of workhorses.
In 1980, the Oakland A’s were coming off a dreadful season: In 1979 they had won 54 games and lost 108. The opposition outscored them 860 to 513. The team’s season attendance of 306,763 was the A’s (and the league’s) lowest since 1954, the franchise’s last season in Philadelphia, when 304,666 paid their way into Shibe Park.
Read the full article here: https://www.fangraphs.com/tht/1980-as-starters-a-for-effort/
Originally published: December 21, 2018. Last Updated: December 21, 2018.