1991 Oakland Athletics season

The Oakland Athletics' 1991 season involved the A's finishing 4th in the American League West with a record of 84 wins and 78 losses.

Offseason

• December 3, 1990: Willie Wilson was signed as a free agent by the Athletics.^[1]
• December 4, 1990: Darren Lewis and a player to be named later were traded by the Athletics to the San Francisco Giants for Ernest Riles. The Athletics completed the deal by sending Pedro Pena (minors) to the Giants on December 17.^[2]
• December 19, 1990: Scott Sanderson was signed as a free agent by the Athletics.^[3]
• December 20, 1990: Ozzie Canseco was released by the Athletics.^[4]
• December 31, 1990: Scott Sanderson was purchased from the Athletics by the New York Yankees.^[3]
• January 7, 1991: Vance Law was signed as a free agent by the Athletics.^[5]
• January 14, 1991: Webster Garrison was signed as a free agent by the Athletics.^[6]
• January 15, 1991: Dave Veres was traded by the Athletics to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Kevin Campbell.^[7]
• January 16, 1991: Troy Neel was traded by the Cleveland Indians to the Oakland Athletics for Larry Arndt.^[8]
• February 8, 1991: Tony Batista was signed by the Oakland Athletics as an amateur free agent.^[9]

Regular season

On May 15, 1991, President George H.W. Bush attended a baseball game in Baltimore with Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II. The two saw the Oakland Athletics play the Baltimore Orioles for two innings.^[10]

Opening Day starters

• Harold Baines
• José Canseco
• Mike Gallego
• Dave Henderson
• Rickey Henderson
• Mark McGwire
• Ernest Riles
• Terry Steinbach
• Dave Stewart
• Walt Weiss

Season standings

Notable transactions

• May 18, 1991: Andy Hawkins was signed as a free agent by the Athletics.^[11]
• July 26, 1991: Lee Tinsley and Apolinar Garcia (minors) were traded by the Athletics to the Cleveland Indians for Brook Jacoby.^[12]
• July 31, 1991: Matt Grott and Russell Cormier (minors) were traded by the Athletics to the Montreal Expos for Ron Darling.^[13]
• August 5, 1991: Mark Acre was signed by the Oakland Athletics as an amateur free agent.^[14]
• August 20, 1991: Andy Hawkins was released by the Athletics.^[11]

Draft Picks

• June 3, 1991: Scott Sheldon was drafted by the Oakland Athletics in the 8th round of the 1991 amateur draft. Player signed June 5, 1991.^[15]
• June 3, 1991: Damon Mashore was drafted by the Oakland Athletics in the 9th round of the 1991 amateur draft. Player signed June 5, 1991.^[16]
• June 3, 1991: George Williams was drafted by the Oakland Athletics in the 24th round of the 1991 amateur draft. Player signed June 10, 1991.^[17]

Roster

Rickey Henderson's Stolen Base Record

On May 1, 1991, Henderson broke one of baseball's most famous records when he stole the 939th base of his career, one more than Lou Brock. However, Henderson's achievement was somewhat overshadowed because Nolan Ryan, at age 44, set a record that same night by throwing a no-hitter against Toronto, the seventh of his career. Two years earlier, Ryan had previously achieved glory at Henderson's expense by making him his 5,000th strikeout victim. Henderson took an odd delight in the occurrence, saying, "If you haven't been struck out by Nolan Ryan, you're nobody."^[18]

Rickey's speech (at right) after breaking Lou Brock's all-time steals record sounds like the standard victory/award speech. Henderson thanked God and his mother, as well as the people that helped him in baseball. All that is remembered, however, is the "I am the greatest of all time" quote, which has been taken by many to support the notion that Henderson is selfish and arrogant.^[19] Years later, Henderson revealed that he had gone over his planned remarks ahead of time with Brock, and the Cardinals Hall of Famer "had no problem with it. In fact, he helped me write what I was going to say that day."

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

Note: G = Games played; AB = At Bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting Average; HR = Home Runs; RBI = Runs Batted In

Other batters

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Other pitchers

Relief pitchers

Farm system

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: AZL Athletics

References

• 1991 Oakland Athletics team page at Baseball Reference
• 1991 Oakland Athletics team page at www.baseball-almanac.com
• Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds (1997). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd ed.). Durham, N.C.: Baseball America. ISBN 978-0-9637189-8-3.