The Baseball Scholar

These are the greatest individual seasons in Oakland Athletics history, including Philadelphia Athletics, Kansas City Athletics, and Oakland Athletics, broken down by player and position. Since we’re celebrating standout seasons, players can show up multiple times especially if they logged meaningful time at different spots on the field. Outfielders and pitchers may also appear for multiple seasons when those performances rank as the franchise’s best at their respective positions.

Catcher

Gene Tenace – 1975

• Age: 28
• Years: 1975
• Positions: C
• Teams: Oakland Athletics

Gene Tenace Hitting Stats

WAR	wRC+	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
5.2	153	158	623	498	83	127	17	0	29	87	106	127	7	4	.255	.395	.464	.859

First Base

Jason Giambi – 2001

• Age: 30
• Years: 2001
• Positions: 1B
• Teams: Oakland Athletics

Jason Giambi Hitting Stats

WAR	wRC+	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
9.2	193	154	671	520	109	178	47	2	38	120	129	83	2	0	.342	.477	.660	1.137

Second Base

Nap Lajoie – 1901HOF

• Age: 26
• Years: 1901
• Positions: 2B
• Teams: Philadelphia Athletics

Nap Lajoie Hitting Stats

WAR	wRC+	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
8.3	186	131	582	544	145	232	48	14	14	125	24		27		.426	.463	.643	1.106

Third Base

Home Run Baker – 1912HOF

• Age: 26
• Years: 1912
• Positions: 3B
• Teams: Philadelphia Athletics

Home Run Baker Hitting Stats

WAR	wRC+	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
9.3	166	149	644	577	116	200	40	21	10	130	50		40		.347	.404	.541	.945

Shortstop

Marcus Semien – 2019

• Age: 28
• Years: 2019
• Positions: SS
• Teams: Oakland Athletics

Marcus Semien Hitting Stats

WAR	wRC+	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
8.4	138	162	747	657	123	187	43	7	33	92	87	102	10	8	.285	.369	.522	.892

Outfield

Rickey Henderson – 1990HOFMVP

• Age: 31
• Years: 1990
• Positions: LF
• Teams: Oakland Athletics

Rickey Henderson Hitting Stats

WAR	wRC+	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
9.9	190	136	594	489	119	159	33	3	28	61	97	60	65	10	.325	.439	.577	1.016

Outfield

Reggie Jackson – 1969HOF

• Age: 23
• Years: 1969
• Positions: RF
• Teams: Oakland Athletics

Reggie Jackson Hitting Stats

WAR	wRC+	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
9.3	179	152	677	549	123	151	36	3	47	118	114	142	13	5	.275	.410	.608	1.018

Outfield

Jose Canseco – 1988MVP

• Age: 23
• Years: 1988
• Positions: RF
• Teams: Oakland Athletics

Jose Canseco Hitting Stats

WAR	wRC+	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
7.3	169	158	705	610	120	187	34	0	42	124	78	128	40	16	.307	.391	.569	.959

Starting Pitcher

Vida Blue – 1971MVPCy Young

• Age: 21
• Years: 1971
• Positions: SP
• Teams: Oakland Athletics

Vida Blue Pitching Stats

WAR	ERA-	G	GS	W	L	ERA	IP	CG	ShO	SV	R	ER	BB	SO	K%	WHIP
9.0	56	39	39	24	8	1.82	312	24	8	0	73	63	88	301	24.9%	0.95

Starting Pitcher

Lefty Grove – 1931HOFMVP

• Age: 31
• Years: 1931
• Positions: SP
• Teams: Philadelphia Athletics

Lefty Grove Pitching Stats

WAR	ERA-	G	GS	W	L	ERA	IP	CG	ShO	SV	R	ER	BB	SO	K%	WHIP
10.4	46	41	30	31	4	2.06	288.2	27	4	5	84	66	62	175	15.1%	1.08

Starting Pitcher

Lefty Grove – 1930HOF

• Age: 30
• Years: 1930
• Positions: SP
• Teams: Philadelphia Athletics

Lefty Grove Pitching Stats

WAR	ERA-	G	GS	W	L	ERA	IP	CG	ShO	SV	R	ER	BB	SO	K%	WHIP
10.4	53	50	32	28	5	2.54	291	22	2	9	101	82	60	209	17.5%	1.14

Starting Pitcher

Rube Waddell – 1904HOF

• Age: 27
• Years: 1904
• Positions: SP
• Teams: Philadelphia Athletics

Rube Waddell Pitching Stats

WAR	ERA-	G	GS	W	L	ERA	IP	CG	ShO	SV	R	ER	BB	SO	K%	WHIP
11.3	61	46	46	25	19	1.62	383	39	8	0	109	69	91	349		1.04

Starting Pitcher

Bobby Shantz – 1952Cy Young

• Age: 26
• Years: 1952
• Positions: SP
• Teams: Philadelphia Athletics

Bobby Shantz Pitching Stats

WAR	ERA-	G	GS	W	L	ERA	IP	CG	ShO	SV	R	ER	BB	SO	K%	WHIP
8.8	66	33	33	24	7	2.48	279.2	27	5	0	87	77	63	152	13.8%	1.05

Relief Pitcher

Blake Treinen – 2018

• Age: 30
• Years: 2018
• Positions: RP
• Teams: Oakland Athletics

Blake Treinen Pitching Stats

WAR	ERA-	G	GS	W	L	ERA	IP	CG	ShO	SV	R	ER	BB	SO	K%	WHIP
4.4	19	68	0	9	2	0.78	80.1	0	0	38	12	7	21	100	31.7%	0.83

Relief Pitcher

Dennis Eckersley – 1990HOF

• Age: 35
• Years: 1990
• Positions: RP
• Teams: Oakland Athletics

Dennis Eckersley Pitching Stats

WAR	ERA-	G	GS	W	L	ERA	IP	CG	ShO	SV	R	ER	BB	SO	K%	WHIP
3.3	16	63	0	4	2	0.61	73.1	0	0	48	9	5	4	73	27.9%	0.61

Relief Pitcher

Joey Devine – 2008

• Age: 24
• Years: 2008
• Positions: RP
• Teams: Oakland Athletics

Joey Devine Pitching Stats

WAR	ERA-	G	GS	W	L	ERA	IP	CG	ShO	SV	R	ER	BB	SO	K%	WHIP
1.9	14	42	0	6	1	0.59	45.2	0	0	1	7	3	15	49	28.8%	0.83

Honorable Mention

Catcher – Mickey Cochrane, 1933

First Base – Jimmie Foxx, 1932

Second Base – Eddie Collins, 1909

Third Base – Sal Bando, 1969

Shortstop – Eddie Joost, 1949

Outfield – Reggie Jackson, 1973

Outfield – Al Simmons, 1930

Outfield – Al Simmons, 1931

Starting Pitcher – Jack Coombs, 1910

Starting Pitcher – Tim Hudson, 2003

Starting Pitcher – Rube Waddell, 1905

Starting Pitcher – Rube Waddell, 1902

Starting Pitcher – Barry Zito, 2002

Relief Pitcher – Brad Ziegler, 2008

Relief Pitcher – Liam Hendriks, 2019

All underlying data used in this analysis is available in The Baseball Scholar Data Library.