2001 Oakland Athletics season

The Oakland Athletics' 2001 season was the team's 34th in Oakland, California, and the 101st season in franchise history. The team finished second in the American League West with a record of 102–60.

2001 Oakland Athletics
American League Wild Card winners
League	American League
Division	West
Ballpark	Network Associates Coliseum
City	Oakland, California
Record	102–60 (.630)
Divisional place	2nd
Owners	Stephen Schott & Kenneth Hofmann
General managers	Billy Beane
Managers	Art Howe
Television	KICU-TV FSN Bay Area (Ray Fosse, Greg Papa)
Radio	KABL (Bill King, Ken Korach, Ray Fosse)
← 2000 Seasons 2002 →

The Athletics entered the 2001 season with high expectations. Much of the excitement stemmed from the team's trio of promising young starting pitchers (Barry Zito, Mark Mulder, and Tim Hudson); after a strong showing in 2000, many expected the Athletics' rotation to rank among the American League's best in 2001. The trade of additional starter Cory Lidle during the 2000-01 offseason helped solidify the rotation's back-end. On offense, the Athletics were loaded; sluggers Miguel Tejada, Eric Chavez, and reigning American League MVP Jason Giambi comprised the core of a powerful Oakland attack. The addition of Johnny Damon, acquired in a three-way trade for Ben Grieve, promised to add a new dimension to the Athletics' offense. A strong bullpen (led by Chad Bradford, Jim Mecir, and Jason Isringhausen) rounded out Oakland's roster.

These high expectations quickly evaporated. The Athletics stumbled out of the gate (winning just two of their first dozen games); while their play nominally improved over the first half of the season, they failed to build upon the momentum of their division-winning 2000 campaign. The rival Seattle Mariners, in stark contrast, raced to a historic 52–14 start. As expected, the offense performed well; Oakland was instead hamstrung by unexpectedly terrible starting pitching. At the season's midpoint, the A's boasted a sub-.500 record (39–42); they trailed the division-leading Mariners by some 21 games.

The Athletics responded with arguably the most dominant second half in modern MLB history. Over their final 81 regular season games, the A's went 63-18 (a record since the league switched to a 162-game schedule); this included 29 wins in their final 33 games. The Athletics' maligned rotation returned to form; over their final games, Zito, Mulder, Hudson, and Lidle went a combined 48-10. On July 25, the Athletics acquired slugger Jermaine Dye from the Kansas City Royals for prospects; this move further energized the already-surging squad. The Athletics ultimately weren't able to catch up with Seattle (which won an AL-record 116 games), but their remarkable run allowed them to clinch the AL's Wild Card. The Athletics' 102 wins were at the time the most by a Wild Card clincher in MLB history.

The Athletics faced the New York Yankees (the three-time defending World Series champions) in the ALDS. Oakland took the first two games, but unraveled after a heartbreaking 1–0 loss in Game 3, in which Jeremy Giambi was infamously thrown out at the plate after a relay throw was flipped by Derek Jeter to Jorge Posada; they would lose the series to the Yankees in five games. At the end of the season, Oakland would lose Giambi, Damon, and Isringhausen to free agency; this would set the stage for the events portrayed in Michael Lewis' bestselling book Moneyball (and the film of the same name).

Offseason

• November 17, 2000: Randy Velarde was traded by the Athletics to the Texas Rangers for Aaron Harang and Ryan Cullen (minors).^[1]
• January 8, 2001: Ben Grieve was traded by the Athletics to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, and Ángel Berroa and A. J. Hinch were traded by the Athletics to the Kansas City Royals as part of a three-team trade. The Royals sent Johnny Damon and Mark Ellis to the Athletics, and the Devil Rays sent Cory Lidle to the Athletics. The Devil Rays sent Roberto Hernández to the Royals.^[2]

Regular season

Season standings

• v
• t
• e

AL West

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Seattle Mariners	116	46	.716	—	57‍–‍24	59‍–‍22
Oakland Athletics	102	60	.630	14	53‍–‍28	49‍–‍32
Anaheim Angels	75	87	.463	41	39‍–‍42	36‍–‍45
Texas Rangers	73	89	.451	43	41‍–‍41	32‍–‍48

Record vs. opponents

2001 American League record Source: MLB Standings Grid – 2001 v t e
Team	ANA	BAL	BOS	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	MIN	NYY	OAK	SEA	TB	TEX	TOR	NL
Anaheim	—	4–5	4–3	6–3	5–4	5–4	5–4	3–6	4–3	6–14	4–15	7–2	7–12	5–4	10–8
Baltimore	5–4	—	9–10	3–4	1–5	4–2	5–2	3–3	5–13–1	2–7	1–8	10–9	2–7	7–12	6–12
Boston	3–4	10–9	—	3–3	3–6	4–5	3–3	3–3	5–13	4–5	3–6	14–5	5–2	12–7	10–8
Chicago	3–6	4–3	3–3	—	10–9	13–6	14–5	5–14	1–5	1–8	2–7	5–2	7–2	3–3	12–6
Cleveland	4–5	5–1	6–3	9–10	—	13–6	11–8	14–5	4–5	4–3	2–5	5–1	5–4	2–4	7–11
Detroit	4–5	2–4	5–4	6–13	6–13	—	8–11	4–15	4–5	1–6	2–5	4–2	8–1	2–4	10–8
Kansas City	4–5	2–5	3–3	5–14	8–11	11–8	—	6–13	0–6	3–6	3–6	4–2	4–5	4–3	8–10
Minnesota	6–3	3–3	3–3	14–5	5–14	15–4	13–6	—	4–2	5–4	1–8	1–6	4–5	2–5	9–9
New York	3–4	13–5–1	13–5	5–1	5–4	5–4	6–0	2–4	—	3–6	3–6	13–6	3–4	11–8	10–8
Oakland	14–6	7–2	5–4	8–1	3–4	6–1	6–3	4–5	6–3	—	9–10	7–2	9–10	6–3	12–6
Seattle	15–4	8–1	6–3	7–2	5–2	5–2	6–3	8–1	6–3	10–9	—	7–2	15–5	6–3	12–6
Tampa Bay	2–7	9–10	5–14	2–5	1–5	2–4	2–4	6–1	6–13	2–7	2–7	—	4–5	9–10	10–8
Texas	12–7	7–2	2–5	2–7	4–5	1–8	5–4	5–4	4–3	10–9	5–15	5–4	—	3–6	8–10
Toronto	4–5	12–7	7–12	3–3	4–2	4–2	3–4	5–2	8–11	3–6	3–6	10–9	6–3	—	8–10

Notable transactions

• June 5, 2001: 2001 Major League Baseball draft
  • Neal Cotts was drafted by the Athletics in the 2nd round. Player signed June 13, 2001.^[3]
  • Dan Johnson was drafted by the Athletics in the 7th round. Player signed June 18, 2001.^[4]
• July 25, 2001: José Ortiz, Todd Belitz and Mario Encarnación were traded by the Athletics to the Colorado Rockies for Jermaine Dye.^[5]

Roster

2001 Oakland Athletics
Roster
Pitchers 53 Chad Bradford 49 Mike Fyhrie 19 Mark Guthrie 32 Chad Harville 31 Gil Heredia 37 Erik Hiljus 15 Tim Hudson 44 Jason Isringhausen 21 Cory Lidle 52 Mike Magnante 33 T.J. Mathews 45 Jim Mecir 20 Mark Mulder 29 Jeff Tam 51 Luis Vizcaíno 75 Barry Zito		Catchers 13 Sal Fasano 55 Ramón Hernández 24,28 Greg Myers 17 Tom Wilson Infielders 30 Andy Abad 14 Mark Bellhorn  3 Eric Chavez 16 Jason Giambi 11 Frank Menechino  2 José Ortiz  9 Olmedo Sáenz  2 F. P. Santangelo  4 Miguel Tejada		Outfielders 22 Eric Byrnes 28 Ryan Christenson  8 Johnny Damon 26,24 Jermaine Dye  5 Ron Gant  7 Jeremy Giambi 30 Robin Jennings 12 Terrence Long 13 Billy McMillon  6 Adam Piatt 26 Rob Ryan 23 Mario Valdez Other batters  5 John Jaha		Manager 18 Art Howe Coaches 41 Thad Bosley (Hitting) 35 Brad Fischer (Bullpen) 39 Ken Macha (Bench) 47 Rick Peterson (Pitching) 48 Mike Quade (First Base) 38 Ron Washington (Third Base)

Postseason

The A's lost 3-2 to the New York Yankees in the 2001 American League Division Series.

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Pos	Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
C	Ramón Hernández	156	453	115	.254	15	60
1B	Jason Giambi	154	520	178	.342	38	120
2B	Frank Menechino	139	471	114	.242	12	60
SS	Miguel Tejada	162	622	166	.267	31	113
3B	Eric Chavez	151	552	159	.288	32	114
LF	Terrence Long	162	629	178	.283	12	85
CF	Johnny Damon	155	644	165	.256	9	49
RF	Jermaine Dye	61	232	69	.297	13	59
DH	Jeremy Giambi	124	371	105	.283	12	57

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
Olmedo Sáenz	106	305	67	.220	9	32
Adam Piatt	36	95	20	.211	0	6
Greg Myers	33	87	16	.184	7	13
Ron Gant	34	81	21	.259	2	13
Mark Bellhorn	38	74	10	.135	1	4
F.P. Santangelo	32	71	14	.197	0	8
Billy McMillon	20	58	17	.293	0	10
Mario Valdez	32	54	15	.278	1	8
Robin Jennings	20	52	13	.250	0	4
John Jaha	12	45	4	.089	0	8
José Ortiz	11	42	7	.167	0	3
Eric Byrnes	19	38	9	.237	3	5
Tom Wilson	9	21	4	.190	2	4
Sal Fasano	11	21	1	.048	0	0
Rob Ryan	7	7	0	.000	0	0
Ryan Christenson	7	4	0	.000	0	0
Andy Abad	1	1	0	.000	0	0

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Tim Hudson	35	235.0	18	9	3.37	181
Mark Mulder	34	229.1	21	8	3.45	153
Barry Zito	35	214.1	17	8	3.49	205
Cory Lidle	29	188.0	13	6	3.59	118
Gil Heredia	24	109.2	7	8	5.58	48
Erik Hiljus	16	66.0	5	0	3.41	67

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO
Jason Isringhausen	65	4	3	34	2.65	74
Jeff Tam	70	2	4	3	3.01	44
Mike Magnante	65	3	1	0	2.77	23
Jim Mecir	54	2	8	3	3.43	61
Mark Guthrie	54	6	2	1	4.47	52
Luis Vizcaíno	36	2	1	1	4.66	31
Chad Bradford	35	2	1	1	2.70	34
T.J. Mathews	20	0	1	1	5.09	19
Mike Fyhrie	3	0	0	0	0.00	5
Chad Harville	3	0	0	0	0.00	2

Awards and records

• Jason Giambi, Silver Slugger Award

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Sacramento River Cats	Pacific Coast League	Bob Geren
AA	Midland RockHounds	Texas League	Tony DeFrancesco
A	Modesto A's	California League	Greg Sparks
A	Visalia Oaks	California League	Juan Navarrette
A-Short Season	Vancouver Canadians	Northwest League	Webster Garrison
Rookie	AZL Athletics	Arizona League	Ricky Nelson

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: AZL Athletics