After watching the 1989 Giants get off to a hot start and greatly surpass their season win total, it’s been quite surprising to see the 1989 Athletics sputter in their first month of action. The real A’s were already 10 games over .500 at this point with an 18-8 record. These replay A’s are four games under .500 at 11-15. That’s seven games behind pace after 26 contests.
The pitching has been pretty much on target, with a slightly higher ERA (3.05 to 2.90) than real life. The big exception is Dennis Eckersley, who blew two saves and has an ERA of 7.00. The hitting has been atrocious, nearly 20 points worse than what they actually did (.256 to .275). Why aren’t the A’s scoring enough runs? They’re batting .218 with runners in scoring position. The slugging percentage is just .349 (it was .416 in reality in April). They did not take advantage against a lot of D-rated opposing pitchers.
There were some highlights. Mike Moore and his A rating looks like he’ll probably put together a season like Scott Garrelts did for the Giants. Moore tossed a no-hitter against Seattle and has an ERA under one. Dave Parker has hit two grand slams among his team-high five home runs. Carney Lansford is hitting as he should.
| Batting | G | AVG | R | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sim | 26 | .256 | 92 | 31 | 2 | 17 | 88 | 21 | 60 | 132 |
| Actual | 26 | .275 | 113 | 51 | 6 | 19 | 106 | 23 | 79 | 124 |
| Pitching | G | W-L | ERA | CG | SHO | SV | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sim | 26 | 11-15 | 3.05 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 236.3 | 163 | 89 | 80 | 92 | 173 |
| Actual | 26 | 18-8 | 2.90 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 230.0 | 185 | 92 | 74 | 95 | 159 |
| Batters | Sim April | Actual April |
|---|---|---|
| Carney Lansford | .333, 9 R, 0 HR, 8 RBI, 9 SB | .304, 14 R, 1 HR, 9 RBI, 3 SB |
| Luis Polonia | .302, 8 R, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 4 SB | .233, 11 R, 0 HR, 7 RBI, 8 SB |
| Dave Parker | .295, 11 R, 5 HR, 19 RBI | .194, 7 R, 2 HR, 11 RBI |
| Tony Phillips | .284, 8 R, 1 HR, 6 RBI | .333, 10 R, 1 HR, 6 RBI |
| Dave Henderson | .257, 9 R, 3 HR, 12 RBI | .308, 16 R, 4 HR, 13 RBI |
| Lance Blankenship | .250, 2 R, 0 HR, 1 RBI | .300, 2 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI |
| Terry Steinbach | .250, 7 R, 1 HR, 3 RBI | .301, 7 R, 1 HR, 10 RBI |
| Mark McGwire | .245, 8 R, 4 HR, 10 RBI | .296, 10 R, 5 HR, 13 RBI |
| Ron Hassey | .229, 2 R, 0 HR, 3 RBI | .196, 1 R, 0 HR, 5 RBI |
| Walt Weiss | .227, 7 R, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 3 SB | .231, 10 R, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 2 SB |
| Billy Beane | .226, 7 R, 0 HR, 1 RBI | .258, 4 R. 0 HR, 7 RBI |
| Mike Gallego | .222, 4 R, 0 HR, 5 RBI | .442, 7 R, 0 HR, 7 RBI |
| Stan Javier | .207, 5 R, 0 HR, 9 RBI | .304, 8 R, 0 HR, 3 RBI |
| Glenn Hubbard | .119, 5 R, 1 HR, 4 RBI | .219, 5 R, 2 HR, 6 RBI |
| Pitchers | Sim April | Actual April |
|---|---|---|
| Todd Burns | 0-0, 0.63 ERA, 14.3 IP, 6 K | 1-0, 2.12 ERA, 17.0 IP, 7 K |
| Mike Moore | 3-1, 0.95 ERA, 38.0 IP, 22 K | 3-1, 1.91 ERA, 33.0 IP, 28 K |
| Greg Cadaret | 0-0, 1.04 ERA, 8.7 IP, 6 K | 0-0, 3.86 ERA, 9.1 IP, 5 K |
| Eric Plunk | 0-1, 1.93 ERA, 9.3 IP, 9 K | 1-0, 1.69 ERA. 10.2 IP, 12 K |
| Bob Welch | 1-4, 2.19 ERA, 37.0 IP, 35 K | 3-2, 2.31 ERA, 35.0 IP, 24 K |
| Dave Stewart | 3-1, 2.93 ERA, 43.0 IP, 34 K | 5-0, 2.79 ERA, 42.0 IP, 20 K |
| Rick Honeycutt | 1-1, 3.09 ERA, 11.7 IP, 8 K | 0-0, 2.40 ERA, 15.0 IP, 14 K |
| Storm Davis | 2-1, 3.69 ERA, 31.7 IP, 28 K | 2-2, 5.87 ERA, 23.0 IP, 13 K |
| Gene Nelson | 1-1, 3.86 ERA, 7.0 IP, 5 K | 1-0, 0.00 ERA, 6.1 IP, 8 K |
| Dennis Eckersley | 0-1, 7.00 ERA, 9.0 IP, 6 K, 4 SV | 1-0, 0.00 ERA, 11.1 IP, 13 K, 8 SV |
| Curt Young | 0-4, 7.43 ERA, 26.7 IP, 14 K | 1-3, 5.27 ERA, 27.1 IP, 15 K |
ROGER SPORTS & GAMES 