The good news for the Athletics is that they posted a 16-10 record in the month of May, exactly the same as they did in real life. The bad news is that they didn’t make up any ground from their terrible start in April. And so, after 52 games, they remain seven wins behind pace (27-25 vs. 34-18).
The A’s raised their season batting average from .256 to .262, though they’re still 11 points behind where they ought to be. They also raised their runs per game from 3.5 to 3.8 (though it was really 4.3 at this point). The team slugging percentage is just .349 when it was .410 after May in real life. With runners in scoring position, the A’s are at .253, almost 10 points worse than their overall average. Guys like Carney Lansford, Luis Polonia and Dave Parker are doing as they should or better, but a number of A’s are underachieving, none bigger than Mark McGwire.
The pitching remains close to on target, with an ERA within 0.10 of real life. As with the Giants replay, hits allowed are low and strikeouts are up. Mike Moore continues his Cy Young-level pace and Dave Stewart has been very good. Bob Welch is inexplicably 4-7 despite a 3.01 ERA, and Dennis Eckersley has already matched his 1989 season total of 10 earned runs allowed. Curt Young has been a disaster as a fifth starter.
After going 2-5 in 1-run games in April, the A’s improved to 6-1 in May. They also won all three of their extra-inning contests this past month.
| Batting | G | AVG | R | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sim | 52 | .262 | 199 | 68 | 6 | 28 | 195 | 37 | 127 | 270 |
| Actual | 52 | .273 | 223 | 88 | 14 | 40 | 210 | 38 | 163 | 240 |
| Pitching | G | W-L | ERA | CG | SHO | SV | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sim | 52 | 27-25 | 2.95 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 473.3 | 339 | 172 | 155 | 157 | 334 |
| Actual | 52 | 34-18 | 3.05 | 3 | 5 | 21 | 461.0 | 390 | 179 | 156 | 187 | 290 |
| Batters | Sim Through May | Actual Through May |
|---|---|---|
| Carney Lansford | .365, 21 R, 0 HR, 19 RBI, 15 SB | .356, 32 R, 1 HR, 12 RBI, 8 SB |
| Luis Polonia | .312, 16 R, 1 HR, 10 RBI, 8 SB | .267, 24 R, 0 HR, 13 RBI, 11 SB |
| Tony Phillips | .282, 14 R, 1 HR, 12 RBI | .280, 16 R, 2 HR, 12 RBI |
| Lance Blankenship | .273, 4 R, 0 HR, 5 RBI | .250, 3 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI |
| Ron Hassey | .270, 13 R, 1 HR, 10 RBI | .213, 5 R, 2 HR, 11 RBI |
| Terry Steinbach | .268, 15 R, 1 HR, 11 RBI | .344, 16 R, 3 HR, 19 RBI |
| Dave Parker | .263, 20 R, 8 HR, 32 RBI | .251, 23 R, 8 HR, 29 RBI |
| Walt Weiss | .250, 14 R, 1 HR, 8 RBI, 4 SB | .213, 11 R, 2 HR, 11 RBI, 4 SB |
| Stan Javier | .244, 9 R, 1 HR, 22 RBI, 5 SB | .273, 17 R, 0 HR, 12 RBI, 6 SB |
| Dave Henderson | .239, 20 R, 5 HR, 24 RBI | .278, 29 R, 7 HR, 29 RBI |
| Mike Gallego | .237, 12 R, 1 HR, 16 RBI | .283, 11 R, 1 HR, 11 RBI |
| Billy Beane | .231, 9 R, 0 HR, 4 RBI | .241, 8 R, 0 HR, 9 RBI |
| Mark McGwire | .188, 27 R, 7 HR, 17 RBI | .243, 19 R, 10 HR, 28 RBI |
| Glenn Hubbard | .117, 5 R, 1 HR, 5 RBI | .271, 8 R, 3 HR, 9 RBI |
| Pitchers | Sim Through May | Actual Through May |
|---|---|---|
| Eric Plunk | 1-1, 0.86 ERA, 21.0 IP, 20 K | 1-1, 2.22 ERA, 20.3 IP, 18 K |
| Mike Moore | 7-2, 1.30 ERA, 83.0 IP, 53 K | 6-3, 1.94 ERA, 74.3 IP, 54 K |
| Rick Honeycutt | 3-1, 1.59 ERA, 22.7 IP, 12 K | 1-0, 2.31 ERA, 27.3 IP, 23 K |
| Todd Burns | 1-1, 2.62 ERA, 34.3 IP, 13 K | 4-0, 1,74 ERA, 41.3 IP, 16 K |
| Dave Stewart | 7-3, 2.71 ERA, 83.0 IP, 64 K | 9-2, 3.42 ERA, 84.3 IP, 39 K |
| Storm Davis | 3-2, 2.80 ERA, 54.7 IP, 50 K | 3-3, 6.13 ERA, 36.7 IP, 20 K |
| Gene Nelson | 1-1, 3.00 ERA, 18.0 IP, 8 K | 1-1, 2.46 ERA, 18.3 IP, 13 K |
| Bob Welch | 4-7, 3.01 ERA, 77.7 IP, 64 K | 6-4, 3.24 ERA, 75.0 IP, 49 K |
| Greg Cadaret | 0-0, 3.86 ERA, 18.7 IP, 14 K | 0-0, 2.80 ERA, 19.3 IP, 11 K |
| Dennis Eckersley | 0-1, 4.74 ERA, 19.0 IP, 13 K, 11 SV | 1-0, 1.44 ERA, 18.7 IP, 20 K, 14 SV |
| Curt Young | 0-6, 8.22 ERA, 38.3 IP, 22 K | 2-4, 4.68 ERA, 42.3 IP, 23 K |
ROGER SPORTS & GAMES 