It all came down to the final day of the regular season. And after a three-game sweep of Kansas City, the A’s won the American League West title, edging out the California Angels by a single game. Oakland ended the campaign on a season-best seven-game winning streak, and needed every one of those victories. The Angels were dreadful down the stretch, winning just two of their final 10 games. After 162 games, Oakland ended up just two wins shy of their actual total of 99 wins.
sim 97-65, actual 99-63
September 29 — sim W 14-10 — actual W 4-3
September 30 — sim W 5-3 — actual L 1-6
October 1 — sim W 5-0 — actual W 4-3
September 29: In the wildest game of the season, the Royals led 5-0 after the top of the first and 7-3 after the top of the second. But the A’s then scored six in the bottom of the second and five more in the fourth inning. Jose Canseco and Dave Henderson both homered twice, while the Royals homered three times. A grand slam by Canseco put the A’s ahead in the second inning. California lost on this date, moving the A’s into a first-place tie with the Angels.
1989 KANSAS CITY ROYALS (10) AT 1989 OAKLAND ATHLETICS (14)
1989 KANSAS CITY ROY AB R H BI 1989 OAKLAND ATHLETI AB R H BI
Kevin Seitzer 5 1 1 0 Rickey Henderson 5 2 2 1
Kurt Stillwell 5 2 1 1 Carney Lansford 5 2 5 2
George Brett 5 3 2 2 Jose Canseco 4 2 2 6
Bo Jackson 5 1 1 2 Dave Parker 5 0 0 0
Jim Eisenreich 5 2 3 3 Dave Henderson 4 3 2 2
Danny Tartabull 4 1 2 1 Mark McGwire 4 1 0 0
Mike MacFarlane 4 0 0 0 Terry Steinbach 4 1 1 2
Brad Wellman 4 0 2 1 Tony Phillips 4 1 2 1
Gary Thurman 4 0 0 0 Mike Gallego 5 2 0 0
TOTALS 41 10 12 10 TOTALS 40 14 14 14
1989 KANSAS CITY ROYALS 520 000 300 -- 10
1989 OAKLAND ATHLETICS 360 500 00x -- 14
LOB--1989 KANSAS CITY ROYALS 4, 1989 OAKLAND ATHLETICS 7.
ERR--Brad Wellman (2), Dave Henderson, Gene Nelson BX.
2B--Danny Tartabull, Jim Eisenreich, Carney Lansford (2).
3B--Terry Steinbach. HR--George Brett, Jim Eisenreich, Bo
Jackson, Jose Canseco (2), Dave Henderson (2). SB--Kevin
Seitzer, Brad Wellman, Jim Eisenreich, Carney Lansford.
1989 KANSAS CITY ROYALS IP H R ER BB SO HR
Steve Farr CXZ [L] 1.00 6 8 7 2 0 3
Luis Aquino CZ 2.33 7 6 5 2 2 1
Tom Gordon BXW 4.67 1 0 0 1 7 0
1989 OAKLAND ATHLETICS
Bob Welch BY 0.67 6 5 5 0 2 1
Gene Nelson BX [W] 5.33 3 2 0 0 5 1
Jim Corsi AYZ 1.00 3 3 2 0 2 1
Rick Honeycutt AYZ 1.00 0 0 0 0 0 0
Matt Young DYW 1.00 0 0 0 0 2 0
September 30: Bo Jackson’s two-run home run put the Royals ahead 2-0 in the top of the first. Jose Canseco hit a solo shot in the bottom of the first, and the A’s took the lead on a Mark McGwire two-run homer in the fourth inning. It stayed 3-2 until the ninth inning. Dennis Eckersley blew another save by giving up a one-out triple to Jim Eisenreich, who then scored a sacrifice fly. But in the bottom of the ninth, McGwire hit another two-run homer for the walk-off win. California lost again on this date, allowing the A’s to take sole possession of first place.
1989 KANSAS CITY ROYALS (3) AT 1989 OAKLAND ATHLETICS (5)
1989 KANSAS CITY ROY AB R H BI 1989 OAKLAND ATHLETI AB R H BI
Kevin Seitzer 4 0 0 0 Rickey Henderson 4 0 0 0
Kurt Stillwell 4 1 0 0 Carney Lansford 4 0 0 0
George Brett 4 0 0 0 Jose Canseco 3 1 1 1
Bo Jackson 4 1 2 2 Dave Parker 3 2 0 0
Jim Eisenreich 4 1 1 0 Mark McGwire 4 2 2 4
Pat Tabler 3 0 0 1 Dave Henderson 3 0 1 0
Bill Buckner 4 0 1 0 Ron Hassey 3 0 0 0
Bob Boone 3 0 0 0 Tony Phillips 3 0 0 0
Brad Wellman 3 0 1 0 Walt Weiss 2 0 0 0
TOTALS 33 3 5 3 TOTALS 29 5 4 5
1989 KANSAS CITY ROYALS 200 000 001 -- 3
1989 OAKLAND ATHLETICS 100 200 002 -- 5
LOB--1989 KANSAS CITY ROYALS 5, 1989 OAKLAND ATHLETICS 2.
ERR--Tony Phillips (2), Walt Weiss. 2B--Bill Buckner.
3B--Jim Eisenreich. HR--Bo Jackson, Jose Canseco, Mark
McGwire (2). SACF--Pat Tabler. SB--Brad Wellman.
1989 KANSAS CITY ROYALS IP H R ER BB SO HR
Bret Saberhagen AYZ 7.00 3 3 3 2 4 2
Jeff Montgomery ACXY [L] 1.33 1 2 2 1 1 1
1989 OAKLAND ATHLETICS
Dave Stewart BYZ 8.00 3 2 0 1 7 1
Dennis Eckersley ACX [W] 1.00 2 1 1 0 1 0
October 1: On the final day of the regular season, Mike Moore clinched the AL West title with a three-hit shutout. He improved to 21-10 on the season. Three of the five Oakland runs came on sacrifice flies, and Tony Phillips also had a two-run single in the fourth inning. California also won on this date, so the A’s avoided a playoff by finishing off the sweep of the Royals.
1989 KANSAS CITY ROYALS (0) AT 1989 OAKLAND ATHLETICS (5)
1989 KANSAS CITY ROY AB R H BI 1989 OAKLAND ATHLETI AB R H BI
Gary Thurman 4 0 0 0 Rickey Henderson 4 2 2 0
Brad Wellman 4 0 0 0 Carney Lansford 4 1 1 0
Bill Buckner 4 0 0 0 Jose Canseco 3 0 1 1
Matt Winters 3 0 1 0 Dave Parker 3 0 0 1
Mike MacFarlane 3 0 0 0 Dave Henderson 2 1 0 1
Pat Tabler 3 0 0 0 Mark McGwire 1 1 0 0
George Brett 3 0 1 0 Terry Steinbach 3 0 1 0
Bill Pecota 3 0 1 0 Tony Phillips 4 0 1 2
Kevin Seitzer 3 0 0 0 Mike Gallego 4 0 0 0
TOTALS 30 0 3 0 TOTALS 28 5 6 5
1989 KANSAS CITY ROYALS 000 000 000 -- 0
1989 OAKLAND ATHLETICS 100 200 20x -- 5
LOB--1989 KANSAS CITY ROYALS 3, 1989 OAKLAND ATHLETICS 9.
ERR--Gary Thurman, Brad Wellman. HBP--Carney Lansford.
SACF--Dave Parker, Jose Canseco, Dave Henderson. SACB--Terry
Steinbach. SB--Bill Pecota.
1989 KANSAS CITY ROYALS IP H R ER BB SO HR
Jose DeJesus CRW [L] 6.00 4 5 4 4 4 0
Terry Leach D 2.00 2 0 0 1 0 0
1989 OAKLAND ATHLETICS
Mike Moore AY [W] 9.00 3 0 0 0 5 0
ROGER SPORTS & GAMES 