Former Oakland A’s manager Billy Martin and the book Billy Ball (Focus and Getty file photo)

Memories of Oakland (No. 10 in Series)

1981 The Players strike and Billy Ball

By Amaury Pi-González

In 1981 the MLBPA (Major League Baseball Players Association) voted unanimously to strike. The issue was free agent compensation, and it marked the first time a work stoppage since 1972 caused regular season games to be canceled. This strike lasted from June 12 to July 31, and some 50 games were missed. The season was split in half, and a considerable controversy when various teams missed out on postseason participation.

In the American League West, the Oakland A’s were the class of that division. The Kansas City Royals were a .500 team in the first half, but they went 30-23 in the second half to better the A’s by one game. This meant there were no playoffs for the Texas Rangers (57-48) or the Chicago White Sox (54-52); in the first round, the A’s swept the Royals.

My broadcast partner Julio González and yours truly indeed called the three-game series as the Athletics won the first two games at Royals Stadium in Kansas City, then two days later as the A’s beat the Royals again for the sweep. I wanted to visit the Harry S. Truman Library in Independence, Missouri, just a few miles from Royal’s Stadium, but I did not have the time.

I would have to put it off for a future visit to the “City of Fountains”. The radio station was KIQI La Grande 1010AM, San Francisco, which was acquired by Cuban-born René De La Rosa from Bay Area media radio and television entrepreneur James Gabbert.

During the American League Championship Series, the New York Yankees swept the Oakland A’s in three games. We traveled to New York. At the old Yankee Stadium, the Yankees beat the Athletics in the first two games, then back to Oakland, where the Yankees completed the sweep.

This was also Billy Martin’s return to Yankee Stadium for the first time since the Yankees fired him in 1979. It was sort of a tense environment in New York, as it happens with all the passion for the NY Yankee fans.

I remember as the team bus with A’s media and executives parked in front of Yankee Stadium, some kids were throwing small rocks and pebbles at us as we came out of the bus and headed to the entrance of the famous park, the House that Ruth built. Welcome to New York!

The Oakland A’s outfield was one of the best in baseball, with Rickey Henderson in left, Dwayne Murphy in center, and Tony Armas in right. Rickey in the previous season (1980) stole 100 bases. Rickey was “warming up” and stole 56 during this 1981 abbreviated season in 108 regular season games.

After 25 years in the majors, Rickey played for many teams, including different stints with the A’s, and holds the major league record with 1,406 stolen bags. Dwayne Murphy was an excellent center fielder with great range, a good bat with power, and a great attitude.

When I needed an interview, Tony Armas was always available to speak in Spanish with me, a good guy with a cannon of an arm from the right field. During that shortened season Tony Armas led the league in home runs with 22 and games played with109, and the Sporting News named Armas the American League Player of the Year.

Other well-known Athletics player at the time were Mike Davis, Steve McCatty, Mike Norris, Rick Langford, Wayne Gross, and Matt Keough. But I always got a kick from Rickey, Dwayne, and Tony since they were all hanging together handling the outfield for the team.

I once asked Billy Martin why he sympathized so much with Latino ballplayers, and he told me that they play with a lot of flair and passion, and I share that with these guys. Marketing guru Andy Dolich, an award-winning executive, spearheaded the Billy Ball campaign. It even included a song Billy Ball Baseball, Dolich understood the great asset that Billy Martin was for the team. As temperamental and controversial as Billy Martin was, in my opinion, he was an excellent baseball strategist. Hear the Billy Ball song: https://www.tiktok.com/@battingstanceguy/video/7183214326118108462

At the end of this historic 1981 shortened season, the two teams that played in the World Series were the New York Yankees and the Los Angeles Dodgers. Although the A’s did not make it, I did get to send reports and interviews from Dodger Stadium, and I was lucky that after the Yankees won the first two games, I covered the last four, which took place in Los Angeles as the Dodgers won that World Series in six games.

Some of the interviews were with Dodger manager Tommy LaSorda, Fernando Valenzuela and with the Yankees, Lou Piniella and Aurelio Rodríguez. During the last four games (which they won) the LA Dodgers average over 50,000 in attendance for each game.

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Note: Jeff Katz is the Mayor of Cooperstown and a NY author of baseball books, one of his best is “Split Season: 1981: Fernandomania, the Bronx Zoo, and the Strike that Saved Baseball.