| 1980 Oakland Athletics | ||
|---|---|---|
| League | American League | |
| Division | West | |
| Ballpark | Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum | |
| City | Oakland, California | |
| Record | 83–79 (.512) | |
| Divisional place | 2nd | |
| Owners | Charles O. Finley | |
| Managers | Billy Martin | |
| Television | KPIX-TV (Monte Moore, Wayne Walker) | |
| Radio | KDIA (Ted Robinson, Red Rush, Dom Valentino) | |
| ||
The 1980 Oakland Athletics season was the team's thirteenth season in Oakland. The A's, under first-year manager Billy Martin, began the season with low expectations following their insipid 1979 campaign. Strong performances from pitchers Mike Norris, Matt Keough, and Rick Langford, along with the brilliant play of breakout star (and future Hall-of-Famer) Rickey Henderson, paved the way for a staggering 29-win increase over the previous year's output. The Athletics, only one year removed from baseball's worst record, swung to a second-place finish behind their 83–79 record.
The season also marked the end of the Charlie Finley ownership era. Finley sold the team to Walter A. Haas, Jr. shortly before the start of the 1981 season. The A's would remain under Haas' ownership until 1995.