2002 Oakland Athletics season

The 2002 Oakland Athletics season was the 102nd season in franchise history and the 35th season in Oakland, California. The Athletics finished first in the American League West with a record of 103–59.

2002 Oakland Athletics
American League West Champions
League	American League
Division	West
Ballpark	Network Associates Coliseum
City	Oakland, California
Record	103–59 (.636)
Divisional place	1st
Owners	Stephen Schott & Kenneth Hofmann
General managers	Billy Beane
Managers	Art Howe
Television	KICU-TV FSN Bay Area (Ray Fosse, Greg Papa)
Radio	KFRC (Bill King, Ken Korach, Ray Fosse)
Seasons

The Athletics' 2002 campaign ranks among the most famous in franchise history. Following the 2001 season, Oakland saw the departure of three key players. Billy Beane, the team's general manager, responded with a series of under-the-radar free agent signings. The new-look Athletics, despite a comparative lack of star power, surprised the baseball world by besting the 2001 team's regular season record. The team is most famous, however, for winning 20 consecutive games between August 13 and September 4, 2002. The Athletics' season was the subject of Michael Lewis's 2003 book Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game (Lewis was given the opportunity to follow the team around throughout the season). A film adaptation of the book, titled Moneyball, was released in 2011.

Offseason

• November 2, 2001: Mark Bellhorn was traded by the Oakland Athletics to the Chicago Cubs for Adam Morrissey (minors).
• December 7, 2001: Billy Koch was traded to the Oakland Athletics by the Toronto Blue Jays for Eric Hinske and Justin Miller.
• December 14, 2001: David Justice was traded to the Oakland Athletics by the New York Yankees for Mark Guthrie and Tyler Yates. This trade was preceded by a swap between the New York Mets and New York Yankees of Robin Ventura for Justice one week prior.
• January 2, 2002: Scott Hatteberg was signed as a free agent by the Oakland Athletics.
• January 11, 2002: Randy Velarde was signed as a free agent by the Oakland Athletics.
• January 14, 2002: Carlos Peña and Mike Venafro were traded to the Oakland Athletics by the Texas Rangers for Jason Hart, Gerald Laird, Ryan Ludwick, and Mario Ramos.
• March 19, 2002: Justin Duchscherer was traded to the Oakland Athletics by the Texas Rangers for Luis Vizcaíno.

Regular season

Summary

Oakland Coliseum

Oakland's 2002 campaign began on a tumultuous note. During the 2001–02 offseason, the team lost three key free agents to larger-market teams: 2000 AL MVP Jason Giambi to the New York Yankees, outfielder Johnny Damon to the Boston Red Sox, and closer Jason Isringhausen to the St. Louis Cardinals. General manager Billy Beane sought to replace Damon and Giambi with free agent hitters Scott Hatteberg and David Justice. Beane also made a number of key pitching acquisitions; most notably, he traded for Toronto Blue Jays reliever Billy Koch, who ultimately succeeded Isringhausen as the team's closer. Beane also traded for then-unheralded starter Ted Lilly and for second baseman Ray Durham. The season also saw the MLB debuts of second baseman Mark Ellis and eventual starter Aaron Harang.

The new-look Athletics experienced a bumpy start to the season. The team followed a respectable 15–10 start with an abysmal 5–16 run; at the end of their slump, on May 23, the team's record stood at 20–26. From that point forward, the Athletics' fortunes improved significantly. In a prelude to the team's famous late-season winning streak, the Athletics went 16–1 from June 6 to June 24. The surge propelled the club to within two games of first place, but a prolonged funk saw the A's play roughly .500 baseball for the next month and a half. That ended with an unremarkable 2–1 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays on August 12.

On August 13, the Athletics began their then-AL-record 20-game win streak. The streak's first win came courtesy of Barry Zito, who allowed three runs (one earned) over eight innings in a 5–4 victory over the Jays. Over the next several weeks, stellar pitching, hitting, and defense propelled the Athletics' surge. Most notable were the efforts of fourth starter Cory Lidle. During August, Lidle went 5–0 while posting a scant 0.20 earned run average (he allowed one run his final start of the month); three of his five winning decisions were during the streak. Many of the Athletics' victories were by narrow margins: closer Billy Koch recorded either a win or save in 12 of the streak's 20 games.

The Athletics' 18th and 19th wins came courtesy of game ending hits by shortstop Miguel Tejada. On September 4, Oakland sought to win its 20th consecutive game; in doing so, the team hoped to break the 1947 New York Yankees' American League record of 19 consecutive wins. Their opponent was the Kansas City Royals. Over the first three innings of the game, Oakland shelled Kansas City pitchers Paul Byrd and Darrell May for a total of 11 runs, building a seemingly insurmountable 11–0 lead. Sloppy play down the stretch, however, allowed the Royals to score five runs apiece in the fourth and eighth innings. In the ninth, Koch surrendered a two-out single to Royals pinch hitter Luis Alicea; the single allowed pinch runner Kit Pellow to score the tying run. So the Athletics entered the bottom of the ninth inning with the score tied at 11–11. Pinchhitter Scott Hatteberg then hit a one-out solo walkoff home run off of Kansas City reliever Jason Grimsley. The home run clinched the AL-record 20th consecutive victory for the Athletics.

Oakland's streak came to an end with a 6–0 loss to the Minnesota Twins on September 6. The A's continued to play well down the stretch, and finished with a record of 103–59. The club's late-season surge allowed it to hold off the Anaheim Angels, who finished four games behind them at 99–63. Oakland's regular season exploits, however, once again failed to translate into postseason success. The team again lost the American League Division Series (this time to the Twins) in five games.

Tejada and starting pitcher Barry Zito went on to win the American League MVP and Cy Young Award, respectively. Tejada left the Athletics following the 2003 season, while Zito stayed until the end of the 2006 campaign.

Game log

2002 Game Log (103–59)
April: 15–11 (Home: 10–6 ; Away: 5–5) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record Streak 1 April 1 Rangers 8–3 Mulder (1–0) Park (0–1) — 43,908 1–0 W1 2 April 2 Rangers 3–2 Koch (1–0) Miceli (0–1) — 10,267 2–0 W2 3 April 3 Rangers 9–6 Mecir (1–0) Rodriguez (0–1) Koch (1) 23,259 3–0 W3 4 April 4 Rangers 5–7 Davis (1–0) Lidle (0–1) — 15,081 3–1 L1 5 April 5 @ Mariners 1–7 Baldwin (1–0) Hiljus (0–1) — 40,303 3–2 L2 6 April 6 @ Mariners 8–3 Mulder (2–0) García (0–2) — 45,093 4–2 W1 7 April 7 @ Mariners 6–5 Hudson (1–0) Moyer (0–1) Koch (2) 39,870 5–2 W2 8 April 9 @ Rangers 5–4 (11) Koch (2–0) Seánez (0–1) — 20,158 6–2 W3 9 April 10 @ Rangers 2–4 Burba (1–0) Lidle (0–2) Rocker (1) 21,384 6–3 L1 10 April 11 @ Rangers 0–7 Davis (2–0) Mulder (2–1) — 21,903 6–4 L2 11 April 12 @ Angels 5–1 Hudson (2–0) Ortiz (1–1) — 31,815 7–4 W1 12 April 13 @ Angels 7–2 Hiljus (1–1) Washburn (0–2) — 33,554 8–4 W2 13 April 14 @ Angels 1–4 Appier (1–1) Zito (0–1) Levine (3) 32,881 8–5 L1 14 April 16 Mariners 2–6 (7) Piñeiro (1–0) Lidle (0–3) — 13,022 8–6 L2 15 April 17 Mariners 4–7 Moyer (2–1) Hudson (2–1) Sasaki (4) 31,260 8–7 L3 16 April 18 Angels 4–2 Hiljus (2–1) Ortiz (1–2) Koch (3) 9,145 9–7 W1 17 April 19 Angels 7–9 Washburn (1–2) Fyhrie (0–1) Percival (2) 12,468 9–8 L1 18 April 20 Angels 8–7 Bradford (1–0) Levine (1–1) Koch (4) 20,253 10–8 W1 19 April 21 Angels 6–5 Venafro (1–0) Percival (0–1) — 20,088 11–8 W2 20 April 23 Yankees 1–2 Hernández (3–1) Hudson (2–2) Rivera (6) 40,360 11–9 L1 21 April 24 Yankees 5–8 Stanton (1–0) Magnante (0–1) Rivera (7) 54,513 11–10 L2 22 April 25 Yankees 6–2 Zito (1–1) Mussina (3–1) — 31,870 12–10 W1 23 April 26 White Sox 6–4 Lidle (1–3) Parque (0–1) Koch (5) 10,129 13–10 W2 24 April 27 White Sox 16–1 Fyhrie (1–1) Buehrle (4–2) — 26,111 14–10 W3 25 April 28 White Sox 10–0 Hudson (3–2) Ritchie (2–2) — 20,365 15–10 W4 26 April 30 @ Yankees 2–8 Wells (4–0) Zito (1–2) — 32,888 15–11 L1
May: 10–17 (Home: 5–7 ; Away: 5–10) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record Streak 27 May 1 @ Yankees 4–1 Hiljus (3–1) Mussina (3–2) Koch (6) 31,006 16–11 W1 28 May 2 @ Yankees 2–9 Clemens (4–2) Lidle (1–4) — 30,463 16–12 L1 29 May 3 @ White Sox 1–6 Buehrle (5–2) Fyhrie (1–2) — 15,746 16–13 L2 30 May 4 @ White Sox 2–10 Ritchie (3–2) Hudson (3–3) — 27,511 16–14 L3 31 May 5 @ White Sox 3–2 Zito (2–2) Wright (3–3) Koch (7) 27,275 17–14 W1 32 May 7 Red Sox 7–9 Arrojo (2–0) Mecir (1–1) Urbina (12) 19,715 17–15 L1 33 May 8 Red Sox 6–12 Burkett (3–0) Hiljus (3–2) — 40,155 17–16 L2 34 May 9 Red Sox 1–5 Lowe (5–1) Hudson (3–4) — 18,477 17–17 L3 35 May 10 Blue Jays 2–6 Prokopec (2–4) Mulder (2–2) — 10,824 17–18 L4 36 May 11 Blue Jays 7–4 Zito (3–2) Miller (2–1) — 21,115 18–18 W1 37 May 12 Blue Jays 4–11 Halladay (3–1) Lidle (1–5) Walker (1) 19,519 18–19 L1 38 May 14 @ Red Sox 2–6 Burkett (4–0) Hudson (3–5) — 31,404 18–20 L2 39 May 15 @ Red Sox 2–8 Lowe (6–1) Hiljus (3–3) — 32,346 18–21 L3 40 May 16 @ Red Sox 5–0 Zito (4–2) Castillo (2–4) — 33,057 19–21 W1 41 May 17 @ Blue Jays 1–7 Halladay (4–1) Mulder (2–3) — 14,061 19–22 L1 42 May 18 @ Blue Jays 3–6 Miller (3–1) Fyhrie (1–3) Escobar (7) 17,846 19–23 L2 43 May 19 @ Blue Jays 0–11 Loaiza (2–0) Hudson (3–6) — 23,408 19–24 L3 44 May 21 Orioles 4–6 (14) Driskill (1–0) Venafro (1–1) Julio (9) 10,245 19–25 L4 45 May 22 Orioles 7–6 Fyhrie (2–3) Maduro (2–4) Koch (8) 20,444 20–25 W1 46 May 23 Orioles 3–11 Ponson (3–3) Mulder (2–4) — 11,737 20–26 L1 47 May 24 Devil Rays 9–8 Mecir (2–1) Zambrano (1–4) Koch (9) 25,458 21–26 W1 48 May 25 Devil Rays 6–0 Harang (1–0) Harper (1–2) Bradford (1) 31,697 22–26 W2 49 May 26 Devil Rays 7–0 Zito (5–2) Kennedy (1–2) — 15,943 23–26 W3 50 May 28 @ Orioles 5–2 Mulder (3–4) Maduro (2–5) Koch (10) 24,825 24–26 W4 51 May 29 @ Orioles 5–10 Bauer (2–2) Fyhrie (2–4) — 24,913 24–27 L1 52 May 30 @ Devil Rays 3–4 (13) Harper (2–2) Bradford (1–1) — 10,130 24–28 L2 53 May 31 @ Devil Rays 13–9 Venafro (2–1) Yan (2–2) — 10,227 25–28 W1
June: 21–7 (Home: 10–3 ; Away: 11–4) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record Streak 54 June 1 @ Devil Rays 8–3 Zito (6–2) Kennedy (3–5) — 14,073 26–28 W2 55 June 2 @ Devil Rays 4–2 Mulder (4–4) Rupe (5–6) Koch (11) 10,563 27–28 W3 56 June 3 Mariners 1–4 García (7–4) Harang (1–1) Sasaki (13) 14,188 27–29 L1 57 June 4 Mariners 3–2 (10) Koch (3–0) Hasegawa (3–1) — 13,528 28–29 W1 58 June 5 Mariners 0–5 Moyer (5–2) Lidle (1–6) — 35,647 28–30 L1 59 June 6 Mariners 10–4 Zito (7–2) Baldwin (4–5) — 27,344 29–30 W1 60 June 7 Astros 5–3 Mulder (5–4) Oswalt (6–4) Koch (12) 17,453 30–30 W2 61 June 8 Astros 5–1 Harang (2–1) Reynolds (3–6) — 27,115 31–30 W3 62 June 9 Astros 7–6 Koch (4–0) Dotel (3–3) — 35,065 32–30 W4 63 June 10 Brewers 8–6 Bradford (2–1) de los Santos (1–2) Koch (13) 10,584 33–30 W5 64 June 11 Brewers 11–2 Zito (8–2) Figueroa (1–4) — 11,223 34–30 W6 65 June 12 Brewers 8–0 Mulder (6–4) Sheets (3–7) — 20,847 35–30 W7 66 June 14 @ Giants 3–2 Hudson (4–6) Schmidt (2–2) Koch (14) 41,457 36–30 W8 67 June 15 @ Giants 2–6 Zerbe (2–0) Harang (2–2) — 41,298 36–31 L1 68 June 16 @ Giants 2–1 Zito (9–2) Rueter (7–5) Koch (15) 41,550 37–31 W1 69 June 18 @ Pirates 4–2 Mulder (7–4) Fogg (7–5) Koch (16) 21,943 38–31 W2 70 June 19 @ Pirates 3–2 (10) Bradford (3–1) Williams (1–2) Koch (17) 30,562 39–31 W3 71 June 20 @ Pirates 5–3 Hudson (5–6) Benson (0–4) Koch (18) 22,464 40–31 W4 72 June 21 @ Reds 5–3 Harang (3–2) Williamson (2–1) Koch (19) 26,101 41–31 W5 73 June 22 @ Reds 10–3 Zito (10–2) Chen (2–4) — 27,243 42–31 W6 74 June 23 @ Reds 5–1 Mulder (8–4) Reitsma (3–5) — 23,961 43–31 W7 75 June 24 @ Mariners 13–2 Lidle (2–6) García (10–5) — 45,602 44–31 W8 76 June 25 @ Mariners 1–7 Baldwin (6–6) Hudson (5–7) — 43,985 44–32 L1 77 June 26 @ Mariners 0–1 Hasegawa (4–1) Bradford (3–2) Sasaki (18) 42,120 44–33 L2 78 June 27 @ Mariners 4–7 Halama (3–2) Zito (10–3) Rhodes (1) 42,159 44–34 L3 79 June 28 Giants 10–6 Mulder (9–4) Hernández (6–9) — 46,345 45–34 W1 80 June 29 Giants 3–5 Schmidt (4–2) Lidle (2–7) Nen (21) 53,501 45–35 L1 81 June 30 Giants 7–0 Hudson (6–7) Ortiz (6–5) — 54,123 46–35 W1
July: 15–12 (Home: 8–7 ; Away: 7–5) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record Streak 82 July 1 Twins 4–5 Romero (4–1) Venafro (2–2) Guardado (25) 13,503 46–36 L1 83 July 2 Twins 4–3 Bradford (4–2) Guardado (1–2) — 15,317 47–36 W1 84 July 3 Twins 1–2 Santana (4–1) Mulder (9–5) Guardado (26) 30,213 47–37 L1 85 July 4 Royals 3–2 Koch (5–0) Hernández (1–1) — 28,315 48–37 W1 86 July 5 Royals 4–3 Mecir (3–1) Hernández (1–2) — 53,802 49–37 W2 87 July 6 Royals 3–4 (10) Mullen (1–2) Koch (5–1) Voyles (1) 18,259 49–38 L1 88 July 7 Royals 3–2 Zito (11–3) Byrd (11–6) Koch (20) 31,676 50–38 W1 All–Star Break (July 8–10) 89 July 11 @ Orioles 4–1 Mulder (10–5) Erickson (3–9) Koch (21) 32,507 51–38 W2 90 July 12 @ Orioles 1–0 Hudson (7–7) Johnson (3–6) Koch (22) 33,366 52–38 W3 91 July 13 @ Orioles 6–0 Zito (12–3) Driskill (6–2) — 36,100 53–38 W4 92 July 14 @ Orioles 3–6 López (9–3) Lidle (2–8) Julio (18) 32,853 53–39 L1 93 July 15 @ Devil Rays 4–0 Lilly (4–6) Rupe (5–10) — 10,116 54–39 W1 94 July 16 @ Devil Rays 2–1 Mulder (11–5) Sosa (0–2) Koch (23) 10,592 55–39 W2 95 July 17 Angels 4–10 Appier (8–7) Hudson (7–8) — 38,547 55–40 L1 96 July 18 Angels 2–0 Zito (13–3) Sele (7–7) Koch (24) 15,733 56–40 W1 97 July 19 Rangers 10–0 Lidle (3–8) Myette (0–1) — 21,445 57–40 W2 98 July 20 Rangers 6–5 Koch (6–1) Burba (4–5) — 31,129 58–40 W3 99 July 21 Rangers 3–7 (12) Powell (2–1) Mecir (3–2) — 27,567 58–41 L1 100 July 23 @ Angels 2–1 Zito (14–3) Appier (8–8) Koch (25) 25,370 59–41 W1 101 July 24 @ Angels 1–5 Sele (8–7) Hudson (7–9) — 25,240 59–42 L1 102 July 25 @ Angels 4–5 Shields (3–1) Mecir (3–3) Weber (5) 31,653 59–43 L2 103 July 26 @ Rangers 4–12 Rodriguez (1–1) Mulder (11–6) — 34,585 59–44 L3 104 July 27 @ Rangers 6–10 (10) Kolb (1–0) Koch (6–2) — 35,359 59–45 L4 105 July 28 @ Rangers 12–2 Zito (15–3) Alvarez (0–3) — 24,022 60–45 W1 106 July 29 Indians 6–8 Mulholland (1–0) Magnante (0–2) Wohlers (1) 18,297 60–46 L1 107 July 30 Indians 4–5 Drese (9–8) Lidle (3–9) Wohlers (2) 14,737 60–47 L2 108 July 31 Indians 6–4 Mulder (12–6) Westbrook (0–1) Koch (26) 47,574 61–47 W1
August: 24–4 (Home: 10–2 ; Away: 14–2) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record Streak 109 August 1 Tigers 5–3 Bowie (1–0) Sparks (5–11) Koch (27) 13,861 62–47 W2 110 August 2 Tigers 1–3 Redman (7–9) Zito (15–4) Acevedo (19) 17,197 62–48 L1 111 August 3 Tigers 8–4 Hudson (8–9) Lima (2–5) — 29,648 63–48 W1 112 August 4 Tigers 4–0 Lidle (4–9) Maroth (3–4) — 24,546 64–48 W2 113 August 6 @ Red Sox 9–1 Mulder (13–6) Wakefield (5–4) — 34,059 65–48 W3 114 August 7 @ Red Sox 3–2 Harang (4–2) Burkett (10–5) Koch (28) 33,325 66–48 W4 115 August 8 @ Red Sox 2–4 Lowe (16–5) Zito (15–5) Urbina (26) 33,855 66–49 L1 116 August 9 @ Yankees 3–2 (16) Bowie (2–0) Hitchcock (1–1) — 54,316 67–49 W1 117 August 10 @ Yankees 8–0 Lidle (5–9) Wells (12–6) — 54,439 68–49 W2 118 August 11 @ Yankees 5–8 Mussina (14–6) Mulder (13–7) — 54,703 68–50 L1 119 August 12 Blue Jays 1–2 Loaiza (5–6) Harang (4–3) Escobar (24) 14,178 68–51 L2 120 August 13 Blue Jays 5–4 Zito (16–5) Carpenter (4–5) Koch (29) 17,466 69–51 W1 121 August 14 Blue Jays 4–2 Hudson (9–9) Walker (5–3) Koch (30) 40,528 70–51 W2 122 August 16 White Sox 1–0 Lidle (6–9) Buehrle (15–9) Koch (31) 22,622 71–51 W3 123 August 17 White Sox 9–2 Mulder (14–7) Garland (8–9) — 40,658 72–51 W4 124 August 18 White Sox 7–4 Zito (17–5) Wright (8–11) — 31,489 73–51 W5 125 August 19 @ Indians 8–1 Hudson (10–9) Báez (9–10) — 27,696 74–51 W6 126 August 20 @ Indians 6–3 Harang (5–3) Westbrook (1–2) Koch (32) 27,527 75–51 W7 127 August 21 @ Indians 6–0 Lidle (7–9) Rodríguez (0–1) — 26,916 76–51 W8 128 August 22 @ Indians 9–3 Mulder (15–7) Phillips (1–2) Bradford (2) 27,759 77–51 W9 129 August 23 @ Tigers 9–1 Zito (18–5) Powell (1–3) — 21,807 78–51 W10 130 August 24 @ Tigers 12–3 Hudson (11–9) Lima (4–6) — 19,045 79–51 W11 131 August 25 @ Tigers 10–7 Mecir (4–3) Walker (1–1) Koch (33) 24,346 80–51 W12 132 August 26 @ Royals 6–3 Lidle (8–9) May (3–9) Koch (34) 11,096 81–51 W13 133 August 27 @ Royals 6–4 Mulder (16–7) Hernández (3–3) Koch (35) 13,077 82–51 W14 134 August 28 @ Royals 7–1 Zito (19–5) Sedlacek (3–4) — 15,952 83–51 W15 135 August 30 Twins 4–2 Hudson (12–9) Radke (6–4) Koch (36) 25,221 84–51 W16 136 August 31 Twins 6–3 Mecir (5–3) Romero (8–2) Koch (37) 42,841 85–51 W17
September: 18–8 (Home: 11–2 ; Away: 7–6) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record Streak 137 September 1 Twins 7–5 Koch (7–2) Guardado (1–3) — 37,676 86–51 W18 138 September 2 Royals 7–6 Koch (8–2) Grimsley (3–5) — 26,325 87–51 W19 139 September 4 Royals 12–11 Koch (9–2) Grimsley (3–6) — 55,528 88–51 W20 140 September 6 @ Twins 0–6 Radke (7–4) Lidle (8–10) — 27,409 88–52 L1 141 September 7 @ Twins 2–0 Mulder (17–7) Mays (3–6) Koch (38) 43,628 89–52 W1 142 September 8 @ Twins 6–0 Zito (20–5) Milton (13–8) — 20,102 90–52 W2 143 September 9 @ Angels 2–1 Hudson (13–9) Appier (14–10) Koch (39) 28,145 91–52 W3 144 September 10 @ Angels 2–5 Ortiz (13–9) Lilly (4–7) Percival (36) 35,323 91–53 L1 145 September 11 @ Angels 5–6 Shields (4–3) Tam (0–1) Percival (37) 34,302 91–54 L2 146 September 12 @ Angels 6–7 Donnelly (1–1) Koch (9–3) — 31,304 91–55 L3 147 September 13 Mariners 5–0 Zito (21–5) Valdez (8–11) — 38,210 92–55 W1 148 September 14 Mariners 1–0 Hudson (14–9) Moyer (13–8) — 40,309 93–55 W2 149 September 15 Mariners 3–6 Piñeiro (14–6) Harang (5–4) Sasaki (35) 38,783 93–56 L1 150 September 16 Angels 4–3 Koch (10–3) Levine (4–4) — 22,326 94–56 W1 151 September 17 Angels 0–1 (10) Weber (7–2) Koch (10–4) Percival (40) 25,894 94–57 L1 152 September 18 Angels 7–4 Zito (22–5) Callaway (1–1) Koch (40) 50,730 95–57 W1 153 September 19 Angels 5–3 Hudson (15–9) Appier (14–11) Koch (41) 27,435 96–57 W2 154 September 20 Rangers 4–2 Mecir (6–3) Kolb (3–5) Rincón (1) 25,281 97–57 W3 155 September 21 Rangers 6–3 Tam (1–1) Nitkowski (0–1) Koch (42) 24,862 98–57 W4 156 September 22 Rangers 7–5 Mulder (18–7) Park (9–7) Koch (43) 35,697 99–57 W5 157 September 24 @ Mariners 7–8 Hasegawa (8–2) Tam (1–2) Rhodes (2) 39,037 99–58 L1 158 September 25 @ Mariners 2–3 Rhodes (10–4) Mecir (6–4) Sasaki (37) 39,776 99–59 L2 159 September 26 @ Mariners 5–3 (10) Koch (11–4) Hasegawa (8–3) — 45,822 100–59 W1 160 September 27 @ Rangers 3–2 Mulder (19–7) Park (9–8) Koch (44) 31,521 101–59 W2 161 September 28 @ Rangers 10–8 Lilly (5–7) Kolb (3–6) Mecir (1) 44,442 102–59 W3 162 September 29 @ Rangers 8–7 Zito (23–5) Benoit (4–5) — 34,529 103–59 W4
Legend:        = Win        = Loss        = Postponement Bold = Athletics team member     Source: baseball-reference.com

Season standings

AL West

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Oakland Athletics	103	59	.636	—	54‍–‍27	49‍–‍32
Anaheim Angels	99	63	.611	4	54‍–‍27	45‍–‍36
Seattle Mariners	93	69	.574	10	48‍–‍33	45‍–‍36
Texas Rangers	72	90	.444	31	42‍–‍39	30‍–‍51

Division leaders

Team	W	L	Pct.
New York Yankees	103	58	.640
Minnesota Twins	94	67	.584
Oakland Athletics	103	59	.636

Wild Card team
(Top team qualifies for postseason)

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB
Anaheim Angels	99	63	.611	—
Boston Red Sox	93	69	.574	6
Seattle Mariners	93	69	.574	6
Chicago White Sox	81	81	.500	18
Toronto Blue Jays	78	84	.481	21
Cleveland Indians	74	88	.457	25
Texas Rangers	72	90	.444	27
Baltimore Orioles	67	95	.414	32
Kansas City Royals	62	100	.383	37
Detroit Tigers	55	106	.342	43½
Tampa Bay Devil Rays	55	106	.342	43½

Record vs. opponents

2002 American League record Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14]
Team	ANA	BAL	BOS	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	MIN	NYY	OAK	SEA	TB	TEX	TOR	NL
Anaheim	—	7–2	3–4	6–3	6–3	8–1	6–3	4–5	3–4	9–11	9–10	8–1	12–7	7–2	11–7
Baltimore	2–7	—	6–13	3–4	1–5	2–4	7–0	5–1	6–13	4–5	5–4	10–9	3–6	4–15	9–9
Boston	4–3	13–6	—	2–4	5–4	5–4	4–2	3–3	9–10	6–3	4–5	16–3	4–3	13–6	5–13
Chicago	3–6	4–3	4–2	—	9–10	12–7	11–8	8–11	2–4	2–7	5–4	4–3	5–4	4–2	8–10
Cleveland	3–6	5–1	4–5	10–9	—	10–9	9–10	8–11	3–6	2–5	3–4	4–2	4–5	3–3	6–12
Detroit	1–8	4–2	4–5	7–12	9–10	—	9–10	4–14	1–8	1–6	2–5	2–4	5–4	0–6	6–12
Kansas City	3–6	0–7	2–4	8–11	10–9	10–9	—	5–14	1–5	1–8	3–6	4–2	7–2	3–4	5–13
Minnesota	5–4	1–5	3–3	11–8	11–8	14–4	14–5	—	0–6	3–6	5–4	5–2	6–3	6–1	10–8
New York	4–3	13–6	10–9	4–2	6–3	8–1	5–1	6–0	—	5–4	4–5	13–5	4–3	10–9	11–7
Oakland	11–9	5–4	3–6	7–2	5–2	6–1	8–1	6–3	4–5	—	8–11	8–1	13–6	3–6	16–2
Seattle	10–9	4–5	5–4	4–5	4–3	5–2	6–3	4–5	5–4	11–8	—	5–4	13–7	6–3	11–7
Tampa Bay	1–8	9–10	3–16	3–4	2–4	4–2	2–4	2–5	5–13	1–8	4–5	—	4–5	8–11	7–11
Texas	7–12	6–3	3–4	4–5	5–4	4–5	2–7	3–6	3–4	6–13	7–13	5–4	—	8–1	9–9
Toronto	2–7	15–4	6–13	2–4	3–3	6–0	4–3	1–6	9–10	6–3	3–6	11–8	1–8	—	9–9

Draft picks (first round)

The following were drafted in the first round of the 2002 MLB draft by the Athletics on June 4, 2002:

• Nick Swisher (16th pick, compensatory)
• Joe Blanton (24th pick, compensatory)
• John McCurdy (26th pick)
• Benjamin Fritz (30th pick, compensatory)
• Jeremy Brown (35th pick, compensatory)
• Mark Teahen (39th pick, compensatory)

Trades

• May 22, 2002: John Mabry was traded by the Philadelphia Phillies to the Oakland Athletics for Jeremy Giambi.
• June 21, 2002: Bob Ryan was traded to the Boston Red Sox for cash considerations.
• July 5, 2002: Jeff Weaver was traded by the Detroit Tigers to the New York Yankees, and cash was sent by the Tigers to the Oakland Athletics, as part of a 3-team trade. The Athletics sent Carlos Peña, Franklyn Germán, and a player to be named later to the Tigers. The Yankees sent Ted Lilly, John-Ford Griffin, and Jason Arnold (minors) to the Athletics. The Athletics completed the trade by sending Jeremy Bonderman to the Tigers on August 22, 2002.
• July 25, 2002: Ray Durham was traded by the Chicago White Sox to the Oakland Athletics with cash for Jon Adkins.
• July 30, 2002: Ricardo Rincón was traded by the Cleveland Indians to the Oakland Athletics for Marshall McDougall.

Roster

2002 Oakland Athletics
Roster
Pitchers 57 Micah Bowie 53 Chad Bradford 49 Mike Fyhrie 56 Aaron Harang 37 Erik Hiljus 31 Mike Holtz 15 Tim Hudson 44 Billy Koch 21 Cory Lidle 31 Ted Lilly 52 Mike Magnante 45 Jim Mecir 20 Mark Mulder 73 Ricardo Rincón 29 Jeff Tam 33 Mike Venafro 75 Barry Zito		Catchers 55 Ramón Hernández 26 Cody McKay 28 Greg Myers Infielders  3 Eric Chavez  5 Ray Durham 14 Mark Ellis 30 Jose Flores 40 Esteban Germán 10 Scott Hatteberg 11 Frank Menechino  2 Carlos Peña  9 Olmedo Sáenz 19 Larry Sutton  4 Miguel Tejada  8 Randy Velarde		Outfielders 22 Eric Byrnes 30 Mike Colangelo 24 Jermaine Dye  7 Jeremy Giambi  2 Jason Grabowski 23 David Justice 12 Terrence Long 47 John Mabry  6 Adam Piatt		Manager 18 Art Howe Coaches 41 Thad Bosley (Hitting) 35 Brad Fischer (Bullpen) 39 Ken Macha (Bench) 47 Rick Peterson (Pitching) 48 Mike Quade (First Base) 38 Ron Washington (Third Base)

Postseason

The Athletics clinched the American League West with a regular season record of 103–59, advancing to the first round of the postseason. They were defeated in the 2002 American League Division Series three games to two by the American League Central champion Minnesota Twins. The Twins would later be defeated in the 2002 American League Championship Series by the eventual World Series champion Anaheim Angels.

Postseason game log

2002 Postseason Game Log (2–3)
2002 AL Division Series vs. Minnesota Twins: Athletics lose 2–3 # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Series 1 October 1 Twins 5–7 Radke (1–0) Lilly (0–1) Guardado (1) 34,853 MIN 1–0 2 October 2 Twins 9–1 Mulder (1–0) Mays (0–1) — 31,953 Tied 1–1 3 October 4 @ Twins 6–3 Zito (1–0) Reed (0–1) Koch (1) 55,932 OAK 2–1 4 October 5 @ Twins 2–11 Milton (1–0) Hudson (0–1) — 55,960 Tied 2–2 5 October 6 Twins 4–5 Radke (2–0) Mulder (1–1) — 32,146 MIN 3–2
Legend:        = Win        = Loss        = Postponement Bold = Athletics team member      Source: baseball-reference.com

Player statistics

Pitching

Note: POS = Position; G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	POS	G	IP	W	L	SV	ERA	SO
Tim Hudson	SP	34	238.1	15	9	0	2.98	152
Barry Zito	SP	35	229.1	23	5	0	2.75	182
Mark Mulder	SP	30	207.1	19	7	0	3.47	159
Cory Lidle	SP	31	192.0	8	10	0	3.89	111
Billy Koch	CP	84	93.2	11	4	44	3.27	93
Aaron Harang	SP	16	78.1	5	4	0	4.83	64
Chad Bradford	RP	75	75.1	4	2	2	3.11	56
Jim Mecir	RP	61	67.2	6	4	1	4.26	53
Jeff Tam	RP	40	40.1	1	2	0	5.13	14
Mike Fyhrie	RP/SP	16	48.2	2	4	0	4.44	29
Erik Hiljus	RP/SP	9	45.2	3	3	0	6.50	29
Mike Venafro	RP	47	37.0	2	2	0	4.62	16
Mike Magnante	RP	32	28.2	0	2	0	5.97	11
Ted Lilly	RP/SP	6	23.1	2	1	0	4.63	18
Ricardo Rincón	RP	25	20.1	0	0	1	3.10	19
Mike Holtz	RP	16	14.0	0	0	0	6.43	7
Micah Bowie	RP	13	12.0	2	0	0	1.50	8
Team Totals			1452.0	103	59	48	3.68	1021
AL Ranking / 14			2	1	13	4	1	7

Source:[15]

Batting

Note: POS = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; AVG = Batting average; OBP = On base percentage; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Player	POS	G	AB	AVG	OBP	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI
Ramón Hernández	C	136	403	.233	.313	94	20	0	7	42
Scott Hatteberg	1B	136	492	.280	.374	138	22	4	15	61
Mark Ellis	2B	98	345	.272	.359	94	16	4	6	35
Eric Chavez	3B	153	585	.275	.348	161	31	3	34	109
Miguel Tejada	SS	162	662	.308	.354	204	30	0	34	131
David Justice	LF	118	398	.266	.376	106	18	3	11	49
Terrence Long	CF	162	587	.240	.298	141	32	4	16	67
Jermaine Dye	RF	131	488	.252	.333	123	27	1	24	86
Ray Durham	DH	54	219	.274	.350	60	14	4	6	22
John Mabry	LF	89	193	.275	.322	53	13	1	11	40
Jeremy Giambi	LF	42	157	.274	.390	43	7	0	8	17
Olmedo Sáenz	1B	68	156	.276	.354	43	10	1	6	18
Greg Myers	C	65	144	.222	.341	32	5	0	6	21
Randy Velarde	2B	56	133	.226	.325	30	8	0	2	8
Frank Menechino	2B	38	132	.312	.312	27	7	0	3	15
Adam Piatt	LF	55	137	.234	.303	32	8	0	5	18
Carlos Peña	1B	40	124	.218	.305	27	4	0	7	16
Eric Byrnes	UT	90	94	.245	.291	23	4	2	3	11
Esteban Germán	2B	9	35	.200	.300	7	0	0	0	0
Mike Colangelo	OF	20	23	.174	.240	4	1	0	0	0
Larry Sutton	UT	7	19	.105	.150	2	0	0	1	3
Jason Grabowski	LF	4	8	.375	.545	3	1	1	0	1
Jose Flores	UT	7	3	.000	.400	0	0	0	0	0
Cody McKay	C	2	3	.667	.500	2	0	0	0	2
Barry Zito	P	35	4	.000	.000	0	0	0	0	0
Tim Hudson	P	34	5	.200	.333	1	1	0	0	0
Mark Mulder	P	30	5	.000	.000	0	0	0	0	0
Aaron Harang	P	16	3	.000	.000	0	0	0	0	0
Cory Lidle	P	31	1	.000	.000	0	0	0	0	0
Team Totals			5558	.261	.339	1450	279	28	205	772
AL Ranking / 14			9	8	5	9	12	10	4	—

Note: Only players with at least one at-bat are listed.

Source:[16]

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Sacramento River Cats	Pacific Coast League	Bob Geren
AA	Midland RockHounds	Texas League	Tony DeFrancesco
A	Modesto A's	California League	Greg Sparks
A	Visalia Oaks	California League	Webster Garrison
A-Short Season	Vancouver Canadians	Northwest League	Orv Franchuk
Rookie	AZL Athletics	Arizona League	Ruben Escalera

References

General references:

• 2002 Oakland Athletics at Baseball Reference
• 2002 Oakland Athletics at Baseball Almanac
• Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (2007). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (3rd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. ISBN 978-1-932391-17-6.