List of Oakland Athletics Opening Day starting pitchers


The Oakland Athletics are a Major League Baseball team based in Oakland, California. They play in the American League West division. The club was founded in Philadelphia in 1901, moved to Kansas City, Missouri in 1955 and relocated to Oakland in 1968. The first game of the new baseball season for a team is played on Opening Day, and being named the Opening Day starter is an honor, which is often given to the player who is expected to lead the pitching staff that season, though there are various strategic reasons why a team's best pitcher might not start on Opening Day.
Since their arrival in Oakland, the A's home field has been the Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum, a multi-purpose stadium that has also been used for football, and soccer games. Commonly referred to as The Oakland Coliseum, or simply The Coliseum, it was formerly known as Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum, Network Associates Coliseum and McAfee Coliseum. The A's played their 1996 Opening Day game at Cashman Field in Las Vegas, Nevada while repairs at the Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum were being completed, the first time in 39 years that a major league team played in a minor-league ballpark.
In Oakland, the A's have used 32 different Opening Day starting pitchers in their 52 seasons. The 32 starters have a combined Opening Day record of 16 wins, 19 losses and 17 no decisions. No decisions are only awarded to the starting pitcher if the game is won or lost after the starting pitcher has left the game or if the starting pitcher pitches fewer than five innings. Of the 17 no decisions, the A's went on to win seven and lose ten of those games, for a team record on Opening Day of 23 wins and 29 losses.
Since it moved to Oakland, the team has played 36 of their Opening Day games at home: 33 at the Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum, 3 in Tokyo, and once in Las Vegas. Of the 33 games played in Oakland, the A's starting pitchers have a record of 12 wins, 9 losses and 12 no decisions. The 1996 game at Las Vegas' Cashman Field was a loss for starter Carlos Reyes. The 2008 game in the Tokyo Dome was a no decision for starter Joe Blanton that ended in an A's loss. The 2012 Tokyo Dome game resulted in a no decision for starter Brandon McCarthy and a loss for the team. Mike Fiers took the loss in the 2019 Tokyo Dome opener. Overall, the team's starting pitchers' record in home games is 12-11.
The A's have advanced to the playoffs 18 times while in Oakland, winning the American League Championship Series six times and going on to win the World Series in 1972, 1973, 1974 and 1989. In the 18 seasons that the A's advanced to the playoffs, the team's Opening Day starting pitchers have had a record of eight wins, four losses and six no decisions; the team ultimately won three and lost three of the no decisions. The team's starters won four and lost one Opening Day game in the six seasons they advanced to the World Series.
Catfish Hunter was the team's first Opening Day starter after the team moved to Oakland, taking a 3-1 loss to the Baltimore Orioles at Memorial Stadium in 1968.

Key

SeasonEach year is linked to an article about that particular Athletics season.
WWin
LLoss
ND No decision by starting pitcher; Athletics won game
ND No decision by starting pitcher; Athletics lost game
Final Score Game score with Athletics runs listed first;
in brackets are the number of innings over than 9
LocationStadium in bold for home game
Pitcher Number of appearances as Opening Day starter with the Athletics
*Advanced to the post-season
**Won the American League Championship Series
***World Series Champions

Opening Day results

SeasonPitcherDecisionFinal
score		OpponentLocationAttendanceRef.
1968LBaltimore OriolesMemorial Stadium22,050
1969WChicago White SoxOakland–Alameda County Coliseum23,610
1970 WKansas City RoyalsMunicipal Stadium18,127
1971*LWashington SenatorsRobert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium45,061
1972***ND Minnesota TwinsOakland–Alameda County Coliseum9,912
1973*** LMinnesota TwinsOakland–Alameda County Coliseum38,207
1974*** WOakland AthleticsArlington Stadium21,907
1975 WChicago White SoxOakland–Alameda County Coliseum17,477
1976WCalifornia AngelsAngel Stadium30,194
1977 WMinnesota TwinsOakland–Alameda County Coliseum12,562
1978LCalifornia AngelsAngel Stadium28,194
1979 LMinnesota TwinsOakland–Alameda County Coliseum10,387
1980 ND Minnesota TwinsOakland–Alameda County Coliseum33,196
1981WMinnesota TwinsMetropolitan Stadium42,658
1982 ND California AngelsOakland–Alameda County Coliseum51,513
1983 LCleveland IndiansOakland–Alameda County Coliseum34,831
1984ND Milwaukee BrewersOakland–Alameda County Coliseum45,398
1985LSeattle MarinersKingdome37,161
1986 LCleveland IndiansOakland–Alameda County Coliseum44,726
1987ND Minnesota TwinsHubert H. Humphrey Metrodome43,548
1988**WSeattle MarinersOakland–Alameda County Coliseum45,333
1989*** WSeattle MarinersOakland–Alameda County Coliseum46,163
1990** WMinnesota TwinsOakland–Alameda County Coliseum48,219
1991 WMinnesota TwinsOakland–Alameda County Coliseum44,373
1992* ND Kansas City RoyalsOakland–Alameda County Coliseum44,078
1993WDetroit TigersOakland–Alameda County Coliseum43,370
1994ND Milwaukee BrewersMilwaukee County Stadium52,012
1995 LToronto Blue JaysSkyDome50,426
1996LToronto Blue JaysCashman Field7,294
1997ND Toronto Blue JaysOakland–Alameda County Coliseum41,235
1998LBoston Red SoxOakland–Alameda County Coliseum36,915
1999LDetroit TigersOakland–Alameda County Coliseum46,650
2000*ND New York YankeesOakland–Alameda County Coliseum46,380
2001*ND Seattle MarinersSafeco Field45,911
2002*WTexas RangersOakland–Alameda County Coliseum43,908
2003* WSeattle MarinersOakland–Alameda County Coliseum41,723
2004 ND Texas RangersOakland–Alameda County Coliseum45,122
2005LBaltimore OriolesOriole Park at Camden Yards48,271
2006* LNew York YankeesOakland–Alameda County Coliseum35,077
2007LSeattle MarinersSafeco Field46,003
2008ND Boston Red SoxTokyo Dome44,628
2009LLos Angeles Angels of AnaheimAngel Stadium of Anaheim43,220
2010ND Seattle MarinersOakland–Alameda County Coliseum30,686
2011ND Seattle MarinersOakland–Alameda County Coliseum36,067
2012*ND Seattle MarinersTokyo Dome44,227
2013*LSeattle MarinersO.co Coliseum36,067
2014*ND Cleveland IndiansO.co Coliseum36,067
2015 WTexas RangersO.co Coliseum36,067
2016LChicago White SoxOakland Coliseum35,067
2017WLos Angeles AngelsOakland Coliseum36,067
2018* ND Los Angeles AngelsOakland Coliseum27,764
2019*LSeattle MarinersTokyo Dome45,787

Pitchers

Opening Day starting pitchers listed in descending order by the number of Opening Day starts for the A's in Oakland:
PitcherStartsWinsLossesNo DecisionsWinning %Seasons
6411.8001988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1995
5032.0001978, 1979, 1980, 1982, 1983
3120.3331968, 1973, 1974
31021.0002001, 2003, 2004
22001.0001969, 1970
2110.5001971, 1975
22001.0001976, 1977
2020.0001985, 1986
2020.0002005, 2006
2101.5002014, 2015
2101.5002017, 2018
1001.0001972
11001.0001981
1001.0001984
1001.0001987
11001.0001993
1001.0001994
1010.0001996
1001.0001997
1010.0001998
1010.0001999
1001.0002000
11001.0002002
1010.0002007
1001.0002008
1010.0002009
1001.0002010
1001.0002011
1001.0002012
1010.0002013
1010.0002016
1010.0002019

Footnotes