During the A’s 57 years in Oakland, the franchise mostly
struggled to draw fans. However, from 1988 to 1992, the A’s drew over a
two million fans each season as the team captured four AL West division titles,
three pennants, and the 1989 World Series championship over that span.
With this in mind, I decided to take a deeper look at the attendance figures
during each of those years.
Lead up years: 1983-1986. The A’s team and attendance were lackluster during
this time. The rough end of the Billyball era saw the team win between 74 to 77
games from 1983 to 1986 and draw around 1.3 million fans each season, ranking
11th among 14 AL teams during every one of those years.
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| 1987 AL attendance |
1987-The A’s contended all year long in a weak AL West, going 81-81 to finish in third place.
Attendance jumped to 1,678,921 yet still only ranked 11th in the AL.
A’s fans, being used to a non-contender, probably weren’t sold on a .500 club winning the division. Plus, the San Francisco Giants won the NL West during that season.
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| 1988 AL attendance |
1988-The A’s dominate and capture the AL West crown and pennant, racking up a 104-58 record.
Attendance jumps to 2,287,335 and ranks seventh.
The 1987 World Series champion Minnesota Twins’ explosion from 2.1 million fans to 3 million illustrates how a team that hasn’t contended for several seasons and makes the playoffs, often experiences its biggest attendance jump during the following year. The Detroit Tigers, on the other hand, an already established winner who nabbed the 1987 AL East crown, merely sustained their 1987 to 1988 attendance.
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| 1989 AL attendance |
1989-The A’s again dominate, this time going 99-63 en route to capturing the World Series championship.
Attendance climbs to 2,667,225, slotting runner-up in the AL—only trailing the AL East champion Toronto Blue Jays.
The Blue Jays consistently contended and drew a ton of fans during this era. Moving into the beautiful new Skydome in June helped their attendance reach otherworldly levels of excellence.
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| 1990 AL attendance |
1990-The A’s run of dominance continues, securing their third straight AL West crown and pennant with a 103-59 record.
Attendance increases to 2,900,217, once again ranking second in the AL and only trailing the Blue Jays.
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| 1991 AL attendance |
1991-The A’s dip to a disappointing 84-78 record, finishing in fourth place.
Attendance drops slightly to 2,713,493, slotting third in the AL—behind the Blue Jays and Chicago White Sox, the latter of whom became a contender again in 1990 and moved into a new park for 1991. Those two factors helped spike Chicago’s attendance. The A’s led the AL West early and contended into mid-August before falling out of the race.
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| 1992 AL attendance |
1992-The A’s recover to a 96-66 record and capture their fourth AL West crown in five years.
Attendance drops but is still an impressive 2,494,160 and slots fourth in the AL. Toronto continues to pack fans in and captures its first World Series. The 89-win Baltimore Orioles become competitive again and move into a beautiful new park—a combo that nets them amazing attendance. The 86-win White Sox and their still shiny new park draw just above the A’s while the Twins, fresh off their 1991 World Series championship are close behind.
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| 1993 AL attendance |
1993-Injuries and old age catch up to the A’s who plummet to an ugly 68-94 mark, finishing dead last in the AL West.
Attendance drops to 2,035,025 and puts Oakland back to 11th in attendance, the same ranking it held each season from 1983 to 1986, but with roughly 700,000 more fans than those years and also within sight of eighth place.
Sadly, a variety of factors after this lead to the A’s never again reaching the lofty attendance numbers of 1989 to 1992.
—by John Tuberty
Sources: Baseball Reference
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