Rick Langford

Langford, who had tied for the AL lead with 19 losses in 1977, had his first of two winning seasons when Billy Martin arrived in Oakland in 1980. Langford went 19-12 that year with league highs of 290 innings pitched and 28 complete games – 22 of them consecutive, setting an A’s record. In 1981 he again led the AL in complete games (18) and won the clincher in the AL Western Division playoffs. He was a fast-working finesse pitcher and an excellent fielder; his first major league error (10/2/80) broke a streak of 230 consecutive chances accepted – an AL record for pitchers. When he developed elbow trouble in 1983 after leading the A’s in innings and complete games a fourth straight year, many – but not Langford – blamed Martin for having overworked his starters. Langford struggled to come back through the last four years of a six-year contract and went 1-10 (7.36) in a final try in 1986.