In what must be the best example of his ability to create value for his team without putting a ball in play all game, Rickey Henderson goes 0-0 against the Seattle Mariners, with Randy Johnson starting. He walks four times though, all of them against Johnson, and steals five bases. The end result of these nine self-produced bases: four runs scored. Nonetheless, the A’s get blown out, 14-6, with Storm Davis giving up 7 runs while getting one out, effectively destroying his chance to post an impressive ERA for the year despite his strong finish to the season. With the Yankees, Rickey had gone 1-2 with two walks, a steal, and a run scored against Johnson on May 30, in Johnson’s first start with the Mariners after being traded from Montreal. (Rickey winds up as the hitter who would draw the most walks from Johnson, 25, and also strikeout the most times, 29.)
The A’s get eight steals all told, all of them vs. Randy. Glenn Hubbard, in his final game with the A’s or anyone else, goes 0-4. Ken Griffey Jr. is on the DL from the incident in which he broke his right hand. An aside: he wouldn’t play with his father until next year. They would, on September 14, 1990, hit back-to-back homers in the first inning against the California Angels. Another aside: the A’s had won on the 28th when, after having a son born and his mother die on the same day, Bob Welch headed to the airport for the funeral in Kentucky. But he got stuck in traffic, turned around, made his start, and helped the A’s to an 8-7 win in 11, giving up three runs in seven innings before leaving to catch another flight back to Kentucky.
