Back in the early 1980s, “Billy Ball” was born partly because you’ll have Mickey Klutts steal home on the front end of a triple steal when you know your closer is Dave Beard, and you’re open to a series of suicide squeezes when you’re trotting Keith Drumright and Chicken Stanley out there for your middle infield.
One idea that was floated out there at the time was a “6-man rotation”. In this particular case, the thinking came from the realization that Oakland had incredible starting pitching and essentially no bullpen — hence Martin’s tendency to let his starters go 14 innings or, in Langford’s case, 22 consecutive complete games.