Oakland Athletics
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- Philadelphia Athletics redirects to this article, about the baseball team currently active in the American League. For the team that played in the National Association 1871–1875 and in the National League in 1876, see Athletic of Philadelphia. For the team that played in the American Association 1882–1891, see Philadelphia Athletics (American Association).
Template:MLB infobox Athletics The Oakland Athletics are a Major League Baseball team based in Oakland, California. They are in the Western Division of the American League. The team is more often called the A's.
Origins
Origin of the team name
Image:1866.PNG The Athletics name dates back to 1860 when an amateur team, the Athletic of Philadelphia, was formed. (A famous image from that era, at left, published in Harper's Weekly in 1866, shows the Athletic players dressed in uniforms displaying the familiar Old English "A" on the front.) The team later turned professional Association through 1875, becoming a charter member of the National League in 1876, but were expelled from the N.L. after one season. A later version of the Athletics played in the American Association from 1882–1891.
The team name is typically pronounced "Ath-LET-ics", but their long-time team owner/manager Connie Mack called them by the old-fashioned colloquial pronunciation "Ath-uh-LET-ics". Newspaper writers also often referred to the team as the Mackmen during their Philadelphia days, in honor of their patriarch.
Uniform Emblem
Over the seasons, the Athletics' uniforms have usually paid homage to their amateur forebears to one extent or another. Until 1954, when the uniforms had "Athletics" spelled out in script across the front, the team's name never appeared on either home or road uniforms. Furthermore, not once did "Philadelphia" appear on the uniform, nor did the letter "P" appear on the cap or the uniform. The typical Philadelphia uniform had only an Old-English "A" on the left front, and likewise the cap usually had the same "A" on it. For a time as a Kansas City team, the A’s wore “Kansas City” on their road jerseys and an interlocking “KC” on the cap, upon moving to Oakland the “A” cap emblem was restored, although in 1970 an “apostrophe-s” was added to the cap and uniform emblem to reflect the fact that the team's name had officially been changed to simply the "A's" three years prior.
Currently, the team wears home uniforms with "Athletics" spelled out in script writing and road uniforms with "Oakland" spelled out in script writing, the cap and team logo consists of the traditional Old English “A” with “apostrophe-s.” The home cap is green with a yellow bill and white lettering, the away cap is all green with yellow lettering.
The nickname "A's" has long been used interchangeably with "Athletics," dating to the team's early days when headline writers manager John McGraw told reporters that Philadelphia manufacturer Benjamin Shibe, who owned the controlling interest in the new team, had a “white elephant on his hands," Mack defiantly adopted the white elephant as the team mascot, though over the years the elephant has appeared in several different colors (currently forest green). The A’s are sometimes, though infrequently, referred to as the Elephants or White Elephants.
The elephant was retired as team mascot in 1963 by then-owner Charles O. Finley in favor of a Missouri mule. In 1986, the elephant was restored as the symbol of the Athletics and currently adorns the left sleeve of home and road uniforms. In 1997, the elephant came to life for the first time in the form of a mascot, Stomper.
Franchise history
Philadelphia (1901–1954)
The beginning
The franchise that would become the modern Athletics originated as the Indianapolis Indians of the Western League in 1893, a minor league with teams concentrated in the Great Lakes states. The Western league was renamed the American League in 1900 by league president Bancroft (Ban) Johnson, and declared itself the second major league.
In 1901, Johnson shifted the Indianapolis franchise to Philadelphia to compete with the National League’s Philadelphia Phillies, and recruited former catcher Connie Mack to manage the club. Mack in turn persuaded Phillies minority owner Ben Shibe as well as others to invest in the team, which would again be called the Philadelphia Athletics, one of eight charter members of the American League. He himself bought a 25 percent interest. The other teams included the Baltimore Orioles (now the New York Yankees), Boston Americans (now Red Sox), Chicago White Stockings (now White Sox), Cleveland Blues (now Indians), Detroit Tigers, Milwaukee Brewers (now the Baltimore Orioles), and Washington Senators (now the Minnesota Twins).
The new league recruited many of its players from the existing National League, persuading them to “jump” to the A.L. in defiance of their N.L. contracts. One of them was second baseman Nap Lajoie [la-ZHWAY, though usually pronounced "La-joy" by Philadelphians], formerly of the crosstown Phlllies. He won the A.L.'s first batting title with a .426 batting average, still a modern (i.e., since 1900) Major League record. The Athletics as well as the 7 other A.L. teams received a jolt when, on April 21, 1902, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court invalidated Lajoie's contract with the Athletics, and ordered him back to the Phillies. This order, though, was only enforceable in the state of Pennsylvania. Lajoie was traded to Cleveland, but was kept out of road games in Philadelphia until the National Agreement was signed between the two leagues in 1903.
The First Dynasty and aftermath
In the early years, the A’s quickly established themselves as one of the dominant teams in the new league, winning the A.L. pennant six times (1902, 1905, 1910, 1911, 1913 and 1914), winning the World Series in 1910, 1911 and 1913. They won over 100 games in 1911 and 1912, and 99 games in 1914. The team was known for its “$100,000 Infield,” consisting of John "Stuffy" McInnis (1b), Eddie Collins (2b), Frank "Home Run" Baker (3b) and Jack Barry (ss), as well as pitchers Eddie Plank and Charles "Chief" Bender. Plank holds the club record for career victories, with 284. In 1909, the A's moved into the majors' first concrete-and-steel ballpark, Shibe Park. Later in the decade, Mack bought another 25 percent of the team's stock to become a full partner with Shibe. Shibe ceded Mack full control over the baseball side while retaining control over the business side.
After the heavily favored A’s lost the 1914 World Series to the underdog Boston Braves in a four-game sweep, Mack traded, sold or released most of the team’s star players. In his book To Every Thing a Season, Bruce Kuklick points out that there were suspicions that the A's had thrown the Series, or at least "laid down", perhaps in protest of Mack's frugal ways. Mack himself alluded to that rumor years later, but also debunked it, asserting that factions within the team along with the allure of a third major league, the Federal League had distracted the team.
The Federal League had been formed to begin play in 1914. As the A.L. had done 13 years before, the new league raided existing A.L. and N.L. teams for players. Several of his best players, including Bender, had already decided to jump before the World Series. Mack refused to match the offers of the F.L. teams, preferring to let the "prima donnas" go and rebuild with younger (and less expensive) players. The result was a swift and near-total collapse. The Athletics went from a 99–53 (.651) record and a pennant in 1914 to a record of 43–109 (.283) and 8th (last) place in 1915, and then to 36–117 (.235, still a modern major-league low) in 1916. The team would finish in last place every year after that until 1922 and would not contend again until 1925. Shibe died in 1922, and his sons took over the business side, leaving the baseball side to Mack. It was also at this time that Mack assumed his famous image of the tall, gaunt and well-dressed man (he never wore a uniform during his managerial career, preferring a business suit, tie and fedora) waving his players into position with a scorecard).
The Second Dynasty (1927–1933)
After that, Mack began to build another winner. In 1927 and 1928, the Athletics finished second to the New York Yankees, then won pennants in 1929, 1930 and 1931, winning the World Series in 1929 and 1930. In each of the three years, the A's won over 100 games. There are those who feel the 1929 A’s were the best team in baseball history, even surpassing the 1927 Yankees.
As it turned out, this would be the Athletics' last hurrah in Philadelphia. Mack again sold or traded his best players in order to reduce expenses. The Great Depression was well under way, and declining attendance had drastically reduced the team’s revenues. The construction of a "spite fence" at Shibe Park, blocking the view from nearby buildings, only served to irritate potential paying fans. However, the consequences didn't become clear for a few more seasons. The Athletics still finished in second place in 1932 and 3rd in 1933.
The Meager Years
The Athletics finished fifth in 1934, then last in 1935. Though he intended to rebuild once more, Mack was already 68 years old when the A’s last won the pennant in 1931, and many felt the game was passing him by. Indeed, he had never invested in a farm system, and he continued to make all player personnel decisions. Save for a 5th place finish in 1944, the A’s finished in last or next-to-last place every year from 1935–1946. In 1936, Shibe's last son died, and Mack became the Athletics' sole owner. Even as bad as the A's got during this time (some believe that many of his teams were major-league in name only), he had no intention of firing himself. To the surprise of most people in baseball, Mack managed not only to get out of the cellar in 1947, but actually finished with a winning record for the first time in 14 years. They contended for much of 1948 and 1949, only to collapse back to last again in 1950.
The 1950 season would be 88-year-old Mack’s 50th and last as A’s manager, a North American professional sports record that has never been threatened. He was reportedly pushed out by his sons from his first marriage, Roy and Earle. During that year the team wore uniforms trimmed in blue and gold, in honor of the Golden Jubilee of "The Grand Old Man of Baseball."
Final years in Philadelphia
In the late 1940s, Mack split day-to-day control over the team between Roy, Earle and his son from his second marriage, Connie Mack, Jr. After pushing their father out as manager, Roy and Earle assumed control of the team though their father remained nominal owner and team president. In order to do this, the Mack brothers mortgaged the team to Connecticut General Life Insurance Company (now part of CIGNA). However, the team continued to slide (the A's finished with a winning record only once from 1951 to 1954), attendance plummeted, and revenues continued to dwindle. It soon became obvious that the team's cash flow was insufficient to service the new debt. Roy and Earle Mack began feuding with each other. The only bright spot during the last seasons in Philadelphia were the A.L. batting championships won by Ferris Fain in 1951 (.344) and 1952 (.32). The latter would be the last year in which an Athletic has led the American League in hitting. Meanwhile, the Phillies, who had been second-fiddle to the A's for most of the last half-century (in fact, they had been the A's tenants in Shibe Park since 1938), made it to the World Series in 1950 and quickly passed the A's as Philadelphia's number one team.
Though last minute offers were put on the table to buy the Athletics to keep them in Philadelphia, including one made by a group led by Chicago insurance tycoon Charles O. Finley, the American League owners were determined to "solve the Philadelphia problem" by moving the team elsewhere. On October 12, 1954, the owners approved the sale of the Athletics to another Chicago businessman, Arnold Johnson, who moved the team to Kansas City for the 1955 season.
Connie Mack once said, “You can’t win them all.” The Philadelphia A’s didn’t come close. Though they won five World Series and nine A.L. pennants, their overall record from 1901–1954 was 3,886–4,239, for an overall winning percentage of but .478.
Kansas City (1955–1967)
The Johnson era
From the start, it was clear that Johnson was motivated solely by profit, not because of any regard for the baseball fans of Kansas City. He had long been a business associate of Yankee owners Dan Topping and Del Webb. He had bought Yankee Stadium in 1953, though the league owners forced Johnson to sell the property before acquiring the Athletics. He'd also bought Blues Stadium in Kansas City, home of the Yankees' top farm team, the Kansas City Blues of the American Association. After Johnson got permission to move the A's to Kansas City, he sold Blues Stadium to the city, who renamed it Kansas City Municipal Stadium and leased it back to Johnson. The lease gave Johnson a three-year escape clause if the team failed to draw one million or more customers per season. The subsequent lease signed in 1960 also contained an escape clause if the team failed to draw 850,000 per season.
Rumors abounded that Johnson's real motive was to operate the Athletics in Kansas City for a few years, then move the team to Los Angeles. Whatever Johnson's motives were, the issue soon became moot. The Brooklyn Dodgers moved to Los Angeles after the 1957 season, thereby precluding any move there by the Athletics. Moreover, on March 10, 1960, Arnold Johnson died at the age of 53.
Whatever the concern about the move to Kansas City, fans turned out in record numbers for the era. In 1955, the new Kansas City Athletics drew 1,393,054 to Municipal Stadium, a club record easily surpassing the previous record of 945,076 in 1948. (To put this figure in perspective, in 1955 only the New York Yankees and Milwaukee Braves had higher home attendance than did the A's.) What no one realized at the time was that number would never be approached again while the team was in Kansas City, and would remain the club record for attendance until 1982—the Athletics’ 15th season in Oakland!
“Special relationship” with the Yankees
During the Johnson ownership, any good young players on the Athletics were invariably traded by general manager Parke Carroll to the Yankees for aging veterans and cash. The cash was used to pay the bills, with the veterans perhaps having star appeal that could improve attendance.
Though Johnson promised the fans that the trades would soon bring a world championship to Kansas City, it didn’t work that way. The A's won 63 games in 1955, only the fifth time in the last 20 years that they'd managed to win more than 60 games. However, they never contended past June in the six years of Johnson's ownership, and finished either last or next-to-last each season. Attendance declined, with fans and even other clubs charging that the A’s were little more than a Yankee farm team at the major league level, citing Johnson's pre-existing cozy relationship with Topping and Webb. This obvious conflict of interest was merely winked at by the rulers of the game at that time. It is perhaps not a coincidence that the Yankees went into decline as soon as the A's stopped sending them talent. Johnson once gushed to The Sporting News, "I'd pay a million dollars for Mickey Mantle!" Assuming he had a million to give, that was a safe offer, as there was no chance the Yanks were going to trade their superstar to Kansas City.
The trade no one ever forgot was the one made after the 1959 season, when the A’s sent young right fielder Roger Maris to New York for his aging counterpart, Hank Bauer, in a seven-player deal. However, there were others. The Yankees brought up a promising young pitcher, Ralph Terry, in 1956, but were reluctant to use him in critical situations. So, in June, 1957 they traded him to the A's in an eight-player deal. After getting nearly two years of experience facing A.L. batters, Terry apparently was ready to return. In May, 1959 the Yankees sent Jerry Lumpe and two washed-up pitchers to the Athletics for Terry. Once "home," Terry became a 20-game winner for New York.
Finley era
On December 19, 1960, Charles "Charlie O." Finley purchased a controlling interest in the team from Johnson's estate after losing out to Johnson six years earlier. He bought out the minority owners a year later. Finley promised the fans a new day. In a highly publicized move, he purchased a bus, pointed it in the direction of New York, and burned it to symbolize the end of the “special relationship” with the Yankees. He called another press conference to burn the existing lease at Municipal Stadium which included the despised "escape clause." He spent over $400,000 of his own money in stadium improvements (though in 1962 the city reimbursed $300,000 of this). He introduced new uniforms which had "Kansas City" on the road uniforms for the first time ever and an interlocking "KC" on the cap. He announced, "My intentions are to keep the A's permanently in Kansas City and build a winning ball club. I have no intention of ever moving the franchise." The fans, in turn, regarded Finley as the savior of Major League Baseball in Kansas City.
Finley immediately hired Frank Lane, a veteran baseball man with a reputation as a prolific trader, as general manager. Lane began engineering trades with several other teams, including the Yankees, the bus-burning stunt notwithstanding. Lane lasted less than one year, being fired during the 1961 season. He was replaced by Pat Friday, whose sole qualification for the job was that he managed one of Finley's insurance offices. On paper, Friday remained general manager until 1965, when he was replaced by Hank Peters, who held the post for less than a year, after which the team had no formal general manager. In fact, Friday and Peters were mere figureheads. With the firing of Lane in 1961, Finley effectively became a one-man band as owner, president and de facto general manager, and would remain so for the duration of his ownership.
Finley made further changes to the team’s uniforms. In 1963, he changed the team’s colors to “Kelly Green, Fort Knox Gold and Wedding Gown White” (which remain the team colors today) and replaced Mack's elephant with a Missouri mule—not just a cartoon logo, but a real mule, which he named after himself: “Charlie O, the Mule.” He also began phasing out the team name "Athletics" in favor of simply, "A's." Some of his other changes—for instance, his repeated attempts to mimic Yankee Stadium's famous right-field "home run porch"—were less successful.
While the A's were still dreadful in the first eight years of Finley's ownership, he began to lay the groundwork for a future contender. Finley poured resources into the minor league system for the first time in the history of the franchise. Mack had never spent money on developing a farm system, which was a major reason his teams fell from contenders to cellar-dwellers so quickly. Even after the move to Kansas City, Johnson spent no money in the minors. However, Finley steadily built up the team's farm system until by 1966, it was one of the best in the majors. He was assisted by the creation of the baseball draft in 1965, which forced young prospects to sign with the team that drafted them—at the price offered by the team—if they wanted to play professional baseball. Thus, Finley was spared from having to compete with wealthier teams for top talent. The Athletics, owners of the worst record in the American League in 1964, had the first pick in the first draft, selecting Rick Monday on June 8, 1965.
Finley looks for a way out
Almost from the minute the ink dried on his purchase of the Athletics, Finley began shopping the Athletics to other cities despite his promises that the A’s would remain in Kansas City. Soon after the lease-burning stunt, it was discovered that what actually burned was a blank boilerplate commercial lease available at any stationery store. The actual lease was still in force—including the escape clause. Finley later admitted he had no intention of rewriting the lease, that the whole thing was a publicity stunt.
On September 18, 1962, after less than two full years of ownership, Finley asked the A.L. owners for permission to move the Athletics to the Dallas-Fort Worth area. His request was denied by a 9–1 vote. In January, 1964, he signed an agreement to move the A’s to Louisville, (and hinted the team's name would change to "Louisville Sluggers"). By another 9–1 vote his request was denied. Six weeks later, by the same 9–1 margin, the A.L. owners denied Finley's request to move the team to Oakland.
These requests came as no surprise, as rumors of impending moves to these cities, as well as to Atlanta, Milwaukee, New Orleans, San Diego and Seattle—all of which Finley had considered as new homes for the Athletics—had long been afloat. He also threatened to move the A's to a "cow pasture" outside of town, complete with temporary grandstands. Not surprisingly, attendance tailed off. Finally, American League President Joe Cronin persuaded Finley to sign a four-year lease with Municipal Stadium.
Then on October 18, 1967, A.L. owners at last gave Finley permission to move the Athletics to Oakland for the 1968 season. According to some reports, Cronin promised Finley that he could move the team after the 1967 season as an incentive to sign the new lease with Municipal Stadium. Then-U.S. Senator Stuart Symington of Missouri blasted Finley on the floor of the Senate, calling him "one of the most disreputable characters ever to enter the American sports scene,” and said Oakland was “the luckiest city since Hiroshima.” When Symington threatened to have baseball's antitrust exemption revoked, Kansas City was awarded an American League expansion team, the Royals. They were initially slated to begin play in 1971, but Symington was not willing to have Kansas City wait three years for another team, and forced the A.L. to let the Royals begin play in 1969.
During the Johnson years, the Athletics' home attendance averaged just under one million per season, respectable numbers for the era, especially in light of the team's dreadful on-field performance. In contrast, during the years of Finley's ownership, the team averaged under 680,000 per year in Kansas City. During their 13-year stay in Kansas City, the Athletics were arguably one of the worst teams in baseball history, finishing last or next-to-last place in 10 of those years. Their overall record was 829–1,224, for a winning percentage of .404.
Oakland (1968 to present)
The Third Dynasty (1972–1975)
Finley officially changed the team name from the Athletics to the "A's" in 1968. The team arrived in Oakland just as the team was beginning to gel. They moved into the one-year-old Oakland-Alameda Coliseum (now McAfee Coliseum.) Managed by Bob Kennedy, the A's finished the 1968 season with an 82–80 record—their first winning season since 1952. With expansion to 12 teams in 1969, the American League was divided into two 6-team divisions. During that year, the Athletics finished second in the A.L. West Division behind the Minnesota Twins—the first time they had finished in the first division since 1952.
Everything finally came together for the A's as the 1970s dawned. After another second-place finish in 1970, the A’s won the A.L. West title in 1971 for their first postseason appearance of any kind since 1931. However, they lost to the Baltimore Orioles in the American League Championship Series. In 1972, the A's won their first league pennant since 1931 and faced the Cincinnati Reds in the World Series.
That year, the A's began wearing solid green or solid gold jerseys, with contrasting white pants, at a time when most other teams wore all-white uniforms at home and all-grey ones on the road. Similar to more colorful amateur softball uniforms, they were considered a radical departure for their time. Furthermore, in conjunction with a Moustache Day promotion, Finley offered $500 to any player who grew a moustache by Father's Day, at a time when every other team forbade facial hair. When Father's Day arrived, every member of the team collected a bonus. The 1972 World Series against the Cincinnati Reds was termed “The Hairs vs. the Squares,” as the Reds wore more traditional uniforms and required their players to be clean-shaven and short-haired. A contemporaneous book about the team was called Moustache Gang. The A's seven-game victory over the heavily-favored Reds gave the team its first World Series Championship since 1930.
They defended their title in 1973 and 1974. Unlike Mack's champions, who thoroughly dominated their opposition, the A’s teams of the 1970s played well enough to win their division (which was usually known as the "American League Least" during this time). They then defeated teams that had won more games during the regular season with good pitching, good defense, and clutch hitting. Finley called this team the “Swingin’ A’s.” Players such as Reggie Jackson, Sal Bando, Joe Rudi, Bert Campaneris, Catfish Hunter, Rollie Fingers, and Vida Blue formed the nucleus of these teams.
The players often said in later years that they played so well as a team due to their universal dislike for Finley. For instance, Finley threatened to pack Jackson off to the minors in 1969 after Jackson hit 47 homers; Commissioner Bowie Kuhn had to intervene in their contract dispute. Kuhn intervened again after Blue won the A.L. Cy Young Award in 1971 and Finley threatened to send him to the minors. Finley's tendency for micromanaging his team actually dated to the team's stay in Kansas City. Among the more notable incidents during this time was a near-mutiny in 1967; Finley responded by releasing the A's best hitter, Ken Harrelson, who promptly signed with the Red Sox and helped lead them to the pennant.
The Athletics' victory over the New York Mets in the 1973 Series was marred by Finley's antics. Finley forced Mike Andrews to sign a false affidavit saying he was injured after the reserve second baseman committed two consecutive errors in the 12th inning of the A's Game Two loss to the Mets. When other team members, manager Dick Williams, and virtually the entire viewing public rallied to Andrews' defense, Kuhn forced Finley to back down. However, there was nothing that said the A's had to play Andrews. Andrews entered Game 4 in the eighth inning as a pinch-hitter to a standing ovation from sympathetic Mets fans. He promptly grounded out, and Finley ordered him benched for the remainder of the Series. Andrews never played another major league game. As it was, the incident allowed the Mets, a team that went but 82–79 during the regular season, to go seven games before losing to a superior team. Williams was so disgusted by the affair that he resigned after the Series. Finley retaliated by vetoing Williams' attempt to become manager of the Yankees. Finley claimed that since Williams still owed Oakland the last year of his contract, he could not manage anywhere else. Finley relented later in 1974 and allowed Williams to take over as manager of the California Angels.
After the Athletics' victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 1974 Series (under Alvin Dark), pitcher Catfish Hunter filed a grievance, claiming that the team had violated its contract with Hunter by failing to make timely payment on an insurance policy during the 1974 season as called for. On December 13, 1974, arbitrator Peter Seitz ruled in Hunter’s favor. As a result, Hunter became a free agent, and signed a contract with the Yankees for the 1975 season. Despite the loss of Hunter, the A’s repeated as A.L. West champions in 1975, but lost the ALCS to Boston in a 3-game sweep.
Free agency, the dismantling of the A’s, and the end of the Finley years
In 1975, fed up with poor attendance in Oakland during the teams championship years, Finley thought of moving yet again. When Seattle filed a lawsuit against Major League Baseball over the move of the Seattle Pilots to Milwaukee, Finley and others came up with an elaborate shuffle which would move the ailing Chicago White Sox to Seattle. Finley then would move the A's to Chicago, closer to his home in LaPorte, Indiana and take the White Sox place at Comiskey Park. The scheme fell through when Arthur Allyn sold the White Sox to another colorful owner, Bill Veeck. Veeck had no intention of abandonning Chicago.
As the 1976 season got underway, the basic rules of player contracts were changing. Seitz had ruled that baseball’s reserve clause only bound players for one season after their contract expired. Thus, all players not signed to multi-year contracts would be eligible for free agency at the end of the 1976 season. The balance of power had shifted from the owners to the players for the first time since the days of the Federal League. Like Mack had done twice before, Finley reacted by trading star players and attempting to sell others. On June 15, 1976, Finley sold left fielder Rudi and relief pitcher Fingers to Boston for $1 million apiece, and pitcher Blue to the New York Yankees for $1.5 million. Three days later, Kuhn voided the transactions in the “best interests of baseball.” Finley then attempted to trade Blue to the Reds, but Kuhn vetoed this deal as well, claiming that the addition of Blue to an already formidable Reds pitching staff would have made the N.L. West pennant race a joke. Amid all the turmoil, the A's still finished second in the A.L. West, 2.5 games behind the Royals.
After 1976 the season, most of the Athletics’ veteran players did become eligible for free agency, and predictably almost all left. Three thousand miles and several decades later, one of baseball’s most storied franchises suffered yet another dismemberment of a dynasty team. As happened with the end of the A's first dynasty in the early 1900s, the collapse was swift and total. The next three years were as bad as the worst days in Philadelphia or Kansas City, with the A's finishing last twice and next-to-last once. In 1977, for instance—only two years after winning the World Series—the A's finished with the worst record in the American League, behind even the expansion Seattle Mariners. The A's had never drawn well since moving to Oakland (even during the World Series years), and during the next three years attendance dropped so low that the Coliseum became known as the "Oakland Mausoleum," and its upkeep went downhill. At one point, the A's broadcast their games on a college radio station. Fans nicknamed them the "Triple-A's." In 1979, only 306,763 paying customers showed up to watch the A's, the team's worst attendance since leaving Philadelphia.
After three dismal seasons on the field and at the gate, the team started to gel again. In a masterstroke, Finley hired Billy Martin to manage the young team. Martin made believers of his young charges, “Billyball” was used to market the team, and the Athletics finished second in 1980.
However, during that same season Finley's wife sought a divorce. Since she would not accept part of a baseball team in a property settlement, the team had to be sold. Though Finley found a buyer who would have moved the Athletics to Denver, the tentative deal was voided when the city of Oakland and Alameda County refused to let the team out of its lease with the Coliseum. Finley then looked to local buyers, selling the A's to San Francisco clothing manufacturer Walter A. Haas, Jr., president of Levi Strauss & Co. prior to the 1981 season.
Local ownership for the Athletics: the Haas era
Despite winning three World Series Championships and two other A.L. West Division titles, the A's on-field success did not translate into success at the box office during the Finley Era in Oakland. Average home attendance from 1968–1980 was 777,000 per season, with 1,075,518 in 1975 being the highest attendance for a Finley-owned team. In marked contrast, during the first year of Haas' ownership, the Athletics drew 1,304,052—in a season shortened by a player strike. Were it not for the strike, the A's were on a pace to draw over 2.2 million in 1981! During the 15 years of Haas' ownership, the Athletics became one of baseball’s most successful teams at the gate, drawing 2,900,217 in 1990, still the club record for single season attendance, as well as on the field. Average annual home attendance during those years (excluding the strike years of 1981 and 1994) was over 1.9 million.
Haas set about changing the team's image. He ditched Charlie O. as the team mascot, and pictures of Connie Mack and other greats from the Philadelphia days appeared in the team office. While the team colors remained green, gold, and white, the garish Kelly green was replaced with a more subdued forest green. After a 23-year hiatus, the elephant was restored as the club mascot in 1986. The team’s official name was restored to “Athletics” in 1987.
Under the Haas ownership, the minor league system was rebuilt, which bore fruition later that decade as José Canseco (1986), Mark McGwire (1987) and Walt Weiss (1988) were chosen as A.L. Rookies of the Year. During the 1986 season, Tony La Russa was hired as the Athletics’ manager, a post he held until the end of 1995. In 1987, La Russa’s first full year as manager, the team finished at 81–81, its best record in 7 seasons. Beginning in 1988, the Athletics won the A.L. pennant three years in a row. Reminiscent of their Philadelphia predecessors, this A’s team finished with the best record of any team in the major leagues during all 3 years, winning 104 (1988), 99 (1989), and 103 (1990) games, featuring such stars as McGwire, Canseco, Weiss, Carney Lansford, Dave Stewart, and Dennis Eckersley.
Regular season dominance did not translate into post-season success, however. The Athletics lost the World Series in 1988 and 1990, losing the latter to the underdog Cincinnati Reds in a shocking four-game sweep reminiscent of the A’s loss to the Braves 76 years earlier. The A’s lone victory was a four-game sweep of their cross-bay rivals, the San Francisco Giants, in the 1989 World Series. The team began a steady decline, winning the A.L. West championship in 1992 (but losing to Toronto in the ALCS), then finishing last in 1993.
The Schott-Hofmann years
Walter Haas died in 1995, and the team was sold to San Francisco Bay Area real estate developers Steve Schott (no relation to one-time Cincinnati Reds’ owner Marge Schott) and Ken Hofmann, prior to the 1996 season. Once again, the Athletics’ star players were traded or sold, as the new owners’ goal was to cut payroll drastically. Many landed with the St. Louis Cardinals, including McGwire, Eckersley, and manager La Russa. In a turn of events eerily reminiscent of the A’s Roger Maris trade 28 years before, Mark McGwire celebrated his first full season with the Cardinals by setting a new major league home run record! In fact, McGwire came close to the record in 1997, when he split 58 homers between the A's and the Cards.
The Schott-Hofmann ownership allocated resources to building and maintaining a strong minor league system while almost always refusing to pay the going rate to keep star players on the team once they become free agents. Perhaps as a result, the A’s at the turn of the 21st century were a team that usually finished at or near the top of the A.L. West Division, but could not advance beyond the first round of playoffs. The Athletics made the post season playoffs for four straight years, 2000–2003, but lost the first round (best 3-out-of-5) in each case, 3 games to 2. In two of those years (2001 against New York and 2003 against Boston), the Athletics won the first two games of the series, only to lose the next three straight and hence the playoffs. In 2004, the A's missed the playoffs altogether, losing the final series of the season—and the divisional title—to the Anaheim Angels.
In recent years, the Athletics were best known for starting pitchers Tim Hudson, Mark Mulder, and Barry Zito, collectively referred to as “The Big Three,” as well as infielders Eric Chavez, Jason Giambi, and Miguel Tejada. After becoming free agents, Giambi left for the New York Yankees after the 2001 season, while Tejada departed for the Baltimore Orioles after the 2003 season.
The general manager of the Athletics, Billy Beane, has become notable in recent years for his novel approach to business decisions and scouting. The Athletics organization began redefining the way that major league baseball teams evaluate player talent. They began filling their system with players who did not possess typical baseball "tools"—throwing, fielding, hitting, hitting for power and running. Instead, they drafted for unconventional statistical prowess—on base percentage for hitters (rather than power) and strikeout/walk ratios for pitchers (rather than velocity). These undervalued stats came cheap. With the sixth lowest payroll in baseball in 2002, the Oakland Athletics won an American League best 103 games. They spent $41M that season, while the Yankees, who also won 103 games, spent $132M. The Athletics have continually succeeded winning, and defying market economics, keeping their payroll near the bottom of the league. For example, after the 2004 season, in which the A's placed second in their division, Beane shocked many by breaking up the Big Three, trading Tim Hudson to the Atlanta Braves and Mark Mulder to the St. Louis Cardinals. To many, the trades appeared bizarre, in that the two pitchers were seen to be at or near the top of their game; however, the decision was perfectly in line with Beane's business model as outlined in Moneyball.
The Wolff era
On March 30, 2005, the Athletics were sold to a group headed by Los Angeles real estate developer Lewis Wolff. Rumors speculate that he wishes to move the team to San Jose, but those plans are complicated by the claims of the cross-bay San Francisco Giants that they own the territorial rights to San Jose and Santa Clara County. While not ruling out relocating the A's elsewhere in the Bay Area, Wolff has stated his primary focus is finding a site in Oakland for a new baseball-only stadium.
In 2005, many pundits picked the Athletics to finish last as a result of Beane's dismantling of the Big Three. At first, the experts appeared vindicated, as the A's were mired in last place on May 31st with a 19–32 (.373) won-loss record. After that the team began to gel, playing at a .622 clip for the remainder of the season, eventually finishing 88–74 (.543), seven games behind the newly-renamed Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and for many weeks seriously contending for the AL West crown.
Pitcher Huston Street was voted the A.L. Rookie of the Year in 2005, the second year in a row an Athletic won that award, shortstop Bobby Crosby having won in 2004. For the fifth straight season, third baseman Eric Chavez won the A.L. Gold Glove Award at that position.
Stadium issue
Team owners have been faced for several years with a problematic venue issue. The Oakland Coliseum, though built as a multi-purpose facility, was initially considered by many to be one of the better ballparks in the major leagues. After the Oakland Raiders football team moved to Los Angeles in 1982, many improvements were made to what was suddenly a baseball-only facility. The 1994 movie Angels in the Outfield was filmed in part at the Oakland Coliseum.
Then, in 1994, a deal was struck whereby the Los Angeles Raiders would move back to Oakland for the 1995 season. The agreement called for the expansion of the Coliseum to more than 63,000 seats. The bucolic view of the Oakland foothills that baseball spectators enjoyed was replaced with a jarring view of an outfield grandstand contemptuously referred to as "Mount Davis" after Raiders' owner Al Davis. The final insult was that construction was not finished by the start of the 1996 season. The Athletics were forced to play their first six-game homestand at 9,300-seat Cashman Field in Las Vegas.
Since that debacle, ownership has stated that a new baseball-only facility is necessary to ensure the economic viability of the Athletics. While capacity was "officially" stated to be 43,662 for baseball, seats have sometimes been sold in Mount Davis as well, pushing "real" capacity to the area of 60,000. The ready availability of tickets on game day has made season tickets a tough sell, while crowds as high as 30,000 can seem sparse in such a venue.
In 2005, new owner Wolff made public his plans to build a 35,000-seat baseball-only stadium not far from the present facility, as part of a larger commercial and residential development. Currently, these plans are at a nascent stage as politicians and business interests mull their options (and perhaps await the next mayoral election). However Wolff has stated he wants an answer from the city by opening day of the 2006 season which may force the issue along.
On December 21, 2005, the Athletics announced that seats in the Coliseum's third deck would not be sold for the 2006 season, but would instead be covered with a tarp, and that tickets would no longer be sold in Mount Davis under any circumstances. That effectively reduces capacity to 34,077, making McAfee Coliseum the smallest stadium in Major League Baseball.
The As are said to be contemplating a move to Fremont should a stadium be built there. Said stadium is most likely to be built in the Warm Springs district, either near the developing Pacific Commons shopping center or near the NUMMI manufacturing plant.
Rivals
- See also: Bay Bridge Series (Athletics-Giants rivalry), City Series (former Athletics-Phillies rivalry)
The Athletics are without a rivalry on the order of Yankees-Red Sox, Dodgers-Giants, or Cubs-Cardinals. While the A's have been a member of the American League since 1901, their divisional rivals are of a more recent vintage. The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim date from 1961, as do the Texas Rangers (but only since 1972 as a Dallas-Fort Worth team). The Seattle Mariners were organized in 1977. In recent years, the Angels have emerged as a principal rival of the A's, given the great talent and farm systems of both clubs.
During the 1970s, the A's established a strong rivalry with the Kansas City Royals (then an A.L. West team), fueled by the Kansas City fans' resentment of the A's move to Oakland in 1968, and by the rivalry of the Oakland Raiders and Kansas City Chiefs football teams. Arguably, the Athletics' biggest American League rivals in recent years have been the teams that were their old traditional rivals from decades ago in Philadelphia—the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox—if only because of the hard-fought playoff games between the teams.
The A's have also established a strong geographic rivalry with the San Francisco Giants. The teams faced each other in the 1989 World Series (won by the Athletics in a four-game sweep). But also, with both teams having long and storied histories, they have faced each other three times in the World Series prior to their respective moves west, with the Athletics winning two and the Giants one of those Series.
Events and records of note
- 20-Game Win Streak: The Oakland Athletics won an American League record 20 games in a row, from August 13 to September 4, 2002. The last three games were won in dramatic fashion, each victory coming in the bottom of the ninth inning. Win number 20 was notable because the A's, with Tim Hudson pitching, jumped to an 11–0 lead against the AL-worst Kansas City Royals, only to slowly give up eleven unanswered runs to lose the lead. Then, Scott Hatteberg, enduring criticism as Giambi's replacement, hit a pinch-hit home run off Royals closer Jason Grimsley in the bottom of the 9th inning to win 12–11. The streak was snapped two nights later in Minneapolis, the A's losing 6–0 to the Minnesota Twins. The Major League record for consecutive wins is 26, set by the NL's New York Giants in 1916. There was a tie game embedded in that winning streak (ties were not uncommon in the days before stadium lights) and the record for consecutive wins with no ties is 21, held by the Chicago Cubs on their way to the NL pennant in 1935.
- City Series Renewed: The Athletics played their former co-occupants of Shibe Park, the Philadelphia Phillies, for the first time in a regular season game in June of 2003. Previously they had only played each other in exhibition games, dubbed "The City Series", which was played annually. However, since the teams never faced each other in the World Series, they never played each other in games that counted; interleague play made the recent matchup possible. Ceremonies were held for the first game of the 3 game series at Veterans Stadium, as former Philadelphia A's players were honored on the field. The Phillies took the series against the A's, 2–1. They played each other again in June of 2005 in Oakland, this time the White Elephants defeating their former rivals two games to one.
Quick facts
- Founded: 1893, as the Indianapolis franchise in the minor Western League, which became the American League in 1900. Moved to Philadelphia in 1901 when the A.L. became a Major League. Moved to Kansas City in 1955 and to Oakland in 1968.
- Current Uniform colors: Green, Gold and White: 1963-Present
- Previous Uniform colors: Blue and White: 1901–04, 1909–49, 1951–53, 1961; Blue, Red and White: 1905–08, 1954–60, 1962; Blue, Gold and White: 1950,
- Logo design: An Old English "A's". The team also uses an elephant logo.
- Playoff appearances (22): 1905, 1910, 1911, 1913, 1914, 1929, 1930, 1931, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1981, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1992, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003
- Local Televison: FSN Bay Area, KICU
Current roster
Baseball Hall of Famers
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Other Hall of Famers Who Spent Part of Their Careers with the Athletics
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Retired numbers
- 9 Reggie Jackson, OF, Kansas City 1967, Oakland, 1968–1975, 1987
- 27 Catfish Hunter, P, Kansas City 1965–1967, Oakland, 1968–1974
- 34 Rollie Fingers, P, Oakland, 1968–1976
- 43 Dennis Eckersley, P, Oakland, 1987–1995
- --- Walter Haas, Team Owner, 1980–1995 (the Olde English "A's" logo in place of a number)
Athletics in the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame
- 35/14 Vida Blue, P, 1969–1977
- 43 Dennis Eckersley, P, 1987–1995
- 34 Rollie Fingers, P, 1968–1976
- 27 Catfish Hunter, P, 1968–1974
- 9 Reggie Jackson, OF, 1968–1975, 1987
- 1 Billy Martin, MGR, 1980–1982 (Berkeley native)
- 8 Joe Morgan, 2B, 1984 (grew up in Oakland)
- 34 Dave Stewart, P, 1986–1992, 1995 (Oakland native)
Athletics in the Philadelphia Baseball Wall of Fame
The Athletics have made no public notation at McAfee Coliseum honoring Philadelphia Athletics players. But from 1978–1982 and 1984–2003, the Philadelphia Phillies inducted one former Athletic (as well as one former Phillie) per year into the Philadelphia Baseball Wall of Fame at Veterans Stadium. (The Wall of Fame plaques that once graced the concourse of Veterans Stadium are now located at the Philadelphia Athletics Museum, located at 6 North York Road in Hatboro, Pennsylvania, about 16 miles north of Center City Philadelphia.)
- -- Frank "Home Run" Baker, 3B, 1908–1914
- -- Charles "Chief" Bender, P, 1903–1914
- 6 Sam Chapman, CF, 1938–1951
- 2 Mickey Cochrane, C, 1925–1933
- -- Eddie Collins, 2B, 1906–1914, 1927–1930
- -- Jack Coombs, P, 1906–1914
- 5 Jimmy Dykes, 3B/2B, 1918–1932; Coach, 1940–1950; MGR, 1951–1953 (Philadelphia native)
- 11 George Earnshaw, P, 1928–1933
- 5/8 Ferris Fain, 1B, 1947–1952
- 3 Jimmie Foxx, 1B, 1925–1935
- 10 Lefty Grove, P, 1925–1933
- 4 “Indian Bob” Johnson, LF, 1933–1942
- 1 Eddie Joost, SS, 1947–1954; MGR, 1954
- -- Connie Mack, MGR, 1901–1950; Team Owner, 1901–1954
- 9 Bing Miller, RF, 1922–1926, 1928–1934
- 1 Wally Moses, RF, 1935–1941, 1949–1951
- -- Rube Oldring, CF, 1906–1916, 1918
- -- Eddie Plank, P, 1901–1914 (Gettysburg, Pennsylvania native)
- 14 Eddie Rommel, P, 1920–1932
- 30 Bobby Shantz, P, 1949–1954 (Pottsville, Pennsylvania native)
- 7 Al Simmons, LF, 1924–1932, 1940–1941, 1944; Coach 1940–1945
- 10 Elmer Valo, RF, 1940–1954
- -- Rube Waddell, P, 1902–1907 (Bradford, Pennsylvania native)
- 12 Rube Walberg, P, 1923–1933
- 19 Gus Zernial, LF, 1951–1954
Mack, Foxx and Grove have also been inducted into the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame.
Minor league affiliations
- AAA: Sacramento River Cats, Pacific Coast League
- AA: Midland RockHounds, Texas League
- Advanced A: Stockton Ports, California League
- A: Kane County Cougars, Midwest League
- Short A: Vancouver Canadians, Northwest League
- Rookie: AZL Athletics, Arizona League
See also
- Oakland Athletics: All-Time Team
- Athletics award winners and league leaders
- Athletics statistical records and milestone achievements
- Athletics players of note
- Athletics broadcasters and media
- Athletics managers and ownership
- New Oakland Ballpark
References
- Bergman, Ron. Mustache Gang: The Swaggering Tale of Oakland's A's. Dell Publishing Co., New York, 1973.
- Dickey, Glenn. Champions: The Story of the First Two Oakland A's Dynasties—and the Building of the Third. Triumph Books, Chicago, 2002. ISBN 1-57242-421-X
- Jordan, David M. The Athletics of Philadelphia: Connie Mack's White Elephants, 1901-1954. McFarland & Co., Jefferson NC, 1999. ISBN 0-7864-0620-8.
- Kuklich, Bruce. To Everything a Season: Shibe Park and Urban Philadelphia 1909-1976. Princeton University Press, Princeton NJ, 1991. ISBN 0-691-04788-X.
- Lewis, Michael. Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game. W. W. Norton & Co., Inc., New York, 2003. ISBN 0-393-05765-8.
- Markusen, Bruce. Baseball's Last Dynasty: Charlie Finley's Oakland A's. Master Press, Indianapolis, 1998.
- Peterson, John E. The Kansas City Athletics: A Baseball History 1954–1967. McFarland & Co., Jefferson NC, 1999. ISBN 0-7864-1610-6.
- 2005 Oakland Athletics Media Guide
External links
- Official website
- Philadelphia Athletics Historical Society
- Oakland Athletics Fan Coalition
- White Cleats: Fan site for the Oakland Athletics
- Oakland Athletics stats and minor league statistics
- Sports E-Cyclopedia
- Athletics Nation: An Oakland A's blog
- Catfish Stew
- Elephants in Oakland - An Oakland A's blog
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