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Athletics (baseball)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For other baseball teams named "Athletics", see Athletics § Teams.
"A's" redirects here. For the Latin character, see A. For other uses, see AS (disambiguation) and A (disambiguation).

Athletics
2024 Athletics season
LogoCap insignia
Major league affiliations
Retired numbers
Colors
  • Green, gold, white[a][2][3]
         
Name
Other nicknames
  • The A's
  • Swingin' A's (1971–1981)
  • The Green Elephants
  • The Elephants
  • The Green and Gold
Ballpark
Major league titles
World Series titles (9)
AL Pennants (15)
West Division titles (17)
Wild card berths (4)
Front office
Principal owner(s)John Fisher
PresidentDave Kaval
General managerDavid Forst
ManagerMark Kotsay
Websitemlb.com/athletics

The Athletics (often referred to as the A's) are an American professional baseball team based in West Sacramento, California.[4] The Athletics compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West Division. The team will play its home games at Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento for the 2025–2027 seasons before its permanent move to Las Vegas.[5] While in West Sacramento, the team is being referred to as simply the "Athletics" and "A's", with no city name attached.[6] The franchise's nine World Series championships, fifteen pennants, and seventeen division titles are the second-most in the AL after the New York Yankees.

One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the team was founded in Philadelphia in 1901 as the Philadelphia Athletics. They won three World Series championships in 1910, 1911, and 1913, and back-to-back titles in 1929 and 1930. The team's owner and manager for its first 50 years was Connie Mack, and Hall of Fame players included Chief Bender, Frank "Home Run" Baker, Jimmie Foxx, and Lefty Grove. The team left Philadelphia for Kansas City in 1955 and became the Kansas City Athletics, before moving to Oakland, California, in 1968 and becoming the Oakland Athletics. The Athletics played their home games at the Oakland Coliseum from 1968 until 2024. Nicknamed the "Swingin' A's", under owner Charlie O. Finley they won three consecutive World Series in 1972, 1973, and 1974, led by players including Vida Blue, Catfish Hunter, Reggie Jackson, and Rollie Fingers. After being sold by Finley to Walter A. Haas Jr., the team won three consecutive pennants and the 1989 World Series behind the "Bash Brothers", Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire, as well as Hall of Famers Dennis Eckersley, Rickey Henderson and manager Tony La Russa. In 2002, the Athletics set the record for most consecutive wins in a season with twenty, an event that would go on to be the pioneering step in the application of sabermetrics in baseball.

From 1901 through the end of 2024, the franchise's overall win–loss record is 9,329–9,859–87 (.486).[7]

History

[edit]
Main articles: Philadelphia Athletics, Kansas City Athletics, Oakland Athletics, and History of the Athletics

The history of the Athletics Major League Baseball franchise spans from 1901 to the present day, having begun in Philadelphia before moving to Kansas City in 1955 and then to its home in Oakland, California, in 1968. The A's made their Bay Area debut on Wednesday, April 17, 1968, with a 4–1 loss to the Baltimore Orioles at the Coliseum, in front of an opening-night crowd of 50,164.[8] With four locations, the A's have had the most home cities of any MLB team.[9]

[edit]

The Athletics' name originated in the term "Athletic Club" for local gentlemen's clubs—dates to 1860 when an amateur baseball team, the Athletic (Club) of Philadelphia, was formed. The team later turned professional in 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 to 1891.[10]

The familiar blackletter "A" is one of the oldest sports logos still in use. An image in Harper's Weekly with the rival Brooklyn Atlantics shows that the "A" appeared on the original Athletics' uniform as early as 1866.[11]

Elephant mascot

[edit]

After New York Giants 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", team manager Connie Mack defiantly adopted the white elephant as the team mascot, and presented McGraw with a stuffed toy elephant at the start of the 1905 World Series.[12] McGraw and Mack had known each other for years, and McGraw accepted it graciously. By 1909, the A's were wearing an elephant logo on their sweaters, and in 1918 it turned up on the regular uniform jersey for the first time.[13]

In 1963, when the A's were located in Kansas City, then-owner Charlie Finley changed the team mascot from an elephant to a mule, the state animal of Missouri. This is rumored to have been done by Finley in order to appeal to fans from the region who were predominantly Democrats at the time. (The traditional Republican Party symbol is an elephant, while the Democratic Party's symbol is a donkey.)[14] Since 1988, the Athletics' 21st season in Oakland, an illustration of an elephant has adorned the left sleeve of the A's home and road uniforms. Beginning in the mid-1980s, the on-field costumed incarnation of the A's elephant mascot went by the name Harry Elephante, a play on the name of singer Harry Belafonte.[15] In 1997, he became Stomper, debuting Opening Night on April 2.[16][17]

Uniforms

[edit]

Over the seasons, the Athletics' uniforms have paid homage to their amateur forebears. 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, neither "Philadelphia" nor the letter "P" appeared on the uniform or cap. The Philadelphia uniform had only a script "A" on the left front, and likewise the cap usually had the same "A" on it. In the early days of the American League, the standings listed the club as "Athletic" rather than "Philadelphia", in keeping with the old tradition. Eventually, the city name came to be used for the team, as with the other major league clubs.

After buying the team in 1960, owner Charles O. Finley introduced road uniforms with "Kansas City" printed on them, with an interlocking "KC" on the cap. Upon moving to Oakland, the "A" cap emblem was restored, and in 1970 an "apostrophe-s" was added to the cap and uniform emblem to reflect that Finley was officially changing the team's name to the "A's".

While in Kansas City, Finley changed the team's colors from their traditional red, white and blue to what he termed "Kelly Green, Wedding Gown White and Fort Knox Gold". It was here that he began experimenting with dramatic uniforms to match these bright colors, such as gold sleeveless tops with green undershirts and gold pants. The uniform innovations increased after the team's move to Oakland, which came with the introduction of polyester pullover uniforms.

During their dynasty years in the 1970s, the A's had dozens of uniform combinations with jerseys and pants in all three team colors, and never wore the traditional gray on the road, instead wearing green or gold, which helped to contribute to their nickname of "The Swingin' A's". After the team's sale to the Haas family, the team changed its primary color to a more subdued forest green in 1982 and began a move back to more traditional uniforms.

The 2023 team wore home uniforms with "Athletics" spelled out in script writing and road uniforms with "Oakland" spelled out in script writing, with the cap logo consisting of the traditional "A" with "apostrophe-s". The home cap, which was also the team's road cap until 1992, is forest green with a gold bill and white lettering. This design was also the basis of their batting helmet, which is used both at home and on the road. The road cap, which initially debuted in 1993, is all-forest green. The first version had the white "A's" wordmark before it was changed to gold the following season. An all-forest green batting helmet was paired with this cap until 2008. In 2014, the "A's" wordmark returned to white but added gold trim.

The Athletics logo (1983–1992)
Final Oakland A's logo (1993–2024)

From 1994 until 2013, the A's wore green alternate jerseys with the word "Athletics" in gold, for both road and home games.

During the 2000s, the Athletics introduced black as one of their colors. They began wearing a black alternate jersey with "Athletics" written in green. After a brief discontinuance, the A's brought back the black jersey, this time with "Athletics" written in white with gold highlights. The cap paired with this jersey is all-black, initially with the green and white-trimmed "A's" wordmark, before switching to a white and gold-trimmed "A's" wordmark. Commercially popular but rarely chosen as the alternate by players, the black uniform was retired in 2011 in favor of a gold alternate jersey.

The gold alternate has "A's" in green trimmed in white on the left chest. With the exception of several road games during the 2011 season, the Athletics' gold uniforms were used as the designated home alternates. A green version of their gold alternates was introduced for the 2014 season, serving as a replacement to the previous green alternates. The new green alternates featured the piping, "A's" and lettering in white with gold trim.

In 2018, as part of the franchise's 50th anniversary since the move to Oakland, the A's wore a kelly green alternate uniform with "Oakland" in white with gold trim, and was paired with an all-kelly green cap.[18] This set was later worn with an alternate kelly green helmet with gold visor. This uniform eventually supplanted the gold alternates by 2019, and in 2022, after the forest green alternate was retired, it became the team's only active alternate uniform.

The nickname "A's" has long been used interchangeably with "Athletics", dating to the team's early days when headline writers used it to shorten the name. From 1972 through 1980, the team name was officially "Oakland A's", although the Commissioner's Trophy, given out annually to the winner of baseball's World Series, still listed the team's name as the "Oakland Athletics" on the gold-plated pennant representing the Oakland franchise. According to Bill Libby's Book, Charlie O and the Angry A's, owner Charlie O. Finley banned the word "Athletics" from the club's name because he felt that name was too closely associated with former Philadelphia Athletics owner Connie Mack, and he wanted the name "Oakland A's" to become just as closely associated with him. The name also vaguely suggested the name of the old minor league Oakland Oaks, which were alternatively called the "Acorns". New owner Walter Haas restored the official name to "Athletics" in 1981, but retained the nickname "A's" for marketing. At first, the word "Athletics" was restored only to the club's logo, underneath the much larger stylized-"A" that had come to represent the team since the early days. By 1987, however, the word returned, in script lettering, to the front of the team's jerseys.

From 2025 to 2027, while the team temporarily plays its home games in West Sacramento, all of its uniforms would feature the "Athletics" wordmark.

Prior to the mid-2010s, the A's had a long-standing tradition of wearing white cleats team-wide (in line with the standard MLB practice that required all uniformed team members to wear a base cleat color), which dated to the Finley ownership. Since the mid-2010s, however, MLB has gradually relaxed its shoe color rules, and several A's players began wearing cleats in non-white colors, such as Jed Lowrie's green cleats.

Home uniform, worn by Sean Doolittle
Former road uniform, worn by Frankie Montas
Former alternate kelly green uniform, worn by Lou Trivino
Former alternate forest green uniform (2014–2021), worn by Matt Olson
Former alternate gold uniform, worn by Sean Doolittle
Former alternate forest green uniform (1994–2013), worn by Josh Outman
Former alternate black uniform, worn by Gregorio Petit

Relocation to Las Vegas

[edit]
Main articles: New Las Vegas Stadium and Oakland Athletics relocation to Las Vegas

Following the California Golden Seals' relocation to Cleveland in 1976, the Golden State Warriors' move across the bay to San Francisco in 2019, and the Oakland Raiders' move to Las Vegas in 2020, the Athletics were left as the sole remaining professional sports team in Oakland. However, on April 20, 2023, the Athletics announced they had entered a land purchase agreement with Red Rock Resort located near Las Vegas to build a new ballpark on the Las Vegas Strip, finalizing their plans to relocate to the Las Vegas area.[19][20][21][22] On May 9, 2023, the Athletics switched their planned location in the Las Vegas area to the site of the Tropicana Las Vegas hotel and casino, which was subsequently demolished in October to construct a 33,000-seat partially retractable ballpark and a 1,500-room hotel and casino.[23][24][25] By June 15, 2023, Nevada governor Joe Lombardo signed an MLB stadium funding bill known as SB1 into law after the bill was approved by the Nevada Legislature, and the Athletics officially announced they would begin the relocation process.[26]

On November 16, 2023, the Athletics' move to Las Vegas was unanimously approved by MLB team owners.[27] According to the team, the new Las Vegas ballpark will not be completed until 2028. The lease to the Oakland Coliseum expired after the 2024 season. Before the scheduled move to Las Vegas in 2028, the team will play in West Sacramento, California at Sutter Health Park (home of the San Francisco Giants' Triple-A affiliate, the Sacramento River Cats) for the 2025–2027 seasons (with an option for the 2028 season if necessary).[28] While in West Sacramento the team will be referred to as simply the "A's" and "Athletics," with no city name attached.[6] The relocation will mark the first move by an MLB team since the Montreal Expos moved to Washington, D.C., becoming the Washington Nationals in 2005.

Rivalries

[edit]

San Francisco Giants

[edit]
See also: Bay Bridge Series

The Bay Bridge Series is the name of a series of games played between (and the rivalry of) the A's and San Francisco Giants of the National League. The series takes its name from the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge which links the cities of Oakland and San Francisco. Although competitive, the regional rivalry between the A's and Giants is considered a friendly one with mostly mutual companionship between the fans, as opposed to White Sox–Cubs, or Yankees–Mets games where animosity runs high. Hats displaying both teams on the cap are sold from vendors at the games, and once in a while the teams both dress in original team uniforms from the early era of baseball. The series is also occasionally referred to as the "BART Series" for the Bay Area Rapid Transit system that links Oakland to San Francisco. However, the name "BART Series" has never been popular beyond a small selection of history books and national broadcasters and has fallen out of favor. Bay Area locals almost exclusively refer to the rivalry as the "Battle of the Bay".[29]

Originally, the term described a series of exhibition games played between the two clubs after the conclusion of spring training, immediately prior to the start of the regular season. It was first used to refer to the 1989 World Series in which the Athletics won their most recent championship and the first time the teams had met since they moved to the San Francisco Bay Area (and the first time they had met since the A's also defeated the Giants in the 1913 World Series). Today, it also refers to games played between the teams during the regular season since the commencement of interleague play in 1997. Through the 2024 regular season, the Athletics have won 76 games, and the Giants have won 72 contests.[30]

Through the 2024 season, the A's also have edges on the Giants in terms of overall postseason appearances (21–13), division titles (17–10) and World Series titles (4–3) since both teams moved to the Bay Area, even though the Giants franchise moved there a decade earlier than the A's did.

On March 24, 2018, the Oakland A's announced that for the Sunday, March 25, 2018, exhibition game against the San Francisco Giants, A's fans would be charged $30 for parking and Giants fans would be charged $50. However, the A's stated that Giants fans could receive $20 off if they shout "Go A's" at the parking gates.[31]

In 2018, the Athletics and Giants started battling for a "Bay Bridge" Trophy[32] made from steel taken from the old east span of the Bay Bridge, which was taken down after the new span was opened in 2013.[33][34] The A's won the inaugural season with the trophy, allowing them to place their logo atop its Bay Bridge stand.[35] When the A's left Oakland, the Giants had won the trophy 4 times, to the A's 3.

Los Angeles Angels

[edit]
See also: Angels–Athletics rivalry

The A's have held a rivalry with the Los Angeles Angels since their relocation to California in 1968, and the charter membership of both teams in the AL West in 1969. The A's and Angels have often competed for the division title.[36] The peak of the rivalry was during the early part of the millennium as both teams were perennial contenders. During the 2002 season, the A's famous "Moneyball" tactics led them to a league record 20-game winning streak, knocking the Angels out of the first seed in the division. The A's finished 4 games ahead while the Angels secured the Wild Card berth.[37] Despite the 103-win season for Oakland, they lost to the underdog Minnesota Twins in the ALDS. The Angels beat the heavily favored New York Yankees, then beat the Twins, and then won the 2002 World Series. During the 2004 season, the teams were tied for wins headed into the final week of September with the last three games being played in Oakland against the Angels.[38] Both teams were battling to secure the division championship. Oakland lost two of the three games to the Angels, and they were eliminated from the playoff hunt. The Angels were swept in the playoffs by the eventual champion Boston Red Sox.[39] The Athletics lead the series 541–491, and the two teams have yet to meet in the postseason.

Philadelphia Phillies (historic)

[edit]
See also: City Series (Philadelphia)

The City Series was the name of baseball games played between the Philadelphia Athletics and the Philadelphia Phillies of the National League, that ran from 1903 through 1955. After the A's move to Kansas City in 1955, the City Series rivalry came to an end. Since the introduction of interleague play in 1997, the teams have since faced each other during the regular season (with the first games taking place in 2003) but the rivalry had effectively died in the intervening years since the A's left Philadelphia. In 2014, when the A's faced the Phillies in inter-league play at the Oakland Coliseum, the Athletics did not bother to mark the historical connection, going so far as to have a Connie Mack promotion the day before the series while the Texas Rangers were in Oakland.[40]

The first City Series was held in 1883 between the Phillies and the American Association Philadelphia Athletics.[41] When the Athletics first joined the American League, the two teams played each other in a spring and fall series. No City Series was held in 1901 and 1902 due to legal warring between the National League and American League.

Achievements

[edit]

Awards

[edit]
Main article: Athletics award winners and league leaders
  • The Athletics give out an award named the Catfish Hunter Award since 2004 for the most inspirational Athletic.

Hall of Famers

[edit]
Main article: List of members of the Baseball Hall of Fame
Athletics Hall of Famers
Affiliation according to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
Philadelphia Athletics

Home Run Baker *
Chief Bender *
Ty Cobb
Mickey Cochrane *

Eddie Collins
Jimmy Collins
Stan Coveleski
Elmer Flick

Nellie Fox
Jimmie Foxx *
Lefty Grove *
Waite Hoyt
George Kell

Nap Lajoie
Connie Mack *
Herb Pennock
Eddie Plank *

Al Simmons *
Tris Speaker
Rube Waddell *
Zack Wheat

Kansas City Athletics

Luke Appling

Lou Boudreau

Whitey Herzog
Tommy Lasorda

Satchel Paige

Enos Slaughter

Oakland Athletics

Harold Baines
Orlando Cepeda
Dennis Eckersley *
Rollie Fingers *

Goose Gossage
Rickey Henderson *
Catfish Hunter *

Reggie Jackson *
Tony La Russa
Willie McCovey

Joe Morgan
Mike Piazza
Tim Raines

Don Sutton
Frank Thomas
Billy Williams
Dick Williams

  • Players and managers listed in bold are depicted on their Hall of Fame plaques wearing a Athletics cap insignia.
  • * Philadelphia / Kansas City / Oakland Athletics listed as primary team according to the Hall of Fame

Ford C. Frick Award recipients

[edit]
Oakland Athletics Ford C. Frick Award recipients
Affiliation according to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum

Harry Caray
Herb Carneal

Al Helfer
Bill King

By Saam
Lon Simmons

  • Names in bold received the award based primarily on their work as broadcasters for the Athletics.

Retired numbers

[edit]
See also: List of Major League Baseball retired numbers

The Athletics have retired six numbers; additionally, Walter A. Haas, Jr., owner of the team from 1980 until his death in 1995, was honored by the retirement of the letter "A". Of the six players with retired numbers, five were retired for their play with the Athletics and one, 42, was universally retired by Major League Baseball when they honored the 50th anniversary of Jackie Robinson's breaking the color barrier. No A's player from the Philadelphia era has his number retired by the organization. Though Jackson and Hunter played small portions of their careers in Kansas City, no player that played the majority of his years in the Kansas City era has his number retired either. The A's have retired only the numbers of Hall-of-Famers who played large portions of their careers in Oakland. The Athletics have all of the numbers of the Hall-of-Fame players from the Philadelphia Athletics displayed at their stadium, as well as all of the years that the Philadelphia Athletics won World Championships (1910, 1911, 1913, 1929, and 1930). Dave Stewart was about to have his #34 jersey retired by the Athletics in 2020, but the ceremony was postponed until further notice, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Questions were raised if there would be a formal ceremony after no news about a reschedule happened in 2021 before it was announced in April 2022 that Stewart would have his jersey retired on September 11, 2022.[42][43] Stewart broke the A's tradition in that his number was a re-retirement, as well as his not being in the Hall of Fame.

9
Reggie
Jackson
RF
 
Retired May 22, 2004
24
Rickey
Henderson
LF
 
Retired August 1, 2009
27
Catfish
Hunter
P
 
Retired June 9, 1991
34
Rollie
Fingers
P
 
Retired July 5, 1993
34
Dave
Stewart
P
 
Retired September 11, 2022
43
Dennis
Eckersley
P
 
Retired August 13, 2005
A
Walter A.
Haas, Jr.
Owner
 
Honored
1995
42
Jackie
Robinson
All MLB
 
Retired April 15, 1997

Athletics Hall of Fame

[edit]

On August 14, 2018, the team publicly announced the creation of a team Hall of Fame, complete with the first seven names to be inducted.[44] On September 5, the Athletics held a ceremony to induct seven members into the inaugural class. Each member was honored with an unveiling of a painting in their likeness and a bright green jacket. Hunter, who died in 1999, was represented by his widow, while Finley, who died in 1996, was represented by his son. If the team ever gets a new stadium, a physical site will be designated for the Hall of Fame, as the Coliseum does not have enough space for a full-fledged exhibit.[45] In August 2021, it was announced that players Sal Bando, Eric Chavez, Joe Rudi, director of player development Keith Lieppman, and clubhouse manager Steve "Vuc" Vucinich would be part of the class of 2022; in November 2021, Ray Fosse, who had died the previous month, was posthumously inducted into the Hall of Fame.[46][47] The 2023 & 2024 classes were inducted in August of each respective year.[48][49]

Key
Bold Member of the Baseball Hall of Fame
†
 Member of the Baseball Hall of Fame as an Athletic
Bold Recipient of the Hall of Fame's Ford C. Frick Award
Athletics Hall of Fame
Year No. Player Position Tenure
2018 43 Dennis Eckersley† P 1987–1995
32, 38, 34 Rollie Fingers† P 1968–1976
39, 35, 22, 24 Rickey Henderson† LF 1979–1984
1989–1993
1994–1995
1998
27 Catfish Hunter P 1965–1974
9, 44 Reggie Jackson RF 1967–1975
1987
34, 35 Dave Stewart P 1986–1992
1995
— Charlie Finley Owner
General Manager		 1960–1981
2019 10, 11, 22, 29, 42 Tony La Russa IF
Manager		 1963
1968–1971
1986–1995
14, 17, 21, 28, 35 Vida Blue P 1969–1977
19 Bert "Campy" Campaneris SS 1964–1976
25 Mark McGwire 1B 1986–1997
— Walter A. Haas, Jr. Owner 1981–1995
2021 — Connie Mack† Manager
Owner		 1901–1950
1901–1954
— Eddie Collins 2B 1906–1914
1927–1930
— Frank "Home Run" Baker† 3B 1908–1914
— Charles "Chief" Bender† P 1903–1914
2 Mickey Cochrane C 1925–1933
2, 3 Jimmie Foxx 1B 1925–1935
10 Lefty Grove P 1925–1933
— Eddie Plank† P 1901–1914
6, 7, 28, 32 Al Simmons† LF
Coach		 1924–1932
1940–1941, 1944
1940–1945
— Rube Waddell† P 1902–1907
2022 30, 3 Eric Chavez 3B 1998–2010
6 Sal Bando 3B 1966–1976
15, 45, 8, 36, 26 Joe Rudi LF / 1B 1967–1976
1982
10 Ray Fosse C
Broadcaster		 1973–1975
1986–2021
— Keith Lieppman Director of Player Development 1971–present
— Steve Vucinich Clubhouse manager 1966–present
2023 16 Jason Giambi LF / 1B 1995–2001
2009
26, 7, 4 Bob Johnson LF 1933–1942
5, 4 Carney Lansford 3B 1983–1992
24, 38, 18 Gene Tenace C / 1B 1969–1976
— Roy Steele Public address announcer 1968–2005
2007–2008
2024 33 Jose Canseco RF / DH 1985–1992
1997
1 Eddie Joost SS
Manager		 1947–1954
1954
36 Terry Steinbach C 1986–1996
4 Miguel Tejada SS 1997–2003
23 Dick Williams† LF / 3B
Manager		 1959–1960
1971–1973
— Bill King Broadcaster 1981–2005

Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame

[edit]
Dave Stewart, Oakland Athletics pitcher from 1986 to 1992 and 1995
Main article: Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame

17 members of the Athletics organization have been honored with induction into the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame.

Athletics in the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame
No. Player Position Tenure Notes
12 Dusty Baker OF 1985–1986
14, 17, 21, 28, 35 Vida Blue P 1969–1977
19 Bert "Campy" Campaneris SS 1964–1976
12 Orlando Cepeda 1B 1972 Elected mainly on his performance with San Francisco Giants
4, 6, 10, 14 Sam Chapman CF 1938–1941
1945–1951		 Born and raised in Tiburon, California
43 Dennis Eckersley P 1987–1995 Grew up in Fremont, California
32, 34, 38 Rollie Fingers P 1968–1976
— Walter A. Haas, Jr. Owner 1981–1995 Grew up in San Francisco, California, attended UC Berkeley
24 Rickey Henderson LF 1979–1984
1989–1993
1994–1995
1998		 Raised in Oakland, California
27 Catfish Hunter P 1965–1974
9, 31, 44 Reggie Jackson RF 1968–1975
1987
1 Eddie Joost SS
Manager		 1947–1954
1954		 Born and raised in San Francisco, California
10, 11, 22, 29, 42 Tony La Russa IF
Manager		 1963
1968–1971
1986–1995
1, 4 Billy Martin 2B
Manager		 1957
1980–1982		 Elected mainly on his performance with New York Yankees, Born in Berkeley, California
44 Willie McCovey 1B 1976 Elected mainly on his performance with San Francisco Giants
8 Joe Morgan 2B 1984 Elected mainly on his performance with Cincinnati Reds, raised in Oakland, California
19 Dave Righetti P 1994 Born and raised in San Jose, California
34 Dave Stewart P 1986–1992
1995		 Born and raised in Oakland, California

Philadelphia Baseball Wall of Fame

[edit]
See also: Philadelphia Baseball Wall of Fame

The Athletics have all of the numbers of the Hall-of-Fame players from the Philadelphia Athletics displayed at their stadium, as well as all of the years that the Philadelphia Athletics won World Championships (1910, 1911, 1913, 1929, and 1930).

Also, from 1978 to 2003 (except 1983), the Philadelphia Phillies inducted one former Athletic (and one former Phillie) each year into the Philadelphia Baseball Wall of Fame at the then-existing Veterans Stadium. 25 Athletics have been honored. In March 2004, after Veterans Stadium was replaced by the new Citizens Bank Park, the Athletics' plaques were relocated to the Philadelphia Athletics Historical Society in Hatboro, Pennsylvania,[50][51][52] and a single plaque listing all of the A's inductees was attached to a statue of Connie Mack that is located across the street from Citizens Bank Park.[53][54]

Key
Year Year inducted
Bold Member of the Baseball Hall of Fame
†
 Member of the Baseball Hall of Fame as a member of the A's
Bold Recipient of the Hall of Fame's Ford C. Frick Award
Philadelphia Baseball Wall of Fame
No. Player Position Tenure Inducted
— Frank "Home Run" Baker† 3B 1908–1914 1993
— Charles "Chief" Bender† P 1903–1914 1991
4, 6, 10, 14 Sam Chapman CF 1938–1951 1999
2 Mickey Cochrane C 1925–1933 1982
 — Eddie Collins 2B 1906–1914
1927–1930		 1987
— Jack Coombs P 1906–1914 1992
5 Jimmy Dykes 3B/2B
Coach
Manager		 1918–1932
1940–1950
1951–1953		 1984
11 George Earnshaw P 1928–1933 2000
5, 8 Ferris Fain 1B 1947–1952 1997
2, 3, 4 Jimmie Foxx 1B 1925–1935 1979
10 Lefty Grove P 1925–1933 1980
4, 7, 26 "Indian Bob" Johnson LF 1933–1942 1989
1 Eddie Joost SS
Manager		 1947–1954
1954		 1995
— Connie Mack† Manager
Owner		 1901–1950
1901–1954		 1978
9, 27 Bing Miller RF 1922–1926
1928–1934		 1998
1, 2, 9, 19 Wally Moses RF 1935–1941
1949–1951		 1988
— Rube Oldring CF 1906–1916
1918		 2003
— Eddie Plank† P 1901–1914 1985
14 Eddie Rommel P 1920–1932 1996
21, 30 Bobby Shantz P 1949–1954 1994
6, 7, 28, 32 Al Simmons† LF
Coach		 1924–1932
1940–1941, 1944
1940–1945		 1981
10, 15, 21, 35, 38 Elmer Valo RF 1940–1954 1990
— Rube Waddell† P 1902–1907 1986
12 Rube Walberg P 1923–1933 2002
6, 19, 30 Gus Zernial LF 1951–1954 2001

Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame

[edit]
Main article: Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame
Athletics in the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame
No. Name Position Tenure Inducted Notes
— Connie Mack Manager
Owner		 1901–1950
1901–1954		 2004
2, 3, 4 Jimmie Foxx 1B 1925–1935 2004
10 Lefty Grove P 1925–1933 2005
6, 7, 28, 32 Al Simmons LF
Coach		 1924–1932
1940–1941, 1944
1940–1945		 2006
2 Mickey Cochrane C 1925–1933 2007
— Eddie Collins 2B 1906–1914
1927–1930		 2009
21, 30 Bobby Shantz P 1949–1954 2010
5 Jimmy Dykes 3B/2B
Coach
Manager		 1918–1932
1940–1950
1951–1953		 2011 Born in Philadelphia
— Eddie Plank P 1901–1914 2012
— Charles "Chief" Bender P 1903–1914 2014
— Herb Pennock P 1912–1915 2014 Elected mainly on his performance with New York Yankees
— By Saam Broadcaster 1938–1954 2014
4, 7, 26 Bob Johnson LF 1933–1942 2017
— Home Run Baker 3B 1908–1914 2019

Team captains

[edit]

Season-by-season records

[edit]
Main article: List of Athletics seasons

The records of the Athletics' last ten seasons in Major League Baseball are listed below.

Season Wins Losses Win % Place Playoffs
2015 68 94 .420 5th in AL West
2016 69 93 .426 5th in AL West
2017 75 87 .463 5th in AL West
2018 97 65 .599 2nd in AL West Lost ALWC vs. New York Yankees, 7–2
2019 97 65 .599 2nd in AL West Lost ALWC vs. Tampa Bay Rays, 5–1
2020 36 24 .600 1st in AL West Lost ALDS vs. Houston Astros, 3–1
2021 86 76 .531 3rd in AL West
2022 60 102 .370 5th in AL West
2023 50 112 .309 5th in AL West
2024 69 93 .426 4th in AL West
10-Year Record 707 811 .466 — —
All-Time Record 9,329 9,859 .486 — —

Philadelphia

[edit]

Kansas City

[edit]

Oakland

[edit]

West Sacramento

[edit]

Roster

[edit]
See also: Athletics all-time roster
Athletics 2025 spring training roster
40-man roster Non-roster invitees Coaches/Other

Pitchers


Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Designated hitters






Manager

Coaches


Restricted list

36 active, 0 inactive, 0 non-roster invitees

7-, 10-, or 15-day injured list
 * Not on active roster
 † Suspended list
 Roster, coaches, and NRIs updated November 22, 2024
 Transactions • Depth chart
 → All MLB rosters

Minor league affiliations

[edit]
Main article: List of Athletics minor league affiliates

The Athletics farm system consists of six minor league affiliates.[55]

Class Team League Location Ballpark Affiliated
Triple-A Las Vegas Aviators Pacific Coast League Summerlin, Nevada Las Vegas Ballpark 2019
Double-A Midland RockHounds Texas League Midland, Texas Momentum Bank Ballpark 1999
High-A Lansing Lugnuts Midwest League Lansing, Michigan Jackson Field 2021
Single-A Stockton Ports California League Stockton, California Banner Island Ballpark 2005
Rookie ACL Athletics Arizona Complex League Mesa, Arizona Fitch Park 1988
DSL Athletics Dominican Summer League Boca Chica, Santo Domingo Juan Marichal Complex 1989

Radio and television

[edit]
See also: List of Athletics broadcasters

As of the 2020 season, the Athletics have had 14 radio homes.[56] The Athletics' flagship radio station is KNEW and the team has a free live 24/7 exclusive A's station branded as A's Cast to stream the radio broadcast within the Athletics market and other A's programming via iHeartRadio.[57] Going into the 2020 season, the Athletics had a deal with TuneIn for A's Cast and no flagship radio station in the Bay Area but changed their plans due to the COVID-19 pandemic keeping fans from attending games.[58] The announcing team features Ken Korach and Vince Cotroneo.

Television coverage is exclusively on NBC Sports California. Some A's games air on an alternate feed of NBCS, called NBCS Plus, if the main channel shows a Sacramento Kings or San Jose Sharks game at the same time. On TV, Jenny Cavnar covers play-by-play, and Dallas Braden provides color commentary. Some games would feature Chris Caray on play-by-play; Caray is a fourth-generation baseball announcer that included great-grandfather Harry Caray, grandfather Skip Caray, and father Chip Caray.

[edit]

The 2003 Michael Lewis book Moneyball chronicles the 2002 Oakland Athletics season, with a focus on Billy Beane's economic approach to managing the organization under significant financial constraints. Beginning in June 2003, the book remained on The New York Times Best Seller list for 18 consecutive weeks, peaking at number 2.[59][60] In 2011, Columbia Pictures released a film adaptation based on Lewis' book, which featured Brad Pitt playing the role of Beane. On September 19, 2011, the U.S. premiere of Moneyball was held at the Paramount Theatre in Oakland, which featured a green carpet for attendees to walk, rather than the traditional red carpet.[61]

The blog that spawned the full-fledged popular sports blog site SBNation was dedicated to the Oakland Athletics.[62][63]

Eric Shaun Lynch, a former member of The Howard Stern Show's Wack Pack who went by the name "Eric the Actor" (and previously, "Eric the Midget"), was a huge fan of the Athletics and would occasionally talk about them on Stern's show. Following his death in September 2014, the team broadcasters offered a tribute by using Lynch's signature sign off "bye for now" at the end of an Athletics game broadcast. During the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, when American baseball teams were using cutouts of fans to show solidarity in their absence, the Athletics placed a cutout of Lynch among other cutouts of the team's fans.

See also

[edit]

Explanatory notes

[edit]
  1. ^ The team's official colors are green and gold, according to the official website of the team's mascot, Stomper.[1]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "About Stomper". Athletics.com. MLB Advanced Media. Retrieved August 21, 2018.
  2. ^ Clair, Michael (March 17, 2017). "Why do the A's wear green? You can thank Charlie Finley". MLB.com. MLB Advanced Media. Archived from the original on January 7, 2018. Retrieved January 6, 2018. Before Finley came on board, the then-Kansas City A's wore baseball's standard blue-and-red combination. In 1963, that all changed as Finley outfitted the team in glorious gold (Finley said it was the same shade the United States Naval Academy used) and kelly green for the very first time.
  3. ^ Clair, Michael (February 27, 2021). "The best baseball caps ever, by team". MLB.com. MLB Advanced Media. Retrieved June 6, 2023. How many big league teams do you know that wear green and yellow, the most fantastic color scheme in the world? Exactly: Only one.
  4. ^ Drellich, Evan. "A's Brand Transition Guidelines". X. Retrieved November 4, 2024.
  5. ^ Oakland A’s to play in Sacramento’s Sutter Health Park beginning in 2025 ahead of move to Las Vegas
  6. ^ a b Perry, Dayn (November 4, 2024). "A's officially drop Oakland from name, won't add Sacramento as future plans remain at a standstill". CBS Sports. Retrieved November 10, 2024.
  7. ^ "Oakland Athletics Team History & Encyclopedia". Baseball Reference. Sports Reference. Retrieved September 30, 2024.
  8. ^ Boxscore from Baseball-Reference.com "Wednesday, April 17, 1968, 7:46PM, Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum"
  9. ^ "After MLB approves A's Las Vegas move, a look at the history of relocation". Sports. CBS News. Associated Press. November 16, 2023. Retrieved May 5, 2024.
  10. ^ Gallegos, Martin (December 1, 2021), "How they came to be called the A's", MLB, retrieved October 29, 2024
  11. ^ "r/ClassicBaseball - Amazing 1866 Harper's Weekly woodcut engraving of the Brooklyn Atlantics and Philadelphia Athletics, from the National Association Of Base Ball Players league". reddit. May 24, 2015. Retrieved August 16, 2021.
  12. ^ "Logos and Mascots". MLB.com. Archived from the original on February 4, 2007. Retrieved September 26, 2016.
  13. ^ Odell, John. "The Elephant in the Room". BaseballHall.org. National Baseball Hall of Fame. Retrieved June 2, 2024.
  14. ^ "The A's celebrate KC roots with green and gold uniforms — and a mule named Charlie O". www.sportingnews.com. June 25, 2015. Retrieved October 25, 2019.
  15. ^ Hill, Angela (May 22, 2007). "Mascots you don't see on sports sidelines". East Bay Times.
  16. ^ "Stomper's Place". Oakland Athletics. Archived from the original on November 30, 2016.
  17. ^ "Stomper: The Oakland A's Mascot". MLB.com. Retrieved April 19, 2020.
  18. ^ "Oakland A's to wear kelly green alternate jersey for Friday home games". MLB.com (Press release). MLB Advanced Media. January 26, 2018. Retrieved January 27, 2018.
  19. ^ Stutz, Howard; Mueller, Tabitha (April 19, 2023). "Sources: Lombardo, lawmakers on board with planned $1 billion Las Vegas baseball stadium". The Nevada Independent. Retrieved April 20, 2023.
  20. ^ "Oakland A's close in on move to Las Vegas after signing land deal for stadium". The Guardian. April 20, 2023. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved April 20, 2023.
  21. ^ Dubow, Josh (April 20, 2023). "Oakland A's purchase land for new stadium in Las Vegas". SFGate. Associated Press. Retrieved April 20, 2023.
  22. ^ "Oakland A's agree to purchase land near Las Vegas Strip". KGO-TV. April 20, 2023. Retrieved April 20, 2023.
  23. ^ "A's pivot to new site for Vegas baseball stadium, lowering public funding request". The Nevada Independent. May 9, 2023. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
  24. ^ Miller, Shannon (October 3, 2024). "Time to say goodbye to Tropicana Las Vegas, set for implosion this week". Las Vegas Weekly. Retrieved October 9, 2024.
  25. ^ Tisminezky, Ryan (September 24, 2024). "Tropicana Las Vegas receives implosion permit, asbestos abatement complete". KLAS. Retrieved September 27, 2024.
  26. ^ "Nevada governor signs A's stadium funding bill". KLAS. June 15, 2023. Archived from the original on September 21, 2023. Retrieved June 16, 2023.
  27. ^ Farkas, Brady (November 19, 2023). "An Interesting Nugget About the Oakland Athletics' Relocation to Las Vegas". Fastball. Retrieved November 23, 2023.
  28. ^ @Athletics (April 4, 2024). "Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento will host the A's for the 2025-27 seasons - ahead of the team's move to Vegas in 2028" (Tweet). Retrieved April 4, 2024 – via Twitter.
  29. ^ Cova, Ernesto (May 27, 2021). "15 biggest MLB rivalries of all time". bolavip.com. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  30. ^ "Head-to-head record for Oakland Athletics against the listed opponents from 1997 to 2024". baseball-reference.com.
  31. ^ Goldberg, Ron (March 24, 2018). "Athletics Offer $20 Parking Discount to Giants Fans Who Yell 'Go A's' at Gates". Bleacher Report. Retrieved March 26, 2018.
  32. ^ "Athletics, Giants unveil Bay Bridge trophy". MLB.com.
  33. ^ "New Bay Bridge Opens Ahead of Schedule - NBC Bay Area". Archived from the original on October 20, 2018. Retrieved October 19, 2018.
  34. ^ "Last 2 Piers of the Old Bay Bridge Demolished". September 8, 2018.
  35. ^ "A's Take Bay Bridge Series with Another Walkoff Win over the Giants". July 22, 2018.
  36. ^ "Oakland A's, LA Angels: The Fight For The West". Bleacher Report.
  37. ^ Jenkins, Bruce. "A's-Angels rivalry 30 years in making / After decades, rivalry is heated". SFGate.
  38. ^ "Angels-Athletics is becoming a real rivalry". Los Angeles Times. August 29, 2014.
  39. ^ "A's vs. Angels: The Rivalry That Should Be (And Eventually Will)". September 10, 2012.
  40. ^ "2014 Promotional Schedule". Oakland Athletics. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved March 4, 2015.
  41. ^ Burgoyne, Tom (2004). Movin' on Up: Baseball and Philadelphia Then, Now, and Always. B B& A Publishers. p. 128. ISBN 0-9754419-3-0.
  42. ^ @Dsmoke34 (April 12, 2022). "@GlennRecon I have no idea what the A's are doing. At this point they can just retire the number with no celebratio…" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  43. ^ Miedema, Laurence (April 22, 2022). "A's Announce Date to Retire Former Ace Dave Stewart's No. 34". The Mercury News. Retrieved April 27, 2022.
  44. ^ "Oakland A's announce the Athletics Hall of Fame". August 14, 2018.
  45. ^ "Athletics Hall of Fame". MLB.com.
  46. ^ "A's announce five members of the Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2022; fans can vote to help select final member". MLB.com.
  47. ^ "A's to Induct Ray Fosse into Athletics Hall of Fame in 2022". MLB.com.
  48. ^ "Giambi, Lansford among 5 to enter A's Hall of Fame Class in 2023". MLB.com.
  49. ^ "A's to Celebrate the Coliseum for the Remainder of 2024". April 5, 2024.
  50. ^ For photos of the A's Wall of Fame plaques, see Philadelphia A's Society Museum and Library Archived December 29, 2005, at the Wayback Machine webpage. Philadelphia Athletics Historical Society. Retrieved September 23, 2010.
  51. ^ Philadelphia Athletics Historical Society Archived September 27, 2010, at the Wayback Machine official website. Retrieved September 23, 2010.
  52. ^ Fitzpatrick, Frank (February 22, 2011). "Demographics may doom the Philadelphia Athletics Historical Society". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Archived from the original on February 26, 2011. Retrieved February 23, 2011.
  53. ^ For photos of the plaque, see Montella, Ernie (June 5, 2004). "Wall of Fame Day in Hatboro, Pennsylvania". Philadelphia Athletics Historical Society. Archived from the original on December 19, 2010. Retrieved September 23, 2010.
  54. ^ Jordan, David M. "Vet Plaques Come to Hatboro". Philadelphia Athletics Historical Society. Archived from the original on September 6, 2008. Retrieved September 23, 2010.
  55. ^ "Athletics Minor League Affiliates". Baseball-Reference. Sports Reference. Retrieved October 20, 2023.
  56. ^ "Oakland A's confirm split with radio flagship via Twitter". The Mercury News. October 13, 2018. Retrieved October 29, 2018.
  57. ^ San Francisco Chronicle [@sfchronicle] (July 30, 2020). "JUST IN: The Oakland A's - who had planned to provide streaming-only service for its audio broadcasts in the Bay Area - will partner with 960 AM radio station starting Friday. https://t.co/BE7zJ2pv6M" (Tweet). Retrieved December 31, 2020 – via Twitter.
  58. ^ "A's announce new radio partnerships for upcoming season". The Mercury News. February 15, 2019. Retrieved February 17, 2019.
  59. ^ "The New York Times Best Seller List - June 22, 2003" (PDF). Hawes Publications. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 6, 2008. Retrieved April 23, 2014.
  60. ^ "The New York Times Best Seller List - September 23, 2003" (PDF). Hawes Publications. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 6, 2008. Retrieved April 23, 2014.
  61. ^ "Oakland shines for 'Moneyball' premiere". San Francisco Chronicle. September 20, 2011. Retrieved April 23, 2014.
  62. ^ "The Evolution of Sports Blog Nation". Inc.com. August 20, 2010. Retrieved June 12, 2022.
  63. ^ "SB Nation United: What To Expect From The New Our Daily Bears". SBNation. September 20, 2012. Retrieved June 12, 2022.

Further reading

[edit]
  • 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 1-57243-421-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.
  • Katz, Jeff. "The Kansas City A's & The Wrong Half of the Yankees." Maple Street Press, Hingham, Massachusetts, 2006. ISBN 978-0-9777436-5-0.
  • Kuklick, 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.
  • Slusser, Susan. 100 Things A's Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die. Triumph Books, Chicago, 2015. ISBN 978-1629370682.
[edit]
Awards and achievements
Preceded by World Series champions
Philadelphia Athletics
1910–1911 		Succeeded by
Preceded by World Series champions
Philadelphia Athletics
1913 		Succeeded by
Preceded by World Series champions
Philadelphia Athletics
1929–1930 		Succeeded by
Preceded by World Series champions
Oakland Athletics
1972–1974 		Succeeded by
Preceded by World Series champions
Oakland Athletics
1989 		Succeeded by
Preceded by American League champions
Philadelphia Athletics
1902 		Succeeded by
Preceded by American League champions
Philadelphia Athletics
1905 		Succeeded by
Preceded by American League champions
Philadelphia Athletics
1910–1911 		Succeeded by
Preceded by American League champions
Philadelphia Athletics
1913–1914 		Succeeded by
Preceded by American League champions
Philadelphia Athletics
1929–1931 		Succeeded by
Preceded by American League champions
Oakland Athletics
1972–1974 		Succeeded by
Preceded by American League champions
Oakland Athletics
1988–1990 		Succeeded by
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