Oakland Athletics

Oakland Athletics
2015 Oakland Athletics season
Established in 1901
Based in Oakland since 1968
Team logoCap insignia
Major league affiliations
Current uniform
Retired numbers
Colors
  • Green, gold, white
              
Name
  • Oakland Athletics (1968–present)
  • Kansas City Athletics (1955–1967)
  • Philadelphia Athletics (1901–1954)
Other nicknames
  • The A's, The Swingin' A's, The White Elephants, The Elephants, The Green and Gold
Ballpark
Major league titles
World Series titles (9)
AL Pennants (15)
West Division titles (16)
Wild card berths (2)
Front office
Owner(s) Lew Wolff & John J. Fisher
Manager Bob Melvin
General Manager Billy Beane
President of Baseball Operations Michael Crowley

The Oakland Athletics (often abbreviated to Oakland A′s) are a professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics are a member of the West division of Major League Baseball (MLB)'s American League (AL). The Athletics have played in the Oakland Coliseum since moving to Oakland in 1968. Overall, the A's have won nine World Series championships, the third-highest total in Major League Baseball (trailing only the New York Yankees and the St. Louis Cardinals).

The "Athletics" name originates from the late 19th century "athletic clubs", specifically the Philadelphia Athletics baseball club. They are popularly nicknamed "the A's", in reference to the Gothic script "A", a trademark of the team and the old Athletics of Philadelphia. They are also known as "the White Elephants" or simply "the Elephants", in reference to then-New York Giants' manager John McGraw's calling the team a "white elephant".[1] This was embraced by the team, who then made the team's mascot a white elephant, and often incorporated it into the logo or sleeve patches. During the team's 1970s heyday, management often referred to the team as The Swingin' A's, referencing both their prodigious power and to connect the team with the growing disco culture.

One of the American League's eight charter franchises, the club was founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1901 as the Philadelphia Athletics. The team had some prominent success in Philadelphia, winning three of four World Series from 1910 to 1913 and two in a row in 1929 and 1930. The team's owner and manager for its first 50 years was Connie Mack, and its Hall-of-Fame players included Chief Bender, Frank "Home Run" Baker, Jimmie Foxx, and Lefty Grove. After two decades of decline, however, the team left Philadelphia for Kansas City in 1955 and became the Kansas City Athletics.

After 13 mostly uneventful seasons in the Midwest, the team moved to Oakland in 1968. There a dynasty soon emerged, with three World Championships in a row from 1972 to 1974 led by players including Catfish Hunter, Reggie Jackson, ace reliever Rollie Fingers, and colorful owner Charlie O. Finley. After being sold by Finley to Walter A. Haas, Jr., the team eventually 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 and Rickey Henderson. In more recent years, the A's have often been playoff contenders but have not returned to the World Series since 1990. In 2002, the Athletics won 20 games in a row, which broke an American League record, as shown in the film Moneyball. The movie, and the book from which the movie was derived, showcased how the A's were able to compete and thrive despite their financial limitations.

History

The history of the Athletics Major League Baseball franchise spans the period from 1901 to the present day, having begun in Philadelphia before moving to Kansas City in 1955 and then to its current 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.[2]

Team name

The Athletics' name originated in the term "Athletic Club" for local gentlemen's clubs—dates to 1860 when an amateur team, the Athletic (Club) of Philadelphia, was formed. (A famous image from that era, published in Harper's Weekly in 1866, shows the Athletic players dressed in uniforms displaying the familiar blackletter "A" on the front.) The team later turned professional 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.

Elephant mascot

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," 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. 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. Over the years the elephant has appeared in several different colors. It is currently white.

The elephant was replaced as the team mascot in 1963 by then-owner Charles O. Finley in favor of a Missouri mule (it was also rumored to have been done by Finley in order to attract fans from the then heavily Democratic constituents of Missouri by replacing the traditional Republican mascot to one associated with Democrats). In 1988, the elephant was restored as the symbol of the Athletics and currently adorns the left sleeve of home and road uniforms. The elephant mascot returned briefly in the mid-'80s, under the name Harry Elephante. In 1997, the elephant returned, taking its current form, Stomper.

Team uniform

Through the seasons, the Athletics' uniforms have usually paid homage to their amateur forebears to some extent. 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" ever appeared on the uniform or cap. The typical 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 new road uniforms with "Kansas City" printed on them, as well as 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 Finley was in the process of officially changing the team's name to the "A's."

The Athletics logo from 1983 to 1992

Also 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 also 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 innovative uniforms only increased after the team's move to Oakland, which also came at the time of 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 in fact did not wear 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 and began a move back to more traditional uniforms.

Justin Duchscherer pitched for the Oakland Athletics

Currently, the team wears 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 is green with a gold bill and white lettering, while the road cap, debuting in 2014, is all green with "A's" in white with gold trim. Regardless of road or home games, the batting helmets used are green with gold brim. However, before 2009, when the black A's helmets appeared, road helmets were green with green brim.

From 1994 until 2013, the A's wore green alternates jerseys with the word "Athletics" in gold. It was used on 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. Commercially popular but rarely chosen as the alternate by players, in 2011 they were replaced by a new gold alternate jersey with "A's" in green on the left chest. With the exception of several road games during the 2011 season, the Athletics' gold uniforms are used as the designated home alternates. A green version of their gold alternates was introduced for the 2014 season to replace their previous green alternates. The new green alternates feature the piping, "A's" and lettering in white with gold trim.

The nickname "A's" has long been used interchangeably with "Athletics," dating to the team's early days when headline writers wanted a way to shorten the name. From 1972 through 1980, the team nickname was officially "Oakland A's," although, during that time, 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 purposes. 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.

The A's are the only MLB team to wear white cleats, both at home and on the road, another tradition dating back to the Finley ownership.

Stadium

The O.co Coliseum—originally known as the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, and later named as Network Associates, McAfee and Overstock.com Coliseum—was built as a multi-purpose facility. Louisiana Superdome officials pursued negotiations with Athletics officials during the 1978–79 baseball offseason about moving the Athletics to the Superdome in New Orleans. The Athletics were unable to break their lease at the Coliseum, and remained in Oakland.[3]

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 Coliseum, filling in for Anaheim Stadium.

Then, in 1995, a deal was struck whereby the Raiders would move back to Oakland for the 1995 season. The agreement called for the expansion of the Coliseum to 63,026 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. Because 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.[4]

Although official capacity was stated to be 43,662 for baseball, seats were sometimes sold in Mount Davis as well, pushing "real" capacity to the area of 60,000. The ready availability of tickets on game day made season tickets a tough sell, while crowds as high as 30,000 often seemed sparse in such a venue. 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 reduced capacity to 34,077, making the Coliseum the smallest stadium in Major League Baseball. As of 2008, sections 316–318 are the only open third-deck sections for A's games, bringing the total capacity to 35,067.

The Athletics are the only remaining MLB team still sharing a stadium with an NFL team on a full-time basis. However, Toronto's Rogers Centre is shared by the Blue Jays and the Canadian Football League's Toronto Argonauts, and is also used by the Buffalo Bills for one regular season game on annual basis and a biannual preseason game.

The Athletics' Spring Training facility is Hohokam Stadium, located in Mesa, Arizona. From 1982 to 2014, their spring training facility was Phoenix Municipal Stadium, located in Phoenix, Arizona.[5] Previous spring-training sites since they moved to Oakland in 1968 were Yuma and Mesa, Arizona, as well as Las Vegas, Nevada, all in the 1970s.

New stadium proposals

Main article: Cisco Field

Since the mid-2000s the A's have been in talks with Oakland and other Northern California cities about building a new baseball-only stadium. One planned stadium, Cisco Field, was originally intended to be built in Fremont, California (a location that has since been abandoned). There were talks about it remaining in Oakland and there are currently talks about building it in San Jose.

Additionally there have been some proposals about moving the team to Sacramento and renovating that city's minor league stadium.

Fremont

After the city of Oakland failed to make any progress toward a stadium, the A's began contemplating a move to the Warm Springs district of suburban Fremont. Fremont is about 25 miles south of Oakland; many nearby residents are already a part of the current Athletics fanbase.

On November 7, 2006, many media sources announced the Athletics would be leaving Oakland as early as 2010 for a new stadium in Fremont, confirmed the next day by the Fremont City Council. The plan was strongly supported by Fremont Mayor Bob Wasserman.[6] The team would have played in what was planned to be called Cisco Field, a 32,000-seat, baseball-only facility.[7] The proposed ballpark would have been part of a larger "ballpark village" which would have included retail and residential development. On February 24, 2009, however, Lew Wolff released an open letter regarding the end of his efforts to relocate the A's to Fremont, citing "real and threatened" delays to the project.[8] The project faced opposition from some in the community who thought the relocation of the A's to Fremont would increase traffic problems in the city and decrease property values near the ballpark site.

Sacramento

If negotiations within the Bay Area fail, Sacramento is considered a possible destination for the team.[9] Sacramento was the home of the team's AAA affiliate, the River Cats. The River Cats' stadium, Raley Field, would need to increase seating capacity to accommodate a major league team.[10] The River Cats are now affiliates of the San Francisco Giants, making the market exclusive to the Giants, much like San Jose.

San Jose

In 2009, the City of San Jose attempted open negotiations with the team regarding a move to the city. Although parcels of land south of Diridon Station would be acquired by the city as a stadium site, the San Francisco Giants' claim on Santa Clara County as part of their home territory would have to be settled before any agreement could be made.[11]

By 2010, San Jose was "aggressively wooing" A's owner Lew Wolff. Wolff referred to San Jose as the team's "best option," but Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig said he would wait on a report on whether the team could move to the area because of the Giants conflict.[12] In September 2010, 75 Silicon Valley CEOs drafted and signed a letter to Bud Selig urging a timely approval of the move to San Jose.[13] In May 2011, San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed sent a letter to Bud Selig asking the commissioner for a timetable of when he might decide whether the A's can pursue this new ballpark, but Selig did not respond.[14]

Selig addressed the San Jose issue via an online town hall forum held in July 2011, saying, "Well, the latest is, I have a small committee who has really assessed that whole situation, Oakland, San Francisco, and it is complex. You talk about complex situations; they have done a terrific job. I know there are some people who think it's taken too long and I understand that. I'm willing to accept that. But you make decisions like this; I've always said, you'd better be careful. Better to get it done right than to get it done fast. But we'll make a decision that's based on logic and reason at the proper time."[15]

On June 18, 2013, the City of San Jose filed suit against Selig, seeking the court's ruling that Major League Baseball may not prevent the Oakland A's from moving to San Jose.[16] Wolff criticized the lawsuit, stating he did not believe business disputes should be settled through legal action.[17]

Most of the city's claims were dismissed in October 2013, but a U.S. District Judge ruled that San Jose could move forward with its count that MLB illegally interfered with an option agreement between the city and the A's for land. On January 15, 2015, a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled unanimously that the claims were barred by baseball's antitrust exemption, established by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1922 and upheld in 1953 and 1972. San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo commented that the city would seek a ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court.[18]

Rivals

San Francisco Giants

The Bay Bridge Series is the name of a series 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 uniforms from a historic era of their franchises.

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".

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 both teams had met since they moved to the San Francisco Bay Area. Today, it also refers to games played between the teams during the regular season since the commencement of interleague play in 1997. Through July 10, 2014, the A's have won 53 games, and the Giants have won 47 contests, and the A's have held their head-to-head edge in this interleague matchup for the past 11 years.[19]

The A's also have edges on the Giants in terms of overall postseason appearances (18 to 11), division titles (16 to 8) and World Series titles (4 to 3) since both teams moved to the Bay Area.

Kansas City Royals

Following the A's departure from Kansas City in 1968 and the Royals' founding in 1969, the rivalry was more noticeable back in the 1970s and 1980s when they battled for the AL west. But now, in 2015, the rivalry is well known. The A's lost the 2014 American League Wild Card Game to a Salvador Perez single in the 12th inning, a game that some fans consider to be the most thrilling game in baseball history.

The rivalry between the two teams was reignited in April 2015 when a hard slide into second base from Oakland's third basemen Brett Lawrie resulted in a minor injury to shortstop Alcides Escobar. In retaliation Kansas City pitcher Yordando Ventura intentionally threw at Brett Lawrie and was ejected from the game. In the following game, Royals center fielder Lorenzo Cain was hit in the ankle with a pitch by Athletic's pitcher Scott Kazmir, but Kazmir was only issued a warning and not ejected, causing Royals manager Ned Yost and pitching coach Dave Eiland to become angry with the umpires, finding the call unfair as Ventura had been ejected the previous night, and ultimately ejected at the bottom of the 1st inning. Later in the same game, Brett Lawrie was thrown at again by Kansas City pitcher Kelvin Herrera who was also ejected. In the following moments, Royals bench coach Don Wakamatsu and Alcides Escobar, who was in the dugout but not in the game, were also ejected.

Historic rivalries

Philadelphia Phillies

The City Series was the name of a series of baseball games played between the 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. The teams have since faced each other in interleague play (since its introduction in 1997) but the rivalry has 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 O.Co Coliseum, the Athletics didn't 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.[20]

The first City Series was held in 1883 between the Phillies and the American Association Philadelphia Athletics.[21] 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

Awards

Hall of Famers

Oakland 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 Appling1

Lou Boudreau1

Whitey Herzog2
Tommy Lasorda2

Satchel Paige

Enos Slaughter

Oakland Athletics

Orlando Cepeda
Dennis Eckersley
Rollie Fingers

Goose Gossage
Rickey Henderson
Catfish Hunter**

Reggie Jackson
Tony La Russa2

Willie McCovey
Joe Morgan
Don Sutton

Frank Thomas
Billy Williams
Dick Williams2

Players listed in bold are depicted on their Hall of Fame plaques wearing a Athletics cap insignia.
* – depicted on Hall of Fame plaque without a cap or cap insignia; Hall of Fame recognizes Athletics as "Primary Team"
** – Catfish Hunter could not decide between the Yankees and Athletics, and so opted to wear no insignia on his cap upon his induction.
1 − inducted as player; managed Athletics or was player-manager
2 – inducted as manager; played for Athletics or was player-manager

Ford C. Frick Award recipients

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

Harry Caray

Herb Carneal
By Saam

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

Retired numbers

The Athletics have retired six numbers, and honored one additional individual with the letter "A". 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 fiftieth 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 Fame members who played large portions of their careers in Oakland.

9
Reggie
Jackson
OF
 
Retired
May 22, 2004
24
Rickey
Henderson
OF
 
Retired
August 1, 2009
27
Catfish
Hunter
P
 
Retired
June 9, 1991
34
Rollie
Fingers
P
 
Retired
July 5, 1993
43
Dennis
Eckersley
P
 
Retired
August 13, 2005
A
Walter A.
Haas, Jr.
Owner
 
Honored
1995
42
Jackie
Robinson
2B
All MLB
Retired by MLB
April 15, 1997

Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame

Dave Stewart, Oakland Athletics pitcher from 1986 to 1992 and 1995

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

Philadelphia Baseball Wall of Fame

The Athletics have made no public recognition of Philadelphia Athletics players at their stadium. From 1978 to 2003 (except 1983), however, 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. Twenty-five 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,[22][23][24] 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.[25][26] Connie Mack, Jimmie Foxx, Lefty Grove, and Mickey Cochrane have also been inducted into the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame.

Team captains

Season-by-season records

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

Season Wins Losses Win % Place Playoffs
2005 88 74 .543 2nd in AL West
2006 93 69 .574 1st in AL West Won ALDS vs. Minnesota Twins, 3–0.
Lost ALCS vs. Detroit Tigers, 0–4.
2007 76 86 .469 3rd in AL West
2008 75 86 .466 3rd in AL West
2009 75 87 .463 4th in AL West
2010 81 81 .500 2nd in AL West
2011 74 88 .457 3rd in AL West
2012 94 68 .580 1st in AL West Lost ALDS vs. Detroit Tigers, 2–3.
2013 96 66 .593 1st in AL West Lost ALDS vs. Detroit Tigers, 2–3.
2014 88 74 .543 2nd in AL West Lost ALWC vs. Kansas City Royals, 8–9.
10-Year Record 840 779 .519 — —
All-Time Record 8,432 8,914 .486 — —

Current roster

Oakland Athletics roster
Active roster Inactive roster Coaches/Other

Pitchers
Starting rotation

Bullpen

Closer

Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Designated hitters

Pitchers


Infielders

Outfielders

Manager

Coaches

60-day disabled list


25 active, 15 inactive

7- or 15-day disabled list
† Suspended list
# Personal leave
Roster and coaches updated May 3, 2015
Transactions • Depth chart
→ All MLB rosters

Minor league affiliations

The Oakland Athletics farm system consists of seven minor league affiliates.[27]

Level Team League Location
AAA Nashville Sounds Pacific Coast League Nashville, Tennessee
AA Midland RockHounds Texas League Midland, Texas
Advanced A Stockton Ports California League Stockton, California
A Beloit Snappers Midwest League Beloit, Wisconsin
Short-Season A Vermont Lake Monsters New York–Penn League Burlington, Vermont
Rookie AZL Athletics Arizona League Mesa, Arizona
DSL Athletics Dominican Summer League Santo Domingo, Distrito Nacional, Dominican Republic

Radio and television

As of 2011, the Athletics' flagship radio station is KGMZ 95.7 FM.[28] The current announcing team is Ken Korach and Vince Cotroneo.

Television coverage is exclusively on Comcast SportsNet California. Some A's games air on an alternate feed of CSN, called CSN Plus, if the main channel shows a Sacramento Kings game at the same time. On TV, Glen Kuiper covers play-by-play, and Ray Fosse typically provides color commentary. Beginning in 2012, color commentary is provided during select games by Scott Hatteberg. Fosse also provides radio color commentary when Hatteberg is on TV or when the A's are televised nationally on Fox or ESPN. Additionally, Fosse covers radio play by play duties during Spring Training games. It was announced in February 2014 that Shooty Babitt would join Kuiper as the color commentator for 20 games in the 2014 season[29]

In popular culture

The 2003 Michael Lewis book, Moneyball, chronicles the 2002 Oakland Athletics season, with a specific focus on Billy Beane's economic approach to managing the organization under significant financial constraints. Beginning in June 2003, the book remained on the The New York Times Best Seller list for 18 consecutive weeks, peaking at number 2.[30][31] In 2011, Columbia Pictures released the film based on Lewis' book, which featured Brad Pitt playing the role of Beane. On September 19, 2011, the US 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.[32]

In The Simpsons episode, Regarding Margie, Homer Simpson writes "74 Oakland A's - Best Team Ever" on the curb in front of his house, just as a car featuring 5 members of the 1974 Athletics is driving by. Former Athletics Sal Bando and Gene Tenace voice themselves in the episode.

In the TV series Highway to Heaven, Mark Gordon (played by Victor French) wears an Oakland A's Baseball Cap.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Grauley, S.O., Why the Athletics Are Called "White Elephants" (excerpt from the 1909 Philadelphia A's Souvenir Program). Philadelphia Athletics Historical Society official website. Retrieved September 23, 2010.
  2. ↑ Boxscore from Baseball-Reference.com "Wednesday, April 17, 1968, 7:46PM, Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum" http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/OAK/OAK196804170.shtml
  3. ↑ United Press International (January 30, 1979). "Yankees, Twins still dickering". St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved June 19, 2009.
  4. ↑ "Cashman Field | Las Vegas 51s Cashman Field". Web.minorleaguebaseball.com. Retrieved 2013-08-18.
  5. ↑ Leavitt, Parker (October 24, 2014). "Mesa's Hohokam Stadium ready for Oakland A's". The Arizona Republic. Retrieved 1 December 2014.
  6. ↑ Dennis, Rob (December 30, 2011). "Fremont mayor Bob Wasserman dead at 77". The Argus (Fremont). Retrieved January 21, 2012.
  7. ↑ "A's, Cisco reach ballpark deal". USA Today. November 9, 2006. Retrieved May 20, 2010.
  8. ↑ "Full text of A's letter to Fremont". February 24, 2009.
  9. ↑ "San Jose officials move into action, hoping to woo A's – San Jose Mercury News". Mercurynews.com. Retrieved 2013-08-18.
  10. ↑ Layer, Marine (March 7, 2009). "How to Expand a Minor League Park". Retrieved May 3, 2010.
  11. ↑ "Plans for A's stadium in San Jose moving forward". USA Today. June 16, 2010.
  12. ↑ "How the A's ballpark plans stack up – San Jose Mercury News". Mercurynews.com. Retrieved 2013-08-18.
  13. ↑ "75 Silicon Valley leaders endorse A's move to San Jose – San Jose Mercury News". Mercurynews.com. Retrieved 2013-08-18.
  14. ↑ "In case you forgot, the Athletics are still in franchise limbo | HardballTalk". Hardballtalk.nbcsports.com. Retrieved 2013-08-18.
  15. ↑ "San Jose Inside – Selig Talks About A's Move to San Jose". Sanjoseinside.com. Retrieved 2013-08-18.
  16. ↑ http://www.cpmlegal.com/media/news/139_2013-06-18_COMPLAINT__WITH%20EXHIBITS_.pdf
  17. ↑ "San Jose sues MLB over A's vote". Espn.go.com. 2013-06-19. Retrieved 2013-08-18.
  18. ↑ "San Jose loses appeal over A's move". Espn.go.com. 2015-01-15. Retrieved 2015-01-17.
  19. ↑ "Head-to-Head record for Oakland Athletics against the listed opponents from 1997 to 2012". baseball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC.
  20. ↑ http://oakland.athletics.mlb.com/schedule/promotions.jsp?c_id=oak&y=2014
  21. ↑ Burgoyne, Tom (2004). Movin' on Up: Baseball and Phialdephia Then, Now, and Always. B B& A Publishers. p. 128. ISBN 0-9754419-3-0.
  22. ↑ For photos of the A's Wall of Fame plaques, see Philadelphia A's Society Museum and Library webpage. Philadelphia Athletics Historical Society. Retrieved September 23, 2010.
  23. ↑ Philadelphia Athletics Historical Society official website. Retrieved September 23, 2010.
  24. ↑ Fitzpatrick, Frank (February 22, 2011). "Demographics may doom the Philadelphia Athletics Historical Society". philly.com. Philadelphia Media Network (The Philadelphia Inquirer). Retrieved February 23, 2011.
  25. ↑ For photos of the plaque, see Montella, Ernie (June 5, 2004). "Wall of Fame Day in Hatboro, PA". Philadelphia Athletics Historical Society. Retrieved September 23, 2010.
  26. ↑ Jordan, David M. "Vet Plaques Come to Hatboro". Philadelphia Athletics Historical Society. Retrieved September 23, 2010.
  27. ↑ "Athletics Affiliates". Oakland Athletics. Major League Baseball. Retrieved September 11, 2014.
  28. ↑ "New station, same booth team for A's".
  29. ↑ http://oakland.athletics.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20140221&content_id=68076386&notebook_id=68076306&vkey=notebook_oak&c_id=oak
  30. ↑ "The New York Times Best Seller List - June 22, 2003" (PDF). Hawes Publications. Retrieved April 23, 2014.
  31. ↑ "The New York Times Best Seller List - June 22, 2003" (PDF). Hawes Publications. Retrieved April 23, 2014.
  32. ↑ "Oakland shines for 'Moneyball' premiere". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved April 23, 2014.

Further reading

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Oakland Athletics.
Awards and achievements
Preceded by

Pittsburgh Pirates (1909)
Boston Red Sox (1912)
New York Yankees (1928)		 World Series Champions
Philadelphia Athletics
1910 and 1911
1913
1929 and 1930 		Succeeded by

Boston Red Sox (1912)
Boston Braves (1914)
St. Louis Cardinals (1931)
Preceded by

Pittsburgh Pirates (1971)
Los Angeles Dodgers (1988)		 World Series Champions
Oakland Athletics
1972, 1973, and 1974
1989 		Succeeded by

Cincinnati Reds (1975)
Cincinnati Reds (1990)
Preceded by

Chicago White Sox (1901)
Boston Americans (1904)
Detroit Tigers (1909)
Boston Red Sox (1912)
New York Yankees (1928)		 American League Champions
Philadelphia Athletics
1902
1905
1910 and 1911
1913 and 1914
1929, 1930, and 1931 		Succeeded by

Boston Americans (1903)
Chicago White Sox (1906)
Boston Red Sox (1912)
Boston Red Sox (1915)
New York Yankees (1932)
Preceded by

Baltimore Orioles (1971)
Minnesota Twins (1987)		 American League Champions
Oakland Athletics
1972, 1973, and 1974
1988, 1989, and 1990 		Succeeded by

Boston Red Sox (1975)
Minnesota Twins (1991)