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Baseball Teams - American League West

Oakland Athletics

Team's name: Oakland Athletics League: American League Division: West Location: Oakland, California Nickname: The A's, The White Elephants, The Elephants Mascot: Stomper Team Colours: Green, Gold and White Joined the League: 1969 Team's President: Michael Crowley Manager: Bob Green General Manager: Billy Beane Baseball Field: McAfee Coliseum Current Capacity: 34,077 First Year of Baseball: 1860 League Titles: AL Pennants: 1902, '05, '10, '11, '13, '14, '29, '30, '1, '72, '73, '74, '88, '89, '90 West Div: 1971, '72, '3, '74, '75, '81, '88, '89, '90, 2000, '03, '06 Wild Card berths: 2001 World Series: 1910, '11, '13, '29, '30, '72, '73, '74, '89

As a team, the Athletics have their roots in Philadelphia as far back as the 1860s, but the franchise originated in 1901, when the American League declared itself a second major league. Former catcher Connie Mack acted as manager and part-owner, recruiting players from the National League.

The Athletics, also known as the A’s, became one of the dominant teams in the new league, winning the AL pennant six times and winning the World Series three times, in 1910, 1911, and 1913. In 1914, however, the Athletics were swept in a four game series by their underdog opponents, the “Miracle” Boston Braves. Soon Mack was forced to sell, trade, or release some of the team’s top players; by 1915, the team was in last place with a 43-109 record, a .283 win percentage.

The team recovered over a decade later. Mack rebuilt the team, and the Athletics won pennants three years in a row (1929-1931) and won the World Series twice in a row (1929 -1930). But in the midst of the Great Depression, the jubilation would not last; Mack again sold or traded his best players and the A’s lost revenues from dropping attendance.

The decline was a slow one, but by 1935, the A’s were back in last place and stuck there. The team was in the cellar for the next 11 years, with brief respites in 1948 and 1949. In 1955, the team was sold to a Chicago businessman and set to move to Kansas City. Five years later, Charles Finley purchased the team, improving the stadium, making dramatic uniform changes, developing a farm system for young new talent, and promising to keep the A’s in Kansas City.

Despite his promises to the contrary, Finley immediately sought a new home for the team, and in 1968 found one in Oakland, California.

1968 proved the Athletics’ first winning season since 1952. In the 1970s, the team won the AL West title and made its first postseason appearance since 1931. In 1972, the A’s won a league pennant and defeated the Cincinnati Reds for their first World Series title in decades. They kept the title for the next two years. Despite their success, most of the A’s players left after the 1976 season because of tension with the Finley. Finley was finally forced to sell the team in 1980.

Walter Haas, the team’s new owner, spent the next fifteen years increasing local support for the Athletics. Attendance shot up from an average of 777,000 per season to well over 1,000,000.

In the mid 1990s, the A’s were sold again. The new ownership cultivated a strong minor league system but refused to pay top players the going rate once they became free agents; as a result, the A’s were often left on the brink of the playoffs. The Athletics entered the postseason four years in a row, from 2000 to 2003, but were unable to pass the first round. During this period, the Athletics boasted incredible talent in the form of pitchers Tim Hudson, Mark Mulder, and Barry Zito – but with low salaries, the players left the team once they became free agents.

In 2005 the team was sold again to LA businessman Lewis Wolff. The A’s defied expectations, finishing with a winning season, and in 2006 the A’s made the postseason. For the first time in years, the Athletics passed their first series – against the Minnesota Twins – but were swept by the Detroit Tigers in their second.

In 2007, as a result of key player losses and player injuries, the A’s suffered a losing record for the first time since 1998.

The 2008 began with the rumblings of controversy as Oakland made a number of unpopular trades. The season began well, with the team even leading the AL West for a short period of time, but after another series of trades, the team slipped and lost its lead. The A’s finished with a losing record, 75-86 and 3rd in the AL West.  

Oakland Athletics 2009 Roster

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