Athletics (baseball)

Oakland Athletics
2024 Oakland Athletics season
File:Oakland Athletics cap logo.jpg Logo Cap insignia
Established in 1901 'Based in Oakland since 1968 Team logo used 1993–present'
Major league affiliations
American League (1901–present) West Division (1969–present)
Current uniform
Retired numbers	9 24 27 34 43 A's 42
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
O.co Coliseum (1968–present) a.k.a. Overstock.com Coliseum (2011) a.k.a. Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum (1966–1998, 2008–2011) a.k.a. McAfee Coliseum (2004–2008) a.k.a. Network Associates Coliseum (1998–2004) Cashman Field (1996) Municipal Stadium (Kansas City) (1955–1967) Shibe Park (1909–1954) a.k.a. Connie Mack Stadium (1953–1954) Columbia Park (1901–1908)
Major league titles
World Series titles (9)	1989 1974 1973 1972 1930 1929 1913 1911 1910
AL Pennants (15)	1990 1989 1988 1974 1973 1972 1931 1930 1929 1914 1913 1911 1910 1905 1902
West Division titles (16)	2013 2012 2006 2003 2002 2000 1992 1990 1989 1988 1981 1975 1974 1973 1972 1971
Wild card berths (2)	2014 2001
Front office
Principal owner(s)	Lew Wolff & John J. Fisher
President of baseball operations	Michael Crowley
General manager	David Forst
Manager	Bob Melvin

The Oakland Athletics (often abbreviated to Oakland A′s) are an American professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics are a member club of the West division of the American League (AL) in Major League Baseball (MLB). The club plays its home games at O.co Coliseum. The club has won nine World Series championships, the third most of all current Major League Baseball teams.

One of the American League's eight charter franchises, the club was founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1901 as the Philadelphia Athletics. They won three World Series championships from 1910 to 1913 and two in a row in 1929 and 1930. The team's owner and manager for its first fifty 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 in 1968. They won 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 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.

The film Moneyball, and the book on which it is based, show how the A's have been able to compete despite their financial limitations.

History

Main articles: History of the Philadelphia Athletics and History of the Oakland Athletics

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.

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 (1983–1992)

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.

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.

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. 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. The team would have played in what was planned to be called Cisco Field, a 32,000-seat, baseball-only facility. 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. 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. 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. 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.

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. 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. 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.

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."

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. Wolff criticized the lawsuit, stating he did not believe business disputes should be settled through legal action.

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. On October 5, 2015 the United States Supreme Court rejected San Jose's bid on the Athletics.

Rivals

San Francisco Giants

See also: Bay Bridge Series

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 September 27, 2015, the A's have won 54 games, and the Giants have won 52 contests, and the A's have held the head-to-head edge in this inter-league matchup for the past 10 years.

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, even though the Giants franchise moved there a decade earlier than the A's did.

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. Kazmir was only issued a warning and not ejected. This caused 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. Both were 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

See also: City Series (Philadelphia)

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.

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

Main article: Oakland Athletics award winners and league leaders

• Catfish Hunter Award (2004–present)

Hall of Famers

Main article: List of members of the Baseball Hall of Fame

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 and managers 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

See also: List of Major League Baseball 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 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 Fame members who played large portions of their careers in Oakland.

Reggie Jackson OF   Retired May 22, 2004 Rickey Henderson OF   Retired August 1, 2009 Catfish Hunter P   Retired June 9, 1991 Rollie Fingers P   Retired July 5, 1993 Dennis Eckersley P   Retired August 13, 2005 Walter A. Haas, Jr. Owner   Honored 1995 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

Main article: Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame

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

• Vida Blue, pitcher, 1969–1977
• Bert "Campy" Campaneris, shortstop, 1968–1976
• Orlando Cepeda, first baseman, 1972
• Sam Chapman, center fielder, 1938–1941, 1945–1951
• Dennis Eckersley, pitcher, 1987–1995
• Rollie Fingers, pitcher, 1968–1976
• Walter A. Haas, Jr., owner, 1981–1995
• Catfish Hunter, pitcher, 1968–1974
• Reggie Jackson, outfielder, 1968–1975, 1987
• Eddie Joost, shortstop, 1947–1954; manager, 1954
• Billy Martin, manager, 1980–1982
• Willie McCovey, first baseman, 1976
• Joe Morgan, second baseman, 1984
• Dave Stewart, pitcher, 1986–1992, 1995

Philadelphia Baseball Wall of Fame

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.

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. 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, 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. Connie Mack, Jimmie Foxx, Lefty Grove, and Mickey Cochrane have also been inducted into the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame.

• Frank "Home Run" Baker, third baseman, 1908–1914
• Charles "Chief" Bender, pitcher, 1903–1914
• Sam Chapman, center fielder, 1938–1951
• Mickey Cochrane, catcher, 1925–1933
• Eddie Collins, second baseman, 1906–1914, 1927–1930
• Jack Coombs, pitcher, 1906–1914
• Jimmy Dykes, third baseman/second baseman, 1918–1932; coach, 1940–1950; manager, 1951–1953
• George Earnshaw, pitcher, 1928–1933
• Ferris Fain, first baseman, 1947–1952
• Jimmie Foxx, first baseman, 1925–1935
• Lefty Grove, pitcher, 1925–1933
• "Indian Bob" Johnson, left fielder, 1933–1942
• Eddie Joost, shortstop, 1947–1954; manager, 1954
• Connie Mack, manager, 1901–1950; owner, 1901–1954
• Bing Miller, right fielder, 1922–1926, 1928–1934
• Wally Moses, right fielder, 1935–1941, 1949–1951
• Rube Oldring, center fielder, 1906–1916, 1918
• Eddie Plank, pitcher, 1901–1914
• Eddie Rommel, pitcher, 1920–1932
• Bobby Shantz, pitcher, 1949–1954
• Al Simmons, left fielder, 1924–1932, 1940–1941, 1944; coach 1940–1945
• Elmer Valo, right fielder, 1940–1954
• Rube Waddell, pitcher, 1902–1907
• Rube Walberg, pitcher, 1923–1933
• Gus Zernial, left fielder, 1951–1954

Team captains

• Sal Bando 1969-1976

Season-by-season records

Main article: List of Oakland Athletics seasons

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

Season	Wins	Losses	Win %	Place	Playoffs
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.
2015	68	94	.420	5th in AL West
10-Year Record	820	799	.506	—	—
All-Time Record	8,690	9,142	.487	—	—

Current roster

See also: Oakland Athletics all-time roster

Athletics 2025 spring training roster
40-man roster				Non-roster invitees		Coaches/Other
Pitchers 66 Brady Basso 45 Osvaldo Bido -- Ryan Cusick 68 Joey Estes 65 Tyler Ferguson 70 J. T. Ginn 63 Hogan Harris -- Gunnar Hoglund 67 Grant Holman 64 Will Klein -- Jacob Lopez -- Anthony Maldonado -- T. J. McFarland 46 Luis Medina 19 Mason Miller -- Noah Murdock 47 Michel Otañez 38 JP Sears -- Luis Severino 40 Mitch Spence -- Jeffrey Springs -- Justin Sterner 30 Ken Waldichuk		Catchers 23 Shea Langeliers 52 Kyle McCann 21 Tyler Soderstrom Infielders -- CJ Alexander 20 Zack Gelof 77 Brett Harris  2 Darell Hernáiz 12 Max Schuemann -- Gio Urshela  5 Jacob Wilson Outfielders 22 Miguel Andújar 33 JJ Bleday 15 Seth Brown  4 Lawrence Butler -- Denzel Clarke  1 Esteury Ruiz Designated hitters 25 Brent Rooker				Manager  7 Mark Kotsay Coaches 18 Mike Aldrete (hitting) 51 Darren Bush (bench) 90 Wilkin Castillo (bullpen catcher) 41 Chris Cron (assistant hitting)  8 Bobby Crosby (first base) 14 Scott Emerson (pitching) 88 Ramón Hernández (coach and interpreter) 71 Dan Hubbs (bullpen) 91 Dustin Hughes (bullpen catcher) 59 Marcus Jensen (quality control)  3 Eric Martins (third base) Restricted list 47 Michael Kelly 40 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 December 22, 2024 Transactions • Depth chart → All MLB rosters

Minor league affiliations

See also: List of Oakland Athletics minor league affiliates

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

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

See also: List of Oakland Athletics broadcasters

As of 2011, the Athletics' flagship radio station is KGMZ 95.7 FM. 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

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 New York Times Best Seller list for 18 consecutive weeks, peaking at number 2. 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.

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

• List of Oakland Athletics team records
• List of Oakland Athletics no-hitters
• List of Oakland Athletics owners and executives
• List of Oakland Athletics managers
• Oakland Athletics award winners and league leaders
• List of Oakland Athletics first-round draft picks
• List of Oakland Athletics Opening Day starting pitchers

Further reading

• 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, MA, 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.
• 2005 Oakland Athletics Media Guide

External links

• Athletics (baseball) official website
• Philadelphia Athletics Historical Society
• Oakland Athletics stats and minor league statistics
• Sports E-Cyclopedia
• Oakland A's prospect information

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)