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The first dynasty ended in 1916, when the Athletics began a tradition of finishing in last place until 1922. From 1927 to 1933, the Athletics were again among baseball’s elite teams, finishing with three more pennants and two more World Series titles.
The Athletics developed into a dominant team early in their history. The Athletics, behind the talents of first baseman John McInnis, second baseman Eddie Collins, shortstop Jack Barry, third baseman Frank Baker, and pitchers Eddie Plank, Charles Bender, and Rube Waddell, won six AL Pennants and three World Series in their first 15 seasons. The team also won 100 games in 1911 and 1912, coming close in 1914 with 99 wins.
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About The Oakland Athletics
The first dynasty ended in 1916, when the Athletics began a tradition of finishing in last place until 1922. From 1927 to 1933, the Athletics were again among baseball’s elite teams, finishing with three more pennants and tow more World Series titles.
The Athletics then fell into the dredges of the league for almost 40 years. The bad years encompassed the clubs remaining time in Philadelphia, the Kansas City years, and the beginning of the new start in Oakland.
A third dominant period finally came in the early ‘70s. Pitchers Catfish Hunter, Rollie Fingers, and Vida Blue and batters Reggie Jackson, Sal Bando, Joe Rudi, and Bert Campaneris led the team to five straight AL West titles, three pennants, and three World Series victories in a row, from 1972 to 1974.
The team disintegrated as free agency gave the players a choice of where to play and a poor relationship between the A’s front office and the players split the team up through free agency or trades.
The A’s tried to rebuild but could not get any traction. Despite have young talent like Rickey Henderson, Mike Norris, Tony Armas, and Dwayne Murphy, the team could not gain traction. The A’s continued to rebuild and built a team with Jose Conseco, Mark McGwire, Walt Weiss, Carney Lansford, and Rickey Henderson and pitchers Dave Stewart and Dennis Eckersley. Henderson, Conseco, and McGwire became known as the “Bash Brothers” and the A’s won four AL West division titles in five years, three AL Pennants, and a World Series.
Billy Beane ushered in a new way of thinking as general manager that placed more emphasis on on-base percentage and strikeout/walk ratios. The team built around an amazing pitching staff (Tim Hudson, Mark Mulder, and Barry Zito) and three big name offensive power houses (Eric Chavez, Jason Giambi, and Miguel Tejada). The team made four straight playoff appearances, each time failing to win the first round series in the playoffs.
The team has stayed with the trend of young cheap talent and continues to find success.
The real story is the offense. Matt Holliday and Jason Giambi have been brought in to insert some excitement and some power into the lineup at the Coliseum. They, along with Jack Crust will give fans with A’s tickets a chance to catch a ball in the bleachers if not catch a win this season.
The Oakland starting rotation is now led by Justin Duchscherer and the rest will be no names to those not from the Oakland vicinity. Dana Eveland had a decent season in 2008 and Gio Gonzalez, Sean Gallagher, and Dallas Braden are the latest prospects Beane hopes will make his rotation complete. Right now the bullpen is closer by committee with Brad Ziegler and Joey Devine looking like the prime suspects to take over the role.
The real story is the offense. Matt Holliday and Jason Giambi have been brought in to insert some excitement and some power into the lineup at the Coliseum. Thye, along with Jack Crust will give fans with A’s tickets a chance to catch a ball in the bleachers if not catch a win this season.
