60 Fun Facts About Oakland Athletics

The A's moved from Kansas City to Oakland ahead of which season?

Their first Oakland game, on April 17, was a 4-1 loss to Baltimore in front of 50,164 fans.

How many World Series titles has the Athletics franchise won, tied for second-most in the AL?

9: five came in Philadelphia (1910, 1911, 1913, 1929, 1930) and four in Oakland, the last the 1989 sweep of the Giants; only the Yankees have more in the American League, with the Red Sox also on nine.

Which manager ran the Athletics for their first 50 years, wearing a business suit in the dugout?

Connie Mack managed the Athletics from 1901 to 1950, directing fielders with a rolled-up scorecard from the dugout in a suit; his 3,731 wins and 3,948 losses are both major-league records.

The A's white elephant mascot began as a jibe from which rival manager?

John McGraw, the Giants manager, sneered in 1902 that Ben Shibe had bought a 'white elephant'; the A's manager adopted the insult and handed McGraw a stuffed toy elephant before the 1905 World Series.

In Kansas City, Charlie Finley replaced the elephant with which animal, the state animal of Missouri?

A mule: Finley unveiled a live mule named Charlie O, after himself, in 1965 and paraded it at the ballpark; the mule became Missouri's official state animal in 1995.

The A's costumed elephant mascot was renamed what in 1997?

Stomper, the costumed elephant introduced in 1997, replaced the earlier mascot Harry Elephante, whose name punned on singer Harry Belafonte; the elephant had been the club's symbol since the 1900s.

Which team colours did Charlie Finley introduce, replacing the traditional red, white and blue?

He also insisted on white cleats, a tradition that outlived him by decades.

From 1972 to 1980 the club's official name was what, at Finley's insistence?

Oakland A's: Finley disliked 'Athletics' as a relic of the club's Philadelphia past and made the nickname official from 1972; the new owners restored 'Athletics' in 1981 while keeping 'A's' for marketing.

Which pitcher threw a perfect game for the A's against Minnesota on May 8, 1968?

Catfish Hunter, then 22, retired all 27 Twins in that game and drove in three of the A's four runs himself; it was the American League's first regular-season perfect game since Charlie Robertson's in 1922.

The A's won three consecutive World Series in which years?

1972, 1973 and 1974: the A's won three straight World Series under Dick Williams and then Alvin Dark, a three-peat matched since only by the 1998-2000 Yankees.

Which A's catcher hit four homers in the 1972 World Series after five all season?

Gene Tenace, who had hit five home runs all season, homered in his first two World Series at-bats and four times in all in the seven-game Series, winning the 1972 World Series MVP.

Charlie Finley offered his players $300 each to grow what by Father's Day 1972?

A mustache: Finley paid $300 to every player who grew one by Father's Day 1972, and the whole roster did, earning the title 'Mustache Gang' used for Ron Bergman's 1973 book on the club.

Which A's pitcher won both the 1971 AL Cy Young Award and MVP at age 22?

Vida Blue went 24-8 with a 1.82 ERA in 1971, sweeping the AL Cy Young Award and MVP at 22; his 1972 holdout was so bitter that Commissioner Bowie Kuhn stepped in to settle it.

Which reserve second baseman did Finley force to sign a false injury affidavit in the 1973 World Series?

Mike Andrews made two errors in the 12th inning of Game 2, and Finley had him sign a false injury affidavit to drop him; Commissioner Kuhn reinstated him, and Mets fans gave him a standing ovation in Game 4.

Which A's slugger was named AL MVP in 1973 and MVP of that year's World Series against the Mets?

Reggie Jackson led the AL with 32 homers and 117 RBIs in 1973, winning the MVP unanimously, then hit .310 against the Mets for the Series MVP; in 1977 he became the first to win it with a second team.

The A's beat which team in the 1974 World Series to complete their three-peat?

Los Angeles Dodgers: the A's won the 1974 Series in five games, four of them by 3-2 scores, under manager Alvin Dark, with Joe Rudi's seventh-inning homer in Game 5 breaking the final tie.

Which future rap star did Charlie Finley hire as a teen executive VP, his 'eyes and ears'?

MC Hammer: Stanley Burrell was a Coliseum batboy whom Finley made an executive vice-president as a teenager; players nicknamed him 'Hammer' for his resemblance to Hank Aaron.

What was the mechanical rabbit that delivered balls to the umpire at Finley's ballparks named?

Harvey, a mechanical rabbit, popped up beside home plate to hand the umpire fresh baseballs at Finley's ballparks; the owner also pushed orange baseballs, tried in 1973 spring training but never adopted.

One of Finley's ball girls later founded which famous cookie company?

Mrs. Fields founder Debbi Fields worked as an A's ball girl as a teenager in the early 1970s; Finley's club was among the first to use ball girls at all, and she opened her first cookie store in 1977.

Which manager's aggressive style was marketed as 'Billyball' when the A's revived under him in 1980?

Billy Martin, a Berkeley native, took over in 1980 and 'Billyball', built on steals, squeezes and complete games, lifted the A's from 108 losses to a winning record and, in 1981, a division title.

Rickey Henderson set the single-season stolen base record in 1982 with how many?

130: Henderson broke Lou Brock's 1974 record of 118 in 1982 and also stole 100 in 1980 and 108 in 1983, the only three 100-steal seasons in American League history.

Rickey Henderson retired with how many stolen bases, nearly 50% more than Lou Brock's record?

1,406: Henderson's career total is nearly half again Lou Brock's 938; he also scored a record 2,295 runs and drew 2,190 walks, the most ever by a player other than Barry Bonds.

Which family, of Levi Strauss & Co. fame, bought the A's from Charlie Finley in 1980?

Haas: Walter A. Haas Jr., chairman of Levi Strauss & Co., bought the club from Finley in 1980 and owned it until his death in 1995, a span that brought three straight pennants and the 1989 World Series title.

José Canseco and Mark McGwire were known collectively by what nickname?

The Bash Brothers: Canseco and McGwire celebrated homers by bashing forearms, and the pair hit 42 and 32 home runs in 1988 as Canseco became the first 40-40 player.

Which manager led the A's to three straight pennants from 1988 to 1990?

Tony La Russa took over in mid-1986 and, with pitching coach Dave Duncan, turned starter Dennis Eckersley into the game's dominant closer after Jay Howell's injury in 1987, the core of three straight pennants.

Whose pinch-hit walk-off homer off Dennis Eckersley stunned the A's in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series?

Kirk Gibson, hobbled by injuries to both legs, limped out to pinch-hit with two out in the ninth and hit a 3-2 backdoor slider into the right-field seats; Eckersley is credited with coining 'walk-off' for such homers.

The A's 1989 World Series sweep of the Giants was interrupted by what?

The Loma Prieta earthquake hit at 5:04 pm on October 17, 1989, minutes before Game 3 at Candlestick Park was due to start; the Series resumed ten days later and the A's completed the sweep.

The heavily favoured 1990 A's were swept in the World Series by which team?

Cincinnati Reds: Lou Piniella's underdogs swept the Series in four straight, with Billy Hatcher hitting .750 and José Rijo winning two games, the A's second Series upset in three years.

The 1988 A's, first of three straight pennant winners, won how many regular-season games?

104: the 1988 A's went 104-58, the franchise's most wins since 1931, then followed with 99 and 103 in the next two seasons, the best record in baseball all three years.

The A's 'Big Three' rotation of 1999-2006 was Tim Hudson, Mark Mulder and whom?

The trio went a combined 261-131, and the left-hander won 23 games and the Cy Young Award in 2002.

The A's 2002 winning streak, then an American League record, reached how many games?

20: the streak ran from August 13 to September 4, 2002 and was capped by Scott Hatteberg's pinch-hit walk-off homer to beat Kansas City 12-11; Cleveland's 22 in 2017 later passed it.

Which A's general manager's methods were chronicled in Michael Lewis's book 'Moneyball'?

Billy Beane, A's general manager from 1997, used on-base percentage and other undervalued statistics to compete on a small budget, the subject of Michael Lewis's 2003 book; after 2004 he traded Hudson and Mulder near their peaks.

Who played the A's general manager in the 2011 film 'Moneyball'?

Brad Pitt played the A's general manager and earned a Best Actor nomination; Moneyball received six Academy Award nominations in all, including Best Picture and Best Supporting Actor for Jonah Hill as his assistant.

Which A's first baseman won the AL MVP in 2000, two years before shortstop Miguel Tejada won it?

Jason Giambi hit .333 with 43 homers and 137 RBIs to win the 2000 AL MVP; he left for the Yankees after 2001, and finding a cheap replacement at first base became a Moneyball plot point.

Which A's pitcher threw a perfect game against Tampa Bay on Mother's Day, May 9, 2010?

Dallas Braden retired all 27 Rays on Mother's Day 2010 with his grandmother in the stands, 42 years and a day after the club's first perfect game; he later became a broadcaster.

The A's shared the Oakland Coliseum for decades with which NFL team?

Raiders: the NFL club shared the Coliseum from 1966 until leaving for Los Angeles in 1982, then again from 1995 to 2019; its return brought the upper-deck addition fans nicknamed 'Mount Davis' after owner Al Davis.

The Coliseum's baseball configuration was known for having the most what in the majors?

Foul territory: the Coliseum's huge expanse between the lines and the stands was the largest in the majors, turning many would-be souvenirs into routine pop-outs and shaving points off hitters' averages.

The A's played their final game in Oakland on September 26, 2024, beating which team 3-2?

Texas Rangers: the A's won the Coliseum farewell 3-2 on September 26, 2024 before a sellout crowd of 46,889, closing 57 seasons in Oakland.

Where did the Athletics begin playing home games in 2025 after leaving Oakland?

West Sacramento: the club opened 2025 at Sutter Health Park, home of the Giants' Triple-A River Cats, as a temporary base while its Nevada stadium was built, and dropped its hometown to go by simply 'Athletics'.

The A's Las Vegas ballpark, begun in 2025, sits on the site of which demolished casino?

Tropicana: the Strip casino was imploded in October 2024 to clear the site for the A's ballpark, where construction began in 2025 with an opening planned for 2028.

The A's-Giants rivalry was officially the Bay Bridge Series; what did locals usually call it?

The Battle of the Bay: the 1989 World Series between the A's and Giants popularised the name, and it stuck to the interleague meetings that began in 1997, though MLB's official branding was the Bay Bridge Series.

The trophy the A's and Giants played for from 2018 was made from steel taken from what?

The old east span of the Bay Bridge: the trophy, introduced in 2018, was fashioned from steel salvaged when the 1936 eastern span was dismantled after its 2013 replacement opened.

Which pitcher's No. 34 did the A's retire in 2022, breaking their Hall-of-Famers-only tradition?

Dave Stewart, who won at least twenty games in four straight seasons starting in 1987, had his No. 34 retired on September 11, 2022, a ceremony first scheduled for 2020 and delayed two years by the pandemic.

Which mustachioed 1970s A's closer won the 1981 AL MVP with the Milwaukee Brewers?

Rollie Fingers won both the AL MVP and Cy Young Award with Milwaukee in 1981, edging Rickey Henderson in the MVP vote; the A's retired his No. 34 in 1993.

Which A's third baseman served as team captain from 1969 to 1976?

Sal Bando, known to teammates as 'Captain Sal', finished second in the 1971 AL MVP vote and anchored the three straight champions before leaving for Milwaukee as a free agent after 1976.

In April 1996 the A's played six 'home' games in which city while the Coliseum was being renovated?

Las Vegas: the A's opened 1996 with six home games at Cashman Field while Mount Davis was being built at the Coliseum, decades before the franchise chose the city as its destination.

Which businessman bought the A's in 2005 and later took them out of Oakland?

John Fisher, heir to The Gap fortune, bought the A's in 2005 with real estate developer Lew Wolff as the public face; Fisher became sole managing partner in 2016 and oversaw the departure from Oakland.

The Philadelphia A's home from 1909 to 1954 was which ballpark?

Shibe Park opened in 1909 as the first concrete-and-steel ballpark in the majors; renamed for the club's longtime manager in 1953, it also housed the Phillies from 1938 until 1970.

The Athletics left Philadelphia for Kansas City in which year?

1955: Arnold Johnson, who had owned Yankee Stadium, bought the club from the Mack family and moved it to Kansas City for the 1955 season; it stayed 13 years before heading west.

Which great-grandson of a Cubs legend became an A's play-by-play voice in 2025?

Chris Caray, great-grandson of Harry Caray and grandson of Skip, joined the Athletics' broadcast team for 2025 alongside Jenny Cavnar, the first woman to serve as a primary MLB play-by-play voice.

The Athletics' Philadelphia uniforms famously never carried what?

Only a script 'A' appeared on the jersey and cap, following the old 'Athletic Club' tradition, until 'Athletics' was spelled out in 1954.

Where did Finley agree in 1964 to move the A's, promising to rename them the 'Kentucky Athletics'?

Louisville: in January 1964 Finley signed a lease on Fairgrounds Stadium and proposed calling the club the Kentucky Athletics; American League owners rejected the move nine votes to one, Finley casting the lone yes vote.

To which city would buyers have moved the A's for 1978, in a sale Finley nearly completed?

Denver: oilman Marvin Davis agreed to buy the A's from Finley and move them for 1978, but the deal collapsed when Oakland and Alameda County refused to release the club from its Coliseum lease.

In which year did the A's set their single-season attendance record of 2,900,217?

1990: the A's drew 2,900,217 in their third straight pennant season, a franchise record, compared with the 306,763 who turned up for the 108-loss 1979 team.

Which shortstop completed the A's 1986-88 run of three straight AL Rookies of the Year?

Walt Weiss, a slick-fielding shortstop, won the 1988 AL Rookie of the Year after Canseco (1986) and McGwire (1987), a run that grew out of the rebuilt farm system.

Which A's closer won the 2005 AL Rookie of the Year, a year after shortstop Bobby Crosby?

Huston Street saved 23 games with a 1.72 ERA as a rookie in 2005 to win the AL Rookie of the Year, a year after Bobby Crosby; Andrew Bailey made it three A's winners in six years in 2009.

Which former casino's 49-acre plot did the A's first buy in April 2023 for a Las Vegas ballpark?

Wild Wild West: the A's announced a binding deal in April 2023 for the 49-acre site of that Station Casinos property, then switched a month later to a different Strip site, for which Nevada approved public funding in June 2023.

Where did the A's hold spring training from 1982 to 2014?

Phoenix Municipal Stadium hosted A's spring training from 1982 through 2014, after the club's earlier camps in Mesa and Scottsdale; in 2015 it moved to Hohokam Stadium in Mesa, and Arizona State took over 'Muni'.

The A's retired what in 1995 to honour the owner who bought the club from Finley?

The letter A: the club retired it in 1995 after the death of the owner who had revived the franchise in the 1980s; it hangs with six retired numbers, including Jackie Robinson's 42.

When did MLB formally let the A's explore relocation, calling the Coliseum 'not a viable option'?

May 11, 2021: Commissioner Rob Manfred's office told the A's to look at other markets after years of stalled Howard Terminal talks; owners approved the move to Nevada unanimously on November 16, 2023.