59 Fun Facts About Oakland Athletics

Which 1969 expansion team replaced the A's after they left for Oakland in 1968?

Royals: the American League let the A's go only in a deal that promised Kansas City a new club, and with a Missouri senator threatening baseball's antitrust exemption, it was playing by 1969.

Through 2025, which American League club matched the Athletics' nine World Series titles?

Boston Red Sox: the A's reached nine with their 1989 sweep, when Boston still had five, and the Red Sox then won four titles from 2004 to 2018 to draw level behind the Yankees.

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, newly the Giants' manager, sneered in 1902 that Philadelphia's owner had a 'white elephant' on his hands; the A's adopted the animal in defiance and won that year's pennant.

In Kansas City, Charlie Finley replaced the A's elephant mascot with which live animal?

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.

Which costumed elephant mascot did the A's introduce on Opening Night in 1997?

Stomper debuted on April 2, 1997; an earlier costumed elephant, Harry Elephante, punned on the singer Harry Belafonte, and the elephant itself had only come back as the club's symbol in 1988.

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

Kelly green and gold arrived in 1963, when Finley dressed his Kansas City team in what he called Kelly Green, Fort Knox Gold and Wedding Gown White, a look that shocked baseball traditionalists.

Which A's third baseman won six straight Gold Gloves from 2001 to 2006?

Eric Chavez swept the award from 2001 to 2006 and added a Silver Slugger in 2002, yet in 17 big-league seasons he was never picked for an All-Star team.

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.

Which manager won the 1972 and 1973 World Series with the A's, then quit over Finley's meddling?

Dick Williams quit straight after the 1973 World Series, tired of the owner's interference; Finley then blocked him from taking the Yankees job, and the A's completed their three-peat in 1974 under Alvin Dark.

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

Gene Tenace spent 1972 as Dave Duncan's backup and won the catching job only for the postseason; he homered in his first two Series at-bats, and police arrested an armed man who had threatened to shoot him if he hit another.

In 1972 Charlie Finley offered his A's players a cash bonus to grow what?

A mustache: when one star turned up to spring training unshaven, Finley chose to reward the look instead of banning it, the whole roster joined in, and the press named the 1972 champions the Mustache Gang.

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 had torn a hamstring stealing home in the 1972 playoffs and watched that World Series on crutches; a year later he was the unanimous AL MVP and hit .310 in the Series.

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 give a clubhouse job and the title of executive vice-president as a boy?

MC Hammer: Finley spotted young Stanley Burrell dancing in the Coliseum parking lot and gave him a clubhouse job, and the players called him 'Hammer' because he looked like Hank Aaron.

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

Harvey, named like the invisible rabbit of the 1950 film comedy, rose from the ground behind home plate with fresh baseballs; Finley also pushed orange baseballs, which he was allowed to try in spring training but which never caught on.

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

Mrs. Fields founder Debbi Fields was one of the first ball girls Finley's A's hired, as a young teen, and spent her pay on baking ingredients; she opened her first cookie shop in Palo Alto 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, inherited a team that had lost 108 games in 1979; it won 83 the next year and reached the 1981 ALCS playing the aggressive style sold as Billyball.

Whose single-season and career stolen-base records did Rickey Henderson break as an Athletic?

Lou Brock's 118 steals in a season fell to Henderson's 130 in 1982; in 1991 Brock came to Oakland to watch his career mark go too, and heard Henderson tell the crowd he was now the greatest of all time.

Besides stolen bases, Rickey Henderson holds baseball's career record in which category?

Runs scored: Henderson crossed the plate 2,295 times, and when a home run took him past Ty Cobb's total in 2001 he finished the trot by sliding into home plate.

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

Haas: Walter A. Haas Jr., the Levi Strauss chairman, bought the club in 1980 to stop it leaving the Bay Area; under his family the A's won three straight pennants and set attendance records.

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, with both legs injured, came off the bench with two out in the ninth; a scout had told him Eckersley threw left-handers a backdoor slider on a full count, and he hit that pitch into the right-field seats.

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: Billy Hatcher hit .750 in the sweep, and José Rijo, a pitcher the A's had traded to Cincinnati for Dave Parker after 1987, beat them twice and was named Series MVP.

Which A's catcher was named MVP of the 1988 All-Star Game?

Terry Steinbach was voted in by fans while batting .219, and some doubted he belonged; he then homered off Dwight Gooden and added a sacrifice fly to drive in both runs of the American League's 2-1 win.

The A's 'Big Three' rotation of 2000 to 2004 was Tim Hudson, Mark Mulder and whom?

Barry Zito won 23 games and the Cy Young Award in 2002 and outlasted the other two in Oakland; after 2006 he crossed the bay to the Giants on a seven-year, $126 million contract.

Whose pinch-hit walk-off homer gave the A's a 20th straight win in 2002?

Scott Hatteberg was a catcher whose elbow injury had ended his days behind the plate, so the A's signed him cheaply and taught him first base; his ninth-inning homer beat Kansas City 12-11 after an 11-0 lead had vanished.

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 stayed with the film after the studio cancelled it days before shooting was due to start in 2009 under Steven Soderbergh; it was revived with Pitt as producer and star, and he earned a Best Actor nomination.

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 had lost his mother to cancer as a high-school senior and was raised by his grandmother; she was in the stands that Mother's Day, and the two embraced on the field after the final out.

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

Texas Rangers: Mason Miller closed out the 3-2 win before 46,889 at the Coliseum, though the club's last games under the Oakland name came days later on the road in Seattle.

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.

Which nickname was used both for the 1989 World Series and for the A's-Giants rivalry that followed?

The Battle of the Bay was one of the names given to the 1989 World Series, which the A's won, and it came back when interleague play made the two clubs regular-season opponents from 1997.

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, replaced in 2013 and then taken down, supplied the steel because the interleague series is named for the bridge that joins the two cities; the A's won the trophy first.

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

Dave Stewart, an Oakland native released by the Phillies in 1986, asked his hometown A's for a tryout and went on to win 20 games four years running; his No. 34 was retired on September 11, 2022.

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

Rollie Fingers was sold by Finley in 1976 until the commissioner voided the deal, left as a free agent that winter, and in 1981 won both the MVP and the Cy Young Award in his first season with Milwaukee.

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

Sal Bando was named captain by manager Hank Bauer in May 1969 and kept the role through three straight titles; after years of fights with Finley he left as a free agent for Milwaukee, where he later became general manager.

Which A's shortstop played all nine positions in a single game in Kansas City in 1965?

Bert Campaneris moved to a new position each inning on a night held in his honour, pitched the eighth, and left only after hurting his shoulder in a collision at home plate while catching the ninth.

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, built of steel and concrete in 1909, let neighbours watch for free from rooftops across the street until the A's raised the right-field wall in 1935, the 'spite fence'; it was later renamed for the club's longtime manager.

Which A's slugger, traded in 1959, was 1960's AL MVP?

Roger Maris was one of many players sent to New York under Arnold Johnson, a business associate of the Yankees' owners who had moved the A's from Philadelphia in 1955; Maris then won two straight MVP awards.

Which great-grandson of a Cubs broadcasting legend became an A's play-by-play voice in 2024?

Chris Caray, son of Chip and grandson of Skip, joined the A's television booth for 2024 at the age of 24; his great-grandfather Harry Caray, the Cubs legend, had himself called A's games in 1970.

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 offered to buy the A's in December 1977 and move them there, but dropped the bid weeks later when the Oakland Coliseum's authority sued to hold the club to its lease.

What was the announced crowd when the 108-loss A's of 1979 hosted Seattle one April night?

653: that April 17 crowd was the low point of a season that drew 306,763 in all; eleven years later, under new owners and in the third of three straight pennant seasons, the A's set their attendance record of 2,900,217.

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

Walt Weiss took over at shortstop after the A's traded Alfredo Griffin to make room for him, then followed José Canseco and Mark McGwire as the league's top rookie in 1988.

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

Huston Street, drafted out of college only the summer before, took over as closer when Octavio Dotel hurt his elbow in May 2005, then saved 23 games with a 1.72 ERA.

Whose 'flip' relay throw cut down an A's runner at the plate in Game 3 of the 2001 ALDS?

Derek Jeter raced across the infield for an overthrown relay and shovelled it to the catcher, who tagged a runner who had not slid; the A's, two games up, lost 1-0 and then the series.

Where did the A's hold spring training for three decades until 2014?

Phoenix Municipal Stadium passed to the A's in the early 1980s when the Giants left it for Scottsdale, where the A's had been training; in 2015 the A's 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, as the club's logo, stood in for a number on an honorary jersey unveiled in September 1995 for the owner who had bought the A's to keep them in the area; he died days later.

Which site was the A's plan for a new Oakland ballpark when MLB let the club explore relocation in 2021?

Howard Terminal, a Port of Oakland cargo site near Jack London Square, was the club's choice from 2018; with talks dragging, MLB let the A's look at other markets on May 11, 2021, and owners approved a move in November 2023.