Athletics History

The Athletics emerged as a very strong team in the new century. The A’s featured players like Jason Giambi, and Tim Hudson and the team was skilled in almost every category. A's Pitching Ace, Tim Hudson recorded his 20th victory in the season and helped the A’s to clinch the A.L. West Division title. In 2001, the A’s wavered and lost all the hopes of winning a division championship. But they become the contenders for the Wild Card. In contention for the Wild Card, the A’s became the best team in baseball running away with the Wild Card while posting a 102-60 record Jermaine Dye, Pitchers Mark Mulder, Tim Hudson, and Barry Zito also known as “The Big Three” became the leading players of the team. The A’s played the 2002 season without Jason Giambi. Miguel Tejada and Barry Zito helped the team won the division with a 103-59 record. In 2003, Manager Art Howe went on to mange the New York Mets. Under new Manager Ken Macha went on to win their second straight division title with a record of 96-66 but lost the ALDS in 5 games for the 4th year in a row.

After the 2003 season, Tejada departed to join the Baltimore Orioles. In 2004, the A’s finished the season in 2nd place in the A.L. West Division. Bobby Crosby who replaced former Miguel Tejada, registered a solid year with 22 homers and won the Rookie of the Year award. In 2005, the A’s were bought by a group headed by Los Angeles real estate developer Lewis Wolff. The lack of adequate payroll forced the team to trade both Hudson and Mulder. The Philadelphia Athletics baseball club was formed in 1901 as one of the original members of the American League. President Bancroft (Ban) Johnson hired Connie Mack as the team’s first manager, who went on to manage the team for 50 years. The new franchise was named the Philadelphia Athletics. When New York Giants Manager John McGraw remarked that one of the owners, Benjamin Shibe had a “white elephant on his hands,” Mack rebelliously adopted the White Elephant as the team’s logo. The A’s in their inaugural season second baseman Nap Lajoie. He led the league in hitting with a .426 batting average. Rube Waddell joined the A’s 1902 and led the AL in strikeouts for the first of six consecutive seasons. The same season the team won its first A.L. pennant. The A’s had a major discrepancy in their performance. They were either very good or very bad.

The A’s won five of their subsequent A.L. pennants in 1905, 1910, 1911, 1913 and 1914 with a Fall Classic victory in 1910, 1911 and 1913. The A’s lost the 1914 World Series loss to the underdog Boston Braves. As a result, Mack traded, sold or released his roster sending the A’s to the bottom of the league where they remained from 1915 through 1922. Mack rebuilt the team in the 1920s. In 1924 A's first baseman Joe Hauser, set an AL record with his 3 HRs and a double for 14 total bases. In 1925, Connie Mack signed 17-year-old Jimmie Foxx. In 1927 and 1928, the Athletics finished second to the New York Yankees. Legends Ty Cobb and Tris Speaker also declared their withdrawal from the team in 1928. From 1929 to 1931 the A’s fetched three consecutive AL pennant titles with a World Series victory in 1929 and 1930. The team’s economic cataclysm of forced the A’s to trade many of their stars in 1932. From 1935 onwards until Mack’s retirement as manager in 1950, the team’s discrepancy became very apparent.

They finished in last place ten times with not above than fourth place finish in the AL. Mack managed the A's for 50 years, (1901-1950). In his last season the team wore blue and golden jerseys, in honor of the Golden Jubilee of "The Grand Old Man of Baseball." But the team’s declining performance continued to slide. Consequentially, in 1954 the club was sold to Arnold Johnson, who moved the team to Kansas City. Hall of Famers such as Frank Baker, Chief Bender, Ty Cobb, Mickey Cochrane, Eddie Collins Sr. Jimmie Foxx, Nelson Fox, Lefty Grove, George Kell, Nap Lajoie, Connie Mack, Eddie Plank, Al Simmons, Tris Speaker, Rube Waddell, and Zack Wheat played for the Athletics at one point or the other during their 54 years in Philadelphia. The Kansas team was able to attract the enthusiastic admirers during the first few seasons but was never a success during its 13 years stay in the city. With a declining attendance, owner Charles O. Finley, who had bought the A’s in 1960, shifted the club to Oakland, California, in 1968. From 1971 to 1975, the team won five straight West Division titles with three consecutive World Series victories from 1972 to 1974. From 1976 through 1987 the A’s managed to make only one postseason series appearance in 1981. Under manager Tony LaRussa, the A’s won four division crowns, three AL pennants from 1988 to 1992 with a World Series victory in 1989 with the line-up featuring first baseman Mark McGwire, outfielder José Canseco, steals leader Henderson with Dennis Eckersley and Dave Stewart anchoring the pitching staff. In the rest of the 1990s, the team continued to struggle. The team’s logo has an alphabet A written stylistically in the center of a green ring. The team also uses an elephant logo occasionally. The A’s play their home games in Mc Afee Coliseum since 1968 previously known as Oakland Alameda County Coliseum (1968-1998), and Network Associates Coliseum (1999-2004