The Hawaii Islanders were a minor league baseball team based in Honolulu , Hawaii , that played in the Triple-A Pacific Coast League for 27 seasons from 1961 through 1987 .
139-604: Originally an affiliate of the Kansas City Athletics , the Islanders played their home games at Honolulu Stadium , Aloha Stadium and Les Murakami Stadium . After being one of the most successful minor league teams, the Islanders faltered and ultimately moved to the mainland as the Colorado Springs Sky Sox in 1988 . The Islanders were originally an amateur team, but on December 17, 1960,
278-471: A bond issue for a brand new baseball stadium (the eventual Royals Stadium, now Kauffman Stadium ) to be completed in 1973 . Senator Stuart Symington of Missouri blasted Finley on the floor of the U.S. Senate, calling him an "all-American disgrace to sport" and "one of the most disreputable characters ever to enter the American sports scene." (Symington is often quoted as saying in this speech that "Oakland
417-629: A chance at the pennant due to an incident in May. Aloha Stadium management initially refused to allow the use of metal spikes; the stadium had opened the previous September, with artificial turf . When the Tacoma Twins complied with a parent-club directive to wear their metal spikes, stadium management turned off the center field lights. After 35 minutes, the umpires forfeited the game to the Twins. The Islanders protested, claiming they had no control over
556-901: A crowd of 21,705. (In the other matches, the NASL 's San Diego Jaws routed the Hawaii All-Stars, 6-0, while the Philippines edged Taiwan , 1-0.) Encouraged by the tournament's success, the San Antonio Thunder became Team Hawaii in 1977, bringing the NASL to the Aloha State. Pelé and the Cosmos returned on April 13, 1977, as 12,877 watched New York defeat Hawaii, 2-1. (None of Team Hawaii's other twelve home games drew even half of that; they managed only 4,543 per game for
695-486: A directive from Tacoma's parent club. In response, stadium management turned off the center field lights, and after 35 minutes, umpires forfeited the game to the Twins. The Islanders protested, claiming they had no control over the lights. However, the Pacific Coast League (PCL) sided with the Twins, citing a league rule that the home team is responsible for providing acceptable playing facilities. After
834-527: A dynasty team. As happened with the end of the A's first dynasty in the early 1900s, the collapse was swift, sudden and total. The next three years were as bad as the worst days in Philadelphia or Kansas City, with the A's finishing last twice and next-to-last once. In 1977 , for instance—only three years after winning the World Series and two years after playing for the pennant—the A's finished with
973-591: A factor in a pennant race again at that late date until 1969 —their second year in Oakland. Another winning record in 1949 sparked hopes that 1950—the 50th season for both the American League and Mack's tenure as manager of the A's—would bring a pennant at last. During that year, the team wore uniforms trimmed in blue and gold, in honor of the Golden Jubilee of "The Grand Old Man of Baseball." However,
1112-505: A few months later, leaving the presidency to Mack. When John died on July 11, 1937, Mack bought enough shares from the Shibe estate to become majority owner. However, Mack had been the franchise's number-one man since Ben Shibe's death. Even as bad as the A's got during this time, Mack retained full authority over business and baseball matters. Long after most teams hired a general manager, Mack continued making all personnel decisions and leading
1251-432: A few more years, as the team finished second in 1932 and third in 1933. Mack was already 68 years old when the A's won the pennant in 1931, and many felt that the game had long since passed him by. Although he had every intention of building another winner, he did not have the extra money to get big stars. He also did not (or could not) invest in a farm system. Unlike most other owners, Mack had no source of income apart from
1390-510: A game up with one remaining. The results were reversed on the final day of the regular season and the two teams tied at 76–68 (.528). Hawaii prevailed in a one-game playoff the next day in Tacoma to win the division crown. The championship series (best-of-five) was a rematch with Eastern division champion Salt Lake 90–54 (.625), and all five games were played in Utah at Derks Field . After winning
1529-575: A lawsuit against Major League Baseball over the move of the Seattle Pilots to Milwaukee, Finley and others came up with an elaborate shuffle which would move the ailing Chicago White Sox to Seattle. Finley then would move the A's to Chicago, closer to his home in LaPorte, Indiana ; and take the White Sox' place at Comiskey Park . The scheme fell through when White Sox owner John Allyn sold
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#17327730847941668-410: A loosely controlled Yankee farm club." On the positive side, Johnson devoted attention to player development for the first time in the history of the franchise. Under longtime owner and manager Connie Mack , the A's did not or could not spend any money building a farm system, a major reason why Mack's Philadelphia teams fell from World Series champions to cellar-dwellers so quickly. When Johnson bought
1807-630: A moustache by Father's Day, at a time when every other team forbade facial hair. When Father's Day arrived, every member of the team collected a bonus. The 1972 World Series against the Cincinnati Reds was termed "The Hairs vs. the Big Squares", as the Reds wore more traditional uniforms and required their players to be clean-shaven and short-haired. A contemporaneous book about the team was called Mustache Gang . The A's seven-game victory over
1946-532: A passion. For instance, Finley threatened to pack Jackson off to the minors in 1969 after Jackson hit 47 homers; Commissioner Bowie Kuhn had to intervene in their contract dispute. Kuhn intervened again after Blue won the AL Cy Young Award in 1971 and Finley threatened to send him to the minors. Finley's tendency for micromanaging his team actually dated to the team's stay in Kansas City. Among
2085-494: A reputation as a prolific trader, as general manager. Lane began engineering trades with several other teams, including the Yankees, the bus-burning stunt notwithstanding. Lane lasted less than one year, being fired during the 1961 season. He was temporarily replaced by Pat Friday , whose sole qualification for the job was that he managed one of Finley's insurance offices. On paper, Friday remained general manager until 1965, when he
2224-474: A result, the field went unnamed until late August, when Hawaiian Tel Federal Credit Union signed a three-year $ 275,000 agreement. As of 2016, the field was known as Hawaiian Tel Federal Credit Union Field at Aloha Stadium. In early 2017, there was a study in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser about replacing Aloha Stadium due to safety concerns and a liability risk. The plan was then to build
2363-407: A smaller 30,000 seat stadium on the existing property and also build commercial development around the stadium. In theory, this would save the state millions of dollars instead of renovating and keep the existing stadium as it was. In July 2019, Governor of Hawaii David Ige signed Act 268 into law, appropriating $ 350 million for an Aloha Stadium redevelopment project. The funds were to go toward
2502-424: A smaller venue; however, MLR and Kanaloa Hawai’i did not reach an agreement for the team to join the league. Aloha Stadium is also the venue for five public high school graduation ceremonies: Radford High School , Mililani High School , Aiea High School , James Campbell High School , and Pearl City High School . Aloha Stadium appeared in the climax of the 2006 animated television film Leroy & Stitch ,
2641-464: A source of frustration for some time to the other AL owners, as they could not even begin to meet their expenses for trips to Philadelphia. As a result, Harridge had come to believe that the only way to resolve the "Philadelphia problem" was to move the Athletics elsewhere. For this reason, when Chicago businessman Arnold Johnson offered to buy the team, the other owners pressured Roy Mack to agree to
2780-408: A telephone in the dugout and instead would use a series of obtuse hand signs to signal his coaches on the field. For the most part, Mack's coaches handled in-game operations. Nonetheless, despite calls inside and outside the organization to step down, Mack would not even consider firing himself. Also, during this time, Mack gave minority stakes in the team to his sons, Roy , Earle and Connie Jr., with
2919-475: A three-fourths majority. However, Detroit owner Spike Briggs was persuaded to change his vote, ending the A's 54-year stay in Philadelphia. In 1954, Chicago real estate magnate Arnold Johnson bought the Philadelphia Athletics and moved them to Kansas City, Missouri . Although he was initially viewed as a hero for making Kansas City a major-league town, it soon became apparent that he
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#17327730847943058-497: A triangle for concerts. In January 2007, the stadium was permanently locked into its football configuration due to cost and maintenance issues. An engineer from Rolair Systems, the NASA spin-off company that engineered the system, claims that the problem was caused by a concrete contractor that ignored specifications for the concrete pads under the stadium. There were numerous discussions with Hawaii lawmakers who were concerned with
3197-540: A “pick 6” touchdown scored by Carlo Kemp of the University of Michigan . The stadium was somewhat problematic for its initial primary tenant, the minor league baseball Hawaii Islanders . Located in south-central Oahu, it was far from the team's fan base in Mōʻiliʻili , and many were unwilling to make the drive. Additionally, while local public transportation ( TheBus ) stopped at the main gate of Honolulu Stadium,
3336-535: Is a proposed 35,000-seat multi-purpose stadium to be built in Halawa, Hawaii , for the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors football program, with demolition of the old stadium to begin in 2025. The area around the stadium will also include entertainment venues, retail stores, restaurants, housing, hotels, recreational sites, cultural amenities, and green space. It will replace, and be constructed on the site of,
3475-688: Is the Athletics' accent color. It was more a nauseous green the players wore on their wholesome, clean-cut faces the first few times they had to appear in public looking like refugees from a softball league. Finley replaced Mack's elephant with a Missouri mule —not just a cartoon logo, but a real mule, which he named after himself: " Charlie O, the Mule ". He also began phasing out the team name "Athletics" in favor of simply "A's". Some of his other changes—for instance, his repeated attempts to mimic Yankee Stadium's famous right-field "home run porch"—were less successful. AL President Joe Cronin ordered Finley to remove
3614-586: Is the largest stadium in the state of Hawaii . As of December 2020 , the stadium ceased fan-attended operations indefinitely, and placed a moratorium on the scheduling of new events. It is located next to the Hālawa station of the Skyline rail system. Aloha Stadium served as home to the University of Hawaiʻi Rainbow Warriors football team ( Mountain West Conference , NCAA Division I FBS ) for
3753-564: Is the luckiest city since Hiroshima," but there is no evidence he ever made such a statement. ) When Symington threatened to have baseball's antitrust exemption revoked, the owners responded with a hasty round of expansion. Kansas City was awarded an American League expansion team, the Royals . They were initially slated to begin play in 1971 , but Symington was not willing to have Kansas City wait three years for another team, and renewed his threat to have baseball's antitrust exemption revoked unless
3892-558: The Honolulu Star-Advertiser noted that the stadium needed $ 30 million in repairs. KHON-TV reported that the stadium would be condemned and was deemed unsafe to hold any crowds at all. The scheduling of new events was also halted. In January 2021, the University of Hawaii announced that the Rainbow Warriors football team would play their home games on campus "for at least the next three years". The New Aloha Stadium
4031-687: The Athletics Major League Baseball franchise spans the period from 1901 to the present day, having begun as a charter member franchise in the new American League in Philadelphia before moving to Kansas City in 1955 for 13 seasons and then to the San Francisco Bay in Oakland, California , in 1968 for 57 seasons. The team endured numerous attendance issues stemming from the aging Oakland Coliseum before
4170-636: The Chicago White Sox for $ 100,000. In December 1933 , Mack sent Grove, Rube Walberg and Max Bishop to the Boston Red Sox for Bob Kline , Rabbit Warstler and $ 125,000. Also in 1933, he sold Cochrane to the Detroit Tigers for $ 100,000. The construction of a spite fence at Shibe Park, blocking the view from nearby buildings, only served to irritate potential paying fans. However, the consequences did not become apparent for
4309-512: The Cincinnati Reds in the World Series . That year, the A's began wearing solid green or solid gold jerseys, with contrasting white pants, at a time when most other teams wore all-white uniforms at home and all-grey ones on the road. Similar to more colorful amateur softball uniforms, they were considered a radical departure for their time. Furthermore, in conjunction with a Moustache Day promotion, Finley offered $ 300 to any player who grew
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4448-555: The National League (1953–1965). That number would never be approached again while the team was in Kansas City, and would remain the club record for attendance until 1982—the Athletics' 15th season in Oakland. The A's of this era were barely competitive; in five years under Johnson's ownership, the closest they got to a winning record was 1958 , when they finished 73–81, eight games below .500 and 19 games out of first. During Johnson's tenure, virtually every good young A's player
4587-540: The Sacramento Solons , a longtime PCL stalwart, moved to Honolulu. Minor league baseball was then in free fall, as sparse attendance, major league TV broadcasts, expansion and franchise shifts at the major league level, and retrenchment in farm system support caused the contraction of many minor league teams, and the collapse of entire leagues. The Islanders came to Hawaii in part due to these trends. The Solons had been suffering from attendance problems since
4726-618: The World Series on October 11, 1967, Finley announced his choice of Oakland over Seattle as the team's new home. A week later on October 18 in Chicago, A.L. owners at last gave him permission to move the Athletics to Oakland for the 1968 season. According to some reports, Cronin promised Finley that he could move the team after the 1967 season as an incentive to sign the new lease with Municipal Stadium. The move came in spite of approval by voters in Jackson County, Missouri of
4865-414: The " Termite Palace," it had reached the end of its useful life by the mid-1960s. However, the new multi-purpose stadium was located in Halawa in west-central Oahu , far from the team's fan base. Attendance, already in decline, fell even further. Fans were unwilling to make the drive, and those wanting to take TheBus to the stadium balked at having to walk through Aloha Stadium's parking lots to get to
5004-533: The "best interests of baseball". Amid the turmoil, the A's still finished second in the AL West, 2.5 games behind the Royals. After the 1976 season, most of the Athletics' veteran players did become eligible for free agency, and predictably almost all left. More than 40 years and 3,000 miles (4,800 km) after Connie Mack's last dynasty, one of baseball's most storied franchises suffered yet another dismemberment of
5143-480: The 12th inning of the A's Game Two loss to the Mets. When Williams, Andrews' teammates, and virtually the entire viewing public rallied to Andrews' defense, Kuhn forced Finley to back down. However, there was nothing that said the A's had to play Andrews. Andrews entered Game 4 in the eighth inning as a pinch-hitter to a standing ovation from sympathetic Mets fans. He promptly grounded out, and Finley ordered him benched for
5282-724: The 1930s and 1940s. In those days, the team's radio play-by-play man was Harry Kalas , who had just gotten out of the service. When Kalas later moved on to the mainland (with the Houston Astros and later the Philadelphia Phillies ), he was replaced as Islanders play-by-play man by Hank Greenwald (later a broadcaster for the Giants); Marty Chase succeeded Greenwald in 1966 and was the play-by-play announcer through 1968. A young Al Michaels arrived in June 1968 after Chase
5421-426: The 1950 season was an unmitigated disaster, as they were already out of contention by the end of May. Before May was out, Mack's sons had agreed to ease their father out as manager. On May 26, it was announced that Mack would resign at the end of the season. On the same day, former A's star Jimmy Dykes , who had returned to the A's as a coach a year earlier, was named assistant manager and would transition to manager for
5560-418: The 1951 season. However, for all practical purposes, Dykes took over as manager immediately; he was given control over the A's day-to-day operations and became the team's main game-day operator. Cochrane, who had been brought back as a coach earlier in the year, was named general manager, stripping Connie Sr. of his last direct authority over baseball matters. Ultimately, the A's finished with the worst record in
5699-408: The 1953–54 offseason, when they slashed over $ 100,000 from the player payroll, fired general manager Arthur Ehlers and replaced Dykes as manager with shortstop Eddie Joost . They also pared down the minor-league system to only six clubs. However, even with these measures, there still wasn't nearly enough money coming in to service the mortgage debt, and Roy and Earle began feuding with each other. By
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5838-421: The 1957 season). Whatever the concern about the move to Kansas City, fans turned out in record numbers for the era. In 1955, the Kansas City Athletics drew 1,393,054 to Municipal Stadium, a club record easily surpassing the previous record of 945,076 in 1948; in fact, it was the third-highest attendance figure in the majors, behind only the all-powerful Yankees and the also recently relocated Milwaukee Braves in
5977-573: The 1968 campaign with an 82–80 record, their first winning record since 1952 (in Philadelphia ). The team's output also represented a 20-win increase over the prior year's 62–99 finish. Bob Kennedy was fired at the end of the season. Expansion brought optimism to Athletics fans after AL owners (unlike their counterparts in the National League) decided to realign their league strictly based on geography. Despite finishing in sixth place and only two games above .500 in 1968, Oakland actually had
6116-572: The 1974 season as called for. On December 13, 1974, arbitrator Peter Seitz ruled in Hunter's favor. As a result, Hunter became a free agent, and signed a contract with the Yankees for the 1975 season. Despite the loss of Hunter, the A's repeated as AL West champions in 1975, but lost the ALCS to Boston in a 3-game sweep. In 1975 , fed up with poor attendance in Oakland during the team's championship years, Finley thought of moving yet again. When Seattle filed
6255-501: The 1975 through 2020 seasons. It also hosted college football 's Hawaiʻi Bowl (2002–2019) and Hula Bowl (1976–1997, 2006–2008, 2020–2021), and formerly was home to the National Football League 's Pro Bowl from 1980 through 2016 (except in 2010 and 2015). It also hosted numerous high school football games, and served as a venue for large concerts and events, including high school graduation ceremonies. The stadium
6394-509: The A's finished the season with a record of 88–74. However, this was only good enough for second place behind the Minnesota Twins , and was not good enough for Finley, who had been expecting his team to win the division title. Hank Bauer was fired (and replaced with John McNamara ) near the end of the season. The team's record stood at 80–69 at the time of his firing. McNamara himself would be fired following an 89–73 finish in 1970 . He
6533-447: The A's midway through the 1938 season, not enough revenue came in for Mack to build another winner. By the mid-1940s, as Mack passed his 80th birthday, he was showing unmistakable signs of mental deterioration, almost to the point of senility. He would frequently sleep through innings, make bad calls that his coaches simply ignored, have inexplicable fits of anger, or call players from decades earlier to pinch-hit. Mack also never installed
6672-405: The A's moved into the major leagues' first concrete-and-steel ballpark, Shibe Park . This remains the second and last time in franchise history where a new ballpark was built specifically for the A's. In 1912, Mack bought the 25% of the team's stock owned by Sam Jones and Frank Hough to become a full partner with Shibe. Shibe ceded Mack full control over the baseball side while retaining control over
6811-474: The A's to Johnson no later than October 18. However, on October 17, Roy Mack suddenly announced that the A's had been sold to a Philadelphia-based group headed by auto dealer John Crisconi, with Roy having an option to buy a minority stake. The deal was to be approved at an American League owners' meeting on October 28. It looked headed for approval when rumors (reportedly planted by the Yankees) cropped up that
6950-454: The A's, so the dwindling attendance figures of the early 1930s hit him especially hard. As a result, the A's went into a decline that lasted for over 30 years, through three cities. The Athletics finished fifth in 1934, then last in 1935. Except for a fifth-place finish in 1944, they finished in last or next-to-last place every year through 1946. Tom Shibe died in 1936 and John succeeded him as club president. However, John resigned due to illness
7089-539: The A's. While the A's were still dreadful in the first eight years of Finley's ownership, he began to lay the groundwork for a future contender. Finley poured significant resources into the minor league system for the first time in the history of the franchise. By 1966, the A's were reckoned as having the strongest farm system in the majors. He was assisted by the creation of the Major League Baseball draft in 1965, which forced young prospects to sign with
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#17327730847947228-757: The Athletics finished second to the New York Yankees , then won pennants in 1929 , 1930 and 1931 , winning the World Series in 1929 and 1930 . In each of the three years, the Athletics won over 100 games. While the 1927 New York Yankees , whose batting order was known as the Murderers' Row , are remembered as one of the best teams in baseball history, the Athletics teams of the late 1920s and early 1930s are largely forgotten. Opponents who faced both teams considered them to be generally equal. Both teams won three consecutive pennants and two of three World Series. Many veteran baseball observers believe that
7367-417: The Athletics to other cities despite his promises that the A's would remain in Kansas City. Soon after the lease-burning stunt, it was discovered that what actually burned was a blank boilerplate commercial lease available at any stationery store. The actual lease was still in force—including the escape clause. Finley later admitted that the whole thing was a publicity stunt, and he had no intention of amending
7506-516: The Athletics — had long been afloat. He also threatened to move the A's to a "cow pasture" in Peculiar, Missouri , complete with temporary grandstands. Not surprisingly, attendance tailed off. The city rejected Finley's offer of a two-year lease agreement; finally, American League President Joe Cronin persuaded Finley to sign a four-year lease with Municipal Stadium in February 1964. During
7645-732: The Australasian-based National Rugby League (NRL) competition organized for a rugby league match to be played at Aloha Stadium against NRL rivals Penrith Panthers later in 2015. However, in September the NRL blocked the idea and the game didn't go ahead. Aloha Stadium also hosted the Aloha World Sevens . In 2020 it was proposed that Kanaloa Hawai’i , a proposed Major League Rugby (MLR) team, be based at Aloha Stadium after "a few years" in
7784-479: The Crisconi group was underfinanced, and Johnson collared Roy Mack at Roy's home to persuade him that his original deal was better for his family in the long run. On October 28, the sale to the Crisconi group came up one vote short of the five needed for approval, with Roy Mack voting against the deal he had just negotiated. While Connie and Earle had joined Roy in signing the contract to sell their stakes to Crisconi,
7923-483: The Islanders doing the same. Later, as the league expanded, the Islanders played an eight-game series against each team in order to cut down on travel costs. The travel costs also applied to radio coverage. In the early 1960s, due to the cost of line charges, Islanders radio announcers used the old method of "re-creating" the road games in the Honolulu radio studio. This method was used by most major league teams during
8062-505: The Islanders left Hawaii, the minor league Hawaii Winter Baseball was founded in 1993 and played their games from October to December. The league was affiliated with the Major Leagues and continued play until 1997, and from 2006 until it folded a second time in 2008. Pernell Roberts guest starred in a two-part Hawaii Five-O episode, "The Grandstand Play", as a former Major League Baseball star who moved to Hawaii for
8201-551: The Islanders' early deals with the San Diego Padres typically called for the Padres to send only about six players to Hawaii. The Islanders then signed players on their own to fill most of the roster spots, and were free to trade, sell or release them without approval from San Diego. This worked very well for the Islanders, as they won consecutive PCL titles in 1975 and 1976. The Islanders achieved success and stability as
8340-598: The Leroys, the main heroes throw an impromptu concert (initially set up for a fictional event called "Alohapalooza"), performing " Aloha ʻOe " to trigger a failsafe to shut down the Leroys. Although the stadium is not identified by name, it is confirmed to be Aloha Stadium through a special thanks credit in the film's closing credits. In season three , episode three of the CBS television series NCIS: Hawai'i (first aired February 26, 2024), titled "License to Thrill", Aloha Stadium
8479-514: The MLB owners approved the team's application to relocate to Las Vegas, Nevada in 2023. With four locations, the A's have had the most homes of any MLB team. The Western League was renamed the American League in 1900 by league president Bancroft (Ban) Johnson and declared itself the second major league in 1901. Johnson created new franchises in the east and eliminated some franchises in
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#17327730847948618-570: The Macks sold the A's to Johnson for $ 3.5 million, $ 1.5 million for their shares plus $ 2 million in debt. Selling Shibe Park—which had been renamed Connie Mack Stadium a year earlier—proved more difficult, but the Phillies reluctantly bought it. The American League owners met again on November 8, and duly approved Johnson's bid to buy the A's. Johnson's first act was to request permission to move to Kansas City. This proved more difficult, since it required
8757-683: The PCL. Prior to the 1988 season, citing years of dwindling attendance, the team moved to Colorado Springs and became the Sky Sox . When announcing the Islanders' move in August 1987, owner David Elmore announced that he would move a Short-Season A Northwest League club, reported to be the Salem Angels to Honolulu for the 1988 season. This did not come to fruition, though, and Hawaii has been without minor league baseball ever since. Five years after
8896-539: The Padres' top affiliate from 1971 to 1982, but spent the second half of the 1980s in short-term affiliations with the Pittsburgh Pirates and Chicago White Sox . The beginning of the end, however, came when the Islanders moved from rickety Honolulu Stadium to Aloha Stadium in 1976. It had been obvious for some time that Honolulu Stadium needed to be replaced. The wooden stadium was built in 1926 and had long since fallen below Triple-A standards; known as
9035-652: The Series, or at least "laid down," perhaps in protest of Mack's frugal ways. Mack himself alluded to that rumor years later but debunked it. He claimed that the team was torn by numerous internal factions and was also distracted by the allure of a third major league, the Federal League , which began play in 1914 and raided players from the AL and NL teams. Mack refused to match the upstart league's offers, preferring to rebuild with younger (and less expensive) players. The result
9174-578: The Shibe's on the other came to a head in July 1950, when Connie Jr. and the Shibe's decided to sell the team. However, Roy and Earle insisted that they have a 30-day option to buy out Connie Jr. and the Shibe's before the team was put on the market. Connie Jr. did not think Roy and Earle could get the $ 1.74 million required to buy him out, but Roy and Earle called their bluff by mortgaging the team to Connecticut General Life Insurance Company (now part of CIGNA ) and pledging Shibe Park as collateral. The mortgage deal closed on August 26. The shares of Connie Jr. and
9313-437: The Shibes were retired, ending the Shibes' half-century involvement with the A's and making Connie Sr., Roy and Earle the team's only shareholders. Although his father remained nominal owner and team president, Roy, who had been vice president since 1936, now became operating head of the franchise, sharing day-to-day control with Earle. However, under the terms of the mortgage, the A's were now saddled with payments of $ 200,000 over
9452-437: The Yankees an indemnity for moving to Kansas City, and also would have had to reimburse the Yankees for the costs they incurred for moving the Blues to Denver as the Denver Bears to make way for the A's. Major-league rules of the time gave the Yankees the major-league rights to Kansas City. However, the Yankees waived these payments as soon as the purchase was approved. Even though the Yankees had no intention of going anywhere,
9591-417: The Yankees and arguably helped keep the Yankee dynasty afloat. For example, ten players from the 1961 Yankees , reckoned as one of the best teams of all time, came from the A's. This led to accusations from fans, reporters and even other teams that Johnson had reduced the A's to a Yankee farm team at the major-league level. Bill Veeck , for instance, recalled that under Johnson, the A's were "nothing more than
9730-483: The Yankees' far more exalted status in history is due largely to the fact that they played in New York, where most of the national media is located. As it turned out, this would be the Athletics' last hurrah in Philadelphia. The Great Depression was well under way, and declining attendance drastically reduced the team's revenues. Mack again sold or traded his best players in order to reduce expenses. In September 1932 , he sold Simmons, Jimmy Dykes and Mule Haas to
9869-608: The Yankees' top Triple A level Minor league baseball farm team, the Kansas City Blues of the second American Association . After Johnson got permission from the American League to move the A's to Kansas City, he sold Blues Stadium to the city, which renamed it Kansas City Municipal Stadium and leased it back to Johnson. The lease gave Johnson a three-year escape clause if the team failed to draw one million or more customers per season. The subsequent lease signed in 1960 contained an escape clause that lowered that threshold to 850,000 per season. Normally, Johnson would have had to pay
10008-413: The age of 53. On December 19, 1960, Chicago insurance magnate Charlie Finley purchased a controlling interest in the team from Johnson's estate after losing out to Johnson six years earlier in Philadelphia. He bought out the minority owners a year later. Finley promised the fans a new day. In a highly publicized move, he purchased a bus, pointed it in the direction of New York, and burned it to symbolize
10147-526: The area, and only made $ 20,000 in ticket sales. During their thirteen years in Kansas City, the Athletics' overall record was 829–1224 (.404), and the best season was 1966 at 74–86 (.463). The Athletics' Oakland tenure opened with a 3–1 loss to the Baltimore Orioles on April 10, 1968, and their first game in Oakland was on April 17, a 4–1 loss to the Orioles. They played their home games at
10286-669: The arrival of the San Francisco Giants from New York City in 1958 . Salt Lake City businessman Nick Morgan bought the Solons and moved them to the Aloha State. Two years later, Morgan sold the Islanders to a locally based group. By the end of the 1960s, the Islanders were reckoned the strongest franchise in the minors. In 1970, the Islanders, then an affiliate of the California Angels and managed by Chuck Tanner , won 98 games and drew over 400,000 fans to lead
10425-510: The benefit of his son (played by Elliot Street ), who gets mixed up in the murder of a local socialite. The Islanders baseball team is mentioned on a number of occasions in the 1980s television series Magnum, P.I. The main character played by Tom Selleck was a fan of the Islanders and often wore a Detroit Tigers ball cap. History of the Oakland Athletics#Kansas City (1955–1967) The history of
10564-457: The best record of the four established teams to join the AL West , which also contained the two expansion teams. The Athletics began the 1969 season under the leadership of Hank Bauer . On July 20, 1969, future ace Vida Blue made his major league debut with a start against the California Angels . The Athletics' on-field performance continued to improve; led by Reggie Jackson 's 47 home runs,
10703-416: The business side. However, Mack had already enjoyed a nearly free hand in baseball matters since the franchise's inception. In 1914, the Athletics lost the 1914 World Series to the "Miracle Braves" in a four-game sweep. Mack traded, sold or released most of the team's star players soon after. In his book To Every Thing a Season , Bruce Kuklick points out that there were suspicions that the A's had thrown
10842-412: The cap. This was the first time the franchise had acknowledged its home city on its uniforms. He announced, "My intentions are to keep the A's permanently in Kansas City and build a winning ball club. I have no intention of ever moving the franchise." The fans, in turn, regarded Finley as the savior of Major League Baseball in Kansas City. Finley immediately hired Frank Lane , a veteran baseball man with
10981-570: The construction of a new stadium and land development, including a mixed-use sports and entertainment complex. A December 17, 2020, announcement by the Aloha Stadium Authority stated that the stadium would be ceasing fan-attended operations indefinitely. The closure was related to financial issues caused by the COVID-19 pandemic . The stadium, built in 1975, was also plagued by maintenance issues in recent years. A 2019 story from
11120-496: The current Aloha Stadium. Aloha Stadium served as the home field of the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors college football program, representing the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa , from 1975 through 2020. The Hula Bowl , a college football all-star game, was first played at the stadium in January 1976 and returned to the stadium annually through 1997. It was again held at Aloha Stadium in 2006–2008 and 2020–2021. The 2021 Hula Bowl
11259-426: The end of the "special relationship" with the Yankees. He called another press conference to burn the existing lease at Municipal Stadium which included the despised "escape clause". He spent over $ 400,000 of his own money in stadium improvements (though in 1962 the city reimbursed $ 300,000 of this). He introduced new uniforms which had "Kansas City" on the road uniforms for the first time ever and an interlocking "KC" on
11398-419: The era, especially in light of the team's dreadful on-field performance. In contrast, during the years of Finley's ownership, the team averaged under 680,000 per year in Kansas City. According to baseball writer Rob Neyer (a native of the Kansas City area), this was largely because Finley tried to sell baseball tickets like he sold insurance. Just before the 1960 season, he mailed brochures to 600,000 people in
11537-581: The expansion teams — the Royals and the Seattle Pilots — began play in 1969 , two years earlier than originally planned. The owners complied, but while Kansas City was major league ready, Seattle was not; its stadium problems affected profitability and ultimately forced the sale and move to Milwaukee after only one season as the Pilots. During the Johnson years, the Athletics' home attendance averaged just under one million per season, respectable numbers for
11676-575: The fence which duplicated the 296-foot right-field foul line in Yankee Stadium. Smarting from this edict from the league office, Finley ordered Municipal Stadium PA announcer Jack Layton to announce, "That would have been a home run in Yankee Stadium", whenever a fly ball passed the limit in Municipal Stadium's outfield. That practice ended quickly, however, when it was apparent that other teams were hitting more "would-be" home runs than
11815-458: The finale film to Lilo & Stitch: The Series and the main continuity of the Lilo & Stitch franchise. In the film's final act, Dr. Hämsterviel and his Leroy army dump Jumba Jookiba 's first 624 genetic experiments into the stadium to be destroyed, only for Lilo , Stitch , Jumba, Pleakley , Gantu , and Reuben to arrive and stop Hämsterviel. After a fight between the experiments and
11954-446: The first five years, depriving them of badly needed capital that could have been used improving the team and the park. Attendance plummeted, and there was nowhere near enough revenue to service the mortgage debt. In response, Roy and Earle began cutting costs even further. They turned over the rent from the Phillies to Connecticut General and took cash advances from their concessions contractor. The cost-cutting ramped up even further in
12093-401: The head of the franchise, and would remain so for the next three decades. By the latter half of the 1920s, Mack had assembled one of the most feared batting orders in the history of baseball, featuring three future Baseball Hall of Fame members, including Al Simmons , Jimmie Foxx , and Mickey Cochrane . A fourth future Hall of Fame member was pitcher Lefty Grove . In 1927 and 1928 ,
12232-406: The heavily favored Reds gave the team its first World Series Championship since 1930 . They defended their title in 1973 and 1974 . Unlike Mack's champions, who thoroughly dominated their opposition, the A's teams of the 1970s played well enough to win their division (which was usually known as the "American League Least" during this time). They then defeated teams that had won more games during
12371-447: The intention to have all three of them inherit the team upon his death. He also intended for Earle, who had been assistant manager since 1924, to succeed him as manager. This decision would have dire consequences for the A's later on. During this time, Shibe Park was also becoming an increasing liability. While the facility had been state of the art when it opened in 1909, by the late 1940s, it had not been well maintained in some time. It
12510-560: The last year of his contract, he could not manage anywhere else. Finley relented later in 1974 and allowed Williams to take over as manager of the California Angels . After the Athletics' victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 1974 Series (under Alvin Dark ), pitcher Catfish Hunter filed a grievance, claiming that the team had violated its contract with Hunter by failing to make timely payment on an insurance policy during
12649-401: The league's rejection voided the deal. A day later, Connie Mack released an open letter to A's fans (one that was likely written by his wife) blasting the owners and Roy for sinking the deal to the Crisconi group. However, he conceded that he didn't have enough money to run the A's in 1955, and the Johnson deal was the only one that had any prospect of winning league approval. A few days later,
12788-535: The lease. In 1961 and 1962, Finley talked to people in Dallas-Fort Worth and a four-man group appeared before American League owners, but no formal motion was put forward to move the team to Texas. In January 1964 , he signed an agreement on to move the A's to Louisville , promising to change the team's name to the "Kentucky Athletics". (Other names suggested for the team were the "Louisville Sluggers" and "Kentucky Colonels", which would have allowed
12927-520: The lights. However, the PCL sided with the Twins, citing longstanding rules holding the home team responsible for providing acceptable playing conditions. Due to the forfeit, the Islanders entered the final series of the season 1½ games ahead of the Tacoma in the Western Division, but the Twins won three straight at home over Spokane and Hawaii lost two at home to Sacramento , so Tacoma was
13066-401: The majors at 52–102, 46 games out of first. Mack's 50-year tenure is a North American professional sports record for manager/head coach that has never been threatened. They would have only one winning record from 1951 to 1954—a fourth-place finish in 1952. The nadir came in 1954, when the A's finished with a ghastly 51–103 record, easily the worst record in baseball and 60 games out of first. At
13205-531: The minors as a whole. Although it lost the PCL playoff championship to the Spokane Indians , the 1970 team was named the 38th greatest team in minor league history by Minor League Baseball historians. Due to the Islanders being a distant 2,500 miles (4,000 km) from their nearest opponent, they utilized a unique schedule. Initially, PCL teams made a four- and a seven-game visit to the Islands, with
13344-578: The more notable incidents during this time was a near-mutiny in 1967; Finley responded by releasing the A's best hitter, Ken Harrelson , who promptly signed with the Red Sox and helped lead them to the pennant . The Athletics' victory over the New York Mets in the 1973 Series was marred by Finley's antics. Finley forced Mike Andrews to sign a false affidavit saying he was injured after the reserve second baseman committed two consecutive errors in
13483-410: The need for painting. However, given Honolulu's ocean-salt laden climate, the steel never stopped rusting. A 2005 study by Honolulu engineering firm Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, Inc. determined that the stadium required $ 99 million to be completely restored and an additional $ 115 million for ongoing maintenance and refurbishment over the next 20 years to extend its useful life. In early 2007,
13622-482: The opener on Wednesday night, the Islanders lost the next two games, but won the final two to repeat as league champions. During its final season in 1987, the Islanders finished last in its division and last overall in attendance (116,000 fans) in the PCL. By this time, the team's financial problems were becoming more acute, in part due to what the Honolulu Star-Bulletin called the worst lease in
13761-533: The owners to the players for the first time since the days of the Federal League. Like Mack had done twice before, Finley reacted by trading star players and attempting to sell others. On June 15, 1976 , Finley sold left fielder Rudi and relief pitcher Fingers to Boston for $ 1 million each, and pitcher Blue to the New York Yankees for $ 1.5 million. Three days later, Kuhn voided the transactions in
13900-405: The physical condition of the stadium. There were also several issues regarding rusting of the facility, several hundred seats that need to be replaced, and restroom facilities that need to be expanded to accommodate more patrons. Much of the rust was due to building the stadium with weathering steel . U.S. Steel Corporation suggested the steel would develop a protective patina that would eliminate
14039-454: The recently opened Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum , the home of the AFL 's Oakland Raiders , with whom they shared the stadium. The Athletics drew national attention when, on May 8, 1968, Jim "Catfish" Hunter pitched a perfect game (the American League's first during the regular season since 1922) against the Minnesota Twins . The Athletics, under the leadership of manager Bob Kennedy , ended
14178-405: The regular season with good pitching, good defense, and clutch hitting. Finley called this team the "Swingin' A's". Players such as Reggie Jackson , Sal Bando , Joe Rudi , Bert Campaneris , Catfish Hunter , Rollie Fingers , and Vida Blue formed the nucleus of these teams. The players often said in later years that they played so well as a team because almost to a man, they hated Finley with
14317-457: The remainder of the Series. Andrews never played another major league game. As it was, the incident allowed the Mets, a team that went but 82–79 during the regular season, to stretch the Series to the full seven games against a far superior team. Williams was so disgusted by the affair that he resigned after the Series. Finley retaliated by vetoing Williams' attempt to become manager of the Yankees. Finley claimed that since Williams still owed Oakland
14456-706: The sale. Johnson had very close ties to the Yankees; he not only owned Yankee Stadium but also owned Blues Stadium in Kansas City , home to the Yankees' top farm team. Johnson intended to move the A's to a renovated Blues Stadium if he was cleared to buy them. The Yankees made no secret that they favored Johnson, and their backing gave him the upper hand with the other owners. After an October 12 owners meeting at which several offers from Philadelphia interests were rejected as inadequate (Harridge later said that while several of them "talked about millions," they didn't have any money behind them), Mack agreed in principle to sell
14595-417: The same time, the Phillies, who had been the definition of baseball futility for over 30 years, began a surprisingly quick climb to respectability. The A's were the more popular team in Philadelphia for most of the first half of the century, even though for much of the last decade they had been as bad or worse than the Phillies. But in the 1940s, the Phillies began spending lavishly on young prospects. The impact
14734-412: The season, and moved to Tulsa in 1978.) Aloha Stadium hosted the inaugural Pan-Pacific Championship (February 20–23, 2008), a knockout soccer tournament, involving four teams from Japan's J-League , North America's Major League Soccer (MLS) and Australia/New Zealand's A-League . The 2012 Hawaiian Islands Invitational was also held at the venue. The United States women's national soccer team
14873-545: The seats; the Honolulu Stadium stop was right at the main gate. Additionally, the lease with the state government, which owned the stadium, didn't allow the Islanders to earn any proceeds from concessions or advertising, severely limiting the team's income. The 1976 pennant winners almost didn't finish the season when the IRS padlocked the team office and the PCL briefly canceled their franchise. The 1976 team almost lost
15012-564: The series was played as a doubleheader on April 19 and a nationally broadcast ( ESPN ) game on April 20. In 1979, the Padres had played a three-game preseason series against the Seibu Lions of Japan's Pacific League at the stadium. On April 7, 1976, the Aloha Soccer Festival triple-header was held at the stadium. In the feature match, Pelé scored four goals as his New York Cosmos defeated Japan , 5-0, in front of
15151-475: The state legislature proposed to spend $ 300 million to build a new facility as opposed to spending approximately $ 216 million to extend the life of Aloha Stadium for another 20–30 years. One council member said that if immediate repairs were not made within the next seven years, then the stadium would probably have to be demolished due to safety concerns. In May 2007, the state allotted $ 12.4 million to be used towards removing corrosion and rust from
15290-485: The stop for Aloha Stadium was located some distance from the gate. As a result, attendance plummeted and never really recovered—a major factor in the franchise's ultimate move to the mainland. Additionally, stadium management initially refused to allow the use of metal spikes on the AstroTurf . During a game in early May 1976, the starting pitcher for the Tacoma Twins , Bill Butler , wore metal spikes to comply with
15429-686: The structure. In 2003, the stadium surface was changed from AstroTurf (which had been in place since the stadium opened) to FieldTurf . In July 2011, the field was replaced with an Act Global UBU Sports Speed S5-M synthetic turf system. In 2008, the state of Hawaii approved the bill of $ 185 million to refurbish the aging Aloha Stadium. In 2010, Aloha Stadium completely retrofitted its scoreboard and video screen to be more up to date with its high definition capability. The Aloha Stadium Authority planned to add more luxury suites, replacing all seats, rusting treatments, parking lots, more restrooms, pedestrian bridge supports, an enclosed lounge, and more. There
15568-423: The summer of 1954, it was obvious that the A's were on an irreversible slide into bankruptcy. Earle and Roy decided that there was no choice but to sell the Athletics, with sorrowful approval from Connie Sr. Although several offers were put forward by Philadelphia interests, American League president Will Harridge was convinced that the team could never be viable in Philadelphia. The sparse crowds at Shibe had been
15707-491: The team on the field. One of the few times that he even considered ceding some of his duties came in the 1934–35 offseason, when the A's were not far removed from what would be their last great era. He seriously entertained hiring Babe Ruth to succeed him as manager, but backed off from this idea, saying that the Babe's wife, Claire , would be running the team within a month. Even when the Phillies moved to Shibe Park as tenants of
15846-434: The team that drafted them—at the price offered by the team—if they wanted to play professional baseball. Thus, Finley was spared from having to compete with wealthier teams for top talent. The Athletics, owners of the worst record in the American League in 1964, had the first pick in the first draft, selecting Rick Monday on June 8, 1965. Almost as soon as the ink dried on his purchase of the Athletics, Finley began shopping
15985-447: The team to another colorful owner, Bill Veeck , who was not interested in leaving Chicago. As the 1976 season got underway, the basic rules of player contracts were changing. Seitz had ruled that baseball's reserve clause only bound players for one season after their contract expired. Thus, all players not signed to multi-year contracts would be eligible for free agency at the end of the 1976 season. The balance of power had shifted from
16124-490: The team to keep the letters "KC" on their uniforms.) The owners turned it down by a 9–1 margin on January 16, with Finley being the only one voting in favor. Six weeks later, by the same 9–1 margin, the A.L. owners denied Finley's request to move the team to Oakland . These requests came as no surprise, as impending moves to these cities, as well as to Atlanta , Milwaukee , New Orleans , San Diego , and Seattle — all of which Finley had considered as new homes for
16263-403: The team's uniforms. The Philadelphia Athletics wore blue and white or black and gray outfits through most of their history; in the last years in Philadelphia and the first in Kansas City, the team used a red, white and navy blue scheme. In 1963, Finley changed the team's colors to "Kelly Green, Fort Knox Gold and Wedding Gown White". In June 1963, Bill Bryson wrote of the uniforms, Kelly green
16402-476: The team, the A's only had three scouts in the entire organization. Johnson did make some improvements to the farm system, but was unwilling to pay top dollar for players that could get the A's within sight of contention. Johnson was returning from watching the Athletics in spring training when he was fatally stricken with a cerebral hemorrhage . He died in West Palm Beach, Florida on March 3, 1960, at
16541-433: The teams ended the season in a tie for first in the PCL's Western Division, Hawaii won a one-game playoff in Tacoma. As originally built, Aloha Stadium had various configurations for different sport venues and other purposes. Four movable 7,000-seat sections, each 3.5 million pounds (1,600,000 kg) could move using air casters into a diamond configuration for baseball (also used for soccer), an oval for football, or
16680-526: The waivers led to rumors of collusion between Johnson and the Yankees. The rumors grew louder due to the Yankees' thinly concealed support for the sale, to the point of planting rumors in the press to derail an 11th-hour attempt to keep the A's in Philadelphia. Rumors abounded that Johnson's real motive was to operate the Athletics in Kansas City for a few years, then move the team to Los Angeles (the Brooklyn Dodgers would later move there after
16819-471: The west. Philadelphia was given a new franchise to compete with the National League's Philadelphia Phillies . Former catcher Connie Mack was recruited to manage the club and persuaded Phillies minority owner Ben Shibe as well as others to invest in the team. The name of the team, Philadelphia Athletics, is a name taken from the 1876 NL Athletic Base Ball Club of Philadelphia . Columbia Park
16958-424: The worst record in the American League, and the second-worst record in baseball. They even trailed the expansion Seattle Mariners (though by only 1 ⁄ 2 game, as one game with the Minnesota Twins was canceled by weather and never made up). Aloha Stadium Aloha Stadium is a closed multi-purpose stadium in Halawa, Hawaii , a census-designated place that is a western suburb of Honolulu . It
17097-405: Was a swift and near-total collapse, as the 1914 pennant winning Athletics collapsed to a modern major-league low record of 36–117 (.235) in 1916. The team would finish in last place every year through 1922 and would not contend again until 1925. Shibe died in 1922, and his sons Tom and John took over the business side, leaving the baseball side to Mack, who for all intents and purposes, was now
17236-516: Was aligned north-northwest (home plate to centerfield), as was the football field. The first sporting event at Aloha Stadium was a college football game between Hawaii and Texas A&I (now Texas A&M-Kingsville) on September 13, 1975. Played on Saturday night, the crowd was 32,247, and the visitors prevailed, 43–9. The final sporting event held in Aloha Stadium was the 2021 Hula Bowl . The last points scored at Aloha Stadium were
17375-407: Was also a proposal that would have enclosed the four openings in the corners of the stadium to add more seats. In 2011, the playing field was refurbished in part due to a naming rights sponsorship from Hawaiian Airlines . As a result of the sponsorship deal, the field was referred to as Hawaiian Airlines Field at Aloha Stadium. The airline did not renew sponsorship after the deal expired in 2016. As
17514-478: Was also not suited to automobile traffic, having been designed before the Ford Model T was introduced. Surprisingly, in 1947 the Athletics finished with a winning record for the first time in 14 years. They contended for much of 1948, and most of the summer in either first or second place, though due to the firing of a number of pitchers, the team faded to fourth place by season's end. The franchise would not be
17653-564: Was held annually at the stadium from 1980 through 2016, except in 2010 and 2015. The stadium served as the home field for the Hawaii Islanders , a Triple-A team competing in the Pacific Coast League , from 1976 to 1987. In 1997 , a three-game regular season series between St. Louis Cardinals and San Diego Padres of Major League Baseball (MLB) was held at the stadium. Called the Padres Paradise Series ,
17792-476: Was home field for the AAA Hawaii Islanders of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) from 1975 to 1987, before the team moved to Colorado Springs . Frequent swap meets in the stadium's parking lot often draw large crowds. Before 1975, Honolulu's main outdoor stadium had been Honolulu Stadium , a wooden stadium on King Street. However, it had reached the end of its useful life by the 1960s, and
17931-724: Was home to the World Football League 's Hawaiians who played their last four home games there. The San Francisco 49ers and the San Diego Chargers played an NFL preseason game at Aloha Stadium on August 21, 1976. In August 2019, the NFL returned to the stadium with a preseason game between the Los Angeles Rams and Dallas Cowboys . The National Football League 's all-star game, the Pro Bowl ,
18070-461: Was immediate. In 1947, the A's finished fourth in the American League while the Phillies tied for the worst record in the National League. Just three years later, the A's compiled the worst record in the majors and the Phillies went all the way to the 1950 World Series . It soon became obvious that the Phillies had passed the A's as Philadelphia's number-one team. A power struggle that had developed betewen Roy and Earle Mack one side and Connie Jr. and
18209-409: Was motivated more by profit than any particular regard for the baseball fans of Kansas City. He had long been a business associate of New York Yankees owners Dan Topping , Larry MacPhail and Del Webb , and had even bought Yankee Stadium in 1953, though the league owners forced Johnson to sell the property before acquiring the Athletics. Johnson had also bought Blues Stadium in Kansas City, home of
18348-461: Was recalled to active Army duty. Other Islanders broadcast alumni who went on to broadcast Major League Baseball include Ken Wilson , Les Keiter , Mel Proctor , and Allan Elconin (a.k.a. Al Conin). In the early 1970s, the Islanders were the closest thing to an independent team in the high minors. While standard minor league working agreements in recent times require a minor league team to cede complete control of its roster to its major league parent,
18487-454: Was replaced by Hank Peters . After only a year, Peters was fired and replaced by Eddie Lopat , who also lasted only one season. After Lopat's ouster in 1966, the team had no formal general manager until 1981. In fact, Friday, Peters and Lopat were mere figureheads. With the firing of Lane in 1961, Finley effectively became the team's de facto general manager, and would remain so for the duration of his ownership. Finley made further changes to
18626-520: Was replaced by former Boston Red Sox manager Dick Williams . The Athletics, following two consecutive second-place finishes, finally claimed the division crown in 1971 . The A's would win 101 games (their first 100-win season since finishing 107–45 in 1931 ). However, they lost to the Baltimore Orioles in the American League Championship Series . In 1972, the A's won their first league pennant since 1931 and faced
18765-520: Was scheduled to play a game against Trinidad and Tobago as part of their World Cup Winning Victory Tour at the stadium on December 6, 2015; however, the game was canceled the day before gameday due to concerns over the turf being unsafe to play on. On June 2, 2013, the stadium played host to a rugby league test match where Samoa defeated the USA 34–10. In June, the Brisbane Broncos from
18904-514: Was the Athletics first home. They played there from their founding in 1901 through the 1908 season, and it was the venue of their two home games in the 1905 World Series . In the early years, the A's established themselves as one of the dominant teams in the new league, winning the AL pennant six times (1902, 1905, 1910, 1911, 1913, and 1914), and winning the World Series in 1910, 1911, and 1913, led by its " $ 100,000 infield ." They won over 100 games in 1910 and 1911, and 99 games in 1914. In 1909,
19043-525: Was the last football game held at the facility before the halting of new events. Three team-competitive college football bowl games were held annually at the stadium: the Aloha Bowl (1982–2000), Oahu Bowl (1998–2000), and Hawaii Bowl (2002–2019). The Hawaii Rainbow Warriors appeared in the Hawaii Bowl nine times and the other two bowl games once each. Starting in September 1975, the stadium
19182-428: Was traded to the Yankees for aging veterans and cash. Over the years, Johnson traded such key players as Roger Maris , Bobby Shantz , Héctor López , Clete Boyer , Art Ditmar and Ralph Terry to New York; in return, he did receive some talented younger players such as Norm Siebern and Jerry Lumpe , and the cash helped the team pay the bills. However, with few exceptions, the trades were heavily weighted in favor of
19321-494: Was well below the standards for Triple-A baseball . The need for a new stadium was hastened by the move of the Hawaii Rainbows football program to NCAA Division I . Located west of downtown Honolulu and 2 miles (3.2 km) north of Honolulu International Airport , Aloha Stadium was constructed in 1975 at a cost of $ 37 million. Constructed of steel, the stadium was nicknamed the "Metal Mecca". The baseball field
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