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119-603: The history of the Missions is a tale of two franchises linked by a common owner. The initial Missions club came into existence with Joe Gagliardi, owner of the San Jose Bees, making a deal to lease the AAA Pacific Coast league Sacramento franchise from Bob Piccinini. Piccinini's Solons were without a ballpark as Hughes Stadium was in poor condition and had failed to meet earthquake standards. Gagliardi relocated

238-491: 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 the best record of the four established teams to join

357-690: A California League team. The club signed an affiliation the Seattle Mariners. Gagliardi resurrected the Missions name as the club accompanied the Santa Clara Padres in the expansion of the California League in 1979. With a roster that included Dave Henderson, Orlando Mercado, and Jim Maler the Missions won the south division title with a record of 89-51. The Missions advanced past the Visalia Oaks in divisional round of

476-427: A big-league city in its own right. Not surprisingly, only 306,763 paying customers showed up to watch the A's in 1979, the team's worst attendance since leaving Philadelphia. After three dismal seasons on the field and at the gate, the commissioner's office seriously considered selling the team out from under Finley and moving it to New Orleans. Rather than acquiesce, Finley hired Berkeley native Billy Martin to manage

595-581: A bond issue for a brand new baseball stadium (the eventual Royals Stadium, now Kauffman Stadium ) to be completed in 1973 . 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 the recently opened Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum , the home of

714-527: 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

833-463: A false affidavit saying he was injured after the reserve second baseman committed two consecutive errors in 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

952-426: A lifetime National League player, agreed to become a full-time DH for the first time in his career. The 2007 season was a disappointing season for the A's as they suffered from injuries to several key players Rich Harden , Huston Street , Eric Chavez , and Mike Piazza . For the first time since the 1998 season, the A's finished with a losing record. The Athletics signed international free agent Michael Inoa to

1071-681: A losing record. Holliday was dealt to the St. Louis Cardinals for prospects and Giambi was released in August after spending time on the DL. On December 22, 2009, Sports Illustrated named general manager Billy Beane as number 10 on its list of the Top 10 GMs/Executives of the Decade (in all sports). California Golden Seals The California Golden Seals were a professional ice hockey club that competed in

1190-400: A more detailed plan for revival, a majority of NHL owners from the "old establishment" voted in favor of Finley. General manager Bill Torrey left by mid-season due to clashes with Finley. Finley renamed the team the "Bay Area Seals" to begin the 1970–71 season. However, on October 16, 1970, just two games into the season, he changed the team name to the "California Golden Seals", following

1309-485: A new stadium. Because of Wolff's background, rumors that he wanted to move the team to San Jose surfaced periodically upon his purchase of the team. However, any such plans were always complicated by the claims of the cross-bay San Francisco Giants that they own the territorial rights to San Jose and Santa Clara County . In 2005 , many pundits picked the Athletics to finish last as a result of Beane's dismantling of

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1428-783: A new team in the Bay Area that became the Sharks. Coincidentally, in their first two seasons in the league, the Sharks played their home games at the Cow Palace in Daly City (the same facility the NHL rejected as a home for the Seals in 1967) while their new permanent home arena in San Jose was being completed. Dennis Maruk was the last Seals player active in the NHL, retiring as a member of

1547-472: A number of other marketing gimmicks intended to promote the team to the fans, among them changing the Seals' colors to green and gold to match those of the popular A's. The team's uniform crest was now the word "Seals" in a unique typeface, but an alternate logo using a sketch based on a photo of star player Carol Vadnais was used on marketing materials such as pennants, stickers and team programs. The original 1967 California Seals logo recolored in green and gold

1666-455: A pinch-hitter to a standing ovation from sympathetic Mets fans. He promptly grounded out, and Finley ordered him benched for 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

1785-591: A player development contract with the Montreal Expos . The club adopted their parent club's moniker becoming the San Jose Expos . The Missions played at San Jose Municipal Stadium, now known as Excite Ballpark . The stadium is in use today as home of the San Jose Giants . Pacific Coast League California League Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (often referred to as

1904-491: A semblance of familiarity and continuity for existing Seals fans, the team retained a portion of the club's WHL roster such as Charlie Burns , George Swarbrick , Gerry Odrowski , Tom Thurlby , and Ron Harris . The Bay Area was not considered a particularly lucrative hockey market; however, the terms of a new television agreement with CBS called for two of the expansion teams to be located in California and other than

2023-400: A single season (1982), a total which has not been approached since. On May 1, 1991, Henderson broke one of baseball's most famous records when he stole the 939th base of his career, one more than Brock. Regular season dominance led to some success in the post-season. The Athletics' lone World Series championship of the era was a four-game sweep of the cross-bay rival San Francisco Giants in

2142-448: A spring training game that year). This was only the 11th unassisted triple play in the history of Major League Baseball. The general manager of the Athletics, Billy Beane , has become notable due to Michael Lewis 's portrayal of Beane's novel approach to business decisions and scouting, referred to as Moneyball , both the title of the book, and hence the school of baseball business management. The Athletics organization began redefining

2261-610: A strong minor league system while almost always refusing to pay the going rate to keep star players on the team once they become free agents. Perhaps as a result, at the turn of the 21st century, the A's were a team that usually finished at or near the top of the AL West Division, but could not advance beyond the first round of the playoffs. The Athletics made the playoffs for four straight years, from 2000 to 2003, but lost their first round (best three-out-of-five) series in each case, 3 games to 2. In two of those years (2001 against

2380-428: 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 a moustache by Father's Day, at a time when every other team forbade facial hair. When Father's Day arrived, every member of

2499-557: A trio of young starting pitchers: right-hander Tim Hudson and left-handers Mark Mulder and Barry Zito . Between 1999 and 2006, the so-called "Big Three" helped the Athletics to emerge into a perennial powerhouse in the American League West, combining for a collective record of 261–131. They gave the Athletics a 1–2–3 punch to add to talented infielders and potent hitters, such as first baseman Jason Giambi , shortstop Miguel Tejada , and third baseman Eric Chavez . Giambi

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2618-457: A year later to fund the Sabres. This, as well as the team's mediocre on-ice performance, led to major changes to both the Seals' front office and the roster – only 7 of the 20 Seals players remained after the first season. The new-look Seals were somewhat more successful. In their second season they improved to 69 points, which while still seven games below .500 was good enough for second place in

2737-543: A year until a group headed by San Francisco hotel magnate Melvin Swig bought the team on July 28, 1975, with the intention of moving the team to a proposed new arena in San Francisco. The team fell just short of the playoffs, and after a mayoral election, plans for the new arena were cancelled. With a new arena out of the picture, the league dropped their objection to the relocation of the franchise. Although attendance

2856-598: The 1970 draft (Seals selected Chris Oddleifson ), Ernie Hicke , and cash. As a result of the Seals' dreadful season , the Canadiens had the top pick in the 1971 draft, and used it to select future Hall of Fame member Guy Lafleur . This transaction now ranks as one of the most one-sided deals in NHL history. The team rebounded in 1971–72 , but the arrival of the World Hockey Association (WHA) wiped out most of those gains. Finley refused to match

2975-712: The 1978 season and the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans for 1979 . Though the American League owners appeared to favor the Denver deal, it fell through when the city of Oakland and Alameda County refused to release the A's from their lease. At the time, the Oakland Raiders were threatening to move to Los Angeles, and city and county officials were not willing to lose Oakland's status as

3094-520: The 1989 World Series . Unfortunately for the A's, their sweep of the Giants was overshadowed by the Loma Prieta earthquake that occurred at the start of Game 3 before a national television audience. This forced the remaining games to be delayed for ten days. When play resumed, the atmosphere was dominated more by a sense of relief than celebration by baseball fans. Heavily favored Athletics teams lost

3213-549: The 2006 American League Championship Series . Beane cited a disconnect between him and his players as well as a general unhappiness among the team as the reason for his sudden departure. Macha was replaced by bench coach and former major league catcher Bob Geren . Following the 2006 season, the A's also lost ace Barry Zito to the Giants due to free agency. They also lost their DH and MVP candidate Frank Thomas to free agency but filled his role with Mike Piazza for 2007. Piazza,

3332-647: 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 the 1968 campaign with an 82–80 record, their first winning record since 1952 (in Philadelphia ). The team's output also represented

3451-536: 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, the A's finished the season with a record of 88–74. However, this

3570-635: The Colorado Rockies . On January 6, 2009, Jason Giambi signed a one-year, $ 4.6 million contract with a 2nd year option. Giambi said he was glad to be back as he put on his old number 16. Also signed were infielders Orlando Cabrera of the Chicago White Sox and Nomar Garciaparra of the Los Angeles Dodgers. The first half of the season the team played relatively poor, but finished the second half strong, yet still posting

3689-551: The NFL relocated to Las Vegas in 2020. The Oakland Athletics had an overall win–loss record of 4,614–4,387–1 (.513) during their 56 years in Oakland. Seventeen former Oakland Athletics players were elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame with Dennis Eckersley , Rollie Fingers , Rickey Henderson , and Dick Williams depicted with an Oakland Athletics cap. Almost as soon as the ink dried on his purchase of

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3808-814: The National Hockey League (NHL) from 1967 to 1976 . Based in Oakland, California , they played their home games at the Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena . The Seals were one of six teams added to the league as part of the 1967 NHL expansion . Initially named the California Seals , the team was renamed the Oakland Seals during the 1967–68 season and then the Bay Area Seals in 1970 before becoming

3927-648: The Oakland A's ) were an American professional baseball team based in Oakland, California . The Oakland Athletics competed in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West Division from 1968 until 2024. The team played its home games at the Oakland Coliseum throughout their entire time in Oakland. The franchise's nine World Series championships, fifteen pennants, and seventeen division titles are

4046-670: 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, AL 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

4165-573: 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 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

4284-408: The 1981 A's would have gone wire-to-wire. However, an injury-riddled team significantly regressed in 1982, falling to 68–94. Although Martin was not blamed for the debacle, growing concern about his off-field behavior resulted in his firing after the season. During the 15 years of Haas' ownership, the Athletics became one of baseball's most successful teams at the gate, drawing 2,900,217 in 1990, still

4403-780: The 1986 season, Tony La Russa was hired as the Athletics' manager, a post he held until the end of 1995. In 1987, La Russa's first full year as manager, the team finished at 81–81, its best record in seven seasons. Beginning in 1988, the Athletics won the AL pennant three years in a row. Reminiscent of their Philadelphia predecessors, this A's team finished with the best record of any team in the major leagues during all 3 years, winning 104 (1988), 99 (1989), and 103 (1990) games, featuring such stars as McGwire, Canseco, Weiss, Rickey Henderson, Carney Lansford , Dave Stewart , and Dennis Eckersley . During this time, Rickey Henderson shattered Lou Brock 's modern major league record by stealing 130 bases in

4522-486: The A's had a radio network stretching all the way to Hawaii, leading one fan to joke, " Honolulu ? How about here? " In 1979, the A's did not sign a radio contract until the night before opening day. The A's near-invisibility prompted Oakland and Alameda County to sue Finley and the A's for breach of contract in 1979. Finley nearly sold the team to buyers who would have moved them to Mile High Stadium in Denver for

4641-452: The A's on-field success did not translate into success at the box office during the Finley era in Oakland. Average home attendance from 1968 to 1980 was 777,000 per season, with 1,075,518 in 1975 being the highest attendance for a Finley-owned team. In marked contrast, during the first year of Haas' ownership, the Athletics drew 1,304,052—in a season shortened by a player strike. Were it not for

4760-514: The A's or his insurance empire, Finley had to sell the team. He agreed in principle to sell to businessman Marvin Davis , who would have moved the Athletics to Denver. However, just before Finley and Davis were due to sign a definitive agreement, the Raiders announced their move to Los Angeles. Oakland and Alameda County officials let it be known that they would not allow any prospective owner to break

4879-452: 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 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

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4998-519: The A's were considered the underdog against the highly favored Minnesota Twins . The A's swept the series 3–0 however, despite having to start on the road and losing second baseman Mark Ellis , who sustained a broken finger after getting hit by a pitch in the second game. Their victory was short-lived though, as the A's were swept 4–0 by the Detroit Tigers . Manager Ken Macha was fired by Billy Beane on October 16, four days after their loss in

5117-464: The Athletics in 1960, Finley began shopping 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

5236-459: The Athletics won an American League record 20 games in a row, from August 13 to September 4, 2002. The last three games were won in dramatic fashion, each victory coming in the bottom of the ninth inning. Win number 20 was notable because the A's, with Tim Hudson pitching, jumped to an 11–0 lead against the AL-cellar dwelling Kansas City Royals , only to slowly give up 11 unanswered runs to lose

5355-572: 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

5474-664: The Barons' place in the Adams Division. The North Stars ultimately relocated to Texas following the 1992–93 season to become the Dallas Stars . The Cleveland Barons remain the most recent team in an established North American major professional league to fold. They were also the last actively playing NHL team to do so since the Brooklyn Americans in 1942 (the franchise was formally cancelled in 1946) and

5593-597: The Bay Area. They asked the NHL for permission to move the North Stars there in the late 1980s, but the league was unwilling to abandon a traditional hockey market like the Twin Cities . Meanwhile, a group led by former Hartford Whalers owner Howard Baldwin was pushing the NHL to bring a team to San Jose , where an arena was being built. Eventually, a compromise was struck whereby the Gunds would sell their share of

5712-714: The Big Three, trading Tim Hudson to the Atlanta Braves and Mark Mulder to the St. Louis Cardinals . To many, the trades appeared bizarre, in that the two pitchers were seen to be at or near the top of their game; however, the decision was perfectly in line with Beane's business model as outlined in Moneyball . The Mulder trade, to many experts' surprise, turned into a steal for the Athletics, as little-known starter Dan Haren ended up pitching far better for Oakland than Mulder did for St. Louis. Also during this time,

5831-477: The Big Three. At first, the experts appeared vindicated, as the A's were mired in last place on May 31 with a 19–32 (.373) win–loss record. After that the team began to gel, playing at a .622 clip for the remainder of the season, eventually finishing 88–74 (.543), seven games behind the newly renamed Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and for many weeks seriously contending for the AL West crown. Pitcher Huston Street

5950-661: The Blue Jays, Frank Thomas re-signed with the A's, having been released by the Jays after a slow start. On July 8, the A's were involved in a blockbuster trade, dealing Rich Harden and Chad Gaudin to the Chicago Cubs for Sean Gallagher , Josh Donaldson, Eric Patterson , and Matt Murton . Then on July 17, the A's traded Joe Blanton to the Philadelphia Phillies for three minor leaguers. An 18–37 record for

6069-625: The California Golden Seals the same year. The Seals were the least successful of the teams added in the 1967 expansion, never earning a winning record and only making the playoffs twice in nine seasons of play. Off the ice, they were plagued by low attendance. The franchise was relocated in 1976 to become the Cleveland Barons , who would merge with the Minnesota North Stars two years later. They were

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6188-482: The Coliseum lease, forcing Davis to call off the deal. Forced to turn to local buyers, Finley sold the A's to San Francisco clothing manufacturer Walter A. Haas, Jr. , president of Levi Strauss & Co. prior to the 1981 season. It would not be the last time that the Raiders directly affected the A's future; Denver would eventually get an MLB team in 1993 when the Colorado Rockies began play. Despite winning three World Series and two other AL West Division titles,

6307-416: The Coliseum underwent an $ 83 million facelift that altered the Coliseum significantly. Walter Haas died in that same year, and the team was sold to San Francisco Bay Area real estate developers Steve Schott (third cousin to one-time Cincinnati Reds' owner Marge Schott ), silent partner David Etheridge and Ken Hofmann , prior to the 1996 season. Once again, the Athletics' star players were traded or sold, as

6426-465: The Commissioner's blessing. Despite Finley's reputation as a master promoter, the A's had never drawn well since moving to Oakland, even during the World Series years. In the three years after the veterans from the championship years left, attendance dropped so low that the Coliseum became known as the "Oakland Mausoleum". At one point during the late 1970s, crowds could be counted in the hundreds. The low point came in 1979 , when an April 17 game against

6545-520: The Haren and Swisher trades, respectively, also performed well for the Triple-A Sacramento River Cats . It is worth pointing out that Haren, Swisher, and Kotsay have all played well in their new teams. Kotsay himself had a game-winning RBI as a pinch-hitter, against his former team on May 16 in Game 1 of an interleague series between the A's and Braves. In the 2009 offseason, the A's traded promising young star OF Carlos González , closer Huston Street and starting pitcher Greg Smith for Matt Holliday of

6664-419: The Kings there were no other prospective franchise applicants of similar pedigree to the Seals. Nevertheless, while the WHL Seals had drawn well at the Cow Palace the team drew poorly in Oakland once they entered the NHL. The plan to bring fans in from San Francisco failed, and on November 6, 1967, Van Gerbig announced that the team's name would be changed to the Oakland Seals (although the league did not register

6783-408: The Mariners drew an announced crowd of 653. However, A's officials claimed the actual attendance was 550, while first baseman Dave Revering thought the crowd was closer to 200. What is beyond dispute is that it was the smallest "crowd" in the West Coast portion of A's history. The Coliseum's upkeep also went downhill. The franchise's rapid deterioration so soon after being the most powerful team in

6902-404: The Mariners from 1981-1983, returned as manager. The Missions finished year at the bottom of the league in both the standings and attendance. Following the season, owner Bob Piccinini ended his lease of the club and sold it for a reported $ 175,000 to Dennis Job. Job promptly moved the franchise to Utah where they would become the Ogden A's . With San Jose vacant, Joe Gagliardi gained approval for

7021-425: The Missions missed out in the post season as the first half winning Giants and second half winning Oaks advanced under the split season format. The Missions played the 1981 season as independent club. The team finished the year at 53-87, placing last in a single division California League that had dropped to an eight team circuit. Following the season the franchise was sold to Ohio businessman, Peter Kern. In signing

7140-512: The North Stars in 1989 . The last former Seals player in any league was George Pesut , who was active in Germany until 1994. Though no longer an active team, the Seals remained a popular subject, and are the subject of multiple works. In 2006, Brad Kurtzberg published the first book on the Seals franchise, Shorthanded: The Untold Story of the Seals: Hockey's Most Colorful Team . In January 2017, filmmaker Mark Greczmiel released his documentary, The California Golden Seals Story on iTunes. In 2016,

7259-421: The North Stars to Baldwin's group, with the Gunds receiving an expansion team in the Bay Area to begin play in the 1991–92 season . In return, the Sharks would have the rights to players from the North Stars and then participate with the North Stars as an equal partner in an expansion draft with the new franchise. On May 5, 1990, the Gunds officially sold their share of the North Stars to Baldwin and were awarded

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7378-460: The Philadelphia days in the team office; Finley had scarcely acknowledged the team's past. While the team colors remained green, gold, and white, the bright Kelly green was replaced with a more subdued forest green. After a 23-year hiatus, the elephant was restored as the club mascot in 1988. The script "Athletics", which had adorned home and road jerseys from 1954 to 1960, was returned to home jerseys in 1987. The Haases gave Martin complete control of

7497-665: The Seals tribute site, GoldenSealsHockey.com was founded to help promote the November 2017 release of the book, The California Golden Seals: A Tale of White Skates, Red Ink, and One of the NHL's Most Outlandish Teams , which covers the Seals' and Barons' entire history, including their six years in the WHL. The San Jose Sharks unveiled their Reverse Retro jersey based on the final years of the Golden Seals on October 20, 2022. Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties in minutes Notes: Includes Cleveland Barons (1976–78) Career: Single season: These are

7616-512: The Seals, but when no credible buyers came forward who were interested in keeping the team in the Bay Area, he sold the team back to the league for $ 6.585 million. A 1973 attempt by Finley to sell the team to Indianapolis interests who planned to relocate the team to that city was rejected by the NHL's board of governors. In early 1975, newspapers reported that the Seals and Pittsburgh Penguins were to be relocated to Denver and Seattle , respectively, in an arrangement that would have seen

7735-413: The WHA's contract offers, causing five of the team's top ten scorers from the previous season to bolt to the new league. Devoid of any defensive talent save for goaltender Gilles Meloche , the Seals sank into last place again in 1972–73 , where they would remain for the rest of their history. Although divisional restructuring in 1974–75 included a revamped format in which three teams in each division made

7854-448: The WHL. The NHL awarded an expansion team to Barry Van Gerbig for the San Francisco Bay area. Van Gerbig decided to purchase the WHL club with the intent of bringing them into the NHL as an expansion team the following season. Van Gerbig had planned to have the team play in a new arena in San Francisco, but the new arena was never built. He decided to move the team across the Bay from the Cow Palace in Daly City to Oakland to play in

7973-443: The World Series in both 1988 , to the Los Angeles Dodgers , and in 1990 , to the Cincinnati Reds . The latter was a shocking four-game sweep reminiscent of the A's loss to the Boston Braves 76 years earlier. The team began declining, winning the AL West championship in 1992 (but losing to Toronto in the ALCS), then finishing last in 1993. In 1995, the Raiders returned to Oakland after spending 12 years in Los Angeles; with this,

8092-475: The Yankees and 2003 against the Red Sox), the Athletics won the first two games of the series, only to lose the next three straight. In 2001, Oakland became the first team to lose a best-of-five series after winning both of the first two games on the road. In 2004, the A's missed the playoffs altogether, losing the final series of the season—and the divisional title—to the Anaheim Angels by one game. This period in Oakland history featured splendid performances from

8211-415: 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 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

8330-622: 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 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

8449-422: The airlines had put into service at the time. Finley also introduced the flamboyant green and gold "Seals luggage" which all players and coaches were required to carry, to identify them as the northern California NHL team. On May 22, 1970, the Seals traded their pick in the first round of the 1971 NHL Amateur Draft to the Montreal Canadiens along with Francois Lacombe in return for Montreal's first round pick in

8568-538: The all-expansion West Division. The Seals were actually favored to win their first round playoff matchup against the Kings, but were upset in seven games. Oakland regressed to 58 points the following season, but still edged out Philadelphia for the final playoff spot on a tiebreaker. Their second playoff appearance was a brief one as they were swept by the Pittsburgh Penguins. Those were the only two years that

8687-512: The baseball operation with the title of "player development director", effectively making him his own general manager. The A's lost in the American League Championship Series after winning the "first half" AL West Division title of the strike-interrupted 1981 season. The club finished with the second-best overall record in baseball, and the best record in the American League. Had the season not been split in half,

8806-464: The change until December 8 to focus more on the East Bay). The Seals were never successful at the gate even after the name change, and because of this poor attendance Van Gerbig threatened on numerous occasions to move the team elsewhere. First-year coach and general manager Bert Olmstead publicly advocated a move to Vancouver , resulting in an offer from Labatt's brewery to purchase and relocate

8925-511: The club record for single season attendance, as well as on the field. Average annual home attendance during those years (excluding the strike years of 1981 and 1994) was over 1.9 million. Under the Haas ownership, the minor league system was rebuilt, which bore fruit later that decade as José Canseco (1986), Mark McGwire (1987), and Walt Weiss (1988) were chosen as AL Rookies of the Year . During

9044-649: The club to San Jose for the 1977 where the team played as an affiliate of the Oakland Athletics . Former A's player Rene Lachemann was tabbed as manager. The Missions served as the A's taxi squad with players being shuttled to Oakland throughout the season. The team trudged to 64-80 finish. The team returned in 1978 as an affiliate of the Seattle Mariners . This was the Mariners' first dedicated AAA team. Rene Lachemann , who would go on to manage

9163-585: 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 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

9282-579: The end of the 1976 season. The balance of power had shifted from 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

9401-527: The first two, caused a lot of anger among fans and the media. The A's were considered to be a "rebuilding" team and were expected to be among the bottom-feeders of MLB in the 2008 season. However, the A's performed well into late May, and even held first place in the AL West for a good amount of time, but a 2–7 roadtrip in mid-May allowed the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim to take first place. On April 24, just weeks after playing against them while on

9520-495: The franchise made the playoffs. The league's rejection of a proposed move to Vancouver prompted a lawsuit that was not settled until 1974 (San Francisco Seals Ltd. v. National Hockey League) . The Seals organization filed suit against the NHL claiming that the prohibition violated the Sherman Act . The Seals asserted that the league's constitution was in violation by prohibiting clubs from relocating their operations, and that

9639-595: The game led some fans to nickname them "the Triple-A's". For most of Finley's ownership, the A's rarely had radio or television contracts, rendering them all but invisible in the Bay Area even during the World Series era. For the first month of the 1978 season, the A's broadcast their games on KALX , a 10-watt college radio station run by the University of California, Berkeley . KALX was practically unlistenable more than 10 miles (16 km) from Oakland. At that time,

9758-426: The group filed for bankruptcy after missing a payment and relinquished the team to Van Gerbig, who put the team back on the market. Prior to the 1970–71 season , Charles O. Finley , the flamboyant and eccentric owner of baseball's Oakland Athletics , purchased the Seals. Finley and Roller Derby boss Jerry Seltzer had both put in bids on the team. Although Seltzer's offer was slightly better financed and included

9877-418: The inclusion of player names on the back of the jerseys, which then set the precedent for today's 32 current NHL teams identifying players in the same fashion. Finley also was the first owner to allow players to fly first class on commercial flights to games, thus starting a trend that ultimately culminated in NHL teams regularly chartering aircraft by the 21st century. The Seals regularly used the new Boeing 747s

9996-573: The largest bonus in team and international free agent history. The 2008 off-season started with controversy, as the A's traded ace pitcher Dan Haren to the Arizona Diamondbacks for prospects. This would be followed by trades of outfielder Nick Swisher , who was considered to be a fan-favorite, to the Chicago White Sox , and another fan-favorite Mark Kotsay (also outfielder) to the Atlanta Braves . The trades, especially

10115-611: The last team to cease operations since the Montreal Maroons had their franchise formally canceled in 1947 (though they had not iced a team since 1938). As a result, the NHL consisted of 17 teams for the 1978–79 season . The current NHL team in the Bay Area, the San Jose Sharks , has a historical connection to the Seals. Years after the Barons-North Stars merger, the Gunds wanted to bring hockey back to

10234-514: The lead. Then, Scott Hatteberg , enduring criticism as Jason Giambi's replacement, hit a pinch-hit home run off Royals closer Jason Grimsley in the bottom of the 9th inning to win 12–11. The streak was snapped two nights later in Minneapolis, the A's losing 6–0 to the Minnesota Twins . The Major League record for consecutive games without a loss is 26, set by the NL's New York Giants in 1916. There

10353-533: 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 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

10472-642: The minors. Finley's tendency for micromanaging his team actually dated to the team's stay in Kansas City. Among 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

10591-644: The months of July and August (including a 10-game losing streak) dropped the A's into third place, where they would finish the season. They ended 2008 with a disappointing 75–86 record. Several players were acquired in the offseason trades (pitchers Dana Eveland and Greg Smith from the Dan Haren trade, outfielder Ryan Sweeney from the Swisher trade and reliever Joey Devine from the Mark Kotsay trade). Carlos González and Gio González (no relation) from

10710-467: The new Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena . He renamed the club the California Seals. This was done in an attempt to appeal to fans from San Francisco, and to address complaints from the other NHL teams that Oakland was not considered a major league city and would not be a draw for fans. A year later, Van Gerbig brought the Seals into the NHL as an expansion team. The team participated with

10829-483: The new owners' goal was to cut payroll drastically. Many landed with the St. Louis Cardinals , including McGwire, Eckersley, and manager La Russa. In a turn of events eerily reminiscent of the A's Roger Maris trade 38 years before, Mark McGwire celebrated his first full season with the Cardinals by setting a new major league home run record. The Schott-Hofmann ownership allocated resources to building and maintaining

10948-511: 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 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

11067-549: The only franchise from the 1967 expansion never to reach the Stanley Cup Finals . In 1966, the NHL announced that six expansion teams would be added as a new division for the 1967–68 season, officially because of a general desire to expand the league to new markets, but also to squelch the Western Hockey League 's threat to turn into a major league. The San Francisco Seals were one such team from

11186-422: The other five expansion teams in the 1967 NHL Expansion Draft ; however, the terms imposed by the established Original Six teams were very one-sided in their favor. The existing NHL teams were permitted to protect nearly all of their best players, thus the players available for selection were mostly castoffs, aging players well past their prime and career minor leaguers. To bolster their roster and also to maintain

11305-533: The playoffs, the team's efforts were frustrated by their placement in the Adams Division , with the strong Sabres, Boston Bruins , and Toronto Maple Leafs of the day. The Seals once again finished well out of playoff contention, and were notably the only team to lose at home to the expansion Washington Capitals . Finley soon lost patience with his struggling hockey team, especially given the contrast to his World Series champion Athletics. He tried to sell

11424-520: The playoffs. San Jose faced the Stockton Ports in the best of five games league championship series. The Missions bested the Ports in a series that went the full tilt to claim the California League crown. The Missions and Mariners continued their relationship into 1980. San Jose finished the year at 73-66, only a half game behind the south division leading Fresno Giants. Despite a runner-up rerecord,

11543-507: The relocation request was denied in an attempt to keep the San Francisco market in the NHL and thereby discourage the formation of a rival team or league in that location. The court ruled that the NHL was a single entity, and that the teams were not competitors in an economic sense, so the league restrictions on relocation were not a restraint of trade. For the 1969–70 season the team was sold to Trans-National Communications , whose investors included Pat Summerall and Whitey Ford . However,

11662-732: The second-most in the AL after the New York Yankees . The team is currently known simply as the Athletics . Despite the team's success in Oakland, issues with the Oakland Coliseum throughout the decades lead to the team trying to replace the aging venue multiple times, but after they were not able to find locations in East Bay and San Jose , the team left Oakland after the 2024 season, temporarily moving to West Sacramento before moving to Las Vegas . The move from Oakland

11781-529: The sixth-lowest payroll in baseball in 2002, the Oakland Athletics won an American League best 103 games. They spent $ 41 million that season, while the Yankees, who also won 103 games, spent $ 126 million. The Athletics have continually succeeded at winning, and defying market economics, keeping their payroll near the bottom of the league. For example, after the 2004 season, in which the A's placed second in their division, Beane shocked many by breaking up

11900-541: The start of the 1976–77 season, rendering the Barons all but invisible in Cleveland. After two more years of losses and with attendance worse than it had been in Oakland, the Gunds (by this time majority owners) were permitted to merge the Barons with the equally strapped Minnesota North Stars on June 14, 1978. The merged team continued as the Minnesota North Stars under the Gunds' ownership, but assumed

12019-595: The strike, the A's were on a pace to draw over 2.2 million in 1981. This lent credence to the theory that Bay Area residents stayed away from the Coliseum because they did not want to give their money to Finley. Haas set about changing the team's image. He ditched Charlie O. as the team mascot and restored the traditional team name of "Athletics" as soon as he closed on the purchase, with the ownership group formally known as "The Oakland Athletics Baseball Company". He also installed pictures of Connie Mack and other greats from

12138-649: 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 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,

12257-532: The team to the Canadian city as well as a proposal to move the team to Buffalo from the Knox brothers, who like Vancouver had been shut out of the 1967 expansion. The NHL, not wanting to endanger its TV deal with CBS, rejected both proposals. As a compromise, the NHL agreed to expand again in 1970 , adding teams in both Vancouver and Buffalo . The Knoxes bought a minority share of the Seals in 1969, only to sell it

12376-624: The team were the "Louisville Sluggers" and "Kentucky Colonels", which would have allowed 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 AL 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

12495-548: The top ten scorers for the franchise, including its time in Cleveland. The Golden Seals had the following team captains: In 1967–68 , KTVU 2 televised 12 games with Tim Ryan on play-by-play. In 1968–69 , away games were broadcast on the radio by KEEN with Tim Ryan again on play-by-play. In 1969–70 , Saturday and Sunday games were broadcast by KGO radio. Jim Gordon , Bill Schonely and Bill McColgan each did play-by-play alone on multiple games. Meanwhile, Harvey Wittenberg and Rick Weaver did one game each; Weaver did

12614-498: The transactions in 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

12733-403: The two teams sold to groups in those cities that had already been awarded "conditional" franchises for the 1976–77 season. At the same time, the league announced that if the Seals' sale to the Denver group was not completed or new ownership found locally, the franchise would be liquidated at the end of the season. The Denver arrangement fell through, and the league ran the Seals for more than

12852-459: The way that major league baseball teams evaluate player talent. They began filling their system with players who did not possess traditionally valued baseball "tools" of throwing, fielding, hitting, hitting for power and running. Instead, they drafted for unconventional statistical prowess: on-base percentage for hitters (rather than batting average) and strikeout/walk ratios for pitchers (rather than velocity). These undervalued stats came cheaply. With

12971-413: 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). At the end of the 1977 season, Finley attempted to trade Blue to the Reds for a player of lesser stature and cash, but Kuhn vetoed the deal, claiming that it

13090-406: The young team, led by new young stars Rickey Henderson , Mike Norris , Tony Armas , and Dwayne Murphy . Martin made believers of his young charges, "Billyball" was used to market the team, and the Athletics finished second in 1980 . However, during that same season Finley's wife sought a divorce, and would not accept a stake in the A's in a property settlement. With most of his money tied up in

13209-496: Was a publicity stunt, and he had no intention of amending 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

13328-673: Was a tie game embedded in that streak (ties were not uncommon in the days before stadium lights) and the record for consecutive wins with no ties is 22, held by the Cleveland Indians in 2017. On March 30, 2005 , the Athletics were sold to a group fronted by real estate developer Lewis Wolff , although the majority owner is John J. Fisher , son of The Gap, Inc. 's founder. Wolff, though a Los Angeles businessman, had successfully developed many real estate projects in and around San Jose . The previous ownership had retained Wolff to help them find an adequate parcel on which to construct

13447-562: Was finally showing some improvement and the team playing better, minority owners George and Gordon Gund persuaded Swig to seek approval to move the team to their hometown of Cleveland . The team's final game in Oakland was a win over the Los Angeles Kings on April 4, 1976; league approval for the move was granted on July 14, and the team was renamed the " Cleveland Barons " after the city's old AHL squad. Unfortunately, details were not finalized until less than six weeks before

13566-557: Was named American League MVP in 2000, and Tejada won an MVP Award of his own in 2002, a year which also saw Zito win 23 games and the Cy Young Award . On May 29, 2000, Randy Velarde achieved an unassisted triple play against the Yankees. In the sixth, second baseman Velarde caught Shane Spencer 's line drive, tagged Jorge Posada running from first to second, and stepped on second before Tino Martinez could return. (Velarde had also pulled off an unassisted triple play during

13685-441: Was often seen on trading cards and other unofficial material, but was never adopted by the team. The Seals are remembered for wearing white skates, but initially Torrey convinced Finley to use green and gold painted skates instead, as team-colored skates were a trend of the period. However, this was all for naught, as the Seals finished with the worst record in the NHL that year. Other innovations that Finley's Seals incorporated, were

13804-527: 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 was replaced by former Boston Red Sox manager Dick Williams . The Athletics, following two consecutive second-place finishes, finally claimed

13923-564: Was tantamount to a fire sale similar to the sales he voided a year earlier. He also claimed that adding Blue to the Reds' already formidable pitching staff would make a mockery of the National League West race. Later, Finley sent Doug Bair to the Reds in a deal that Kuhn deemed a true trade. At the same time, Blue was traded across the bay to the San Francisco Giants in a multi-player trade that likewise received

14042-698: Was the franchise's third relocation after Philadelphia and Kansas City . The move also marked the end of professional major league sports in Oakland, as the California Golden Seals of the NHL , who had played at the next door Oakland Arena , relocated to Cleveland in 1976, the Golden State Warriors of the NBA , who also played at Oakland Arena, moved across the bay to San Francisco in 2019 and their former co-tenant Oakland Raiders of

14161-589: Was voted the AL Rookie of the Year in 2005, the second year in a row an Athletic won that award, shortstop Bobby Crosby having won in 2004. For the fifth straight season, third baseman Eric Chavez won the AL Gold Glove Award at that position. The 2006 season brought the A's back to the postseason after a three-year absence. After finishing the season at 93–69, four games ahead of the Angels ,

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