60 Fun Facts About Oakland Athletics

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

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

How many World Series championships has the Athletics franchise won, second-most in the American League?

Five came in Philadelphia, four in Oakland; the last was the 1989 sweep of the Giants.

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

He holds the records for most wins (3,731) and most losses in MLB history, and directed fielders by waving a rolled-up scorecard.

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

The A's manager adopted the insult and presented McGraw with a stuffed toy elephant at the start of the 1905 World Series.

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

He named the real live animal 'Charlie O' after himself and paraded it at the ballpark.

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

Before that the character went by Harry Elephante, a pun on singer Harry Belafonte.

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

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

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

He wanted 'Athletics' gone because it evoked the old Philadelphia manager; the Haas family restored it in 1981 while keeping the nickname for marketing.

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

It was the American League's first regular-season perfect game since 1922.

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

No team other than the Yankees has won three straight since.

The 1972 World Series between the A's and Reds was dubbed 'The Hairs vs.' what?

Cincinnati required players to be clean-shaven while Finley was paying his players bonuses for facial hair.

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

Every other team banned facial hair at the time; a book about the club was titled 'Mustache Gang'.

Which A's pitcher won the 1971 AL Cy Young and MVP, then had Finley threaten to send him to the minors?

Commissioner Bowie Kuhn had to step into the contract dispute, as he had for the club's young slugger two years earlier.

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

Commissioner Kuhn reversed it, and the player got a standing ovation from Mets fans when he pinch-hit in Game 4.

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

He later became the first player to win World Series MVP with two different teams, adding the 1977 award with the Yankees.

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

Alvin Dark managed that team; afterwards the club's ace won a grievance over an unpaid insurance premium and became a free agent.

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

Stanley Burrell earned the nickname 'Hammer' around the clubhouse for his resemblance to Hank Aaron.

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

He also pushed orange baseballs, which made the cover of Time magazine in 1975 but never caught on.

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

The A's were among the first clubs to use ball girls at all.

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

A Berkeley native, he built the team around young stars Rickey Henderson, Mike Norris, Tony Armas and Dwayne Murphy.

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

He is the only AL player ever to steal 100 in a season and did it three times, all with Oakland.

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

He graduated from Oakland Technical High School, where he was an All-American running back.

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

Walter Haas Jr. was honoured with a retired letter 'A' after his death in 1995, and the club changed its primary colour to forest green under his ownership.

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

Canseco (1986), McGwire (1987) and Walt Weiss (1988) gave Oakland three straight AL Rookies of the Year.

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

He converted starter Dennis Eckersley into baseball's dominant closer after an injury to Jay Howell.

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

Eckersley himself is credited with coining the phrase 'walk-off home run' to describe it; the Dodgers won in five.

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

It struck just before Game 3 with a national TV audience watching, and the Series was delayed ten days.

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

It was the second upset in three years for a club that won 104, 99 and 103 games across 1988-90.

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

They followed with 99 wins in 1989 and 103 in 1990, the best record in baseball all three years.

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

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

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

It ran from August 13 to September 4 and ended with Scott Hatteberg's pinch-hit homer to beat Kansas City 12-11.

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

He shocked baseball after 2004 by trading Hudson and Mulder while both were near their peak.

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

The film earned six Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture and Best Supporting Actor for Jonah Hill.

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

He left for the Yankees the next winter, and his replacement became a Moneyball plot point.

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

It came 42 years almost to the day after the club's first perfect game; he now works as a TV analyst on A's broadcasts.

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

The football team's 1996 return brought the upper deck fans nicknamed 'Mount Davis', after owner Al Davis.

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

That vast expanse turned many would-be souvenirs into routine popouts, and Bleacher Report ranked it the fifth-worst park in 2011 partly because of it.

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

A sellout crowd of 46,889 saw the last game after 57 seasons in the city.

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

Sutter Health Park, home of the Giants' Triple-A River Cats, hosted the club, which dropped its hometown to go by simply 'Athletics'.

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

The 33,000-seat, partially retractable ballpark was planned to open for the 2028 season.

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

Since the move to Sacramento it has been rebranded the Interstate 80 Series.

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

The A's won it the first year; the Giants held a 4-3 edge when the A's left Oakland.

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

The ceremony had been scheduled for 2020 and was delayed two years by the pandemic.

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

He beat out Rickey Henderson for that MVP vote and is one of the six players whose numbers the A's have retired.

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

He was inducted into the team's Hall of Fame in 2022 alongside Rudi and Eric Chavez.

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

Cashman Field hosted them, an early hint of the franchise's eventual destination.

Which businessman, son of the founders of The Gap, has been the A's majority owner since 2005?

Real estate developer Lew Wolff fronted the purchase; Fisher's ownership oversaw the departure from Oakland.

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

It was later renamed for the A's longtime manager and also housed the Phillies.

The Athletics left Philadelphia for Kansas City in which year?

New owner Arnold Johnson also owned Yankee Stadium, and the club spent 13 seasons there before heading west.

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

Jenny Cavnar called most games alongside a former A's pitcher turned analyst.

The Athletics' Philadelphia uniforms famously never carried what?

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

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

AL owners rejected it 9-1, with Finley the lone yes vote, and six weeks later rejected a move to Oakland by the same margin.

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

The Denver deal collapsed when Oakland and Alameda County refused to release the club from its lease; the Superdome was pencilled in for 1979.

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

Under the Haas family the club averaged over 1.9 million a year, a world away from the 306,763 who showed up in 1979.

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

He followed José Canseco and Mark McGwire as the rebuilt farm system paid off.

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

That same year Eric Chavez won his fifth straight Gold Glove at third base.

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

A month later they switched to a different Strip site, with a 33,000-seat retractable-roof plan approved by Nevada's legislature.

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

They later moved to Hohokam Stadium in Mesa, Arizona.

The A's honoured owner Walter A. Haas Jr. by retiring what?

Six numbers were also retired, one of them Jackie Robinson's 42, which MLB retired league-wide.

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

Official approval to move to Las Vegas came in November 2023, and 2024 was announced as the final Oakland season.