60 free Oakland Athletics trivia questions with answers — sports quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
This Oakland Athletics trivia quiz follows the A's from Connie Mack's Philadelphia dynasties through 13 odd years in Kansas City to the Coliseum, and on to their temporary Sacramento home. There are questions on the white elephant and the Missouri mule, Charlie Finley's orange baseballs and mustache bonuses, Catfish Hunter's perfect game, Vida Blue, Reggie Jackson and the three straight titles of 1972-74, Billyball and Rickey Henderson's 130 steals, the Bash Brothers, Dennis Eckersley and Kirk Gibson, the earthquake World Series of 1989, and Billy Beane's 20-game winning streak that became Moneyball. The Coliseum gets a round too: the shared home with the Raiders, Mount Davis, the record foul territory and the final game in 2024, plus the uniforms, Stomper, retired numbers, the Bay Bridge Series and the planned move to Las Vegas. Easy questions suit any A's fan; the hard ones are for people who remember Harvey the mechanical rabbit. Every answer has been checked against an encyclopaedic source and each question shows its citation once you have answered.
30 of 60 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01The A's moved from Kansas City to Oakland ahead of which season?
1968
Their first Oakland game, on April 17, was a 4-1 loss to Baltimore in front of 50,164 fans.
Q 02How many World Series championships has the Athletics franchise won, second-most in the American League?
9
Five came in Philadelphia, four in Oakland; the last was the 1989 sweep of the Giants.
Q 03Which manager ran the Athletics for their first 50 years, wearing a business suit in the dugout?
Connie Mack
He holds the records for most wins (3,731) and most losses in MLB history, and directed fielders by waving a rolled-up scorecard.
Q 04The A's white elephant mascot began as a jibe from which rival manager?
John McGraw
The A's manager adopted the insult and presented McGraw with a stuffed toy elephant at the start of the 1905 World Series.
Q 05In Kansas City, Charlie Finley replaced the elephant with which animal, the state animal of Missouri?
A mule
He named the real live animal 'Charlie O' after himself and paraded it at the ballpark.
Q 06The A's costumed elephant mascot was renamed what in 1997?
Stomper
Before that the character went by Harry Elephante, a pun on singer Harry Belafonte.
Q 07Which team colours did Charlie Finley introduce, replacing the traditional red, white and blue?
Kelly green and gold
He also insisted on white cleats, a tradition that outlived him by decades.
Q 08From 1972 to 1980 the club's official name was what, at Finley's insistence?
Oakland A's
He wanted 'Athletics' gone because it evoked the old Philadelphia manager; the Haas family restored it in 1981 while keeping the nickname for marketing.
Q 09Which pitcher threw a perfect game for the A's against Minnesota on May 8, 1968?
Catfish Hunter
It was the American League's first regular-season perfect game since 1922.
Q 10The A's won three consecutive World Series in which years?
1972, 1973 and 1974
No team other than the Yankees has won three straight since.
Q 11The 1972 World Series between the A's and Reds was dubbed 'The Hairs vs.' what?
The Big Squares
Cincinnati required players to be clean-shaven while Finley was paying his players bonuses for facial hair.
Q 12Charlie Finley offered his players $300 each to grow what by Father's Day 1972?
A mustache
Every other team banned facial hair at the time; a book about the club was titled 'Mustache Gang'.
Q 13Which A's pitcher won the 1971 AL Cy Young and MVP, then had Finley threaten to send him to the minors?
Vida Blue
Commissioner Bowie Kuhn had to step into the contract dispute, as he had for the club's young slugger two years earlier.
Q 21Rickey Henderson set the single-season stolen base record in 1982 with how many?
130
He is the only AL player ever to steal 100 in a season and did it three times, all with Oakland.
Q 22Rickey Henderson retired with how many stolen bases, nearly 50% more than Lou Brock's record?
1,406
He graduated from Oakland Technical High School, where he was an All-American running back.
Q 23Which family, of Levi Strauss & Co. fame, bought the A's from Charlie Finley in 1980?
Haas
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.
Q 14Which reserve second baseman did Finley force to sign a false injury affidavit in the 1973 World Series?
Mike Andrews
Commissioner Kuhn reversed it, and the player got a standing ovation from Mets fans when he pinch-hit in Game 4.
Q 15Which A's slugger was named AL MVP in 1973 and MVP of that year's World Series against the Mets?
Reggie Jackson
He later became the first player to win World Series MVP with two different teams, adding the 1977 award with the Yankees.
Q 16The A's beat which team in the 1974 World Series to complete their three-peat?
Los Angeles Dodgers
Alvin Dark managed that team; afterwards the club's ace won a grievance over an unpaid insurance premium and became a free agent.
Q 17Which future rap star did Charlie Finley hire as a teen executive VP, his 'eyes and ears'?
MC Hammer
Stanley Burrell earned the nickname 'Hammer' around the clubhouse for his resemblance to Hank Aaron.
Q 18What was the mechanical rabbit that delivered balls to the umpire at Finley's ballparks named?
Harvey
He also pushed orange baseballs, which made the cover of Time magazine in 1975 but never caught on.
Q 19One of Finley's ball girls later founded which famous cookie company?
Mrs. Fields
The A's were among the first clubs to use ball girls at all.
Q 20Which manager's aggressive style was marketed as 'Billyball' when the A's revived under him in 1980?
Billy Martin
A Berkeley native, he built the team around young stars Rickey Henderson, Mike Norris, Tony Armas and Dwayne Murphy.
Q 24José Canseco and Mark McGwire were known collectively by what nickname?
The Bash Brothers
Canseco (1986), McGwire (1987) and Walt Weiss (1988) gave Oakland three straight AL Rookies of the Year.
Q 25Which manager led the A's to three straight pennants from 1988 to 1990?
Tony La Russa
He converted starter Dennis Eckersley into baseball's dominant closer after an injury to Jay Howell.
Q 26Whose pinch-hit walk-off homer off Dennis Eckersley stunned the A's in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series?
Kirk Gibson
Eckersley himself is credited with coining the phrase 'walk-off home run' to describe it; the Dodgers won in five.
Q 27The A's 1989 World Series sweep of the Giants was interrupted by what?
The Loma Prieta earthquake
It struck just before Game 3 with a national TV audience watching, and the Series was delayed ten days.
Q 28The heavily favoured 1990 A's were swept in the World Series by which team?
Cincinnati Reds
It was the second upset in three years for a club that won 104, 99 and 103 games across 1988-90.
Q 29The 1988 A's, first of three straight pennant winners, won how many regular-season games?
104
They followed with 99 wins in 1989 and 103 in 1990, the best record in baseball all three years.
Q 30The A's 'Big Three' rotation of 1999-2006 was Tim Hudson, Mark Mulder and whom?
Barry Zito
The trio went a combined 261-131, and the left-hander won 23 games and the Cy Young Award in 2002.