Full Description
This is a straightforward history of the Athletics franchise, from its Connie Mack years in Philadelphia with teams featuring Eddie Collins, Chief Bender, Jimmy Foxx, Mickey Cochrane and Lefty Grove, through its 13 years in Kansas City, under Arnold Johnson and Charles O. Finley, and on to its great years in Oakland--with the three World Series wins featuring Catfish Hunter, Reggie Jackson, Sal Bando and Vida Blue, and the conflicts with Finley--as well as the less successful seasons that followed, then the Series sweep in 1989, and ending up with the unusual operation of the club by Billy Beane.
Contents
Table of Contents
Introduction: One Ball Club, Through the Years 1
1. Mister Mack Comes to Town 5
2. Getting Settled in the Quaker City 12
3. Mister Mack's First Dynasty 20
4. To the Bottom 30
5. The Greatest Team 37
6. To the Bottom Again 48
7. The End in Philadelphia 62
8. To Kansas City and a Good First Year 71
9. A Yankees Farm Team? 82
10. Charlie O. Takes Over 93
11. Playing Out the String in Kansas City 105
12. A New Start on the West Coast 116
13. The Mustache Gang! 128
14. On Top of the World 137
15. The A's Carry On After Williams 145
16. The Last Years of Charlie Finley 153
17. New Blood in Oakland 164
18. To the Top Again 170
19. Another Ride 179
20. Billy Beane on the Scene 187
21. Still Doing Well 197
22. Losers Again, but Then ... 204
Epilogue 216
Chapter Notes 219
Bibliography 227
Index 231
