The Best Oakland Athletics of All Time
This is a list of the greatest Oakland Athletics ever. Founded in Philadelphia in 1901, the team now known as the Oakland Athletics (or Oakland A's) were one of the eight original American League franchises. The team's early years were marked by contending squads and the Athletics won the World Series five times (1910, 1911, 1913, 1929, 1930) during its tenure in the City of Brotherly Love. In 1955, the team left Philadelphia for Kansas City, where the team saw little success. Upon moving to Oakland ahead of the 1968 season, the A's had a resurgence and the team had a strong run of success through the mid 1970s capturing three straight World Series titles from 1972 through 1974.
The Oakland Athletics of the mid-70s featured some of the best players in A's history. Reggie Jackson, who earned the name "Mr. October" for his timely hitting during the playoffs, is one of the greatest players not only in Athletics history, but is one of the greatest players of all time. Jackson was a key cog in those championship teams' engine. He won the AL MVP award in 1973 along with the World Series MVP during the same season. Other key players from those teams included Catfish Hunter, Vida Blue and Rollie Fingers.
While the Bash Brothers (Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire were a big attraction in the late '80s, the Moneyball A's of the early 2000s featured some of the greatest players in team history. Behind the leadership of General Manager Billy Beane, the team featured one of the best pitching trios in team history (Tim Hudson, Barry Zito and Mark Mulder), powerhitting sluggers (Jason Giambi, Miguel Tejada) and one of the most underrated players in the game (Eric Chavez). These A's became pop culture phenomenons when they were subject of the 2011 film Moneyball starring Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill.
This is a list of the greatest Oakland A's of All Time. If you see someone who should be on this list, feel free to add him. Vote and rerank this list as you deem fit.- Left fielder
- Designated hitter, Right fielder, Outfielder
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