#25 John Autin: You're right about Finley's struggles in the mid-70s. I've lived in or near Oakland my whole life, and can tell you about how tough a nut the East Bay is to crack, though they had a very strong period in the late 80s- early 90s- the fan base just isn't strong enough to sustain the low periods.

The truth is a bit more complex.

-- Reggie Jackson was traded after '75, along with Ken Holtzman, for Don Baylor and Mike Torrez. This was actually a pretty good trade for Oakland. Baylor was 3 years younger than Reggie and coming off an outstanding year; both hitters were going to be free agents after one season. Baylor might have been expected to be a *small* downgrade vs. Reggie, and when he had an off year in '76 it turned out to be a moderate downgrade -- but that was still offset by the pitcher swap. Holtzman won just 23 games after leaving Oakland, while Torrez had a fine '76 with the A's and totaled 104 wins after the trade.

-- Only 2 deals were voided by commissioner Bowie Kuhn, both sales: Rollie Fingers and Joe Rudi to Boston for $1 million each, and Vida Blue to the Yankees for $1.5 million. Had those deals not been voided, Finley might have used the cash to retain some of his other stars. Instead, Fingers and Rudi left as free agents after '76, as did Gene Tenace, Sal Bando and Bert Campaneris. Blue stayed with the A's through 1977, then was traded to SF for 7 players and $100,000.

-- Although Kuhn's decision was upheld in court, its wisdom is dubious. At the least, it seems to reflect little foresight about just how much the business of baseball was changing with the advent of free agency.

P.S. Finley had many flaws, both as a businessman and as a human being. But there's no doubt that he had a legitimate financial struggle in the mid-'70s. Despite winning 5 straight division titles and 3 straight WS championships, the team's attendance was mediocre at best, averaging less than 1 million; their 3rd straight crown in '74 saw attendance of just 846,000. Now, this is partly his own fault for choosing to move the club to Oakland from KC; on the other hand, his first choice for the move was Dallas, which would have been a more lucrative market, but the AL owners denied him.

I put all my money in Baseball Cards.

🙂

Charlie Finley was responsible for many of the "A's" characteristics like the Kelly Green & Gold uniforms, the white shoes, and the facial hair (I have heard that he paid players to grow mustaches - unsubstantiated).

Finley also did a lot to help along free agency as he tried to trade all of the A's high-priced stars in ridiculos trades (many of which were voided by the league). The players eventually left during free-agency and that is why the 1976 team is vastly different from the 1977 team.

Finally, Charlie was responsible for the Kansas City A's stopping the practice of trading with the Yankees (old guys for young stars - i.e. Hank Bauer for Roger Maris), that had gone on for a long time. Coincidentally, that change happened in the mid-60's just as the Yanks started their first real World Series slump since 1920.

I believe the concept of the "A's" was Charlie Finley's choice. I believe he informally changed the team name soon after he gained sole ownership Late 1960's. I guess Topps decided to make the same change full-time in 1972. He sold the team in 1981. New ownership must have decided to go back to "Athletics" and Topps followed suit in 1983.