On Thursday, the Athletics played their final game in Oakland, leaving behind a trail of memories, highlights, and lowlights. After Mason Miller wrapped up Oakland’s 3-2 victory over the Texas Rangers with his 28th save, the fans paid an emotional farewell to their heroes. Oakland broadcaster Jenny Cavnar said it best: “Today, there is crying in baseball.”
As Athletics Leave Oakland, Five Lowlights
Eventually, the A’s will move to Las Vegas, taking a route that would make Ferdinand Magellan proud, stopping in Sacramento for two years, give or take. On this sad occasion for Oakland, let’s hope its denizens still have a sense of humor as we look at these not-so-stellar moments.
Andrews Fired
A’s owner, Charlie Finley, stepped on an elevator in the Oakland Coliseum. Game 2 of the 1973 World Series had just concluded. It was already crowded with several reporters and his pitcher, Vida Blue. Finley asked, “This thing going up or down?” Told it was going up, Finley roared, “Well, take it down.” On the way down, he looked to the back of the elevator and asked, “Is Mike Andrews back there? I want to talk to him.”
You see, the A’s lost the game, 10-7, in 12 innings to the New York Mets, allowing them to even the Series at a game apiece. The game was hardly a masterpiece. There were six errors, five by the Athletics, and several other lowlights. Two of those errors were made by second baseman Andrews on consecutive plays with two outs in the 12th. They paved the way for the Mets to score three unearned runs to add to the run they already had in the 12th, rendering the run scored by Oakland in the bottom of the inning mere window dressing.
The Athletics then put Andrews on what was then known as the disabled list in those less-enlightened times. “As far as I’m concerned, he has a bad shoulder,” Finley told the media. Finley requested permission from Commissioner Bowie Kuhn to replace Andrews on the roster with Manny Trillo. Yet Andrews’ teammates smelled a rat as Andrews packed his bags and headed for a flight to his Boston home. They considered boycotting the rest of the Series but relented because some of their lower-paid players needed the World Series money.
No, Andrews Rehired
Indeed, when he descended from that elevator, Finley forced Andrews to sign a false affidavit to the effect that he was injured. Kuhn acted quickly, denying Finley’s request, citing a report from Oakland’s medical staff regarding Andrews’ condition. Andrews rejoined the team in New York. He made one more appearance in the Series, pinch-hitting in Game 4, won by the Mets, 6-1. As he strode to the plate, the Mets fans gave Andrews a standing ovation.
That incident, among others, caused a rift between Finley and his manager Dick Williams. Williams resigned after the season despite leading the A’s to two straight world championships. Al Dark, the feisty former shortstop best known for his time with the New York Giants, was tabbed to replace Williams.
“Finley is Going to Hell”
Under Dark, Oakland won a third consecutive World Series in 1974 and took them to the American League Champion Series in 1975, losing to the Boston Red Sox. During that time, Dark had become a born-again Christian. Addressing a congregation in September 1975, Dark said, “If [Finley] doesn’t accept Jesus Christ as his personal savior, he’s going to hell.” Finley fired Dark after that season, proclaiming him “too busy with church activities.” It had to be the only time in baseball history that a manager denounced his boss from the pulpit. This might be the most amusing of all the lowlights in Athletics history.
No Sales
By 1975, baseball’s reserve clause was struck down by arbitrator Peter Seitz. The seeds for free agency and baseball’s salary explosion were being planted and Finley was displeased about it. There was no rule against sales of players, but none had occurred for 20 years as a matter of policy among baseball’s 24 owners. Then came the “Tuesday Night Massacre” of June 15, 1976. That’s when Finley sold Blue to the New York Yankees for $1.5 million and reliever Rollie Fingers and left fielder Joe Rudi to the Red Sox for $1 million each. Always averse to high player salaries, Finley told United Press International, “I just refuse to let these athletes drive me into bankruptcy with their astronomical, unjustified [contract] demands.”
The other owners demanded that Kuhn void the sales. The loudest voices belonged to Minnesota Twins owner Calvin Griffith and Texas Rangers owner Brad Corbett. Why they protested the exit of three All-Stars from the AL West Division, where they both competed, is baffling. Griffith was liable to say anything. He explained moving the original Washington Senators to Minnesota in 1961 by saying that Minnesota had fewer blacks and “blacks don’t go to baseball games.” Discussing a slump by his newlywed catcher Butch Wynegar, Griffith said, “Instead of doing his running around the outfield, he did his running around the bedroom,” apparently unaware that sexual activity involves little, if any, running. As for Corbett in Texas, he may have been suffering from heatstroke.
The Village Idiot
One never knew what to expect from Kuhn. In 1974, he skipped the game when Henry Aaron hit his 715th career home run, breaking Babe Ruth’s record. On June 16, Kuhn halted Finley’s sales pending his review of whether they were in the best interests of baseball. Kuhn ordered the three players to remain with the A’s, although they were not permitted to participate in their games. Finally, Kuhn voided the sales on June 18. Finley famously called Kuhn “the village idiot” and vowed to fight the decision in court and rebuild the A’s into a contender. As it happened, Blue never joined the Yankees. Fingers and Rudi never joined the Red Sox. The A’s next played in the postseason in 1981, after Finley had sold the team.
Gross Holds His Own Fan Appreciation Day
Getting to the lighter side of the lowlights of Athletics history, we jump to the evening of April 17, 1979. The temperature in Oakland was 40 degrees. A cold wind whipped from the bay. It had rained during the day. The Athletics were lousy. Their record was 2-9 and they were playing the 5-7 Seattle Mariners. The paid attendance was 653. About 400 of them stayed home. A’s first baseman Dave Revering tried to count the people from his spot on the field. United Press International said it was “the smallest crowd since the A’s moved to the West Coast 11 years ago.” They were too generous. Actually, it was believed to be the smallest crowd anywhere in major league baseball history.
The A’s won, 6-5, thanks to catcher Jim Essian’s two-out RBI single in the bottom of the ninth inning. After the game, A’s third baseman Wayne Gross, who had gone 2-for-3 with two runs scored, went into the stands and thanked each fan individually for coming.
Picciolo Walks
Versatile infielder Rob Picciolo, who played from 1977-85 mainly with the A’s, was an odd case. Despite a career slash line of .234/.246/.312, he refused to help his stats by drawing walks. In 1,720 career plate appearances, he walked just 25 times, once intentionally.
Picciolo took that to extremes in 1980. On October 2, he was penciled in to start at shortstop in Oakland’s 160th game of the season, at Chicago against the White Sox. He had yet to draw a walk in 1980. On the mound for Chicago was Richard Dotson. In the top of the fifth, Picciolo led off with a walk. When ball four went wide of the plate, Picciolo tossed his bat in disgust. Dotson may have thought Picciolo would swing at the pitch to keep his non-walking streak alive. Dotson may also have been messing with him because the game was meaningless for both teams. However, when Rickey Henderson followed with a home run, Dotson probably regretted walking Picciolo.
After Picciolo walked, the umpires stopped the game and presented him with the ball. Picciolo drew a second walk in game number 162 in Milwaukee.
The Last Word
Finley sold the Athletics after the 1980 season. There were lowlights after that, of course, but without Finley, the Athletics just weren’t very funny anymore. Nevertheless, A’s fans would surely trade current owner John Fisher for Finley right about now.
Main Photo Credits: Ed Szczepanski-Imagn Images
