|
|
|
||
|
|
|
WELCOME TO
1974
- The "Team of The Century" - Sports
Illustrated
WORLD SERIES
CHAMPIONS
1972 -
1973 - 1974 PREVIEW
THE KANSAS CITY ATHLETICS HISTORY
DOCUMENTARY
American
League Champions 5 years in a row!
|
|
  Charlie O. Finley The controversial "Genius" who took his team to Glory |
|
The Finley Legacy: 1961 to 1980
Charlie O. Finley purchased Kansas City Athletics in 1961
Finley changed the team colors to green and gold
1968 moved team from Kansas City to Oakland
Started the designated hitter now in use in the American League
Started night games now standard in both leagues
Started night games for World Series games
3 consecutive world series champions (1972, 1973, 1974)
Post season contenders 5 years in a row ('71 through '75)
Playoffs again in 1979
First team to have bright vibrant team uniform colors
Charlie O. the Mule was team mascot, a gift from Governor of Missouri 1964
Charlie O. the Mule died in 1977, was cremated.
Team sold 1980
The 72-74 team selected as "Baseball Team of the Century" by Sports Illustrated in 2000
Promoted the use of orange baseballs for better visibility (never caught on)
CLOSE UP
AS IT WAS WRITTEN!
By Monte Moore in 1968
A's TV & radio announcer"It all started when the American League gave Charles O. Finley permission to move his baseball from Kansas City to Oakland. That occurred in mid-October of 1967 and immediately the work was cut out for the Finley organization ..."
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE
From the record book: The first year the A's were in Oakland Catfish Hunter pitched a perfect game.Pitcher Vida Blue joined the team a year after they moved to Oakland. He didn't get a lot of work the first several years, but in 1971 won 24 games and lost 8, with an ERA of 1.82!
Rickey Henderson - champion base stealer
Ricky Henderson, who spent most of his spectacular baseball career with the A's, was the most prolific base stealer in major-league history, with 1,406 stolen bases. Capable both of breaking a game open with a home run and of disrupting opponents' defenses with his base running, he was almost unique among leadoff hitters, perhaps the greatest in baseball history.
In 1982 Henderson stole 130 bases, a single-season record, and in 1991 he stole his 939th base, breaking Lou Brock's career record. In 2001 he stroked his 3,000th hit and broke Ty Cobb's career record for runs scored and Babe Ruth's for walks, ultimately scoring 2,295 runs and receiving 2,190 walks.
Sports Century ESPN
televised a specialCHARLIE O. FINLEY
August 2000
Interviewed were -
Former General Manager Carl A Finley
"Dugout Daughter"
Nancy H. Finley
M.C. Hammer - Garrett Smalley Jr.
ABOVE: Left, a young M.C. Hammer, aka Stanley Burrell, with a friend at the Oakland Coliseum in 1976. Charlie picked the then-unknown Burrell up in the Coliseum parking lot, took a liking to him, and soon had him announcing the game in the press box. Stanley became a regular around the stadium.
ABOVE: Miss Fire-Prevention takes a swing on "Hotpants Day" during the 1971 season.
"He was a tough guy and I learned a lot about demanding excellence and that helped mold my career. All in all, the difficulties we had improved us and we became better people. That's what it's all about."
- Reggie Jackson, on the death of Charlie O. Finley.
Above: Young Reggie
2009 REUNION
REUNION OF KANSAS CITY ATHLETICS TEAM OF 1967At Northern League game: KC T-Bones v. Gary Railcats
Community American BallPark
ABOVE: At KC T-Bones v. Gary IN Railcats game, at Community American Park, August 9 2009: From right, President of Kansas City Baseball Historical Society, Jeff Logan, Taylor Finley- King, Nancy Finley-King.
ABOVE: On the field at 2009 Reunion game: From left, Nancy Finley-King, Shari Smalley, wife of the late Garrett Smalley, JR.,, former publisher and editor of The Kansas City Daily Record. Smalley was a huge booster of the KC Arhletics.
Above: on the field at Reunion gamegame with T-Bones; Sheep in A's team colors. Charlie Finley often had sheep dyed in team colors at KC games. Petting a sheep is Taylor Finley-King, while at left mother Nancy Finley-King looks on.
ABOVE: Taylor Finley-King, now 16, pitches 1st pitch at reunion game (she was 10 when she threw the first pitch at an Oakland A's game at Oakland Coliseum in Oakland, CA - see pic at right, up.
WORLD SERIES
TEAM RECORDSThe Oakland A's and the St. Louis Cardinals share 2nd place for the most world series won over the last century. Below are the winning teams and the number of times they have won the series.
1. New York Yankees (26);
2. Oakland A's, Philadelphia, and St. Louis Cardinals (9)
3. Boston Red Sox and Brooklyn-Los Angeles Dodgers (6)
4. Cincinnati Reds, New York-San Francisco Giants and Pittsburgh Pirates (5)
5. Detroit Tigers (4);
6. Baltimore Orioles, Boston-Milwaukee-Atlanta Braves and Washington Senators-Minnesota Twins (3);
7. Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Cleveland Indians, Florida Marlins, New York Mets and Toronto Blue Jays (2).
THE OAKLAND ATHLETICS 1968 STARS FOR THEFIRST FULL SEASON OF PLAY IN OAKLAND
Who managed the A's during their 3-time consecutiveworld series championships:
1972 Dick Williams
1973 Dick Williams
1974 Alvin Dark
MEMORIES
If you wanted to be Charlie's friend, you had to kiss his ass.
ABOVE - : 1966 Miss America Debbie Bryant throwing out
"the first pitch" at opening night in Kansas City 1967. Catfish
Hunter looks on behind.
ABOVE: Catfish Hunter tries his skill on the "Milking contest"
night 1967.
ABOVE, from left, Ernie and Pam Fazio, Mrs. and Mr. Jim Hunter, 1967.
1979, Carl Finley, the "unseen hand" behind the team's success,
with his daughter, Nancy Finley, the A's "Dugout Daughter."
She came of age amid the tumult and glory of baseball history.ON THE OCCASION OF CARL FINLEY'S DEATH, U.S. SUPREME COURT
JUSTICE JOHN PAUL STEVENS PAID HIM TRIBUTE IN A LETTER
TO NANCY FINLEY.
COMES FULL CIRCLE: A quarter of a century later, Nancy's
daughter, Taylor Finley-King, age 10, throws out the first pitch at the Oakland A's game against the Detroit Tigers, April 23, 2003.
ABOVE: Taylor Finley-King, age 10, gets a hug from legendary Reggie Jackson. Taylor is the grand-daughter of A's Vice-President Carl Finley, who managed the team's affairs during the big years. It will be a long time before young Taylor understands how Jackson and the Team of The Century imprinted a legacy of sacrifice and excellence that will affect her life.
THE A'S UNSEEN HAND: CARL A. FINLEY Seldom mentioned when conversation gets around to the A's great years is the name of another Finley ... in this case Charlie's cousin CARL A. FINLEY.
Carl did not seek attention to himself, but he played a huge role in the success of the A's, as General Manager and Vice-President of operations throughout the 70's. And unlike the controversial team owner, Carl was liked and respected by all who came in contact with him in the baseball world.
It is said, "Carl did the work of six, eight, even 25 individuals." Take a look at any MLB yearbook at the present time, at the number of front office employees the team carries, compared to the A's of the '70's; where Carl and three or four others handled all of the front office functions, there are now around 80 people!
In those days they didn't have an entire organization to handle World Series tickets; Carl and his teenage-daughter simply rented a vacant bank building in Oakland, and stored the tickets in the vault. Then, in the wee hours of the night they would slip into the vault and undertake the enormous task of opening envelopes from thousands of fans seeking to purchase tickets. Just the two of them!
During those years Carl was physically at the Oakland Coliseum on a daily basis.
Charlie counted on Carl and used him as a "sounding board" in daily early-morning phone conferences with him, from his Kansas farm. During these conferences Charlie liked to brainstorm ideas, and he typically trusted only Carl to hear them. These regular early-morning phone talks continued for many years after Charlie sold the tem.
In 1976 Charlie handed his voting proxy as a team owner to Carl, so Carl could vote in Charlie's stead at the annual MLB owner's meetings. Charlie stopped attending these meetings due to his conflict with then-commissioner Bowie Kuhn.
From 1976 on Carl took over even more day-to-day responsibilities.
At Billy Martin's (A's manager) behest, when the A's were sold to the Haas family, it was agreed Carl would remain as a V.P. Carl assisted the Haas family with the transition, and preparing for their first full season in 1981.
Before Carl joined the organization, he was a school principal in Dallas, Texas. Charlie begain calling him and urging him to drop everything and come to Kansas City to help him with the team. Though Carl initially resisted, he eventually gave in and resigned his position with the school district, packed up his family (wife Helen and daughter Nancy) and flew to Kansas City to begin a new life. Charlie quickly grew to depend on Carl to keep the organization functioning as smoothly as possible during those turbulent times.
Carl's daughter, Nancy, is currently writing her story of coming of age with baseball history, her father, and the greatest team of the century.
Nancy may be contacted by e-mail (see link at top)
HOSTED BY NANCY FINLEY-KING, the team's "Dugout Daughter." Nancy is the daughter of Carl Finley, Vice President of the Oakland A's organization for 22 years. Nancy resides in Dublin, California. Growing up, she wondered how it could be OK to steal a base. Decades later she is writing her story, "Dugout Daughter: Witness to Baseball History," expected to be released in 2010.
