#454 Oakland A’s

The Swingin' A’s...pardon the spelling....White shoes, mustaches, reflective of California lifestyle of the time.....Starting the last dynasty before the age of free agency....Second franchise to move two times, after the Braves...Established 1901 in the shared AL-NL city of Philadelphia...from the get go considered one and same with business suit attired manager, Connie Mack ...Sometimes very good possibly great (5 World Series Championships) and sometimes very bad (10 years of +100 losses)....last 20 years in Philly could be called "lean" at the gate and on the field.....As time wore on took a cue from the successful move from Boston to Milwaukee, the A’s go to Kansas City....not as successful, team never has a winning record and aside from first two years they were perpetually at the bottom in attendance...enter Charlie Finley and the West Coast. Circa 1968....First year out team finishes over .500 for first time since 1952...starts an excellent run of winning teams peaking with 3 consecutive World Championships....Finley balks at participating in Free Agency market and team suffers depths  lower than the KC days with a totally revamped lineup....despite some success via Billy Martin the 80’s don’t get going until the arrival of Tony La Russa....The Free Swingin A’s are able to repeats the three consecutive World Series appearances of 15 year earlier but only win one....team has not returned to fall classic since, but has been the focus of interesting times...Reflecting on records:  As with all original team, old records most likely will not be broken...only total pitching appearances have changed, but John Wyatt’s record is now firmly in second...still using the same stadium since 1968.