LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — The Athletics franchise was founded in Philadelphia in 1901, one of eight charter members of the new American League. The origin of the Athletics name dates to the 1860s, when it was used by the Athletic Club of Philadelphia, an amateur baseball team in the city.
The franchise’s glory years were in Philadelphia and later in Oakland. In between, there was Kansas City. Las Vegas will be the franchise’s fourth home.
In a timeline, here’s a history of the storied franchise:
The Philadelphia years
1901 – The Philadelphia Athletics baseball club becomes part of the new American Baseball League. Cornelius McGillicuddy, known professionally as Connie Mack, a catcher who broke into the big leagues in 1886, becomes manager. Contrary to some stories, he did not shorten his name to make it fit on lineup cards of the day; Connie Mack was what his family called him from a young age. Mack manages the team until 1950.
1902 – The Athletics sign high-priced players, which riles New York Giants manager John McGraw. With big salaries and an expensive ballpark, the Athletics are “white elephants,” McGraw says, using a term at the time that defined financial failure. He dismisses them with contempt. In turn, Mack runs with the white elephant as the team’s emblem or logo. Behind left-hander Rube Waddell, an established National League ace in previous stops with Louisville, Pittsburgh and Chicago, the Athletics win the American League pennant. Waddell is 24-7 with a 2.05 earned run average and a league-best 210 strikeouts.
1905 – The A’s win the American League but lose the best-of-seven World Series in five games. New York Giants right-hander Christy Matthewson pitches shutouts in Games 1, 3 and 5. It’s the second of the modern day World Series.
1909 – Mack forms the team’s $100,000 infield — first baseman Stuffy McInnis, second baseman Eddie Collins, shortstop Jack Barry and third baseman Frank “Home Run” Baker. The four spark the A’s to World Series wins in 1910, 1911 and 1913. In the same year, Philadelphia’s Shibe Park is dedicated before a record crowd of 31,160.
1910 – Eddie Plank has a bad arm and can’t work in the World Series. Mack uses only two pitchers – Charles “Chief” Bender and Jack Coombs – to get five complete games. The A’s win their first World Series, beating the Chicago Cubs in five games.
1911 – Frank Baker leads the AL for the first time in homers with 11. He hits two in the World Series and is forever known as “Home Run” Baker. The A’s beat the Giants in five games to repeat as World Series champs.
1913 – Eddie Plank outduels Christy Mathewson. His two-hitter cliches the World Series in five games; A;s over the Giants again.
1914 – The favored A’s, American League champs, are upset, swept in four games by the Boston’s “Miracle Braves”.
1917 – Plank, who made his major league debut with the Athletics in 1901, retires after finishing the season with the St. Louis Americans. His career record: 326-194.
1925 – Mack signs 17-year-old Jimmie Foxx and he converts the catcher to a first baseman. He becomes a regular at the position in 1928. Soon, Foxx is being called “the right-handed Babe Ruth.”
1927 – Ty Cobb, at age 40, joins the A’s, signing a contract for $85,000. He will play his last two seasons in Philadelphia.
1929 – What some historians call the best team in the sport’s history, Mack’s 1929 A’s win 104 games and beat the NL champion Chicago Cubs for the World Series in five games. Catcher Mickey Cochrane (.331 average, 95 RBI), outfielder Al Simmons (.365 average, 212 hits, 34 HRs, 157 RB) and Foxx (.354 average, 33 HRs, 118 RBI) are among the stars.
1931 – Lefty Grove goes 31-4 as one of Mack’s finest teams wins 107 games. The A’s lose to the St. Louis Cardinals in a hard-fought seven-game World Series.
1932 – A’s right-hander Eddie Rommel pitches 17 innings in relief, giving up a record 33 hits vs. Cleveland in a game that goes 18 innings, an 18-17 Philadelphia victory
1934 – In the first “legal” professional Sunday game in the city of Philadelphia, the Phillies and A’s meet in a City Series contest before 15,000 fans at Shibe Park.
1939 – The first AL night game is played at Shibe Park, with the A’s losing to Cleveland 8-3 in 10 innings.
1941 – The city of Philadelphia and the state of Pennsylvania declare a legal holiday to honor the A’s manager on Connie Mack Day at Shibe Park.
1943 – The Athletics lose their 20th consecutive game, matching an AL record.
1947 – Rookie Bill McCahan of the Athletics no-hits the Washington Senators 3-0.
1950 – Connie Mack’s son, Earl, who had been assistant manager, assumes the duties of chief scout. Earl, who had hoped to succeed his father as manager, is replaced by Jimmie Dykes. Mickey Cochrane is named general manager.
1951 – The Athletics play their first home Opening Day night game, losing to the Washington Senators 6-1.
1954 – Slugger Gus Zernial hits the last grand slam in the history of the Philadelphia Athletics franchise in a 6-5 win over the Red Sox. Under manager Eddie Joost, the A’s go 51-103-2 and finish eighth. The team is sold to Arnold Johnson and moves to Kansas City.
The Kansas City years
1955 – The Athletics open their first season in Kansas City with a 6-2 win over the Tigers before 32,844 at Municipal Stadium. They finish sixth under manager Lou Boudreau.
1957 – Athletics acquire Billy Martin from the Yankees due to fallout over the famous Copacabana incident, a brawl that involves New York slugger Mickey Mantle and several other stars.
1958 – The A’s beat Boston 11-4, but Boston’s Ted Williams hits a homer in the ninth, becoming the 10th MLB player with 1,000 extra-base hits.
1959 – Athletics reliever George Brunet allows five bases-loaded walks and a bases-loaded HBP, as the White Sox score 11 runs on one hit in the seventh. The A’s fall 20-6.
1960 – Businessman Charles O. Finley purchases controlling interest in the Kansas City Athletics.
1961 – The A’s hit three consecutive triples in a decisive five-run third inning while trimming the Yankees 9-6 after a first-game loss 6-1.
1962 – Finley is denied permission to move the Athletics to Dallas-Fort Worth.
1966 – John “Blue Moon” Odom, who becomes a key performer for the A’s in Oakland, pitches 8 1/3 scoreless innings as the team runs its shutout streak to 45 1/3 consecutive innings.
1967 – A’s pinch-running specialist Allan Lewis ties the MLB record with two steals in one inning. In October, during the World Series, AL owners approve of the Athletics’ move to Oakland. Finley chooses the Bay Area over Seattle.
The Oakland years
1968 – The A’s debut at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum by losing 4-1 to Baltimore. Under manager Bob Kennedy, the A’s go 82-80, but there are highlights. Oakland’s Jim “Catfish” Hunter pitches a perfect game against the Twins, winning 3-0. Hunter, 22, has the first perfect game in the AL regular season in 46 years, striking out 11 and driving in all three runs.
1970 – Oakland uses gold-colored bases during the club’s home opener. The rules committee subsequently bans this innovation.
1971 -The Orioles overcome two Reggie Jackson HRs to complete a sweep of Oakland in the American League Championship Series with a 5-3 victory.
1972 – The A’s win the first of three consecutive World Series, with Gene Tenace as the surprise hero. Tenace becomes the first player to homer in his first two WS at-bats, earning the MVP trophy. The A’s defeat the Cincinnati Reds in seven games.
1973 – Catfish Hunter pitches a five-hitter as Oakland wins 3-0 to take the AL pennant. The A’s beat the New York Mets in a thrilling seven-game World Series. Reggie Jackson is selected Series MVP.
1974 – Joe Rudi hits the first pitch from Dodgers ace reliever Mike Marshall for a homer for a 3-2 victory in a decisive Game 5. It marks the third straight World Series win for Oakland. Dick Green, the A’s second baseman, put on a brilliant defensive exhibition in the Series, and reliever Rollie Fingers is Series MVP.
1976 – The A’s trade prospective free agents Reggie Jackson and Ken Holtzman, a left-handed pitcher, to the Orioles.
1977 – Rickey Henderson of the Modesto A’s (California League) steals seven bases to tie the minor league record. Henderson will steal 95 in 134 games.
1978 – The U.S. Court of Appeals upholds an earlier court decision in support of Commissioner Bowie Kuhn’s voiding of attempted player sales by owner Charlie Finley in June 1976. The owner wanted to peddle Joe Rudi, Rollie Fingers and Vida Blue. Finley’s appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court will be rejected on Oct. 2.
1979 – Only 653 fans show up at Oakland Alameda County Stadium to watch the A’s beat the Mariners 6-5.
1980 – Oakland’s Rick Langford (13-9) defeats the Mariners 11-3 for his 17th consecutive complete game, the most in the majors since 1953.
1984 – Oakland’s Dave Kingman becomes the 21st player to hit 400 career home runs.
1986 – Oakland’s Jose Rijo sets a club record with 16 strikeouts in eight innings as the A’s beat Seattle 7-2.
1987 – One day after hitting three home runs in Oakland’s 13-3 rout of the Indians, A’s rookie first baseman Mark McGwire hits two more in a 10-0 Oakland romp to tie the MLB record of five homers in two games.
1988 – Oakland beats Detroit 3-1 to extend its club-record winning streak to 14 consecutive games, the longest in the majors since 1977.
1989 – Prior to the start of Game 3 of the World Series at Candlestick Park, an earthquake measuring 7.1 on the Richter scale devastates large parts of the Bay Area. The tragedy, the first of its kind to strike the World Series, forced postponement of the third game and caused Commissioner Fay Vincent to consider a change of venue for the rest of the Series. When the Series anticlimactically resumes 12 days later at San Francisco, the A’s completed a sweep by winning back-to-back slugfests. Oakland beat Toronto 4-3 to win the ALCS 4-1 and advance to the World Series for the second straight year.
1990 – Rickey Henderson steals his 893rd career base in Oakland’s 2-1 loss to the Blue Jays, surpassing Ty Cobb as the AL’s all-time leader.
1991 – Oakland’s Rickey Henderson garners his 939th career stolen base in the fourth inning of a game against the Yankees to break Lou Brock’s all-time mark.
1992 – Rickey Henderson steals the 1,000th base of his career in the 1st inning of the A’s 7-6 win over Detroit.
1993 – Rickey Henderson steals his 24th base in a 4-0 loss to the White Sox. The stealis the 1,066th of his career. He surpasses the 1,065 steals by Yutaka Fukumoto, who played in Japan from 1970 to 1988.
1994 – Oakland’s Bobby Witt misses a perfect game, in a 4-0 one-hitter against the Kansas City Royals. Umpire Gary Cederstrom calls Greg Gagne safe at first in the sixth inning, the Royals only hit, but TV replays show that Gagne was out.
1995 – Mark McGwire hits three consecutive HRs in an 8-1 win over the Red Sox after hitting two in a game the day before. He ties again the MLB mark of five HRs in two straight games.
1996 – The Athletics open the season in Las Vegas since renovations to the Oakland Coliseum are not finished. It is the first time since Sept. 3, 1957, that major league teams have played a regular-season game in a minor league park.
2000 – A’s ace Tim Hudson records his 20th victory on the last day of the season; the A’s would clinch the AL West by 1/2 game.
2001 – Oakland finishes 102-60, good enough for second in the division and a wild-card ticket to the playoffs — a second consecutive American League Division Series matchup against the Yankees.
2002 – Oakland gives its fans one of the most memorable seasons in recent history by putting together 20 consecutive wins between August 13 and Sept. 4 — the longest winning streak in AL history. The A’s finish first in their division but lose the American League Division Series in five games to the Minnesota Twins. The 2002 season also is the subject of Michael Lewis’ 2003 best-selling book “Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game,” which was later adapted into the Academy Award nominated film “Moneyball,” starring Brad Pitt as A’s GM Billy Beane.
2003 – But the A’s suffer a familiar October heartbreak, losing for a fourth straight year in the ALDS. This time to Boston in five games.
2004 – Despite winning at least 91 games for the fifth consecutive season, the A’s were unable to make the playoffs, falling one game short of the American League West title.
2006 – After winning 93 games and winning the AL West by four games, Oakland beats Minnesota in three games before being swept by the Tigers in the ALCS. Oakland was led by the resurgence of Frank Thomas, 38, who had 39 HRs and 114 RBI.
2010 – With an 81-81 record, the A’s post their first non-losing record in four years, staying in contention in the American League West until late September.
2012 – The A’s go 94-68, second best record in the American League and tied for fourth best in MLB. Oakland wins the AL West but lost to Detroit in the ALDS.
2013 – The A’s return to postseason play for the second consecutive season after claiming their sixth American League West title in the last 14 years. For the second consecutive season, the A’s are knocked from the postseason by Detroit.
2014 – The A’s lose in the Wild Card, falling 9-8 in 12 innings to Kansas City.
2018 – The A’s fall to the Yankees in the Wild Card.
2019 – The A’s lose to Tampa Bay in the Wild Card.
2020 – Oakland knocks off Chicago in the Wild Card Series, then fall to Houston the best-of-five ALDS, losing in four games.
2021 – The A’s finish better than .500 for a fourth consecutive season, going 86-76.
2023 – The A’s sign a binding agreement to buy 49 acres to build a ballpark in Las Vegas.
Sources: MLB.com, baseballreference.com, Baseball Hall of Fame
