Oakland Athletics, 1968–2024

Green and gold. Mustaches. Rickey. Moneyball. For 57 seasons, Oakland gave the Athletics an identity all its own.

The A's Come West

The Athletics arrived in Oakland in 1968 after thirteen seasons in Kansas City and more than half a century before that in Philadelphia.

They brought the Athletics name with them, but Oakland gave the franchise a new personality.

Owner Charlie Finley's bright green and gold uniforms already stood apart from baseball tradition. In Oakland, so did the players wearing them.

The Swingin' A's

By the early 1970s, Oakland had assembled one of the greatest teams in baseball history.

Reggie Jackson.
Catfish Hunter.
Rollie Fingers.
Vida Blue.
Sal Bando.
Bert Campaneris.

The A's won the World Series in 1972, 1973 and 1974.

Only the New York Yankees have matched or exceeded three consecutive World Series championships.

They were talented, colorful and famously unpredictable. Facial hair was encouraged, Rollie Fingers perfected his handlebar mustache, and the team became known as the Mustache Gang and the Swingin' A's.

Rickey

Then came a player who seemed built for Oakland.

Rickey Henderson grew up in Oakland and debuted with the A's in 1979.

In 1982, he stole 130 bases, setting a Major League single-season record that still stands.

Henderson eventually became baseball's all-time stolen-base leader and one of the greatest leadoff hitters the game has ever seen.

The Battle of the Bay

Oakland returned to the World Series in 1988, 1989 and 1990.

The middle trip became unforgettable.

In 1989, the A's faced the San Francisco Giants in the Battle of the Bay.

Minutes before Game 3 was scheduled to begin at Candlestick Park, the Loma Prieta earthquake struck Northern California.

The World Series was suspended for ten days.

When play resumed, Oakland completed a four-game sweep to claim its fourth World Series championship since moving west.

Moneyball

The A's found another way to leave their mark in the early 2000s.

Working with limited payrolls, general manager Billy Beane and the Oakland front office became famous for using statistical analysis to find undervalued players.

The approach became widely known as Moneyball.

In 2002, Oakland won an American League-record 20 consecutive games, turning a new way of building a baseball team into one of the sport's most famous stories.

The Final Oakland Season

The A's played their final season in Oakland in 2024.

After 57 seasons at the Coliseum, the franchise left the city following the expiration of its stadium lease.

Beginning in 2025, the club dropped Oakland from its name and began playing temporarily in West Sacramento simply as the Athletics, ahead of a planned move to Las Vegas.