Man, I've still got 22 more of these to do?
Better get writing.
Let's talk about the A's.
First of all, that's what I call them. The A's.
I don't like the name Athletic.
It's bland, it's generic and frankly it's not as cool as the A's.
What other sports team can you refer to and automatically sound like the Fonz?
I also always like how when Topps cards would list the A's on the back of a card. Those two letters (with the apostrophe) would look so small and strangely so cool next to the long team names.
Sadly Topps has been listing them as "Athletics" since 1989.
Secondly, while compiling this list I see that the home grown A's team is an embarrassment of riches.
Whether they are playing in Philadelphia, Kansas City or Oakland (and we'll cover all three cities with this post) the A's produce great players.
In fact they produce championship caliber Hall of Famers.
And no matter where they are, they let their stars go off to bigger markets to make more money. (Anyone who thinks that is a recent phenomenon, please read on. It wasn't started by free agency.)
In fact some of the home grown stars who didn't make the roster includes a former MVP in Jason Giambi.
And I am NOT ignoring him because of steroids.
Two of the biggest juicers in the game's history are on the list... plus ANOTHER MVP whose name was in the Mitchell Report.
And a former Cy Young winner Barry Zito isn't there either.
And not because of his lousy time in San Francisco. There's just a lot of aces to pick from.
Pretty good farm system here.
As always the rules are listed here.
Now put on your bright green and gold hat... we've got a list to write.
ALL TIME HOME GROWN A'S TEAM
STARTING CATCHERMICKEY COCHRANE
Cochrane was one of the great catchers of all time and one of the fiercest competitors.
His nickname was "Black Mike" because he was so mean.
They were different times.
Was one of 4 former teammates to actually attend Ty Cobb's funeral.
I guess bad temper guys fighting demons tend to get along with each other.
STARTING FIRST BASEMAN
JIMMY FOXX
One of the great home run hitters of his era and gave one of the first real threats to breaking Babe Ruth's 60 home run record when he hit 58 homers in 1932.
A vital part of the 1929 and 1930 World Champion A's teams, he was the basis for Tom Hanks' character in A League of Their Own. No word if he felt there was crying in baseball.
He died choking on a bone. You can look it up.
STARTING SECOND BASEMAN
EDDIE COLLINS
The Hall of Fame second baseman won the MVP for the 1914 AL Champion A's. He batted over .400 in the A's World Series wins in 1910 and 1913.
Later went to the White Sox where his Ivy League background didn't gel with the other players.
He wasn't even approached by the gamblers to throw the series.
In the great movie Eight Men Out, Collins is played by Bill Irwin, aka Mr. Noodle on Elmo's World.
Those of you who have kids will know who he is.
STARTING SHORTSTOP
BERT CAMPANERIS
Campy was a spark plug for the 1970s championship teams and had plenty of fire himself. He chucked his bat at Tigers pitcher Lerrin LaGrow during the 1972 ALCS.
But here's something I didn't know about him:
His real first name was Dagoberto!
What an awesome first name. That's almost, Dagoba, the home of Yoda.
These days he would probably go by Dagoberto.
But back then when everything was Anglified (Bob Clemente?) he gets the name of Ernie's roommate. (That's two Sesame Street references in one post!)
STARTING THIRD BASEMAN
SAL BANDO
On a team filled with Hall of Famers and World Championship expectations, it was Bando who was the team captain. He wasn't as flashy or flamboyant as Reggie, Catfish, Rollie or Vida... but his hard nosed play and clutch hits set the pace of the clubhouse.
He wasn't as successful as the GM for the Brewers and now the tough as nails captain of the most bad ass team of the 1970s makes dolls.
I'm not kidding.
Earth can be a strange place.
STARTING LEFT FIELDER
RICKEY HENDERSON
Next week Rickey Henderson will be elected to the baseball Hall of Fame... which means he must have stopped playing.
He had 4 tours of duty with the A's, winning one of his two World Series rings and he lead the league in stolen bases with the A's as far back as 1980 and as recently as 1998.
But I can't be the only one looking forward to his acceptance speech.
"Hank Aaron, Willie Mays and all of them were great players... but today I am the greatest of all time!"
STARTING CENTER FIELDER
AL SIMMONS
No not the real identity of Spawn.
But I wonder if by mentioning Spawn if I will get some hits from the comic book blog world.
Simmons had 11 seasons of batting over .300 with over 100 RBI and was a part of two World Series winning teams (1929 and 1930.)
Actually I shouldn't say Simmons. His name was actually Szymanski, but like Bert Campanaris later, he Anglified his name.
I assume if Doug Mientkiewicz played then, he'd be Doug Mints.
STARTING RIGHT FIELDER
REGGIE JACKSON
For people my age whose first memories of Reggie Jackson were as a Yankee, it's sometimes hard to remember his best years were in Oakland.
For people who remember, like Don Marquez, know Reggie was the coolest and the best clutch hitter of his day. And he didn't need New York to be a star. "I brought my star with me" he said.
On film he has appeared as an Angel in The Naked Gun as a Yankee in BASEKetball.
At least he hasn't appeared as an Oriole in a movie yet.
STARTING DESIGNATED HITTER
MARK McGWIRE
Yeah yeah yeah I know.
But during his hey day, was there a more menacing and more terrifying image than McGwire coming to the plate?
Who exactly was his legal advisor?
When my kids are in trouble, one of them says "I didn't mean it" even when he clearly did and the other just closes his eyes pretending he isn't there.
Both are more credible than McGwire saying "I'm not here to talk about the past."
THE STARTING ROTATION
LEFTY GROVE
How awesome was Lefty Grove?
He struck out the side twice in his career on 9 pitches.
I've only seen Bugs Bunny do that!
When you start bringing up Bugs Bunny in a comparison, you know you are awesome.
Actually only Sandy Koufax and Nolan Ryan have struck out the side on 9 pitches twice as well.
Good company to be in.
Not as good as Bugs, though.
EDDIE PLANK
Plank was a Hall of Fame 300 innings a year ace for the original A's teams. He was a part of their first pennant in 1905 and part of their first World Series titles in 1911 and 1913.
His nickname was Gettysburg Eddie.
I guess it's because he was born in Gettysburg.
And attended Gettysburg Academy for high school.
And played for the Gettysburg College team.
Guess where he is buried. Gettysburg.
Not a lot of thought went into that nickname, but you can't say it is inaccurate.
CATFISH HUNTER
NOW we are talking about a cool nickname!
I don't know what is cooler...
1. A's owner Charlie O. Finley felt that Jim Hunter was too boring a name so he called him Catfish and created a backstory where he got the name after he ran away from home to go fishing (a story that was a total fabrication.)
or
2. Hunter went along with it.
Either way, Finley was right.
Jim Hunter would have been a great Hall of Fame starting pitcher no matter what.
But we remember him more because of his cool nickname.
TIM HUDSON
Look, Moneyball was a good read.
And Billy Beane did a darn good job keeping the A's competitive and in the playoffs all of those years.
But before everyone declares him a genius and writes books about him and casts Brad Pitt to play him, the A's were playing in October not because they worshipped the walk and picked up players like Scott Hatteberg.
They were in October because they had three ace caliber starting pitchers in Hudson, Mark Mulder and Barry Zito.
Hudson was the best of them all and the most consistent regular season winner.
I wonder who they are going to get to play him in the movie.
CHIEF BENDER
I really really REALLY wanted to put either Mark Mulder or Barry Zito in the rotation.
But how could I deny Hall of Famer Chief Bender?
He was a pitching star for 5 pennant winners and three World Series titles.
He out dueled Christy Mathewson twice in the 1911 World Series and threw a third complete game that series to clinch it.
A member of the Ojibwa tribe, he would fight back against racial taunts by yelling "You Foreigners!"
That's pretty cool.
THE BULLPEN
ROLLIE FINGERS
Fingers was a pioneer in the bullpen and a quick response when people anoint Mariano Rivera as the greatest reliever of all time.
But the coolest thing about Fingers is of course the stache.
I mean come on! He would come in the late innings and literally look like a silent movie villain!
The other A's would shave off their facial hair when they left Oakland.
Rollie was too smart... it's not a stache. It's an identity!
EDDIE ROMMEL
OK, I'm stretching a little here... but Rommel was a great pitcher and twice led the league in relief wins.
Also he was the winning pitcher out of the bullpen in that wild 10-8 game in the 1929 World Series that I talked about last October.
Later he became an umpire in the majors and I'm sure would throw that in the face of pitchers who questioned his calls.
"Hey, when YOU have two 20 win seasons, maybe you'll get these calls. Let me think... which one of us has two 20 win seasons and a World Series ring? Hmmm. Oh yeah! It's ME! So shut your pie hole!"
HUSTON STREET
In New York it would be pronounced "HOW-ston Street."
Yeah he is best remembered for serving up that series ending tater to Magglio Ordonez to get the ghosts of 2006 a fluttering.
But he had a good Rookie of the Year season in 2005 and kept the Merry Go Round of closers from spinning for a few years. Plus he closed the only post season series won by a Billy Beane team. (The 2006 Division Series.) That should count for something.
TODD BURNS
Todd Burns was a nice middle reliever who also had some success as a starter when he came up midway through the 1988 season. (He threw 10 innings in his second start!) He got to play in three World Series and got a ring along the way.
But I remember two established TV announcers lavishing just a little too much praise on him.
Monte Moore, the A's TV announcer, was calling one of his early games when he was 5-1 and said "You have to call Todd Burns one of the best pitchers in baseball."
Really? He wasn't even the 4th best pitcher on his own team!
And in the 1988 World Series, Tony LaRussa brought in Burns to throw the last out of the top of the 9th of the last game. Basically it was some garbage time mercy.
When Vin Scully and Joe Garagiola were doing the wrap up of the series, Joe focused on the garbage time appearance.
It was a nice moment, but I think I would have spent more time talking about Gibson's homer and Hershiser's heroics and the unlikely cast of characters who won it for Dodgers. Could be just me.
VIDA BLUE
When Vida Blue was recalled from the minor leagues in 1970, his second start he threw a 1 hit complete game shutout.
His fourth start he threw a no hitter.
If Vida did that with the Red Sox now, they would shut him down for the season.
If Vida did that with the Yankees now, they'd have long debates about whether or not he belongs in the bullpen.
But in Oakland in the 1970s, they put him in the rotation where he won the Cy Young and the MVP in his first full season in the bigs and became a frequent 20 game winner.
So why is he in the bullpen here?
Well 3 reasons:
1) He pitched out of the pen in the 1972 ALCS and World Series out of the bullpen, getting saves in both series (including Game 5 of the ALCS which clinched the A's first trip to the World Series since 1931)
2) I couldn't find another really good reliever.
3) I really wanted to include Tim Hudson. It's kind of like how I made sure Will Clark was on the Giants Home Grown Team.
THE BENCH
RESERVE INFIELDER
FRANK "HOME RUN" BAKER
How different was the "Dead Ball Era"?
Frank Baker got the nickname "Home Run" by the knack for hitting a big home run.
His career high?
12.
That's right, peaking at a dozen meant Baker was so associated with the big fly that they named him after it!
That year he hit 12? He was clearly on 'roids.
RESERVE INFIELDER
MIGUEL TEJADA
Did somebody say 'roids?
Yeah his stats peak laughably in the early to mid 2000s in time for him to parlay that into tens of millions of dollars.
Besides, I don't have Giambi here and I needed to have one of their MVPs from the new millenium!
RESERVE OUTFIELDERJOE RUDI
For anyone who still does Ham Radio, call sign NK7U will get you a 2 time MVP runner up who made one of the most memorable catches in World Series history and hit a home run that put the A's in front for good in the clinching game of the 1974 World Series.
That's right... Joe Rudi is on ham radio.
I won't cast stones.
No doubt in a generation, bloggers will be given the same regard as a ham radio enthusiast.
RESERVE OUTFIELDER
JOSE CANSECO
Man I hated Canseco when he was a player... and that's what made him so much fun.
You need a good bad guy in sports. You need someone that people will boo because you know he can beat you at any point.
Canseco played that to a tee and seemed to revel in it... until he saw Mark McGwire get all the credit for saving the game of baseball and Canseco decided to be Herb Stemple to McGwire's Charles Van Doren.
But I said all of that already.
After everything in his book turned out to be true we can call Canseco the Cassandra of baseball.
Then again, did Cassandra have a 40/40 season, pick up 2 rings, shack up with Madonna back when that meant something and appear on every single reality show known to man?
I didn't think so!
RESERVE CATCHERTERRY STEINBACH
I remember talking to my cousin Dave before the 1988 All Star Game. Dave is a big Mets fan and he was happy Doc Gooden was starting the game in Cincinnati.
I also remember him saying "Terry Steinbach as an All Star is a joke!"
He upset the baseball gods as Steinbach homered off of Gooden and drove in the American League's other run with a sacrifice fly.
That joke won the All Star Game MVP and Gooden lost the game.
And Steinbach's A's won the pennant. Gooden's Mets didn't.
Don't taunt the baseball gods.
25TH MANGENE TENACE
Gene Tenace?
I know of all of my picks I will get the most flack for this pick.
"Where's Tim Hudson?"
"Where's Jason Giambi?"
"Where's Barry Zito?"
"Where's Mark Mulder?"
"Where's Eric Chavez?"
"How about Dwayne Murphy?"
Oh I am sure I am leaving out a bunch of great players.
But if you've read any Sully Baseball before, you know I weigh heavily on people who came up big in the big game.
And when the A's faced the Reds in the 1972 World Series, they would be big underdogs if they were completely healthy.
But when Reggie Jackson hurt his hamstring in the ALCS against the Tigers, they were missing one of their biggest power sources and they looked like they were going to get trounced.
Tenace, who had hit 5 homers in the entire regular season, became the first person to ever hit two homers in his first two World Series at bats.
Not Babe Ruth. Not Jimmy Foxx. Not Hank Aaron. Not Frank Robinson.
Gene Tenace.
In the end he hit 4 homers in the series... he nearly matched his regular season total!
He would drive in 9 runs, bat .348 with an OPS of 1.313 in the series.
Folks... that's coming up big in the big game.
That's a heck of a squad.
Anyone where I can leave off MVPs and Cy Young Winners has some serious depth.
Well we know that the A's have traded off a lot of talent over the years.
Let's see what they got BACK!
ALL TIME ACQUIRED A'S TEAM
STARTING CATCHERMIKE HEATH
Heath was hardly a spectacular catcher but he was a steady defensive player with some pop. Heath was the catcher on the 1981 Division Winner and handled the staff of McCatty, Norris, Keough and Langford as Billy Martin pitched them all into the ground.
I was originally going to put Ray Fosse on the team... but lining up the numbers and I saw Heath had better years in Oakland.
STARTING FIRST BASEMANHARRY DAVIS
Another original Athletic, Davis left the National League team in Washington to join the 1901 A's.
Later he became a solid hitter with a lot of speed and led the AL in home runs 4 straight seasons.
(It was the dead ball era so the highest homer total he had was 12.)
In the 1910 World Series he batted .353 in the A's win over the Cubs.
I'm sure Cubs fans thought "So what? We lost this series but we won just 2 years ago. We'll win another one."
They are still waiting.
STARTING SECOND BASEMAN
NAPOLEON LAJOIE
This is a classic "When in doubt, put in the Hall of Famer" decision.
Best known for his time with the Phillies and the Indians, he joined the original A's team in 1901.
He batted .426.
.426.
That first number is a 4. I don't care what era you are playing in... I don't care if they counted foul balls as hits (they didn't.)
.426 is .426!
The NL and the AL weren't exactly playing nice then and the Phillies filed an injunction preventing LaJoie from playing for a different Philadelphia team. So the league declared him a free agent and he signed with the Indians.
He would travel with the Indians but not play in Philadelphia to avoid getting arrested.
Eventually the NL and the AL played nice, but not before the league office forced the A's to lose a .426 hitter!
STARTING SHORTSTOP
EDDIE JOOST
It's amazing how vain ballplayers could be.
Take Eddie Joost. He was a good glove bad bat shortstop who played for the Reds and the Braves.
When he came over to the A's in 1947, Connie Mack suggested he wear glasses.
Joost didn't want to because of the jeers that players with glasses tended to get.
He relented... and suddenly became an All Star power hitter getting MVP votes.
Imagine if he had contact lenses.
He might be in the Hall of Fame.
STARTING THIRD BASEMANCARNEY LANSFORD
I tried to love Carney Lansford when he was with the Red Sox.
Let me explain. My favorite player was Butch Hobson. He was the third baseman. He wore #4.
When the Red Sox traded Butch to the Angels after the 1980 season, one of the players they got back was Carney Lansford.
He was the new third baseman.
He wore #4.
And I tried to cheer for him as hard as I rooted for Butch.
He even won a batting title his first year in Boston.
But it didn't work. The name "Carney" wasn't as cool as "Butch."
Later when he was with the A's he made a run at .400. He was hitting .400 into June and people in the Bay Area wondered if he was going to enter Ted Williams territory.
He didn't bat .400.
He didn't bat .390.
He didn't bat .350
He didn't bat .300.
He didn't even bat .280.
He finished .279.
Folks... THAT is a second half slump!
STARTING LEFT FIELDERMITCHELL PAGE
Mitchell Page's Rookie year was as good a first year as you can imagine.
The former Pirates farm hand hit, hit for power, stole bases... he looked like the electric new power on an A's team that had been stripped of its Championship aura.
On a game on April 13, 1977, Page homered twice and drove in 6 runs himself, upstaging a solid performance by former A's star Joe Rudi.
3,017 people were there to see it.
STARTING CENTER FIELDER
DAVE HENDERSON
If the Red Sox got the final out in that 10th inning in 1986, then Dave Henderson would be one of the most worshipped figures in Boston sports history. Instead that honor went to Dave Roberts.
In 1987 when the Red Sox were bringing up Mike Greenwell, Ellis Burks, Todd Benzinger and Sam Horn, we were all told that Hendu was a good defensive outfielder who happened to have hit a few homers... not a star. So when the Sox dealt him to the Giants for Randy Kutcher, I rationalized it thinking "Well, it's not like he's going to hit .304 with 24 homers, 94 RBI and come back to haunt the Red Sox in two different ALCS match ups!"
Little did I know...
I was in Oakland when Henderson's 2 run homer off of Bob Stanley broke the Red Sox back in game 3 of the 1988 ALCS.
There's something almost poetic about that it was off of Stanley... who couldn't hold the lead in 1986.
STARTING RIGHT FIELDER
TONY ARMAS
And why was Dave Henderson almost a God in Boston?
Because he got to play and hit those key homers in the ALCS and World Series when Tony Armas got hurt.
Armas, who also came to Oakland from Pittsburgh with Mitchell Page, became an elite slugger in the early 1980s in Oakland, tying for the league lead in homers during the strike shortened 1981 season. His single put the A's up for good in the clinching third game of the 1981 Divisional Playoff against the Royals.
STARTING DESIGNATED HITTER
DAVE PARKER
I think Dave Parker should get more Hall of Fame consideration.
If you ask the Cobra, I bet he would agree.
His greatest years were with Pittsburgh but he had a good 1989 with the World Champion A's.
By the time he came to Oakland his hard living made him a little pudgy but still a fearsome hitter.
When he circled the bases his fingers would be waggling as if he was the Steve Martin/Dan Aykroyd "Wild and Crazy Guy."
If I didn't hate the A's in the 1980s, I would have found it to be cool.
THE STARTING ROTATION
DAVE STEWART
It's amazing who you can salvage from the waiver wire.
Dave Stewart was 29 years old and having an unremarkable career.
He got a World Series ring with the 1981 Dodgers but struggled in Texas and was cut by the Phillies when they were desperate for pitching in 1986. The A's picked up the Oakland native seeing if some home cooking could help.
I don't know what the A's thought the "best case scenario" would be for such a signing, but let's just say it worked out.
He won 9 games in half a season in 1986.
And then followed it up a startling run of four straight 20 win seasons and earned two post season MVP honors (including the 1989 World Series MVP.) All the while using one of the scariest scowls in baseball history to intimidate batters and became one of the great big game pitchers of the 1980s.
Plus he was a model citizen, helping in charities, staying true to his roots and being the heart and soul of the A's franchise during their great late 1980s early 1990s run.
Safe to say, home cooking agreed with him.
RUBE WADDELL
I defy you to find a stranger figure in baseball history than Rube Waddell.
People who saw him pitch thought he was one of the greatest talents in the history of the game. He led the league in more categories and won games in a dominating fashion that he stood out in one of the great pitchers eras of all time.
And people wondered if he was autistic.
Or a man child.
Or mildly retarded.
Or merely eccentric.
Puppies and flashy objects would distract him on the mound.
He would chase fire engines during a game.
He wrestled gators.
He lost track of who he was married to.
All the while piling up 20 win seasons.
Today he would be analyzed until he was a boring every day pitcher. And I bet that would be when the 20 win seasons would end.
BOB WELCH
After the 1987 season, the Mets, A's and Dodgers made a very complicated trade that when the dust settled Bob Welch was on the A's.
He had several very good seasons in Oakland, but his 1990 season would earn him the Cy Young Award.
His 27 wins were the most in the American League since Denny McLain won 31 in 1968.
Nobody has come with 3 wins of his total since.
KEN HOLTZMANEven though the A's had Catfish Hunter and Vida Blue on their squad, it was Holtzman who was the game 1 starter in the 72, 73 and 74 World Series.
He won the openers in 72 and 73.
He got a no decision in the 1974 opener but made up for it by smacking a homer in game 4. It was the last World Series homer by a pitcher until the 2008 series when Joe Blanton homered.
I wonder if that homer got Ken mad.
Now there would be no reason to bring him up.
Oh wait...he's still the last American League pitcher to homer!
MIKE MOORE
There was a time when Oakland was actually a destination place FOR free agents.
Seems odd now doesn't it?
The A's already had a solid rotation going into the 1989 season, but they fortified it with the former #1 pick over all in Mike Moore.
Released from the baseball purgatory of Seattle, Moore piled up 19 wins in his first season in Oakland. He also won his first 4 post season starts with a 1.38 ERA over the course of those starts,
All the while those big market A's were gobbling up players. The A's sent young inexpensive players to the Yankees for expensive superstar Rickey Henderson. I'm telling you... it was a different time.
THE BULLPEN
DENNIS ECKERSLEY
I had mentioned that Dennis Eckersley, while he was still with the Red Sox signed my glove and I don't know where that glove is any more.
I had something of tremendous value and I let it slip away.
Kind of like the Sox, eh?
All of those years the Red Sox needed bullpen help, and little did they know they had one of the great relievers in baseball history on their roster.
Why didn't the Sox think of that?
KEITH FOULKE
Foulke only spent one season in Oakland... and it was a doozy.
He went 9-1 with 43 saves and a 2.08 ERA for the 2003 AL West champion A's.
He also got the A's to within 4 outs of the ALCS... but then David Ortiz drove home 2 runs against him in game 4.
Learning from the Eckersley mess, the Red Sox stole him via free agency in time to break a curse.
Foulke evidently liked Oakland. He came out of retirement to pitch there in 2008.
DAROLD KNOWLESI have a fascination with pitchers throwing the clinching pitch of a playoff series.
Both Eckersley and Foulke have been the pitcher to clinch a World Series title. I bet you could have figured that out.
I bet you didn't know Darold Knowles did too.
In fact he threw in all seven games of the 1973 World Series against the Mets.
The very last managerial move Dick Williams made as manager of the A's was to bring in Knowles to relieve Rollie Fingers in the 9th inning of game 7 of the '73 Series.
Knowles got Wayne Garrett to pop up and end the Series, Knowles clinched it and manages to have that clinch the series fantasy fulfilled.
RICK HONEYCUTT
Honeycutt never clinched a World Series, but he did clinch the 1990 ALCS against the Red Sox.
Honeycutt was a starter and a reliever for most of his career before coming over to the A's late in 1987. Like with Eckersley the A's put him in the pen for good and the results were tremendous.
They didn't have holds back then, but he'd probably lead the league with them.
And he filled in for Eck when he was hurt for a stretch in 1989.
JASON ISRINGHAUSEN
The A's found an Ace on the scrap heap with Dave Stewart.
They found a bullpen closer when the Mets scrapped their plans for "Generation K."
Isringhausen was supposed to be part of the Mets answer to Glavine, Maddux and Smoltz.
Instead he flopped... but it goes to show you that just because someone bombed on one team doesn't mean he can't shine elsewhere.
He became a 30 save a year guy in Oakland, being the closer for the 2000 and 2001 playoff teams before becoming a multimillionaire with a World Series ring in St. Louis.
THE BENCH
RESERVE INFIELDER
DANNY MURPHY
Murphy was a steady contributor to the Connie Mack championship teams of the 1910s and hit a clutch home run in game 3 of the 1910 World Series.
And to top it all off had this kick ass card where he is smirking!
RESERVE INFIELDER
TONY PHILLIPS
I once interviewed for a television job and I was explaining how I have experience as a writer, a director, a producer, a field producer, a camera operator and as on camera talent.
I said "I'm basically like Tony Phillips." The guy understood.
Put Phillips at second, at third, in the outfield, at lead off, in the heart of the line up... you name it.
Phillips did it well. He was never spectacular but was reliable a jack of all trades as you could get.
In the 1988 pennant winning season, he started 32 games at third, 27 games at second base, 24 games in left and 10 at shortstop.
And played each position with intensity... kind of like me in television.
RESERVE OUTFIELDER
TY COBB
Yup, I'm giving Ty Cobb a roster spot for his last two seasons when he played for the A's.
And before you say I am just awarding him for his time in Detroit, can you name an acquired outfielder for the A's who batted .357 like Ty Cobb did in 1927?
Didn't think so.
If Cobb had stuck around for the 1929 season, he would have gotten his ring.
Oh well. He seemed like a jerk.
RESERVE OUTFIELDERGUS ZERNIAL
Zernial was a good power hitting outfielder in the 1940s and 1950s who was nicknamed Ozark Ike after a comic book that is no longer in print and was no doubt really terrible.
Zernial's strangest claim to fame was being part of a publicity photo with Marilyn Monroe. She was attending her first baseball game in New York and her press agents wanted her in a picture practicing a swing with one of the ballplayers.
With all of the legends and future Hall of Famers on the Yankees, naturally the press agent had her take the picture with Gus Zernial.
Today the scenario would be "Angelina Jolie is at her first ballgame getting batting tips from Matt Stairs."
Well that was the day that Joe DiMaggio met Marilyn and some of the reporters fabricated a story that Zernial introduced the two. Evidently this made DiMaggio angry at the implication that a pedestrian player would have access to Marilyn before him.
Gee, I wonder why that marriage didn't work.
Either way, Zernial was a good power hitter and as far as I know never went to bed with Marilyn Monroe.
RESERVE CATCHER
RON HASSEY
My brother and I attended game 3 of the 1988 ALCS in Oakland. The Red Sox had lost the excruciating first two games in Fenway by one run each but looked like they were going to climb back into the series when they took a 5-0 lead in the second inning of game 3.
But the A's chipped away. First with a McGwire homer that I don't think landed yet.
Then old friend Carney Lansford hit one out. Next thing you know 5-0 was 5-4 and it was only the third.
In the third the A's had up Jose Canseco, Dave Parker and Mark McGwire.
It was critical to stop Oakland's momentum and maintain the slim lead.
I said to my brother, "we need to get past these guys and we'll be fine."
Boddicker got Canseco and Parker out and nearly got McGwire out (he beat out an infield single.) Ron Hassey was up next.
Once again I turned to my brother. "Don't worry. It's only Ron Hassey. He can't do any damage."
Just as I finished saying that sentence, Hassey hit a two run home run to give the A's the lead for good.
The A's would never trail again in game 3 and they would never trail in game 4 for the sweep.
Hassey's home run erased the last lead the 1988 Red Sox would ever have and the last chance for Jim Rice to ever get a World Series ring.
I was wrong.
Ron Hassey did some damage.
25TH MAN
RICK LANGFORD
Billy Martin pitched 4 talented pitchers into the ground during the 1981 and 1982 seasons, derailing some potentially great careers.
Ah well... as long as Billy battled those demons that's all that matters right?
I decided to honor at least one of them.
Langford came over with Page and Armas in the Phil Garner deal with the Pirates.
He was a 19 game winner and a Cy Young contender in 1980.
433 innings and 33 complete games over two seasons later, he was a 0 game winner in 1983 and 1984.
His career ended with a horrific 1-10 season with the 1986 A's and was released as Tony LaRussa took over the club.
He had a nice four year run, but I guess this is why pitchers are put on pitch counts.
I salute Langford (and McCatty, Norris, Keough and Kingman) as the aces that could have been.
WHO WOULD WIN IN A HEAD TO HEAD SERIES?
It's tough to pick against a team that starts Dave Stewart and closes with Dennis Eckersley.
But as the 1988 Dodgers, 1990 Reds and 1992 Blue Jays showed, they can be beat.
The depth of the home grown team's rotation (Vida Blue out of the pen!) the power in the lineup (Reggie protecting Jimmy Foxx!) and having Rollie Fingers closing might be too much.
VERDICT: THE HOME GROWN TEAM WINS... AND RUBE WADDELL CHASES ANOTHER FIRE ENGINE
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