A t h l e t i c s 5 CONTENTS CHAPTERS The Team to Beat 6 Pennant Fever 15 California Dreaming 22 Billy Ball and the Bash 26 High Hopes in Oakland 36 AROUND THE HORN The White Elephant 12 The 1929 Athletics 21 Holiday for a Hero 24 The Earthquake Game 31 The 20-Game Streak 38 The Big Three 43 ALL-TIME ATHLETICS P Lefty Grove 8 C Mickey Cochrane 13 1B Jimmie Foxx 14 2B Max Bishop 18 3B Sal Bando 23 SS Miguel Tejada 28 LF Rickey Henderson 30 CF Al Simmons 35 RF Reggie Jackson 39 M Connie Mack 40 Index 48
6 A t h l e t i c s THE TEAM TO BEAT he city of Oakland California has long been a destination for weary travelers During the California Gold Rush in the mid-1800s prospectors arrived in the sunny city hoping to find their fortune After nearby San Francisco was devastated by an earthquake and subsequent fire in 1906 displaced refugees crossed the San Francisco Bay to build new homes in Oakland During the 1940s Oakland grew as naval shipbuilding operations for World War II took off Although many of those laborers left when the jobs disappeared in the years following the end of the war the city is now a bustling port and business center with a population of more than 400,000 Like many of Oakland’s residents the city’s professional baseball team traveled a long and circuitous route to the West Coast The Oakland Athletics which moved to California in 1968 began as the Indianapolis Indians a minor-league club that was part of the Western League in 1893 In 1901 the Indians moved to Philadelphia to become a charter member of the new American League AL Former catcher T
Oakland is one of four California cities along with Los Angeles San Diego and San Francisco to host at least one major league baseball team
