Finley era History of the Oakland Athletics

athletics @ municipal stadium circa 1962

on december 19, 1960, charles charlie o. finley (1918-1996), purchased controlling interest in team johnson s estate after losing out johnson 6 years earlier in philadelphia. bought out minority owners year later. finley promised fans new day. in highly publicized move, purchased bus, pointed in direction of new york, , burned symbolize end of special relationship yankees. called press conference burn existing lease @ municipal stadium included despised escape clause. spent on $400,000 of own money in stadium improvements (though in 1962 city reimbursed $300,000 of this). introduced new uniforms had kansas city on road uniforms first time ever , interlocking kc on cap. first time franchise had acknowledged home city on uniforms. announced, intentions keep s permanently in kansas city , build winning ball club. have no intention of ever moving franchise. fans, in turn, regarded finley savior of major league baseball in kansas city.

finley hired frank lane, veteran baseball man reputation prolific trader, general manager. lane began engineering trades several other teams, including yankees, bus-burning stunt notwithstanding. lane lasted less 1 year, being fired during 1961 season. temporarily replaced pat friday, sole qualification job managed 1 of finley s insurance offices. on paper, friday remained general manager until 1965, when replaced hank peters (1924-2015). after year, peters fired , replaced eddie lopat, lasted 1 season. after lopat s ouster in 1966, team had no formal general manager until 1981. in fact, friday, peters , lopat mere figureheads. firing of lane in 1961, finley became one-man band owner, president , de facto general manager, , remain duration of ownership.

finley made further changes team s uniforms. philadelphia athletics wore blue , white or black , gray outfits through of history;[1]; in last years in philadelphia , first in kansas city, team used red, white , navy blue scheme.[2] in 1963, finley changed team s colors kelly green, fort knox gold , wedding gown white . in june 1963, bill bryson wrote of uniforms,

kelly green athletics accent color. more nauseous green players wore on wholesome, clean-cut faces first few times had appear in public looking refugees softball league.

yankees vs. athletics @ municipal stadium

finley replaced mack s elephant missouri mule—not cartoon logo, real mule, named after himself: charlie o, mule. began phasing out team name athletics in favor of s. of other changes—for instance, repeated attempts mimic yankee stadium s famous right-field home run porch —were less successful. al president joe cronin ordered finley remove fence duplicated 296-foot right-field foul line in yankee stadium. smarting edict league office, finley ordered municipal stadium pa announcer jack layton announce, have been home run in yankee stadium , whenever fly ball passed limit in municipal stadium s outfield. practice ended quickly, however, when apparent other teams hitting more would-be home runs s.

while s still dreadful in first 8 years of finley s ownership, began lay groundwork future contender. finley poured significant resources minor league system first time in history of franchise. 1966, s reckoned having strongest farm system in majors. assisted creation of baseball draft in 1965, forced young prospects sign team drafted them—at price offered team—if wanted play professional baseball. thus, finley spared having compete wealthier teams top talent. athletics, owners of worst record in american league in 1964, had first pick in first draft, selecting rick monday on june 8, 1965.