During the first half of the 1970's no team dominated major league baseball like the Oakland A's. Led by future Hall of Famers Reggie Jackson, Catfish Hunter and Rollie Fingers, the A's captured five consecutive division titles, three American League pennants and three World Series trophies from 1971 to 1975.
Baseball's Last Dynasty recounts the history of those colorful, controversial, and highly successful teams. As only the second franchise in major league history to win three consecutive Wold Series, the A's Ruled baseball in the era prior to the advent of free agency. With the help of an astute team of scouts, owner Charlie Finely assembled a nucleus of home-grown future stars wearing Oakland's garish green and gold uniforms: Bert Campaneris, Sal Bando, Joe Rudi, Gene Tenace and Vida Blue in addition to Reggie, Rollie and Catfish.
In spite of such talents, the A's struggled to surpass the level of mediocrity until the hiring of baseball's version of Vince Lombardi -- Dick Williams. A fiery disciplinarian and disciple of Branch Rickey, Williams led Oakland to a first place finish in 1971, followed by consecutive world championships in 1972 and 1973.
In chronicling the team known as the "Mustache Gang" and the Swinging A's, Baseball's Last Dynasty details the many fights and arguments in the Oakland clubhouse, the many controversies as well as the departures of Williams and Hunter.
In the nearly quarter of a century that has passed since the A's won their trio of titles, no team has managed to duplicate the feat. Given the instability created by free agency and the difficulty of keeping a championship team's payroll under control, no team may be able to match theaccomplishments of Charlie Finley's A's. Exhaustively researched and including recent interviews with many of the key players, Baseball's Last Dynasty brings the story of this extraordinary team to life.
The Pirates' situation got even worse the next day, when Jesse Haines beat Hal Carlson, 1–0, dealing the slumping leaders their second consecutive shutout. With the Giants idle, Pittsburgh's lead was now a mere half game.
The Black Barons' manager, Piper Davis, was introduced to Mays by Willie's father, Cat, with whom Davis had been a teammate years earlier in the Alabama Industrial League. Davis was regarded as the premier second baseman in the Negro ...
Grip Use a finger grip ( like a golf grip ) in which the bat is held in the fingers , not in the hand . This grip covers more of the bat handle , which increases bat control and facilitates top - hand hitting .
There was more than one Chet Nichols in major-league history. The earlier Chet pitched for parts of six seasons, including his 1930 adventure with the Phillies. He made it through the year 1–2 with a 6.79 ERA (and his only major-league ...
Aside from Manning's interloping Volunteers, once again, the top 5 was dominated by Osborne, Bowden, and Spurrier. As had become the norm, fans immediately looked at the schedule to circle the one date that had served as a de facto ...
A number of authors have tried to identify baseball's premier feats, fantastic plays, and dominating performances. Because "best of" listings inevitably raise questions, differences of opinions, and even controversy, one...
A Complete History of the Negro Leagues, 1884 to 1955 relates how black fans came to cherish their own heroes, why a trip to see a Negro league game was...
Baseball, more than any other sport, inspires widespread research and publication. The literature of baseball is vast and continues to grow at a fantastic pace. This second edition of Myron...
Looks at the history of the Black major leagues, offers profiles of some of the top players, and describes the contributions of Black professional baseball
In 1985, when Bill James, by then already baseball's "Sultan of Stats" (The Boston Globe) and author of a bestselling annual compendium entitled The Baseball Abstract, wrote a 700-page book...