From the White Elephants of the east coast to the green and gold of the west coast, the Athletics have had a colorful and successful run in the American League, witnessing its birth and leading its geographic expansion to the Midwest and west coast. Along the way, the Athletics have done much to influence and shape the destiny of the national game.
For its inaugural season of 1901, the American League awarded a franchise to Philadephia and the Shibe family, which had made its name in the sporting goods business. Connie Mack, a serviceable catcher in the 19th Century, became the man to oversee baseball operations for the team, and he proceeded to do so for the next fifty years, a record of longevity unmatched in the game.
The Athletics debuted on April 26, 1901 with a 5-1 loss to Washington and won the franchise's first game 8-5 over the Red Sox three days later. Nap Lajoie was the star of this first team, hitting .422 (still an American League record). He also recorded fourteen home runs and drove in one-hundred twenty-five runs — a Triple Crown performance.
In 1902, Lajoie was gone to Cleveland in a legal dispute, but Mack led his team to its first pennant behind legendary aces Rube Wadelll (24-7, 2.05) and Eddie Plank (20-15, 3.30).
Because the World Series was not devised until 1903, the Mackmen had to wait until their 1905 pennant to participate in a fall classic. They got there behind the spinning of Waddell (26-11, 1.48) and Plank (25-12, 2.26) and a young Chief Bender (16-11, 2.83). Philadelphia lost the series to the New York Giants 4-1, a bitter pill to swallow since it was Giant manager John McGraw who had disparagingly labeled the Athletics as "White Elephants" when they were formed, a less-than-generous evaluation of the team and Mack's ability to manage it.
Mack built one of the league's first real dynasties, moving into Shibe Park (later Connie Mack Stadium) in 1909, and winning World Championships in 1910-11-13 behind the famous "$100,000 infield of Stuffy McInnis, Eddie Collins, Jack Barry and Frank "Home Run" Baker - solid players all, with Collins the leader of the pack hitting .322, .365 and .345 in the championship years.
Oakland Athletics History
