Oakland Athletics Background Info
One of the AL's 8 charter franchises, the club was founded in Philadelphia, in 1901. Then the Athletics moved to Kansas City in '55 and became the Kansas City Athletics. Only in 1968, the team moved to Oakland.
During the early years, the Athletics quickly established themselves as one of the dominant teams in the league. They won the American League pennant 6 times (in 1902, 1905, 1910, 1911, 1913, and 1914), the World Series in 1910, 1911, and 1913. They won more than a hundred games in 1911 and 1912, and ninety-nine games in 1914.
The previous season brought the Athletics back to the postseason after a 2-year absence. After finishing the season at 93-69, 4 games ahead of the Angels, the Athletics were considered the underdog against the strong Minnesota Twins.
Oakland swept the series 3-0, despite having to start on the road and losing 2B Mark Ellis that sustained a broken finger after getting hit by a pitch in the 2nd match. Their win was short-lived as the Athletics were swept 4-0 by the Detroit Tigers. Their loss in the 2006 AL Championship Series led to the firing of the team's manager Ken Macha, who was replaced by bench coach and former MLB catcher Bob Geren.
The 2007 season was also a disappointing season for the Oakland Athletics as the team suffered from injuries to several key players, including Huston Street, Rich Harden, Eric Chavez, and Mike Piazza. For the 1st time since the '98 season, the Athletics finished with a losing record.