Oakland Athletics Information
The Oakland Athletics franchise begins their 110th season in baseball and their 43rd in the Bay Area. After finishing 4th in the AL West with a 75-87 record, the team looked to shore up their pitching and signed free agent and four time All Star Ben Sheets. The team also inked Jason Giambi to a one-year deal with a second option as well as former White Sox infielder Orlando Cabrera and former Dodger infielder Nomar Garciaparra.
Season ticket holders will also like the fact that the team also did some wheeling and dealing in the offseason, sending infielder Aaron Miles and a player to be named to the Cincinnati Reds for infielder Adam Rosales and outfielder Willy Taveras. They also agreed to terms with free agent outfielder Gabe Gross and claimed infielder Steve Tolleson off of waivers.
In the early parts of the 20th century, the Philadelphia Athletics were incredibly successful. They participated in eight World Series championships and brought home five of them. In the middle part of the century, the team moved to Kansas City for what was to be a 13 year stint in the Midwest. The years in Kansas City were rough to say the least. The team finished an average of 30 games below .500 during that span. In 1968, the Athletics made the move to Oakland from Kansas City and immediately got back to their winning ways by capturing 5 straight division championship, including a three year span from 1972-1974 of back-to-back-to-back World Series championships. Since those glory years, the A’s have only won one championship in 1989, but they have made the postseason in each of the last 4 years. Ken Macha stepped in for Art Howe during the 2003 season and didn’t miss a beat. The team won the AL West, but was eliminated by the Boston Red Sox after leading the best-of-5 series 2-0. The Athletics play in the Coliseum and have since 1968, the first year of their move to Oakland. The stadium was modernized in 1995 when added 22,000 new seats, 90 luxury suites, two private clubs and two state-of-the-art scoreboards.
In the past two years, the Oakland Athletics have come to grips with their financial situation. It’s hard to keep their superstars around, as was the case with all-stars Jason Giambi and Miguel Tejada. Giambi eventually signed with the powerhouse New York Yankees to replace the departing Tino Martinez and last season, Tejada made the move to the Baltimore Orioles, a team that did a lot to improve in the off-season by also signing all-star Javy Lopez. The offense in 2004 is led by third baseman Eric Chavez and right fielder Jermaine Dye. Dye is coming off a broken right leg suffered last season, but he is still expected to be a driving force in the middle of the lineup. Shortstop Bobby Crosby will have some big shoes to fill as he attempts to replace Tejada at shortstop, and Erubial Durazo will look to bounce back from injuries in 2004 and support Dye and Chavez in the heart of the order.
The pitching staff is what the A’s are best known for, and they’ll also most likely be the biggest concern in the off-season. These pitchers give the relievers some sense of relief because they realize that on most nights, three or four runs will be good enough to earn a victory. Tim Hudson and Barry Zito will lead the rotation, but you can’t forget about Mark Mulder. All three could likely be aces on other rotations around the league, but they’ve been able to coexist in the Athletics system without a problem. The addition of closer Arthur Rhodes from Seattle Mariners and the maturity of young gunner Rich Harden should solidify the Athletics run at another postseason appearance in 2004.