THE FALL OF THE FINLEY EMPIRE

THE WILD & CRAZY RIDE OF THE 1976 OAKLAND ATHLETICS

DYNASTY (1971-1975)
As 1975 came to a close, Charlie O. Finley was the owner of a genuine baseball
dynasty. His Oakland Athletics (who had moved from Kansas City after the 1967
season) had just won their fifth straight AL Western division title. Prior to that, they
had won back-to-back-to-back World Series titles, defeating the Cincinnati Reds in
1972, the New York Mets in 1973 and the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1974.
Sadly, none of this seemed to make Mr. Finley happy. He was vehemently opposed
to the new era of player free agency that had come to baseball. He was convinced
that having to pay all of his great players what theyyyyy thought they were worth
would result in his financial undoing. As you shall read below, Finleys solution to
this problem would be to just go ahead and blow up his dynasty before any of that
could happen.
After winning the World Series in 1972 and 1973, As manager Dick Williams
decided that he had had enough of Finleys meddling and quit. Alvin Dark was hired
to replace Williams for the 1974 season. Alvin has previously managed the Athletics
in Kansas City, but had been fired by Finley late in the 1967 season. Dark took over
for Williams and skippered them to a fourth straight Division title and third straight
World Series championship.
In 1975, the As again won the West, but were swept by the Red Sox in the ALCS.
Alvin Darks reward for two AL West titles and a World Series win was another pink
slip signed by Charlie O. Sounds kind of familiar, doesnt it?
To replace Alvin Dark, Finley hired Chuck Tanner in December of 1975. Tanner had
just been let go by the White Sox after managing them since late in the 1970
season. During his tenure, the White Sox had only had one winning season when
they finished 2nd (behind Oakland) in 1972.
The As won 98 games in 1975, which was actually more regular season wins than
any of the three championship teams had sported. On the day Chuck Tanner was
hired, he had most of the same cast of characters returning for the 1976 season,
but this would change abruptly right before opening day.
PRE-SEASON 1976
The Opening Day issue of the Sporting News (dated 4/10/76) features the results of
a pre-season poll of 206 BBWA voters and they selected Oakland to outlast Kansas
City in the AL West (by a tally of 133 votes to 65). The 1976 Street and Smiths
Official Baseball Yearbook picked the up-and-coming Royals to breakthrough and win
their first division title. Both of these polls were taken before Charlie Finley dropped
his first bomb of 1976.
On April 2nd 1976, a week before the season opener, Finley traded away right fielder
Reggie Jackson as well as starting pitcher Ken Holtzman to the Baltimore Orioles.

Jackson had led the AL in homers in 1975. Two years before that, Reggie led the AL
in homers, was named AL MVP and capped things off by winning the World Series
MVP award. He was, without question, one of the biggest stars in the game.
Holtzman was no slouch, coming off an 18-14 season and racking up 77 wins in his
four years with the As.
Oakland did receive two pitchers in return. Mike Torrez who had won 20 games for
the Orioles in 1975, and Paul Mitchell who was a top minor league prospect. On
offense, they received outfielder Don Baylor. Baylor had just come off his best
season, hitting .282 with 25 homers, 76 RBI and 32 stolen bases.
Oakland did receive quality major league talent in the deal, but the loss of Jackson
and Holtzman on top of the loss of Catfish Hunter the previous year signaled the
beginning of the end of the mighty As Dynasty.
According to an April 17th story in The Sporting News (or TSN as I shall often call it),
Finley thought it would turn out to be one of the best trades we ever made.
Oakland veterans Joe Rudi and team captain Sal Bando, however, went on record as
being critical of the move. Reggie Jackson was clearly not happy about being
traded. So much so that he decided not to go, at least not right away. Reggie did
not make his season debut until May 2nd against Oakland, of course - a full month
after the deal was done.
Chuck Tanner now had to make last-minute adjustments to his lineup and rotation in
preparation for the upcoming season opener. I mean, how important is your
opening day starter or cleanup hitter?
In the AL Flashes section of the May 1st issue of TSN, the following blurb appears:
CHARLIE SEES STARS
Athletics Owner Charlie Finley has hired an astrologer to work with Manager Chuck Tanner. The
Astrologer is an eye-catching redhead, Laurie Brady of Chicago, and she has signed a one-year
contract with the Oakland club. Brady previously predicted the five straight American League West
titles won by the As.

Couple the astrologer with the 14-year old former batboy, turned Executive
V.P./clubhouse snitch and you had a real circus in the Oakland front office. I do not
know what kind of results those two produced in 1976, but Ms. Brady was still
proclaiming herself an Astrologer to the Stars well into the 21 st century..Oh
and the 14-year old would grow up to be M.C. Hammer. (Do do do do..do do.do
do..cant touch this). I bet Chuck Tanner didnt see any of that coming when he
signed on with the team.
The As entered the 1976 season with seven star players (third baseman Sal Bando,
outfielder Joe Rudi, relief ace Rollie Fingers, catcher Gene Tenace, shortstop Bert
Campaneris, starting pitcher Vida Blue and the newly acquired Don Baylor) who
were unsigned and eligible to become free agents at seasons end, but at least they
had the whole astrology thing covered.
FIRST HALF-1976

The As opened their season on Friday April 9 th in California. The Angels were a
speedy team. In 1975 they compiled 220 stolen bases, but had finished last in the
AL West. Mike Torrez took Ken Holtzmans spot as the opening day starter and the
As swept the series by a combined score of 21-11. Oakland appeared to take a
page out of the Angels playbook and stole 9 bases in the three-game series. Their
season was off.and running.
The first few months of the Oaklands 1976 season were up-and-down. The As
followed up their opening sweep of California by getting swept by Texas. At the end
of April they were 9-8. On May 16th, they were 15-15, but then an 8-game losing
streak dropped them well below .500 and they found themselves 8 games out of
first.
The April 24th issue of The Sporting News had competing articles on the same page:
one about the pressure on Don Baylor to fill Reggie Jacksons shoes and another
wondering when Reggie was actually going to come out of his seclusion and play
ball. This was a recurring theme in the weekly publication for the first few months
of the year as they attempted to assess the results of the pre-season blockbuster
deal.
A few weeks later a story titled Reggies Gone, Rudi Fills Those Big Shoes
discussed how Joe Rudi now 3rd in lineup (previously 5th) was having his best season,
driving in in 26 runs in first 21 games. This, like everything else going in Oakland,
was linked to the departure of Reggie Jackson.
STEALING BASES
One thing that was consistent in the first few months of the season, was that the As
were not afraid to steal a base or twoor nine as was the case on May 17 th.
Chuck Tanner had inherited two proven base stealers in Bert Campaneris and center
fielder Bill North. Claudell Washington, now in right field, had stolen 40 in his first
full season of 1975 and the Reggie Jackson trade had brought Don Baylor and his
32 steals from 1975.
Just two years earlier Charlie Finley had dreamed up the idea of the designated
runner. Track star Herb Washington made headlines and Finley credited him with
winning ballgames for the soon-to-be world champs. Despite a poor showing in the
post-season, Herb was invited back for the 1975 campaign, although he was
released on May 5th. His career ended with 31 stolen bases, 33 runs scored, all
while never picking up a bat or donning a glove.
Just because Herb was gone, didnt mean the experiment had been completely
abandoned. 1975 saw the emergence of speedsters Don Hopkins and Matt
Alexander. These two combined to steal 38 bases and score 41 runs while
compiling a mere 19 plate appearances. Alexander was back on the Oakland bench
in 1976 along with newcomer Larry Lintz who had stolen 50 bases for Montreal in
1974.
During Chuck Tanners five full seasons with Chicago, his teams had averaged just
86 steals per year, but he realized that with the players he now had, stealing bases

was a legitimate weapon at his disposal so he gave his rabbits the green light.
Rabbit appears to be the popular term back then for guys who could steal bases.
Even second baseman Phil Garner and Sal Bando got in on the act. In 1975, these
two had stolen only 4 and 7 bases respectively, but apparently that year the As had
a fever and the only cure..was more stolen bases.
In an April three-game series vs. Detroit, the As stole 10 bases, and they were just
getting warmed up. On May 17, Don Baylor set an Oakland record by stealing 4
bases against Minnesota. The As stole a total of 9 bases that day and they
followed that up with 5 more the next day. However, they dropped both of these
games to the Twins, each in 11 innings.
In late May, Oakland swiped 13 in a four-game series vs. the White Sox. This
included a perfect 10 for 10 in a doubleheader played on May 23 rd. They followed
this up with 15 steals in a four-game set against Minnesota. On May 24 th, Bert
Campaneris stole 5 bases against Minnesota. After stealing 3 bases early in the
game, Campy got drilled by Bill Campbell. Later in the game he singled and stole
2nd and 3rd to break Don Baylors week-old team record.
Catcher Gene Tenace was an unfortunate casualty of Oaklands new running game.
He was injured while attempting to steal on April 20 th and missed more than a
month. This would hamper his catching going forward and he spent more time at
first base.
A June issue of The Sporting News featured a story on the As and their base
stealing exploits titled Base Crimes Paying Big Dividends for As. The story stated
that Oakland was on pace to steal 385 bases which would be more than any team
since 1900 and that by May 28th, their 43rd game of the year, the As had reached
the 100 stolen base mark, which was the earliest an AL team had ever done that.
The story quoted Chuck Tanner, Our goal is to try to win. I dont try to steal bases
for any record. I just try to win ballgames. What good does a record do if you dont
win? In the story, catcher Phil Roof of the Twins expressed displeasure with the As,
saying that they were stealing without reading the scoreboard.
Despite all their success on the bases, the As record on June 13 th, was a subpar 2731, and they were 10 games out in AL West standings. That was when Finley
dropped another big one.
FIRE SALE
On June 15th, Finley announced the sale of three of his biggest superstars. Rollie
Fingers and Joe Rudi had been sold to the Red Sox for $1 million each. Vida Blue
had been sold to the Yankees for $1.5 million. The baseball world was shocked.
Commissioner Bowie Kuhn was displeased.
Kuhn contacted all three teams telling them he would have to approve the sale.
The three players sat around for a few days. The As were actually playing the Red
Sox when the deals were done so Rudi and Fingers simply switched clubhouses.
There are several photos in existence of Fingers in his Red Sox uniform. On June

18th, Kuhn overturned the sales citing the best interest of the game and the three
players were ordered returned to the Athletics.
Needless to say, Charlie Finley was outraged by this and he ordered Chuck Tanner
not to play any of the three sold players while he prepared to file a $10 million
federal lawsuit against Kuhn and Major League Baseball. So, for the time being,
Oakland played with a 22-man roster.
On June 26th, the aforementioned Paul Mitchell took one for the team and pitched
into the 7th in order to save the teams beleaguered bullpen. Mitchell got shelled by
the Twins for 11 runs on 15 hits, but his sacrifice was much appreciated by his
manager and teammates.
Rudi, Blue and Fingers were caught in the middle and sat around for nearly two
weeks. The short-handed As went 7-5 during this stretch, stealing another 23
bases in the process. On June 24th, Don Baylor had his team record consecutive
stolen base streak snapped at 25.
The commissioners office ordered the As to use their players and even threatened
to declare them free agents if the team did not comply. Ultimately a vote by the
rest of the team to strike about a half an hour before a game that caused Finley to
relent. Chuck Tanner was finally allowed to use his full 25-man roster on June 27 th.
The As continued to steal bases and flounder in the standings. On July 8 th, they had
accumulated 168 steals, but they were 41-41 and 9 games behind the Royals.
Their last series before the All-Star break was in Cleveland. They stole 14 bases in
the sweep of the Tribe and would stay above .500 the rest of the way.
An August TSN story titled As Disappoint Crowd detailed the events of jacket
day at the Oakland Coliseum. The 42,592 who showed up on July 24 th for the
promotion witnessed the As steal 3 more bases, BUT also commit 7 errors as they
dropped a tough one to the first place Royals by a score of 6-5.
On July 27th, their record stood at 53-46, and they had cut Kansas Citys lead to 7
games, but a most bizarre no-hitter by the White Sox would send the As into a
week-long tailspin. On June 28th, former As pitcher Blue Moon Odom and Francisco
Barrios would combine to no-hit the As. In this game, White Sox pitchers issued 11
walks. The As had their chances, adding three more steals, but lost the game 2-1.
After the no-hitter, the As headed to Minnesota for a 5 game set. After dropping
the first two games of the series, the As base runners took it to another level in
game three. On August 1st, during the first game of a double header, the As
victimized the Twins for a mind-boggling 12 stolen bases. The tally for the game
was: Campaneris-3, North-2, Washington-2, Garner-1, Lintz-1, Tenace-1, Baylor-1,
Alexander-1. The problem for Tanner and his team was that the only score that
mattered was Twins 8, As 7 as Minnesota won the game in 12 innings. Seemingly
spent, the As dropped the last two games of the series without much of a fight.
Now the As were 53-52 and back to 10 games out in the standings.

There was no real reason to believe they still had a chance, but these were the 5time defending AL West champs and they would not go down without a fight. Over
the next two weeks, they utilized good pitching, timely hitting and stole everything
that wasnt nailed down. On a 10-game home stand ending on August 15th, the As
went 9-1 and cut the Royals lead back to 7 games. Their season stolen base total
was at 259, which was the most by any team since the dead ball era. A little note
on the 10-game home stand: The average crowd for those games was 5,697. Not
much of a home field advantage, I should think.
By the middle of August, the As had set a new club record for stolen bases,
breaking the old record that dated back to 1912. Also, Bill North, Don Baylor and
Bert Campaneris had each stolen 40 or more bases. No other AL team had ever had
three players accomplish this feat in the same season. A month later, the same trio
would become the first three teammates to steal 50 or more bases in a season.
FINLEY
Perhaps concerned that he wasnt getting enough attention, Charlie Finley decided
to talk trash about his clubs western division rival. In the 8/28/76 issue of The
Sporting News, a story titled Royals Will Choke Chortles Charlie, quotes Finley as
saying Kansas City is looking over their shoulders. In my opinion theyre going to
choke.
Another article appeared in a September TSN issue titled Another Finley Mystery
Befuddles As. The story discussed Oaklands August 30 th acquisition of Willie
McCovey from the Padres. Finleys stated reason for this was to help get us to the
playoffs, but two days later, Finley offered Sal Bando who was tied for the AL lead
in homers - to the Texas Rangers. The deal fell through because Texas could not
come to an agreement with Bando on a long-term contract.
On the same day that he tried to unload Bando, Finley also made a formal request
that the June 15th sale be upheld and for Fingers, Rudi and Blue be sent to their new
teams by mid-September. Somehow in 48 hours, Finley had forgotten all about
getting to the playoffs. (Playoffs? Dont talk about..playoffs! Playoffs?)
Throughout the season, Oakland players openly criticized their boss about the
ridiculous position in which he had put his team. In July, Vida Blue gave his opinion
on the disputed sale transaction, Maybe if the Yankees and As get in the playoffs, I
could pitch for both sides. Id be tired, but that might end this crap. As it turns
out, Finley had signed Blue to a 3-year deal right before selling him to the Yankees.
Blue claimed that he had only signed the deal because he was promised that he
would not be sold or traded. Finley denied making such a promise.
In September, in a TSN article titled Bitter As Yearn for One More Taste of Honey,
Gene Tenace summed up the whole season quite nicely: We play for pride. We
want to win to show Mr. Finley that hes made a big mistake. Hes torn this ball club
up..Ive pretty much made a commitment not to play here anymore..might
as well go out a winner.

Finley responded to his players criticism in typical Finley fashion, Theyre not going
to win in spite of me. Theyre going to win because of me.
STRETCH RUN
Back on the field, the As ended the month of August with a 70-61 record, 8 games
back. The As didnt play great baseball in September, but the Royals, who had
been in first place since May 18th , hit their first rough spell of the season and the As
played well enough to close the gap a bit.
The 8 game lead on August 31st, was down to 5 on September 7th. It was a mere 3
games at the end of the day on September 15 th. Perhaps Finleys crazy choking
prediction was coming true? The As continued to tear up the base paths, swiping
7 on September 6th vs. California. Two days later the team reached the 300 stolen
base mark. The day after that, Bert Campaneris broke another of Don Baylors
team records, when he stole his 26th consecutive base. Anything Don could do,
Bert could do better.
With 11 games left, the As found themselves 6 games out and they had 6 games
left with Kansas City, so a final showdown was afoot. On September 21 st, Doug Bird
of the Royals defeated Oakland 3-1. According to a September TSN article As Take
a Fuzzy View of Royal Charges the game included a bizarre raid of the Oakland
bullpen by Royals manager Whitey Herzog. Herzog had been tipped off that
Oakland relievers were using a pair of binoculars to steal signs. The binoculars
were confiscated and the As denied any wrong doing. The Royals won that day, but
Oakland rebounded and won the next two games, swiping 6 bases in the series
finale. They left KC five games out with eight to play.
When the Royals came to Oakland four days later, the lead was down to 4 games.
Vida Blue outdueled Dennis Leonard in the series opener. In that game, Don Baylor
set a new Oakland team record with his 20 th hit by pitch of the season - beat that
Campy! Baylor took offense and charged Dennis Leonard and a free-for-all ensued.
Perhaps that was just Dons way of celebrating his new record with all of his
teammates?
The As won again the next day 1-0, as Mike Torrez tossed a 2-hit shutout. The
Royals lead was now just 2 games. Larry Gura, however, effectively settled the
AL West race the next day when he shut out the As 4-0. The Royals officially
clinched the next day. The five year reign of the Oakland As was ended. A new
dynasty had begun. The Royals would go on to win 4 AL West titles in a 5 year span
from 1976-1980.
The As played out the string, adding 7 more stolen bases in their final series vs.
California. They finished with a total of 341 stolen bases for the season,
establishing a new AL record that still stands as of the beginning of the 2015
season.
They finished with a very respectable 87-74 record, just 2 games out of first.
Considering all the nonsense inflicted upon them by their owner, the
accomplishment was actually pretty miraculous.

END OF AN ERA
On Sunday, October 3rd, after losing a 1-0 game to Nolan Ryan, their season was
over. The unsigned members of the Oakland As were free to seek their fortunes
elsewhere. An October TSN piece titled Liberated As Give Champagne Party
detailed the scene in the Oakland clubhouse that involved over 30 bottles of bubbly.
These guys had become accustomed to season-ending celebrations and this one
would be their last as teammates. Bill North, who actually had been signed and
would be returning to Oakland in 1977 said, This is to celebrate the liberation of
the Oakland Seven. Rollie Fingers parting comments included, I feel sorry for
anyone who has to play for this club next year.
Fingers and Gene Tenace would move on to San Diego for the 1977 season. In
1981, Rollie would win the AL Cy Young and MVP award for the Brewers. Tenace
would continue to amaze with his near .400 on base percentages coupled with his
near .220 batting averages.
Joe Rudi and Don Baylor signed with the Angels. Baylor would be named AL MVP in
1979. When the clock struck 1980, Don pretty much traded in his base stealing
shoes and focused on becoming one of the most hit-by-pitch batters in the history
of the game. In his final six seasons, Rudi never came close to matching the
success he had had in Oakland.
Vida Blue and Bill North spent one final season in Oakland before Blue was traded
across the bay to San Francisco and North was shipped to the Dodgers. Bert
Campaneris packed his bags for Texas, although he only played one full season for
them and spent the rest of his playing days as a part-timer. Captain Sal Bando
signed with Milwaukee, where he spent the remaining five years of his career.
In the spring of 1977, Finley also traded Claudell Washington to the Rangers, Mike
Torrez to the Yankees and Phil Garner to the Pirates. Aside from Bill North and Vida
Blue, there was no one else left from their championship years. Fingers parting
words were quite prophetic as the 1977 Oakland As were quite pathetic finishing
63-98.
STOLEN BASES
Now, lets take a look at the final stolen base numbers for the 1976 squad. 341
steals was a mind-boggling amount. Oakland accounted for 20% of all the stolen
bases in the AL that year. They also had the best stolen base percentage in the AL
at 73.5%. The Yankees were the next best AL team with 163. In the NL, the world
champion Reds had the most steals with 201 and a 78.7% success rate.
The top 8 base stealers for the As were:
o
o
o
o

Bill North-75 (a career best)

Bert Campenaris-54 (his 7th season of 50+ steals, besting Don Baylor
by 2)
Don Baylor-52 (a career best)
Claudell Washington-37

o
o
o
o

Phil Garner-35 (a career best)

Larry Lintz-31 (a pinch-runner with just 4 plate appearances)
Sal Bando-20 (career best, his previous high had been 13)
Matt Alexander-20 (on 30 plate appearances)

Lets also put Oaklands stolen base total into perspective. As stated previously, the
California Angels had 220 stolen bases in 1975 and that was a pretty big deal since
no team had stolen 200 or more bases since the 1918 Pittsburgh Pirates. The NL
record for steals in a year was (and still is) 347, accomplished by the 1911 New York
Giants.
Prior to 1975, the Maury Wills-led Dodgers of 1962 had held the highest total of the
post-dead ball era with 198 thefts. The Chicago White Sox had led the majors in
steals during the previous six years (from 1956 to 1961) and were known as the
Go-Go Sox. But the average total for those teams was only 102.5 per season
less than one third the amount that Oakland had just put up.
Despite having the likes of Bert Campaneris and Bill North, the As had averaged
only 127.5 steals per year in their first 8 seasons in Oakland (1968-1975). Their
total for 1975 was 183. In 1977, that total would drop back down to 176. The 1976
spike in stolen bases more or less came out of nowhere and was gone just as fast.
The team total dropped down to 104 steals in 1979, but then a young man named
Rickey arrived. In 1980, the As stole 175 bases (100 coming from Henderson). The
team total jumped to 232 in 1982 as Rickey set a new single-season stolen base
record. The team total peaked at 235 in 1983 and dropped off in the next two
seasons as Rickey went to play for the Yankees.
Rickey had spent most of his childhood in Oakland and was drafted by the As in the
4th round of the 1976 draft. Its probably no coincidence that the year they set the
AL record for stolen bases in a season they drafted the man who would steal more
bases than anyone in the history of the game.
Since 1976, the only other team to top 300 steals for a season was the 1985 St.
Louis Cardinals. Rookie Vince Coleman stole 110 all by himself. Whitey Herzogs
Cardinals led the majors in steals for five straight seasons during the 1980s.
In the past 10 years (2005-2014), only one team has even reached 200 steals for a
season. Money Ball has spoken and the stolen base just isnt used as a weapon
like it once was.
THE MANAGER
Soon after he was hired, manager Chuck Tanner stated that Ill be managing for
Charlie Finley for the next 10 years. In an October TSN story, his tune had changed
considerably as he said he would return, If Charlie will have me.
Tanner did not return to manage the As in 1977, but he neither quit nor was he
fired. In, perhaps, the most appropriate transaction to cap off a year of insanity,
manager Chuck Tanner was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates for catcher Manny
Sanguillen and $100,000.

Not surprisingly, the Pirates with their new manager and second baseman - would
lead the majors in stolen bases in 1977. Their total of 260 was exactly double their
1976 output. Speed would continue to be part of the Pirates arsenal in 1978 when
they again led the NL in steals and in 1979 when they finished 2 nd in steals, but won
the World Series.
FINAL PROPS
In the Spring Training issue of The Sporting News (dated 3/6/76) Ron Bergman
submitted a pre-season report on the Oakland As. Near the end of it, he included
the following:
ONCE AGAIN, the As have a number of rabbits coming to camp. Held over from
last year are Matt Alexander and Don Hopkins. Added to the fleet during the winter
was Larry Lintz from the Cards. Not all three are expected to stick, but with the
speed-crazy Finley at the helm, no one knows for sure.
Clearly, this man could see the future.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------REFERENCES
As is frequently noted above, all details and quotes in this story were culled from
articles appearing in this big stack of 1976 issues of The Sporting News:

Supporting facts were obtained from baseball-reference.com.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------FURTHER READING
For a more comprehensive look at the Oakland Athletics of the early 1970s I highly
recommend:
A Baseball Dynasty: Charlie Finleys Swingin As by Bruce Markusen. Published by
Saint Johann Press (January 15, 2002)

Dean Gearhart, March 28, 2015