Athletics All-Time Lineup

Looking back at a particular team’s history has always been, and always will be, an interesting activity. Especially concocting their all-time starting line-up. Today let’s visit the world of past and present Athletics’ royalty. Who was the best? Let’s find out…

Pitching Rotation:

1. Eddie Plank- In his fourteen year tenure with the Philadelphia A’s he amassed 284 wins (a .637 W-L%), with a 2.39 ERA, and 362 complete games. Not to mention, he’s a Hall of Famer…that never hurts. The fact that he is also featured on the second most valuable baseball card in existence doesn’t hurt his cause either.

2. Lefty Grove- Yet another Hall of Famer, his nine years in Philly were quite prosperous, winning 195 games, and leading the league in strikeouts SEVEN of those years. His .712 W-L% while with the A’s is a team record among pitchers with over 400 games played.

3. Rube Waddell- Only six of his thirteen years were spent with the A’s but he made the time count. Rube lead the league in strikeouts all six years, and won 131 games, boasting a .615 W-L%. Winning 27 games (27-10) in 1905, finding a sparkling 1.48 ERA, and owning 287 strikeouts, let people know he meant business…not to mention he led the league in all those categories.

4. Chief Bender- Charles Albert Bender spent his first, and definitely best, twelve seasons in Philadelphia. 193 wins and a 2.32 ERA would obviously be stellar enough to earn him a spot on this list. Not only are his stats amazing, he has an “extracurricular” (we’ll call it) claim as well: He was known as a notorious and “one of the best sign stealers of all time.” Chief is also widely credited as the first pitcher to use the slider.

5. Tim Hudson- Odds are, you probably don’t recall too much about the last four pitchers. This one, you will. Tim pitched in Oakland for six years before going to Atlanta, but while he was with the A’s he was a weapon. A two-time All-Star in Oakland, he won 92 games, and had a .702 W-L%.

Catcher: Mickey Cochrane- Gordon Stanley Cochrane, spent his first nine years in MLB with the good ‘ole A’s, winning one MVP Award. Accumulating totals like 1,317 hits, 680 RBI, and a .412 OBP. Another easily admirable feat, he served in World War II. In 1947, he became the third catcher in Major League history inducted into the Hall of Fame.

First Baseman: Jimmie Foxx- Easy choice, here. Double X, one of the most prolific sluggers of all-time, was a three-time All-Star while in Philadelphia, and a two-time MVP Award winner. Pretty simple reasoning behind this choice: 302 HR, 1,075 RBI, .339/.440/.640, and 257 doubles. The Sporting News ranked him fifteenth on their list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players.

Second Baseman: Eddie Collins- The Hall of Famer spent thirteen of his twenty-five years in Major League baseball with the Athletics. Nicknamed “Cocky”, he had some room to talk. His A’s totals amounted to 1,308 hits, 496 RBI, 172 doubles, and 373 stolen bases. His .344/.452/.452 performance earned him MVP honors in 1914. Eddie also led the A’s to World Series titles in 1910, 1911, and 1913.

Third Baseman: Sal Bando- Not really the obvious choice, but Sal does lead all A’s third basemen in WAR, by quite a bit. His Athletics’ WAR sitting at 52.0, nearly ten points higher than the runner-up, Hall of Famer, Home Run Baker. The four-time all-star accumulated 1,311 hits with the A’s, as well as 192 HR, and 796 RBI. Sal captained the team to three straight World Series crowns in 1972-74. By the time he retired, he was only the second third baseman ever to hit 200+ homeruns.

Shortstop: Bert Campaneris- No comparison when it comes to this choice. Campy, a five-time A’s All-Star, was also the league leader in stolen bases seven times. His speed helped him knock 270 doubles, and 70 triples. His 1,882 hits are an Athletics team record. Another neat nugget of information from his outstanding career: He was (at the time) only the second player (now he’s one of five) in Major League history to blast two homers in his first game.

Outfield:

Rickey Henderson- Where do we start? He’s Rickey Henderson. He played with the A’s three different times. Winding up with 1,768 hits, 867 stolen bases, 1,227 walks, and 648 RBI, boasting a nice 72.5 WAR. From 1980-1983, Rickey became the only player in history to have a season of 100+ walks, 100+ stolen bases, and 100+ runs…and he did it three consecutive times.

Al Simmons- Aloysius Simmons, aka “Bucketfoot Al”, let his stats speak for himself. Here’s the numbers…and some very good ones: 1,827 hits, 348 doubles, 209 HR, 1,179 RBI, and a slash line of .356/.398/.584.

Reggie Jackson- Spending his first ten years in MLB in a fine colored green and yellow uni went great for Reggie. He amounted to 269 HR, 1,228 hits, 234 doubles, and a slash line that would make any slugger smile- .262/.355/.496.

When looking back at history the way baseball writers/statisticians do, you never cease to find something new. No matter the team, looking back at its best players and stars will always be a statistician’s/baseball fanatic’s favorite activity. Sufficed to say, some teams will be a bit more interesting than others for a variety of reasons. For example: age. The older the team, the more obscure facts/stats you might find on a player from yester-year. Odds are, you won’t find a player recently with the nickname “Bucketfoot Al”. Another reason is, the team’s success. This might not be the best example, seeing as the Rays are a relatively new team, but we’ll use it anyway. The Athletics have had 39 players play for them and wind up in Cooperstown a number of years later…the Rays have only had one. Perhaps now you will go on and try to conjure up your own favorite team’s starting lineup or all-time best players. Whatever you do, never stop loving the game.