Thursday, September 3, 2015

The Athletics Franchise Deep Six

Of the Original 16 franchises, we've finally come to the last one, the Philadelphia/Kansas City/Oakland Athletics! Let's take a look at this much-traveled franchise, whose history is a hodgepodge of dynasties and fire sales.


PC1B2B3BSSLFCFRF
1stLefty GroveMickey CochraneJimmie FoxxEddie CollinsHome Run BakerBert CampanerisRickey HendersonDwayne MurphyReggie Jackson
2ndRube WaddellTerry SteinbachMark McGwireMax BishopSal BandoEddie JoostAl SimmonsDave HendersonJose Canseco
3rdEddie PlankFrankie HayesJason GiambiMark EllisEric ChavezJack BarryBob JohnsonAmos StrunkSocks Seybold
4thTim HudsonWally SchangHarry DavisDanny MurphyCarney LansfordMiguel TejadaJoe RudiBill NorthJosh Reddick
5thEddie RommelKurt SuzukiStuffy McInnisDick GreenJosh DonaldsonMike BordickTopsy HartselCoco CrispWally Moses
6thChief BenderOssee SchrecongostFerris FainNap LajoieLave CrossWalt WeissTillie WalkerRick MondayMike Davis

That's one great 1st Team. All but two are Hall of Famers. The 2nd Team, though, feels like a huge dropoff. Waddell and Simmons are all-timers, and Bando and McGwire are both borderliners, but the rest? Fine players, not immortals.

The position that really surprised me this time was third base. The A's have more depth there than I would've expected. With the season Josh Donaldson is currently having, he might've stood to rank even higher if he hadn't been traded.

I was frustrated trying to pick guys for the lower teams at several of these positions. There was just too much mediocrity. For a franchise that's won nine World Series, they sure aren't that deep. The great Athletic teams tended to burn brightly and be snuffed out quickly.

I plan to continue this series with the expansion franchises, but since they don't have as much history, I won't be doing a Deep Six. For the 1961-77 franchises I'll be doing a Deep Four, and for the 1993-98 franchises I'll be doing a Deep Three. We'll see those after this season is over.