100 Things A's Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die

Susan Slusser

Triumph Books, Jun 1, 2015 - Sports & Recreation - 336 pages

With traditions, records, and team lore, this lively, detailed book explores the personalities, events, and facts every Athletics fan should know. This guide to all things A's covers the team's amazing history including the Connie Mack and Charlie O. Finley dynasties, the "Earthquake Series," and all of their World Series titles. Author Susan Slusser has collected every essential piece of A's knowledge and trivia, including Billy Beane and Moneyball, Catfish Hunter, Stomper, and the "Bash Brothers," as well as must-do activities, and ranks them from 1 to 100, providing an entertaining and easy-to-follow checklist for fans of all ages.

Contents

• 1 Rickey Henderson: 1
• 2 Charlie Finley: 10
• 3 Connie Mack: 21
• 4 Billy Beane: 28
• 1972: 30
• 6 Reggie Jackson: 39
• The Earthquake Series: 45
• 8 Rube Waddell: 48
• 9 Bash Brothers: 53
• 10 Winning Streak: 60
• 11 Billyball: 62
• 12 Rollie Fingers: 67
• 2012: 69
• 14 Tony La Russa: 74
• 1973: 77
• 16 Jimmie Foxx: 80
• 17 Eck: 83
• 18 Catfish Hunter: 86
• 19 Grow a Handlebar Mustache: 90
• 20 Dallas Bradens Perfect Game: 93
• 1974: 98
• 22 The Big Three: 102
• 23 Campy Plays All Nine: 106
• 24 Lefty Grove: 108
• 25 The Jeter Flip: 110
• 26 Dick Williams: 114
• 27 Travel Overseas with the As: 117
• 28 Yoenis Cespedes Journey: 119
• 29 The White Elephant: 122
• 30 Bob Melvin: 123
• 31 Stewart vs Clemens: 126
• 32 Sit with the Zany RightField Crowd: 130
• 33 Gibsons Homer: 133
• 34 Moneyball: 136
• 35 Captain Sal Bando: 141
• 36 Bill King: 143
• 37 Finleys Gimmicks: 146
• 38 Origins: 152
• 39 Do the Wave: 154
• 40 WildCard Drama: 156
• 41 Jason Giambi: 159
• 42 Herb Washington: 162
• 43 Make an As Mix Tape: 165
• 44 Second Mack Dynasty: 168
• 45 Campy Suspended: 172
• 2006: 175
• 47 Velardes Unassisted Triple Play: 179
• 48 Fingers Rudi Traded: 181
• 49 Sean Doolittle: 183
• 50 The 100000 Infield: 186
• 51 Go to Rickys Sports Theater and Grill: 191
• 52 Oakland Oaks: 193
• 53 Hammer Time: 194
• 54 Bobby Shantz: 196
• 55 Great As Nicknames: 199
• The 2003 ALDS: 201
• 57 Pie Someone: 204
• 58 Joe DiMaggio: 206
• 59 Vida Blue: 210
• 60 Spot Moneyball Liberties: 215
• 61 Frank Thomas: 218
• 62 The Five Aces: 220
• 63 Ride a Skateboard to the Coliseum: 222
• 64 Broadcast Business: 223
• 65 Chief Bender: 229
• 66 Sewage and Sprinklers: 233
• 67 Move to Oakland: 236
• 68 Great 80s Outfield: 240
• 69 Josh Donaldson: 242
• 70 See the As New Spring Home: 246
• 71 The Mike Andrews Incident: 247
• 72 Satchel Paige: 251
• 73 Join Athletics Nation: 253
• 74 Charlie O the Mule: 255
• 75 Miguel Tejada: 256
• 76 Gus Zernial and Marilyn Monroe: 259
• 77 The Swingin As: 261
• 78 Debbi Fields: 264
• 79 The Longest Game: 266
• 80 Doc Powers: 268
• 81 White Shoes: 270
• 82 Stadium Search: 273
• 83 Integration: 276
• 84 Balfour Rage: 277
• 85 Crash Davis: 279
• 86 Eric Chavez: 282
• 87 Join the Historical Society: 284
• 88 Voos and Mickey: 285
• 89 Marco Scutaro: 288
• 90 Other Hall of Famers: 290
• 91 Josh Reddick: 294
• 92 Move to KC: 297
• 93 Roy Steele: 299
• 94 Visit Stadium Sites: 300
• 95 Eric Byrnes: 303
• 96 Yankees Farm Club: 306
• 97 Brandon McCarthy: 309
• 98 Mt Davis: 311
• 99 Nick Swisher: 313
• 100 Go to FanFest: 315
• Acknowledgments: 317
• Bibliography: 319

About the author

Susan Slusser has been the San Francisco Chronicle's Oakland A's beat writer for 16 seasons. She is an MLB Network correspondent and is a former president of the Baseball Writers' Association of America. She lives in San Carlos, California. Billy Beane is the general manager and minority owner of the Oakland Athletics. He was named the Sporting News' Executive of the Year in 1999 and 2012, and the Baseball America Major League Baseball Executive of the Year in 2002 and 2013. He lives in the Bay Area.

Bibliographic information

• Title: 100 Things A's Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die; 100 Things...Fans Should Know
• Author: Susan Slusser
• Publisher: Triumph Books, 2015
• ISBN: 1633192008, 9781633192003
• Length: 336 pages
• Subjects: Sports & Recreation / Baseball / General; Travel / United States / West / Pacific (AK, CA, HI, OR, WA)