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Who are the top Oakland Athletics of all time? Here is our top 10 countdown:
10. Vida Blue: the 1971 AL Cy Young and MVP winner, Blue helped anchor the Athletics rotation in the 1970s, also earning three All-Star selections and finishing top-10 for Cy Young 3x while pitching the team to three World Series titles.
9. Home Run Baker: arguably the best power hitter of the dead-ball era, Baker led the AL in home runs in four straight years from 1911 to 1914, powering the Athletics to three World Series titles.
8. Dennis Eckersley: originally an All-Star-caliber starting pitcher with a 20-win season to his name, Eckersley converted into a closer with Oakland in his early 30s, twice leading the league in saves and winning both the AL Cy Young and MVP awards in 1992 en route to 390 career saves and the Hall of Fame.
7. Eddie Plank: one of the best pitchers of the dead-ball era in the early 20th century, Plank racked up seven 20-win seasons with the Athletics en route to a pair of World Series titles and 326 career wins.
6. Reggie Jackson: known as “Mr. October” for his World Series prowess, Jackson was a 6x All-Star with the Athletics who won the 1973 AL MVP; he also twice led the AL in home runs and won three World Series titles with the team, taking home World Series MVP in 1973.
5. Al Simmons: a .334 career hitter with back-to-back batting titles (.381 and .390 in 1930 and 1931, respectively), Simmons formed a powerful one-two punch with Jimmie Foxx in the late 1920s and early 1930s, driving in 100+ runs in each of his first nine seasons and finishing top-five for MVP 5x while powering the Athletics to consecutive World Series championships.
4. Eddie Collins: the leader in career hits among second basemen (3,315), Collins spent 13 of his 25 MLB seasons with the Athletics, winning the AL MVP in 1914 and leading the league in runs scored for three consecutive seasons while also winning three World Series titles with the team.
3. Lefty Grove: perhaps the most dominant pitcher of the 1930s, Grove was an Athletic for the first half of his career, winning five ERA titles with seven straight 20-win seasons, back-to-back Pitching Triple Crowns, the 1931 AL MVP, and a pair of World Series titles.
2. Jimmie Foxx: second only to Babe Ruth in terms of raw power in the early 20th century, Foxx spent the first 11 years of his career with the Athletics and had some of his finest seasons – he played in the first few All-Star Games and led the league in home runs 3x and runs batted in 2x en route to two MVP awards and a Triple Crown in 1933.
1. Rickey Henderson: the greatest base-stealer in baseball history, Henderson spent close to 14 seasons in Oakland, where he was a 6x All-Star, the 1990 AL MVP, and a World Series champion while leading the league in runs scored 3x and stolen bases 9x (867 total stolen bases with the Athletics), including three seasons with 100+ stolen bases and a single-season record 130 swipes in 1982.
Agree/Disagree? As always, debate/discuss, and leave your thoughts and comments below.
Note: This list includes players who played for the Philadelphia and Kansas City Athletics.
Note: All statistics as of time of publication.
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