The Swingin' A's

The Oakland A's of the early 1970s were the most iconoclastic team in baseball history. Never before had a club so collectively traumatized baseball's establishment with its eccentric behavior and business decisions, not to mention its outlandish facial hair, while simultaneously setting records: five consecutive division titles and three straight championships. Yet despite all the winning, the drama that played out on the field was somehow exceeded by the drama in the clubhouse. There were fistfights between players on the regular. The one thing that kept the team from splintering was the fact that, as much as they might have loathed each other, they loathed the team’s owner, Charlie Finley, even more... At least they had that much in common. In 1973, Finley pushed it too far, maneuvering to get a player off the team on false pretenses, uniting his team against him as the World Series hangs in the balance.

Journalist: Jason Turbow

Voice: Jud Meyers

Production: Christopher Hooton

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