2005 Oakland Athletics

Though the Oakland Athletics missed a West Division title by one game in 2004, it was an exciting year to be an A's fan. The A's play baseball in a city with great weather and field one of the most consistently excellent teams in the American League. With such positive attractions, including this year's contending team, you have plenty of reasons to get tickets to see the A's at work.

As a charter franchise of the American League in 1901, the Philadelphia Athletics developed one of the most storied histories of any baseball team. Though they never knew the success of the New York Yankees, the Athletics can count Jimmie Foxx and Connie Mack among their Hall of Famers.

When attendance at Shibe Park dwindled because the National League's Philadelphia Phillies were finally becoming a good team, the owners moved the Athletics to Kansas City in 1955. The A's did not distinguish themselves in Kansas City, even after innovative owner Charles Finley bought the team in 1960. Though Finley instituted the Athletics' trademark green-and-gold sleeveless uniforms, he could not inject color onto the field of play. Once again, the A's found themselves in need of a new home after the 1967 season, and Finley chose Oakland.

There, Finley started building a solid team. After winning the American League West title in 1971 and losing to Baltimore in the playoffs, the A's won three straight World Series from 1972 to 1974, with a team that featured Hall of Famer Jim 'Catfish' Hunter, pitchers Vida Blue and Ken Holtzman, catcher Gene Tenace, and outfielder Reggie Jackson.

While the A's have had their downturns in the intervening years, they have bounced back on a regular basis to dominate their division. They won another World Series in 1989, and they have appeared in the postseason every year since 2000, though they have lost in the first round of the playoffs each time.

In 2002, the A's followed what has become their pattern: they had yet another glorious regular season featuring another marvelous second half, followed by another ignominious post-season defeat, followed by another good offseason.

In 2003 the Oakland A's featured perhaps the strongest starting rotation in the league. Miguel Tejada won the MVP award, Barry Zito won the Cy Young award, Jermaine Dye improved in the second half of the season, and Chad Bradford continued to be a great bargain.

The A's offense was solid last year, and when the team picked up Erubiel Durazo for a song, it strengthened its options for the future.