The Oakland Athletics have a long and storied history that can be tracked through the team’s baseball cards over many decades. While the A’s franchise originated in Philadelphia in 1901 and spent over 50 years there, some of their most memorable moments have come since relocating to Oakland in 1968. Let’s take a look at the rich history captured in A’s cards from various eras.
One of the earliest A’s stars to be featured on cards was Lefty Grove, who spent almost his entire 14-year career with the Philadelphia A’s from 1925 to 1938. Grove was arguably the best left-handed pitcher of his generation and is considered one of the greatest pitchers of all time. His fierce competitiveness and blazing fastball made him a dominant force on formidable A’s teams of the late 1920s and early 30s. Grove’s playing career was well represented across many tobacco and gum baseball card sets of the time.
After World War II, the A’s dynasty of the 1910s and 1920s was a fading memory. But in the 1950s, legendary owner-executor Connie Mack began to turn the franchise around. Led by young sluggers like pinch-hitter Mike McCormick and power-hitting first baseman Eddie Joost, the mid-50s A’s saw an upswing in competitiveness not seen in over two decades. Players from this exciting era like outfielder Gus Zernial started being issued on modern cardboard for the first time in 1954 Topps and Bowman sets.
It was a blockbuster trade in 1960 that really propelled the A’s back into pennant contention. That’s when Mack dealt young hotshot pitcher Bud Daley to the Cleveland Indians for an untested but toolsy outfielder named Rocky Colavito. While Colavito struggled to adapt to Philadelphia, this trade signaled the philosophy of new A’s GM Frank “Trader” Lane to aggressively re-tool the roster. Colavito was widely issued that season in Topps, Leaf, and other 1960 sets in both A’s and Indians uniforms.
After controversial owner Charles O. Finley purchased the team in 1960, the A’s brand of baseball became known for its brash self-promotion and revolutionary styles. Under celebrated manager “Lazy” Alvin Dark, the ’72-74 A’s teams burst with charismatic stars whose fun, hard-nosed play was captured on classic cards by Topps. Catfish Hunter, Rollie Fingers, Sal Bando and Reggie Jackson led the “Swingin’ A’s” charge on and off the field. Topps issued some of the most iconic cards in the brand’s history from this era.
Throughout the late 80s and 90s, the A’s farm system became THE model for sustainable success in baseball. Future Hall of Famers like Rickey Henderson, Dennis Eckersley, and Rollie Fingers were joined by Bash Brothers Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire in laying waste to American League pitching. The “Eckosiarchy” closer and the barrel-chested first baseman went on to become two of the most memorable card images ever issued for any team by Donruss and Topps.
After a long period of struggles in the 2000s, Billy Beane’s innovative “Moneyball” approach helped return the A’s to relevance behind stars like Miguel Tejada, Barry Zito, and Tim Hudson. By the mid-2010s, a new core of young power hitters like Khris Davis, Matt Olson, and Matt Chapman had fans excited for the future. Today the A’s farm system continues to churn out tomorrow’s stars, with players like Jesús Luzardo now getting their first cards issued by Topps, Panini, and others.
Through countless designs, revisions of uniforms, names, and venues – the A’s storied franchise history has been consistently captured on American’s favorite collectibles: baseball cards. For fans and historians alike, flipping through decade after decade of A’s cardboard is a visual way to reminisce about the great players and moments that defined different eras in Oakland A’s baseball.
