Oakland Athletics reveal their fan-voted 50th anniversary team

This season will mark the Oakland Athletics 50th season on the West Coast. It’s a half-century mark, not unlike the one they had in Philadelphia in 1951.

There will be many times throughout the 2018 regular season in which the Oakland Athletics will celebrate this historic milestone.

The team has also now committed to being #RootedInOakland from 2019 and beyond, with the announcement of the construction of their new stadium in what locals affectionately call, “The Town.”

Upon moving to Oakland from Kansas City in 1968, the Athletics were in their new city just three seasons before winning their first of three consecutive World Series in from 1972-1974, becoming and remaining the only team to ever win three straight World Series Titles besides the New York Yankees.

They went on to go to three straight World Series in the late 1980’s-early 1990’s, losing two of three but sweeping the most important of the three against their Bay Area rival San Francisco Giants in 1989.

While the Oakland Athletics haven’t won a World Series title since 1989, they’ve always seemed to excel, from winning 20-straight games in 2002 to being one of just four teams to make the postseason eight times in the first 15 seasons played in this new century.

Being in the postseason over 50 percent of the time is pretty incredible, even if they only ended up winning one American League Division Series in which they swept the Minnesota Twins in 2006 just to turn around and be swept in the AL Championship Series that year by the Detroit Tigers.

The A’s have a long a storied history since their inception in 1901 in Philadelphia, PA and the team’s last half-century in Oakland has yet to disappoint entirely. With some top prospects hitting the majors this season, the Oakland Athletics seem to have a bright future ahead of them.

So, on this 50th anniversary of being a staple in Bay Area sports, the team asked the fans to vote for their top 50 Oakland Athletics of all-time.

That list was released Monday and includes names like Joe Rudi and Gene Tenace, to Dave Stewart and Dave Henderson, to Scott Hatteberg and Miguel Tejada and forward to some more recent names like Coco Crisp and Josh Reddick.

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The list also contains the name of one contemporary Athletic in slugger Khris Davis, who in 2017, became just the second Athletic in franchise history to have back-to-back 40-plus home run seasons.

Hall of Famer Jimmie Foxx had back-to-back-to-back 40-plus home run seasons hitting 58 in 1932, 48 in 1933 and 44 in 1934 when the franchise was still in Philadelphia.

He is currently the only Oakland Athletic to hit 40 homers in back-to-back seasons and just the fifth in Oakland history to hit 40 or more in a single season along with other members of the list Jason Giambi, Mark McGwire, Jose Canseco and Reggie Jackson.

Overall the list of all-time Oakland Athletics contains the names of six Hall of Famers in Jackson, Jim “Catfish” Hunter, Rollie Fingers, Dennis Eckersley, Rickey Henderson and Frank Thomas.

The Oakland Athletics will be celebrating their anniversary all throughout the 2018 season with gate dedications, special events and even the unveiling of a new statue that will travel with them from the Oakland Coliseum to the new stadium.

Next: A's sign Petit

In the coming week, we will be unveiling the full list of the all-time top 50 Oakland Athletics players as voted on by the fans, along with their accomplishments as a member of the Athletics so be sure to check back for more on this big anniversary in Oakland.