On Monday the Oakland Athletics unveiled their fan-voted 50th anniversary team as part of their season-long celebration of the A’s 50th season in “The Town.”
The fans voted on the top 50 players in Oakland Athletics history. That this is a fan voted team makes it fun.
There are the obvious G.O.A.T.S. like Rickey Henderson, Dennis Eckersley, Rollie Fingers, Jim “Catfish” Hunter and Frank Thomas, all of whom are in the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
As you may or may not remember Thomas was a member of the 2006 Oakland Athletics team that went to the American League Championship Series and he also spent time with the team in 2008.
Then you have the guys who the fans have emotional ties to. Scott Hatteberg is a prime example of this. He hit the walk-off home run that won the A’s 20th game during their 20-game win streak in 2002.
Coco Crisp invented the Bernie Lean during the A’s magical 2012 season in which they won the AL Western Division crown by defeating the Texas Rangers on the final day of the season, it was the only day the team was ever in first place that season. He was a long-time Athletic who was a clubhouse leader.
Eric Byrnes is another. A’s fans loved his hustle. Did these players always post the best numbers or win an MVP award? No, but they tug on the heartstrings of the Oakland Athletics fans.
Now we’re going to go through the top 50 Oakland Athletics one by one, alphabetically, beginning next with Sal Bando.