1975 Oakland Athletics season
Fifth straight AL West title, then swept in ALCS.
As the three-time defending World Series champions, the Athletics won their fifth consecutive American League West title with a record of 98 wins and 64 losses.
Quick Facts
- Season
- 1975
- League
- American League
- Division
- West
- Ballpark
- Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum
- City
- Oakland, California
- Record
- 98–64 (.605)
- Owners
- Charles O. Finley
- Managers
- Alvin Dark
Facts from the source article.
Offseason
The Athletics led the league in arbitration filings with 13; seven players settled before their hearings. The same day, they traded Dan Ford and Dennis Myers to the Minnesota Twins for Pat Bourque. Dal Maxvill was released on November 11. Jesús Alou was released on March 28.
Regular season
At the All-Star Break, discussions of Bowie Kuhn's reappointment took place. Finley, New York owner George Steinbrenner, and Baltimore owner Jerry Hoffberger were part of a group that wanted Kuhn gone. Finley tried to convince new Texas Rangers owner Brad Corbett that MLB needed a more dynamic commissioner. During the vote, Baltimore and New York decided to vote in favor of the commissioner's reappointment. By July 14, the Athletics had won 55 games and lost 32. Seven Athletics had been named to the All-Star Game. Finley received numerous offers for the Athletics. Horse owner Marge Everett wanted to purchase the team and relocate them to Seattle. Former San Francisco Giants manager Herman Franks led a group of 15 investors who offered more than $15 million. Finley openly criticized fans for the lack of attendance. Rumors circulated of possible relocation to New Orleans, Seattle, and Toronto. There was also talk of an ownership group relocating the San Francisco Giants to Toronto, with the possibility that Oakland would have the entire Bay Area to itself. Fed up with poor attendance, Finley pondered relocating the team. When Seattle filed a lawsuit against Major League Baseball over the move of the Seattle Pilots to Milwaukee, Finley and others came up with an elaborate shuffle that would move the Chicago White Sox to Seattle. White Sox owner John Allyn was broke and placed under pressure to sell his club to Seattle interests. As Finley had business interests in Chicago, he was prepared to move the Athletics to Chicago to be closer to his home in LaPorte, Indiana. The scheme fell through when Arthur Allyn sold the White Sox to Bill Veeck, who was not interested in leaving Chicago. On May 20, Blue Moon Odom and cash were traded to the Cleveland Indians for Dick Bosman and Jim Perry.
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