A month ago, we asked readers to vote for their ultimate Oakland A’s lineup card, selecting from the best players at each position over the team’s 57 years at the Coliseum.
The poll is closed. Some of the results may surprise you, and others were, like so many Mark McGwire home runs, no-doubters.
We also have a few folks on our staff quite familiar with the team’s history, including longtime East Bay residents, former beat reporters and an ex-clubhouse assistant.
Here’s who the fans chose as well as the lineup cards that deputy sports editor Laurence Miedema, sports night editor Jon Becker and breaking news reporter Rick Hurd would submit to the umpire if they had their choice from Oakland A’s history:
Catcher: Terry Steinbach
No argument from the BANG triumvirate. Ray Fosse was a tremendous addition for the final two seasons of the A’s World Series three-peat, shepherding three 20-game winners in 1973. But Steinbach was the quiet rock of the Bash Brothers era, batting under .265 just once (he was a .292 career hitter in the playoffs) while handling one of the best pitching staffs in baseball and was an All-Star Game MVP.
Fan vote results: Terry Steinbach (59.17%), Ray Fosse (34.91%), Ramon Hernandez (2.37%), Sean Murphy and Steven Vogt (1.78%)
Catcher Terry Steinbach (36) gets a forearm bash from Oakland A’s teammate Mark McGwire following the AL’s victory over the NL in the 1988 All-Star Game.(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
First base: Mark McGwire
No argument here, either. Jason Giambi was a massive fan favorite, winning an MVP award and producing an unmatched two-year run of offensive destruction from 2000-01 (a .338 average, 81 homers, 257 RBIs and 266 walks — he reached base over 600 times in all), but Big Mac is on Oakland’s Mt. Rushmore. McGwire, who debuted in 1986 as a third baseman, bashed a then-rookie record 49 homers as a rookie in 1987 and hit at least 30 in eight of the nine seasons that were not completely wrecked by injuries. Goes down as the franchise leader in home runs and RBI by wide margins.
Fan vote results: Mark McGwire (78.05%), Jason Giambi (10.37%), Gene Tenace (7.32%), Matt Olson (3.66%), Scott Hatteberg (0.61%)
PHOTO: ASSOCIATED PRESS Ernie Young, left, and Mark McGwire, right, greet Jason Giambi after one of his 16 home runs. The trio has combined for 56 of the team’s 137 home runs. [960711 SP 1D 2; color] sports 7/11 a’s 1d 6/29 A’S SPORTS PAGE 5D Oakland Athletics’ Jason Giambi, center, gets a high five from Ernie Young, left, and a pat on the head from Mark McGwire after hitting a two-run home run during the fifth inning of their game against the California Angels Friday, night, June 28, 1996 in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Second base: Dick Green
Although the BANG panel is all old enough to have seen (briefly!) Green play and he formed half of the Swingin’ A’s era’s great keystone combination, Mark Ellis was their unanimous pick. Green was a great defender, but not much of an offensive threat — he might have been named the MVP of the 1974 World Series if he hadn’t gone hitless against the Dodgers. Ellis, who, like Green grew up in Rapid City, South Dakota, was solid with the glove as well and led the league in fielding percentage twice. He hit the most career home runs by an Oakland second baseman and was an invaluable part of three playoff teams during the Moneyball era.
Fan vote results: Dick Green (37.72%), Mark Ellis (29.94%), Tony Phillips (25.75%), Jed Lowrie (5.99%), Brent Gates (0.60%)
Oakland Athletics 2nd baseman Dick Green riding Charlie O “The Mule”…during pre-game at the Oakland Coliseum….(photo 1971/Ron Riesterer)
Third base: Sal Bando
Another unanimous decision. Another Matt Chapman and Eric Chavez were multiple-time Gold Glove winners and San Jose’s Carney Lansford was a better all-around hitter. But Bando was and always will be The Captain. Just 24 when the A’s arrived in 1968, Bando anchored the hot corner — and the clubhouse — for the A’s first nine seasons in Oakland. He was a top-4 finisher in the AL MVP voting three times, getting as close as second in 1971 when Vida Blue won the award.
Fan vote results: Sal Bando (44.51%), Eric Chavez (26.22%), Carney Lansford (25.0%), Matt Chapman (3.66%), Wayne Gross (0.61%)
Shortstop: Bert Campaneris
Tough call, but the readers and BANG writers agree again. Miguel Tejada was the AL MVP during the A’s magical 2002 season and forced his way into the Alex Rodriguez, Nomar Garciaparra, Derek Jeter argument as the best shortstops in the early 2000s, but Campy was a foundation player. Along with Bando, the five-time All-Star anchored the left side of the A’s infield for the first nine seasons in Oakland. He was a scrappy offensive player who always seemed to be wreaking havoc on the bases — he stole at least 50 bases four times.
Fan vote results: Campy Campaneris (48.47%), Miguel Tejada (39.88%), Walt Weiss (8.59%), Marcus Semien (3.07%), Bobby Crosby (0%)
Oakland A’s Bert Campaneris (19) during a game from his 1967 season with the Oakland A’s against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, New York. Bert Campaneris played for 19 years for 5 different teams and was a 6-time All-Star.(David Durochik via AP)
Left field: Rickey Henderson
No surprise — or disagreement here — but Joe Rudi deserves some special recognition. Rudi was a star in his own right, finishing second in the AL MVP voting twice, and producing two of the biggest moments in the World Series history — his game-saving catch in Game 2 vs. the Reds in 1972 and go-ahead homer in the Series clincher against the Dodgers in 1974 — but often was overshadowed on a team loaded with stars and huge personalities. Henderson’s runaway poll victory was no surprise: the field at the Coliseum was named after the Oakland native and Hall of Famer. Simply the greatest leadoff hitter of all-time.
Fan vote results: Rickey Henderson (87.58%), Joe Rudi (11.80%), Yoenis Cespedes (0.62%), Khris Davis and Ben Grieve (0%)
Oakland A’s Rickey Henderson, right, slides safely into second base in the first inning against the Minnesota Twins at Oakland, April 9, 1991. Henderson only needs two more steals to break Lou Brock’s all-time stolen base record. (AP Photo/Alan Greth)
Center field: Dave Henderson
The Bash Brothers era really took off when “Hendu” arrived in 1988 after a brief run with the Giants and, unlike some bigger stars, didn’t disappear in any of the three straight World Series, but the BANG panel unanimously went with Dwayne Murphy. He arrived a year before Henderson and, along with Tony Armas, formed one of the best outfields in baseball in the early 1980s. Murphy won six straight Gold Gloves and had some pop, hitting double-digit homers seven times. It was nice to see some love for Rick Monday, who was one of Oakland’s first stars but was traded to the Cubs for Ken Holtzman after the 1971 season and missed the entire World Series run.
Fan vote results: Dave Henderson (44.79%), Dwayne Murphy (24.54%), Rick Monday (14.11%), Coco Crisp (10.43%), Billy North (6.13%)
Oakland A’s Dave Henderson (42) is greeted at the plate by teammate Terry Steinbach after Henderson hit a solo home run in the fifth inning against the San Francisco Giants at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, Friday, Oct. 27, 1989. It was Henderson’s second home run during the third game of the World Series. (AP Photo/Leonard Ignelzi)
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Right field: Reggie Jackson
Few franchises can lay claim to producing two more colorful and mercurial players at the same position. Jose Canseco was the first 40/40 man in baseball history, won the MVP in 1988 and was a five-time All-Star, but Reggie wins on everyone’s scorecard. Jackson was 22 when he debuted with Oakland and hit the franchise’s first home run, a signal that no moment ever seemed too big for the left-handed slugger. The Hall of Famer made six All-Star teams, won an MVP (one of four top-5 finishes) and hit 268 of his 563 career home runs with Oakland.
Fan vote results: Reggie Jackson (85.44%), Jose Canseco (9.49%), Tony Armas (2.53%), Josh Reddick and Matt Stairs (1.27%)
1969: Oakland Athletics’ player Reggie Jackson is shown with fans in front of the dugout at the Oakland Coliseum. (AP Photo)
Designated hitter: Frank Thomas
DH was a perpetual revolving door during the Oakland era, so it’s little surprise this was the most mixed result of the poll. Thomas hit 39 homers with 114 RBIs for the A’s last ALCS team in 2006, which earned the nod of the fans and Becker. But his short stint (he left for Toronto after the season but came back for 55 games in 2008 before retiring) didn’t sway the rest of the BANG panel. Hurd went with Geronimo Berroa, who came out of nowhere (well, the Marlins) and hit 87 homers in four seasons, including 36 with 106 RBI in 1996. Miedema picked current DH Brent Rooker, who after failing to click with the Twins and Royals was an All-Star last season and heading into the final weekend batting .298 with 38 homers and 110 RBI.
Fan vote results: Frank Thomas (42.31%), Harold Baines (35.9%), Brent Rooker (16.67%), Geronimo Berroa (3.85%), John Jaha (1.28%)
Oakland A’s DH, Frank Thomas watches his team dominate the Minnesota Twins in the eighth inning in the ALDS at McAfee Coliseum in Oakland on October 6, 2006. The A’s defeated the Twins, 8-3, to win the series. (Gary Reyes/Mercury News)
Starting pitcher: Catfish Hunter
Oakland rarely lacked front-end pitching talent, producing Cy Young winners, 20-game winners and ERA champions. But who do you go with to win one game? Nearly half the fans and two-thirds of the BANG panel put the ball in the hands of Jim “Catfish” Hunter, which is not a bad idea. In seven seasons, Hunter won 20 games four times, was a four-time All-Star and won the Cy Young in 1975 when he led the league with 25 wins and a 2.49 ERA. He also was 4-0 in six World Series starts and the A’s won nine of the 12 playoff games he started. Miedema, who was born the day Hunter pitched the A’s first no-hitter (a perfect game), went with Dave Stewart. The Oakland native also had a stretch of four straight 20-win seasons and was especially dominating in the playoffs, most notably his MVP performance against the Giants in the 1989 World Series (2-0 with a 1.69 ERA).
Fan vote results: Catfish Hunter (45.28%), Dave Stewart (27.04%), Vida Blue (22.64%), Tim Hudson (3.77%), Barry Zito (1.26%)
Jim Hunter comes off the mound to take return throw from catcher Jim Pagliaroni and that’s exactly what Minnesota wound up with nothing, on May. 9, 1968, in Oakland. The scoreboard shows Minnesota 0 in the 9th inning of game with the Oakland Athletics here last night as pitcher. Hunter threw a perfect no hit, no run, no walk game won by the Athletics 4-0. (AP Photo)
Relief pitcher: Dennis Eckersley
Most franchises would love to turn to Rollie Fingers and his handlebar mustache with the game on the line. But in our poll it was unanimous that the ball should go to Fremont’s Eckersley. “Eck” arrived in 1987 as a fading 32-year-old starter, but a move to the bullpen by Tony LaRussa sparked one of the greatest second acts to a career in MLB history, including a magical 1992 season when he was named the AL MVP and Cy Young winner. Eckersley racked up 321 fist-pumping saves in nine seasons with the A’s and 11 more in the playoffs.
Fan vote results: Dennis Eckersley (64.33%), Rollie Fingers (33.76%), Sean Doolittle (1.27%), Grant Balfour (0.64%), Huston Street (0%)
1989 Oakland A’s: Oakland A’s pitcher Dennis Eckersley celebrates after the final out of the 1989 World Series against the San Francisco Giants. (Dan Rosenstrauch/Bay Area News Group Archives) (Dan Rosenstrauch/Bay Area News Group Archives)
