The Oakland Athletics began in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1901 as the Philadelphia Athletics. The team was made to create a hometown rivalry with the Phillies. The Athletics got their name for the number of sports fans working at Philly Athletic Clubs coming together to form the team. The original owner, Connie Mack, was infamous for raiding other teams' rosters, taking their players because he could offer them more money, thus crippling whatever team he decided to raid. Because of this, the Athletics became known as the White Elephants while in Philadelphia. The team played there until moving to Kansas City in 1955 and moving again to Oakland in 1968. The Oakland Athletics currently play at McAfee Coloseum and have played their since the team moved to Oakland. The Athletics' long list of franchise achievements include four World Series Championships in six World Series appearances, eleven LCS appearances, and fourteen division titles.
This 2008 season for the Oakland Athletics has started out great. The team is currently #2 in the American League West division with a winning record of 34-29. Manager Bob Geren looks to continue this great start towards playoff contention, and he will have an easy job doing it with the amount of talent on this roster. The team is led by All-Star Justin Duchscherer and former Rookie of the Year, Bobby Crosby, in addition to Silver slugger and 6-time Gold Glove Award winner, Eric Chavez. Because of this great start, ticket sales are booming as expectations are high for the Oakland Athletics to win another World Series Championship.
