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The roots of the modern day Oakland Athletics can be traced back to 1901 in Philadelphia, when former catcher Connie Mack organized the team. Immediately, the A's established themselves as a dominant team. From the time of the team's inception to 1914, the team had won six American League pennants and three World Series titles. The A's cooled off until the team recaptured the World Series crown in both 1929 and 1930.
The next twenty years proved to be difficult and unsuccessful ones, as the team's record slipped significantly and revenues dropped. In 1954, the owners of the A's approved the sale of the team to a Chicago businessman, who moved the team to Kansas City. After Charles Finley purchased a controlling interest in the team in 1960, he was persistent in his efforts to move the team out of Kansas City.
In 1967, the American League owners agreed to allow Finley to move the team to Oakland. The team was just beginning to gel as it moved to Oakland. This resulted in three consecutive World Series titles from 1972-1974. Stars like Reggie Jackson, Catfish Hunter and Rollie Fingers played crucial roles in the team's utter domination during these years. After the 1976 season, most of the A's veteran players became eligible for free agency, and almost all left. The A's once again won the World Series in 1989, beating cross-bay rival San Francisco Giants.
Lately the A's have been trying to hold a winning record after coming up short for the past two seasons. The last three AL West division titles won by Oakland were in 2002, 2003, and 2006. In 2008 they finished with a 75-86 record finishing in 3rd place in the division. In the process of rebuilding, they trading away Rich Harden, Chad Gaudin, and Joe Blanton to the Chicago Cubs. In return they picked up Sean Gallagher, Josh Donaldson, Eric Patterson, Matt Murton, and three minor-league prospects.
In the 2008 off-season the A's traded young outfielder Carlos Gonzales, closer Huston Street, and a player to be named later for Matt Holiday. Jason Giambi recently signed a one year 4.6 million dollar contract with a 2nd year option. With all of the new moves in place look for Oakland to make a run at the division.
