Customer Reviews

Baseball's Last Dynasty: Charlie Finley's Oakland A's

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book had some extremely interesting information and background about a very colorful organization. The problem was that it was a little heavy on details about mid season games, and a bit light on player quotes, descriptive pictures, and statistics. I would of really enjoyed seeing more pictures of the players and situations describes. It would of been nice to glance at player and team statistics to support points the writer was making. There were quotes from some of the players but many of the key players were notably quiet. The writer did demonstrate a passion for the franchise that made the reading interesting. The writer was a young child, as I was, when the A's were winning these championships, it just appeared there was a lack of information for portions of the book.

The background and explanation of the internal A's battles, Charlie Finleys personality, and the destruction caused by free agency were all very captivating. In part due to my interest in the A's of the 70's, I could not put this book down. I read the book feverishly but it had my wanting more.

The first thing that should be said about this book is the incredible amount of research and detail that was invested in it. This writing has everything that is needed for an excellent baseball book. It is all here--statistics,trades, critical games,clubhouse chemistry, and quotes from the key players that made the the A's a special team.

The strange and odd antics of Charley Finley is displayed brilliantly, as is the love/hate relationship the players had for the quirky owner.

When great teams of the past are brought up by historians, remarkably the A's of 1972-1974 seldom come up. Most baseball fans will talk about the '27 Yankees, the '39 Yankees, the '49-53 Yankees, the '61 Yankees and the '75-76 Reds. Markusen correctly points out how good this team was. Although they did not have an overpowering offense, they had excellent defense and quality starting and relief pitching which excelled in big game clutch performances, all noted in greatly detailed fashion by Markusen.

If you are a person who enjoys reading a true baseball book, than this book is an absolute must. I consider myself a baseball "junkie", who can never get enough statistics and history of our grand game.

I look forward to future publications by Bruce Markusen, who is a baseball writing talent we will here from again. 5 STARS!!!!!

This book is very well researched and contains everything that is needed to know about the Oakland A dynasty. I have never read a book with so many grammatical errors though...

I was very disappointed that Charlie Finley never received any votes for Time's Man of the Century...it is the same type of snub that the A's have had to endure many times, such as when Mitchell Page had to share the 1977 AL Rookie of the Year award with Eddie Murray....Charlie was a master deal maker, as witnessed by his trade of his manager, Chuck Tanner, for Manny Sanguillen and the Mitch when he was at AAA Hawaii...Mr. Markusen's book tells the true story that baseball didn't want to know -- Mr. Finley could build and manage a signficant enterprise better than all of the rest of the league combined...Many scoffed at his decision to let players like Rudi, Tenace, Bando and Reggie Jackson go, but Charlier knew his minor leagues were stocked with players like Henderson, Murphy and Armas, not to mention Picciolo, Newman and John Henry Johnson....there is a reason why Oakland has been to 6 world series in the last 30 years, or 20% of all world series played -- Charlie O....this book is a must read for anyone who ever dreams of running an entrepreneurial fortune 500 enterprise, like Charlie's cousin Bill Gates.....sincerely, Miguel Dilone

In the first half of the 1970s no team was more successful than the Oakland A's. Owned by the iconoclastic, mercurial, and perhaps a little mad Charles O. Finley the team had returned to dominance in Oakland after 40 years of dreadful baseball following the dismantling of the A's by Connie Mack in Philadelphia. Finley, using cunning and verve, traded well, drafted even better and built a winner that won five American League West titles between 1971 and 1975 and three World Series championships (1972-1974). Led by Hall of Famers Catfish Hunter, Reggie Jackson, and Rollie Fingers, this was a team of individualists who came together in a stormy relationship with each other and their owner to exceed all expectations.

"Baseball's Last Dynasty" is a fine recitation of the glory years of this team. Bruce Markuson has written a fine book that captures the essence of the story. He concentrates on the on-field activities of this team, but cannot ignore the soap opera aspects of the team, especially the hatred of its players for the owner. For instance, the salary disputes of the team's stars with Charlie Finley were legendary. In 1972 pitcher Vida Blue famously held out for more money after a remarkable rookie season the year before. The dispute was finally resolved after both MLB Commissioner Bowie Kuhn decided to mediate the dispute but Blue did not receive the money that he wanted. And Vida Blue's experience with Finley exemplified the owner's relationship with many of his players during the 1970's. Catfish Hunter was declared a free agent after the 1974 season when Finley failed to live up to the terms of his contract with Hunter. The team unraveled thereafter and by the latter part of the 1960s the championship players had been dispersed elsewhere. Markuson relates these difficulties, as well as the team's success, well in this book.

This is a very fine book, one that seeks to open the door to understanding for the history of the A's during their championship years in the 1970s. Markuson is to be congratulated for this fine work. On the other hand, his publisher should be criticized for sloppy editing, grammar and spelling errors, and a failure to demonstrate quality bookmaking in this work. That is the reason that this review is a four-star rather than a five-star review, not because of Markuson's excellent research and presentation.

What is really missing from this book are box scores and the American League final standings for the years covered in the book. Since the author spent so much time discussing the stats of the team and various players I fully expected to see the stats in some sort of appendix. As the book only covered 5 years adding such stats would not have been a huge burden for the author. The box scores from the seasons and post-season and final standings would have made the book much more enjoyable and a useful tool for the reader to compare other players, which was one of the authors main points throughout the book. And not enough pictures to convey all the problems that the book said existed.

Growing up in New England it's only natural that I was a huge A's fan during the 70's. The green, gold and white of a team from the bay area was all I talked about, so when this book was chosen for review, I naturally grabbed at the chance and I am glad that I did.

The book shows how on the field the power of Reggie, the speed of Campy, men like Hunter, Blue, Odom and Holtzman along with Rudi, Bando and the whole host of others produced the most dominate team of that decade.

Off the field, you'll read about the troubles in the clubhouse with the fights and of course the antics of the owner, Charlie O. The book gives you the first in-depth look at what these men went through to become the powerhouse they were.

Read about a team that won 5 straight division titles, 3 American League pennants and 3 straight World Series. The Oakland A's, the mustache gang, Charlie's Not So Angels, are but a few of the nicknames they earned. A great read and an excellent book!

We're slowly starting to reach a phase where it's time for baseball writers to start looking back on the 70s era from the perspective of history and supplant all the books by sportswriters and quickie player autobios that came out at the time. To my knowledge, this is the first book to look at the Oakland A's dynasty in that context. Markusen has done an impressive job of weaving together a straightforward narrative of the A's rise and fall from glory that introduced me to how extensive the animosity Charlie Finley generated really was. The problem with the book though, is that Markusen really doesn't write with any kind of flair other than repeating the facts gathered from newspaper accounts and from what seems like barely a handful of interviews. I also think he errs greatly in not consulting other baseball books that have been written to gain a fuller perspective on some of the key incidents. Two biographies have been written of Billy Martin for instance that provide considerable insight into the beaning of Bert Campaneris in the 1972 ALCS, yet Markusen never consulted them. I also think his ending is abrupt in that he doesn't explain what happened to Charlie Finley as a result of the A's decline, how he was ultimately forced to sell the team and that the next great revival came under Martin in 1980-81. Finally, I question his ranking the A's as the "last" dynasty because I think the 1976-81 Yankees would better qualify for that category (their only losing season coming in a year of injuries and tragedy).

Excellent book on the last dynasty in baseball, the 1972-1974 Oakland Atheltics. Exceptionally written, this is well worth the read.

I am as big of a baseball history buff as they come. This was a great book as it gave you an inside look at the mindset and business dealings of a tyrant owner and his slaveship that was the 1970s' Oakland A's. While Markusen does a good job in explaining details, player reactions, quest to the WS etc; I feel this book comes up short in the aspect of objectivity. Mr. Markusen explains in the beginning of the book that he grew up rooting for the A's. As you read, it feels like his love of the team clouds the objectivity a book like this should be written. It is written in a way that paints the team, owner and operation in a much too positive light. I felt his account was written from a standpoint that some "haphazard" fans have of thier teams, that they block out the negative and accept only the positive. (Ala Monte Moore). Instances such as Vida Blue's holdout, the 1972 ALCS fight between Rollie Fingers and Blue Moon Odom, Ray Fosse's 1970 shoulder injury, Charlie and Shirley Finley's divorce etc. were portrayed in a respect that it feels as if the author doesn't want to accept that these things occured within his beloved team. Loving a particular team is great. Its part of sports. But a true sports fan accepts the bitter with the sweet. (Ask any Yankees fan). However, I dont feel that this is entirely the case in this book. From a historical perspective, its a good book. Beautifully written - to a point. I can sum this book up best as if it were a player, who just hit a deep drive into centerfield. Just when you think it might be an inside-the-park homerun, the batter gets thrown out at home plate by a magificent throw. It comes up short.