Baseball's Last Dynasty: Charlie Finley's Oakland A's [ILLUSTRATED] (Paperback)

by Bruce Markusen (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Markusen justifies use of the term dynasty as "an attempt to describe teams that have won a number of championships and place those teams in proper historical context." Free agency now allows players to move freely from team to team and practically guarantees that his subject, the Oakland Athletics, will indeed be the last long championship reign. Markusen's heavily detailed account of Oakland's success in the early 1970s describes a team that won five consecutive division titles, three American League pennants and three world series between 1971 and 1975. The A's are a potentially appealing subject: Owned by Charlie Finley and starring Reggie Jackson on field it was led by two of baseball's most compelling personalities. They played across the bay from San Francisco and integrated some of the persona of flower children, wearing outlandish green and yellow uniforms and sporting mustaches and sideburns. The author has brought research that enlivens almost every page, interviewing many of the team's central figures to supplement library sources and an almost week-by-week account of the A's long run. What the book lacks is a historical or biographical thread that would turn this into a compelling narrative rather than five years of baseball statistics and a blizzard of detail. Only fans who see the national pastime as the core of history and all else peripheral will celebrate this degree of baseball purity, but there are more than a few of those around.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
The dominant team in the early 1970s, the Oakland Athletics, won five division titles and three consecutive pennants and World Series, finally losing out to the Red Sox in 1975. Unlike Tom Clark in Champagne and Baloney (1976), Markusen, senior researcher at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY, centers more on the exploits of "Catfish" Hunter, Reggie Jackson, and the other As, and on owner Charlie Finley's trades and quirks, and less on Finley's actual biography. Using recent memories of players and press accounts about this last baseball club to win three straight World Series, Markusen tells an engaging tale that should attract Bay Area libraries and active sports collections elsewhere.AMorey Berger, St. Joseph's Hosp. Lib., Tucson, AZ
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 408 pages
• Publisher: Masters Pr; illustrated edition edition (April 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1570281882
• ISBN-13: 978-1570281884
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,030,313 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Mustache Gang rides again!, February 13, 2000

By	Michael J Woznicki "Michael J Woznicki" (Holland, MA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Must read for baseball lovers of the 1970's!, April 22, 1999

By A Customer

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

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good to see the old names in print again, March 10, 1999

By A Customer

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.