The Oakland Athletics (A’s) are a professional baseball team that plays in Major League Baseball (MLB). The Athletics are a member of the West division in the American League (AL). The team was founded in Philadelphia in 1901 as one of the AL’s eight charter franchises. The A’s played in Philadelphia until 1955 when they moved to Kansas City, Missouri, where the team was located until moving to Oakland in 1968. The A’s won nine AL Pennants during their time in Philadelphia and another six in Oakland, including three straight from 1972-1974 and 1988-1990. Of their 15 AL Pennants, 9 turned into World Series titles for the A’s with their most recent coming in 1989. The team has also won 16 AL West division titles and 4 Wild Card berths.

The A’s play their home games at RingCentral Coliseum in Oakland, California. Despite their success in recent MLB seasons, RingCentral Coliseum is one of the least attended ballparks in the MLB. The A’s have had 10 played inducted into the MLB Hall of Fame with Dennis Eckersley, Rollie Fingers, and Rickey Henderson being the most recognizable. Henderson played for the team in three separate stints and is the all-time MLB career leader in stolen bases, runs scored, and lead-off home runs. The A’s are also famous for having the “Bash Brothers” in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Mark McGwire and Jose Canseco earned this nickname for their proclivity to hit home runs, but both were central figures in the MLB steroid investigations that would take place a few years later. The A’s have been one of the most consistent teams since the early 1990s but have not made it back to a World Series.