The Twins continue the West Coast portion of their monster road trip with the first of four games in Oakland tonight. Game time is 9:05 PM CDT time. The pitching matchup is Nick Blackburn v. Dana Eveland.

The Athletics are one of the original eight American League teams and have won nine World Championships, second only (among AL teams) to the Yankees' 26 titles (St. Louis has 10 championships). They've won four of those titles in Oakland -- and five more in Philadelphia, all before 1930. They also spent several years in Kansas City, making the A's the only A.L. team to play more than one season in three different cities.

The Philadelphia Athletics were managed for their first 50 years of existence by Connie Mack, who also had an ownership stake in the club (he became the sole owner of the club in 1936). Mack led the A's to World Series championships in 1910, '11, and '13, sold off his team and spent seven consecutive seasons in last place. Eventually, he built another winner that won the American League in 1929, '30, and '31, with the first two of those seasons also including World Championships. It is notable that by winning those three consecutive pennants, his teams were a combined 47 1/2 games better than the Babe Ruth-led Yankees. After that run, the A's fell into a long period of decline and by 1950, Mack's last year as manager (he was 87 at the time), the A's had been last in the American League 10 times in 16 years. Mack holds several managerial records that will certainly never be topped -- 50 years as the manager of one club, 3731 wins (including 2+ years as a player/manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates), and the biggie -- 3948 losses. Those first two records are pretty much insurmountable, but that last one, whoa. I can't imagine anyone getting anywhere close to that. As of this writing, Tony LaRussa has 2130 losses (to go along with 2449 wins). So, LaRussa is still almost 1300 wins away, but over 1800 losses away. (Tony, by the way, has a chance for the second most wins, ever, which is John McGraw's 2763 wins.) Of course, LaRussa also managed the A's to a World Series title in 1989.

Mack owned the A's until they moved to Kansas City in 1955 and became an unofficial farm club for the New York Yankees. Mack had sold the team to Arnold Johnson, a business partner of the principal owner of the Yankees, who moved the team to Kansas City and engaged in a series of trades with the Yankees that almost always favored the Bronx Bombers. The link I provided above includes the grisly details. Just another reason to hate the Yankees. I'm sure it was sad for old timers who remembered the A's getting the best of some of Ruth's teams being turned into a farm club for the big bad Yankees.

Fortunately, Charles O. Finley bought the A's from Johnson's estate before the 1961 season and brought some respectability to the franchise, at least in one area. He refused to make deals with the Yankees and started to develop some young talent. However, Finley began shopping the A's all over the place and he had a hands on style, serving as the de facto general manager of the club for several years. He eventually moved the club to Oakland. The A's of the early 1970s were a dynasty with three consecutive World Series Championships, but Finley was a side show. He was seemingly always in the spotlight, either by feuding with players or by trying a number of gimmicks. He had his World Championship Club playing in softball uniforms -- and the players were motivated by their hatred for Finley. He tried to move the club to New Orleans. His wikipedia entry is worth a read.

Of course, the A's of the late 1980s and early 1990s were another mini dynasty, led by the likes of Jose Canseco, Dave Stewart, Mark McGwire, Rickey Henderson, Dave Henderson, and Dennis Eckersley. They won three consecutive pennants, but just one World Series, that being the earthquake interrupted affair with their San Francisco neighbors. Of course, the A's of today are probably best personified by GM Billy Beane, who has been able to put several competitive clubs on the field while operating on a comparatively paltry budget.

I've never been an A's fan, but I think that they've got a pretty interesting history.

Enjoy tonight's game.