By late June 1979, the once-proud Oakland Athletics had fallen into baseball’s basement.
After 13 wayward seasons in Kansas City without a winning record, the franchise arrived in Oakland in 1968 with future stars Reggie Jackson, Sal Bando, Bert Campaneris, and Catfish Hunter on the roster. The early 1970s saw five straight division titles and three consecutive World Series championships.
Then Hunter ushered in free agency after the 1974 season when an arbitrator agreed with his breach-of-contract claim. He left for the New York Yankees. Jackson and Ken Holtzman were traded to the Baltimore Orioles in April 1976. Bando, Campaneris, Joe Rudi, Gene Tenace, and Rollie Fingers left as free agents in the 1976-77 offseason, and a string of nine straight winning seasons was snapped in 1977. Vida Blue was the last to go, shipped across the Bay to the San Francisco Giants in March 1978 for seven role players and cash.
Ray Danner 