Oakland has a long, deep baseball history, and has been home to numerous major leaguers.
Start by watching this 12 minute video:
Leagues
San Francisco Base Ball Club (1860)
Pacific Baseball League (1878)
California League (1886-1915)
In 1886, joined up with the National League of Professional Baseball Clubs.
California State League (1886)
Pacific Coast League (combination of Pacific States league and new California League) (1898-1957)
Cal Ewing
California Baseball League
West Coast Negro Baseball Association (1946-1947)
Teams
The Oakland Larks
In 1946 the West Coast Baseball Association was formed by black players on the West Coast. This league emulated the Negro leagues and two Bay Area teams were formed: The Oakland Larks and the San Francisco Sea Lions. The Larks played at Oaks Ball Park in Emeryville. Lionel Wilson, though not necessarily a notable player, notably played for the Larks: was a left-handed pitcher.1
The Oakland Oaks (-1955)
1938 worst point in career
Clark Griffith (1893)
Willie "Lucky Bill" Hogan (1907)
Buzz Arlett (1918- 1931)
Louie Guisto
Harry Krause
Ray Kremer (1919-1923)
Lawrence "Hack" Miller, left field (late 1910s-early 1920s, 1925, 1926)
Jimmie Reese (1924-1928) traded to the NY Yankees
Lynford Lary (1925-1928) traded to the NY Yankees
Ernie Lombardi (1927)
Billy Raimondi (also McClymonds High) best catcher in PCL
Ernie Raimondi (also McClymonds)
1931- lights at the park.
Deal with Yankees- 1934-1937.
1943 purchased by Clarence "Brick" Laws and Joe Blumenfeld, theater-chain operaters. Cookie Devincenzi, previous owner, stayed on as business managers.4
Casey Stengel starts managing 1946 season. Manages thru 1948. 1948: Nine Old Men.
Billy Martin: rookie under Casey Stengel.
Brooks Holder
Allan "Two Gun" Gettel (1949-1955)
Jackie Price (1946)
Walter Mails (1923-1924)
Jimmy Claxton - broke color barrier in 1916, passed as Native American. played two games of a doubleheader
Oakland Commuters
Pacific Coast League
Charles "Truck" Eagan (1907, 1908)
George E. "Duffy" Lewis (1908, 1909)
Artie Wilson (1949) first black player since Claxton (1916). most popular player.
Alonzo Perry (black player in 1949)
Parnell Woods (black player in 1949)
Lorenzo "Piper" Davis (5 years in 1950s)
Lee Gum Hung (Oakland High School) Chinese American (1932)
Charlie Dressen (1949-1950, 1954) manager after Stengel
Mell Ott (1951-1952) manager fater Dressen
Don Ferrarese
Bob Murphy
Erne Broglio
Lefty O'Doul (1955) manager
Live Oaks
The Oakland Grand Centrals
The Oaklands (1879)
The Oaklands were a charter member of the California League. Games were played at the Center Street Park in downtown Oakland.2
Greenhood & Morans (1886)
Charter member of the California State League. Eventually the G&Ms left the California State League for the California League.
Reliance
Cal Ewing
Oakland Baseball Club
California League, circa 1889.
Oakland A's (1968-present)
Baseball History Books
A's History
- Darlington, Sandy and Julie Ryenolds. The New Oakland A's. Berkeley: Arrowhead Press, 1981.
- Heimerdinger, Debra. Waiting Game: Photographs of the Oakland A's. Richmond: North Atlantic Books, 1982.
- Oakland A's: The First Twenty-Five Years. San Francisco: Woodford Publishing, 1992.
- Pelofsky, Mark. "The Oakland A's: Baseball's Great Transformation." Harvard Business School, 1992. pamphlet available at Oakland History Room.
- Rambeck, Richard. Oakland Athletics. Minnesota: Creative Education, Inc. 1992.
- Zagaris, Michael and John Hickey. Oakland A's. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 1991.
General Baseball History (California/Bay Area)
- "California Baseball: Breaking Barriers & Records." Oakland Museum of California, undated exhibition pamphlet. Available at Oakland History Room.
- Dobbins, Dick and Jon Twichell. Nuggets on the Diamond: Professional Baseball in the Bay Area from the Gold Rush to the Present. San Francisco: Woodford Press, 1994.
- Goode, Chris. California Baseball: From the Pioneers to the Glory Years. 2009.
- Lange, Fred W. History of Baseball in California and Pacific Coast Leagues, 1847-1938. Oakland: 1938.
- Nelson, Kevin. The Golden Game: The Story of California Baseball. San Francisco: California Historical Society Press, 2004.
Non-Major League Leagues
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Spalding, John E. Always on Sunday: The California Baseball League 1886-1915. Kansas: Ag Press, 1992.
References
- Dobbins.
- Dobbins.
- Dobbins
- Dobbins
