Oakland A’s owner Charlie O Finley who made an appearance at the 1972 World Series at the Oakland Coliseum and owned the A’s from December 1960 until August 1980. Under his ownership the A’s won three straight World Series 1972 to 1974. (photo from Forbes)
A’s Owner Charlie Oscar Finley: Ahead of the Game
That’s Amaury News and Commentary
By Amaury Pi-González
When baseball people talk and write about Kansas City and Oakland A’s owner Charlie O. Finley, they do not only talk about how controversial he was, how much he paid or did not paid his players, or winning three consecutive World Series, (something only done by one other team, the NY Yankees) but they also realize how much of a visionary and innovator he was.
An old friend of mine used to tell me all the time “most people do not get what they deserve”, but, in the case of Charlie O Finley he deserves to be elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
This is amplified today, when the game of baseball is going through sort of a “revolution”, which social media, all the statistics you need and really do not need to know, the designated hitter, the ghost runner, 7-inning doubleheaders, the exit velocity right off the bat, a future pitch clock, baseball is suffering from lack of interest by the younger population and only God knows how much more on the way.
Charlie O. Finley is also very well knows by baseball historians for his innovations to the game of baseball. Here is some of what Finley brought to the game.
1-Color Uniforms: In 1963, few years prior to the franchise moving from Kansas City, to Oakland, the A’s who wore red-white and blues uniforms in KC. Mr. Finley introduced colors, like Kelly Green, Fort Knox Gold and Wedding Gown White. These uniforms stood-up instantly on the field. The A’s uniforms inspire and changed the game forever. In 1967 Finley introduced white shoes, just one year prior to moving to the Oakland Coliseum, in Oakland, California. A success now teams wear all kinds of different uniforms and colors of shoes. Mr. Finley was ahead of the game.
2-A Three Ball Walk: In 1971 games in both leagues were low scoring. Finley believed that instead of the traditional 4-ball walk to a hitter, there was a better way and came up with the idea of a 3-ball walk. Thinking it will shorten the game. Although that was not adopted. Today there is all kinds of talk on how shorten the game. In the minor leagues a pitch clock was used as an experiment and next season 2023 the Major Leagues are scheduled to adopt it. Again Mr. Finley was ahead of the game.
3-Inter-League Play: The Athletics owner wanted the American League to play the National League. He felt that it should be good for regional rivalries and this would create more interest among the fans, Charlie O. Finley died in 1996. That same year, owners unanimously approve inter-league play for the 1997 season. Mr. Finley was ahead of the game.
4-Designated Hitter: The A’s owner was a major proponent of the DH, that was very controversial then, but in 1973 that became reality. And this (2022) owners and players union approved the Universal Designated Hitter. Finley wanted to go further. The DH was usually a slugger, and slow runner, so Finley also wanted sort of a DR = Designated Runner. As a matter of fact he hired Herb Washington in 1974-1975 just to come up to run the bases after the DH got on. For 105 games Herb Washington just ran the bases, not for one second he took the field to play defense. Washington stole 38 bases in 41 attempts. Also Finley’s A’s were the only team to do such with Herb Washington; however Finley was on the right track when it came to the Designated Hitter. Charlie O Finley, again, was ahead of the game.
5-Night Playoff Games: The A’s owner talks about the advantage of having postseason games at night. He believed since most of the fans worked during the day (except on weekend) this would be a good marketing move for the game and popular to millions of fans that follow the game. He was ahead on this also!
6-Women in the Game: Mr. Finley’s A’s were the first team ever to use ball girls on the field. It was a good idea not only from the marketing point of view, but it opened the doors to more women and men getting involved in the game. Today many teams have not only ball girls on the field as well as Ball Boys and Ball Dudes (usually mature men) fan participation is popular. Yes, Finley was ahead of the game.
I recently spoke with Nancy Finley whose father was Carl Finley who was also the Vice President and a silent partner to Charlie. I used to talk with him a lot in the Press Box at the Coliseum back in the middle of the 1970’s; he was a very busy man.
Carl was cousin of Charlie Finley and according to his daughter Nancy: “Dad’s title was V.P. Dad was actually a silent partner to Charlie. This became well known at the time. Charlie trusted dad and not many others”, she continued, “Dad ran the team, 24/7 on a daily basis while Charlie was in Chicago most of the time. Charlie and dad spoke on the phone once or more per day” and “Dad was who kept everything intact throughout the mid to late 1970’s which were crucial”; Len Shapiro once said this to me as well as Andy Dolich. “With home games, dad approved the roster, from Clubhouse to Ownership; dad was who had the authority next to Charlie”. I fully agree with Nancy Finley that Charlie O Finley should be in Cooperstown.
Anybody who knows about the history of this game agrees that Charlie Oscar Finley was an innovator who left his fingerprints on the game of baseball. Love him, hate him (and many players did, he refused to pay million dollar salaries) doesn’t matter how you feel.
The fact remains that his contributions to the great game of baseball should be rewarded by a posthumously induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame at Cooperstown, New York.
Yes, Major League Baseball owners also are inducted into the Hall of Fame at Cooperstown. I hope in the near future they make room for Charlie O Finley. He deserves it.
Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the lead play by play announcer on the A’s Spanish flagship station 1010 Le Grande KIQI San Francisco and does News and Commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice.com
