Hall of Famers
Of the 25 members of The Mustache Gang, four of them have been inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Three of the four were players, Reggie Jackson, Catfish Hunter, and Rollie Fingers. The fourth member is manager, Dick Williams.
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The Mustache Gang, a term coined for the 1972 Oakland Athletics baseball team, a team that broke the traditionally conservative baseball views by sporting mustaches. From the change in American men's fashion away from facial hair in the 1920s to the early 1970s, there had only been two baseball players who had facial hair during the regular season: Stanley "Frenchy" Bordagaray of the Brooklyn Dodgers, who was then ordered to shave by his manager, and Wally Schang of the Philadelphia A's. [1]
This changed when A's outfielder Reggie Jackson showed up to spring training with a fully grown mustache which would later be thought of as the catalyst that sparked the move away from the conservative baseball era. This move led to that year's World Series to be dubbed "Hairs vs. Squares", [2] as the Oakland A's Mustache Gang faced off with the conservatively clean-shaven Cincinnati Reds.
Before 1972, baseball was traditionally conservative, where all players were clean shaven. During this time, there had even been an unwritten rule that frowned upon players with facial hair. There had been some baseball players who grew mustaches, but all showed up cleanly-shaven at the start of the regular season, either by their own decision or as ordered by their managers.
The Mustache Gang was started in 1972 when All-Star outfielder Reggie Jackson showed up to spring training with a mustache, claiming he would have a fully grown beard at the start of the regular season. Initially, this assertion was not taken well by the organization and according to Mike Hegan, "(Owner) [Charlie] (Finley) told (manager) Dick (Williams) to tell Reggie to shave it off. And Dick told Reggie to shave off, and Reggie told Dick where he could shove it." [3]
In a hope to avoid a large conflict, Finley decided to take a reverse-psychology approach, knowing Jackson thought of himself as an individual, he hoped that if a couple other players decided to join him in sporting facial hair, then he would give up and shave off his beard. In an attempt to do just that, Finley asked A's pitchers Jim "Catfish" Hunter, Rollie Fingers (who came to be known for his long handlebar mustache), Darold Knowles, and Bob Locker to all grow a mustache. [4] This backfired and lead to the birth of The Mustache Gang.
As the mustache spread in popularity among the team, owner Finley and the other management began to come around to the new look. Finley had come around so quickly, he also grew one and encouraged the other members of the team to do the same. He even dubbed that year's "Father's Day" as "Mustache Day" and offered a $300 reward to anyone who could grow a mustache by then. Once "Mustache Day" rolled around on Sunday, June 18, all 25 players on the Oakland A's roster had a mustache, [5] even manager Dick Williams decided to grow one. [6] To further promote his team's new look, every fan that showed up to the Oakland Coliseum that day wearing a mustache gained admittance for free; this numbered about 7,000 of the 26,210 in attendance, and all were treated to a 9–0 shutout win over Cleveland. [5] [7]
As though to irritate the other owners even more, Finley took it one step further by making his team's uniforms different from the rest of the league, the traditional baseball pants and black and grey jersey was replaced with a "two-tone uniform". Meaning, the players would wear a green and gold pullover shirts on top, along with the traditional white pants and elastic belts. [1] This created a baseball team unlike any other in its time.
| Name | Position |
|---|---|
| Charlie O. Finley | Owner |
| Dick Williams | Manager |
| Dave Duncan | Catcher |
| Gene Tenace | Catcher-First Baseman |
| Mike Epstein | First Baseman |
| Tim Cullen | Second Baseman |
| Dick Green | Second Baseman |
| Bert Campaneris | Shortstop |
| Sal Bando | Third Baseman |
| Mike Hegan | First Baseman |
| Don Mincher | First Baseman |
| Ted Kubiak | Utility Infielder |
| Dal Maxvill | Utility Infielder |
| Joe Rudi | Left Fielder |
| Reggie Jackson | Center Fielder-Right Fielder |
| Matty Alou | Right Fielder |
| Jim "Catfish" Hunter | Starting Pitcher |
| Ken Holtzman | Starting Pitcher |
| John "Blue Moon" Odom | Starting Pitcher |
| Vida Blue | Starting Pitcher |
| Dave Hamilton | Relief Pitcher-Starting Pitcher |
| Darold Knowles | Relief Pitcher |
| Joel Horlen | Relief Pitcher |
| Bob Locker | Relief Pitcher |
| Rollie Fingers | Relief Pitcher |
Of the 25 members of The Mustache Gang, four of them have been inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Three of the four were players, Reggie Jackson, Catfish Hunter, and Rollie Fingers. The fourth member is manager, Dick Williams.
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Reginald Martinez Jackson is an American former professional baseball right fielder who played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Kansas City / Oakland Athletics, Baltimore Orioles, New York Yankees, and California Angels. Jackson was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1993.
Roland Glen Fingers is an American former right-handed relief pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for three teams between 1968 and 1985, when his effectiveness helped to redefine the value of relievers within baseball and to usher in the modern closer role. A seven-time All-Star, he led the major leagues in saves three times, and was named Rolaids Relief Man of the Year four times. He first gained prominence as a member of the Oakland Athletics championship teams of the early 1970s, when his flamboyant handlebar mustache made him perhaps the most identifiable member of The Mustache Gang which led Oakland to become the only non-New York Yankees team ever to win three consecutive World Series titles. Fingers was named the Most Valuable Player of the 1974 World Series after earning a win in the opener and saves in the last three games to secure the title.
A moustache is a growth of facial hair grown above the upper lip and under the nose. Moustaches have been worn in various styles throughout history.
Charles Oscar Finley, nicknamed Charlie O or Charley O, was an American businessman who owned Major League Baseball's Oakland Athletics. Finley purchased the franchise while it was located in Kansas City, moving it to Oakland in 1968. He is also known as a short-lived owner of the National Hockey League's California Golden Seals and the American Basketball Association's Memphis Tams.
Herbert Lee Washington is an American world-class sprinter who parlayed his speed into a brief Major League Baseball (MLB) stint in 1974 and 1975 with the Oakland Athletics.
The 1974 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1974 season. The 71st edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff played between the American League (AL) champion Oakland Athletics and the National League (NL) champion Los Angeles Dodgers. The Athletics won the series, four games to one; after splitting the first two in Los Angeles, Oakland swept their three home games to close it out.
The 1973 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1973 season. The 70th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff played between the American League (AL) champion Oakland Athletics and the National League (NL) champion New York Mets. The Athletics won the series in seven games for their second of three consecutive World Series titles.
The 1972 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1972 season. The 69th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between the American League champion Oakland Athletics and the National League champion Cincinnati Reds. The Athletics won in seven games for their sixth World Series championship. It was the first World Series championship for the Athletics since 1930.
Joseph Oden Rudi is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a left fielder between 1967 and 1982, most prominently as an integral member of the Oakland Athletics dynasty that won three consecutive World Series championships between 1972 and 1974.
The 1972 American League Championship Series was held October 7–12, and matched the Oakland Athletics and Detroit Tigers for the right to go to the 1972 World Series.
Richard Hirschfeld Williams was an American left fielder, third baseman, manager, coach and front-office consultant in Major League Baseball. Known especially as a hard-driving, sharp-tongued manager from 1967 to 1969 and from 1971 to 1988, he led teams to three American League pennants, one National League pennant, and two World Series triumphs. He is one of nine managers to win pennants in both major leagues, and joined Bill McKechnie in becoming only the second manager to lead three franchises to the Series. He and Lou Piniella are the only managers in history to lead four teams to seasons of 90 or more wins. Williams was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2008 following his election by the Veterans Committee.
This is a list of award winners and league leaders for the Oakland Athletics professional baseball franchise.
The 1976 Oakland Athletics season involved the A's finishing second in the American League West with a record of 87 wins and 74 losses, 2+1⁄2 games behind the Kansas City Royals. The A's failed to win the division for the first time since 1970. The team set and still holds the American League record for most stolen bases with 341, second in Major League Baseball's modern era to the 1911 New York Giants, who had 347.
The 1974 Oakland Athletics season involved the A's winning their fourth consecutive American League West title with a record of 90 wins and 72 losses. In the playoffs, the A's defeated the Baltimore Orioles in the ALCS for their third straight AL pennant, and in the World Series, the first ever played entirely on the West Coast, defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers in five games to take their third consecutive World Series championship. Paid attendance for the season was 845,693.
The 1973 Oakland Athletics season involved the A's winning their third consecutive American League West title with a record of 94 wins and 68 losses. The A's went on to defeat the Baltimore Orioles in the ALCS for their second straight AL Championship, and won the World Series in seven games over the New York Mets to take their second consecutive World Championship.
Monte Moore is an American former radio and television broadcaster for the Kansas City Athletics and Oakland Athletics baseball teams.
The 1974 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was the 45th playing of the midsummer classic between the all-stars of the American League (AL) and National League (NL), the two leagues comprising Major League Baseball. The game was held on July 23, 1974, at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania the home of the Pittsburgh Pirates of the National League. The game resulted in the National League defeating the American League 7–2.
The history of the Athletics Major League Baseball franchise spans the period from 1901 to the present day, having begun as a charter member franchise in the new American League in Philadelphia before moving to Kansas City in 1955 for 13 seasons and then to its current home on the San Francisco Bay in Oakland, California, in 1968.
Since 1976, the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball (MLB) have maintained a strict appearance policy, specifying that players' hair must not touch their collars and that they may have mustaches but no other facial hair. The policy came from then-franchise owner George Steinbrenner, who believed that regulating his players' appearance would instill a sense of discipline. Steinbrenner began noting which players he believed needed haircuts when he took over the Yankees in 1973, but the policy was not codified until three years later. Steinbrenner's policy remains in place after his death, and has led to a number of dramatic appearance changes for players who come to the Yankees from other teams, such as Oscar Gamble, as well as pushback from players who prefer long hair and beards. In 1991, Don Mattingly was taken off of the Yankees' lineup for a day when he refused to cut his hair.
The Swingin' A's is a nickname for the Oakland Athletics baseball team that dominated the American League from 1970 to 1975 and is widely recognized as being among the best in baseball history. The team won five consecutive American League West Division titles, three American League pennants, and three World Series titles. They were the first team to win three consecutive World Series championships in two decades; no team other than the New York Yankees have completed a three-peat, and no team repeated as champion three times until the Yankees in 2000.
