The Guardians became the first team to say their good-byes to the Oakland Coliseum this season. They were followed by the Red Sox, Nationals, Cardinals, Pirates, Marlins, Rockies, Astros, Blue Jays, Royals, Twins and Angels. This weekend, the Dodgers, a franchise that’s intertwined with the A’s and their ballpark, will be the next team to bid the concrete cathedral farewell.
The Dodgers and Reds are the only National League two teams to play in multiple World Series at the Oakland Coliseum. Both of those teams, coincidentally, had similar experiences with the Fall Classic in The Town — agony in the 70s, joy in the 90s.
In 1974, the A’s and Dodgers, playing in the first all-California World Series, were stylistically similar. They had power; Los Angeles led all of baseball with 139 homers, Oakland was fourth with 132 long balls. The A’s and Dodgers had speed, too, ranking second and third, respectively, in stolen bases. Their pitching staffs were excellent, the only two teams to have collective ERAs under three.
But Los Angeles, on paper, was the more cohesive unit. The A’s were coming off back-to-back World Series victories, but the Dodgers were a machine. Led by the late Jim “The Toy Cannon” Wynn, they won 102 games in the regular season, a total that, at the time, was tied for the most in a single season since they moved to the West Coast.
Oakland, despite its championship pedigree, was a bit of a mess. Dick Williams, despite leading the team to titles in ’72 and ’73, had been replaced by Alvin Dark just before spring training. Multiple fights broke out, including Blue Moon Odom sparring with Rollie Fingers right before the World Series. The A’s won 90 games in the regular season, enough to win the West but fewer than the previous two seasons.
Once the World Series rolled around, Oakland’s collective experience prevailed. Every game was close — four of the five games ended with a final score of 3-2. Rollie Fingers pitched in all four victories, allowing two earned runs over 9 1/3 innings en route to winning World Series MVP.
In 1988, the opposite was true. The A’s won 104 regular-season games, which still stands as the most in a single season since the team moved to Oakland. From top to bottom, the A’s had a squad.
Jose Canseco not only led all of baseball in homers (42) and RBIs (124), but became the first member of the 40/40 club after stealing 40 bases. Mark McGwire dropped off a bit as a sophomore, but still amassed 32 homers and 99 RBIs. Dennis Eckersley led all of baseball in saves and finished second in AL Cy Young Award voting. Dave Henderson signed as a free agent and enjoyed the best season of his career, hitting a career-highs in home runs (24) and RBIs (94).
The Dodgers, by contrast, had one massive downside: offense. Their Orel Hershiser-led pitching staff was elite, leading all of baseball with a 2.95 ERA, but their offense was absolutely abysmal. Even with Kirk Gibson winning NL MVP (25 homers, 31 steals, .860 OPS), the Dodgers’ offense finished with a .645 OPS, the worst mark in all of baseball. The Dodgers managed to upset the 100-win Mets in seven games in NLCS, but Gibson entered the World Series with injuries in both legs.
But just like in ‘74, the regular season had no bearing on the big dance. Gibson, of course, orchestrated one of the best moments in World Series history in Game 1, hobbling off the bench to hit a walk-off homer off Eckersley. The Dodgers took two games in Los Angeles, then finished the job in Oakland in five games. Orel Hershiser pitched complete games in Game 2 and Game 5, allowing two runs and striking out 17 batters en route to winning MVP.
While the teams have each won a World Series title against each other in the two Interstate 5 series, the A’s are 28-24 against the Dodgers in the all-time series. So, no matter what happens in this weekend’s three-game series, Oakland will always have bragging rights over the Dodgers.
