Word: finley
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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Charles O. Finley, who pays him $135,000 a year to hit and catch baseballs, would not have been amused. Neither would the insurance company that covers his life for $1.7 million. Or his teammates on the Oakland Athletics, who are depending on his play this year for a shot at their third consecutive World Championship. But practical concerns were the last thing on Reggie Jackson's mind. Wearing a cotton tennis hat instead of a crash helmet, the A's slugger tore round the Oakland suburb of San Leandro on a motorcycle. As he bolted past...
...usual emotional earthquake, though, pits the players against some external adversity. There are a few from which to choose. In Charles O. Finley, the A's have baseball's No. 1 madcap owner and general manager (see box page 64). He is responsible for the team's multiplicity of uniforms-the A's wear various combinations of green and gold during the week and an all-white outfit on Sundays-and its multiplicity of managers (13 in 14 years). Every season Finley issues at least one directive that infuriates the team. Last year he decided...
...keep winning. In 1972 and 1973 a key reason was Manager Dick Williams, who encouraged candor in the clubhouse while applying a strong hand on the field. Williams quit after last year's World Series. His replacement is Alvin Dark, who managed the A's for Finley when the team was still in Kansas City...
...young man. When he struck out, as he did often enough to lead the league for four consecutive years, he would toss his bat to the ground or slam his batting helmet onto the dugout bench. His morale was not helped by a bitter feud that quickly developed with Finley. This dispute, which began over salary and spread in 1970 to Jackson's quality of play, reached a peak late that summer. While crossing the plate after hitting a grand-slam home run, he saluted Finley with an obscene gesture. Finley demanded, and got, a written apology...
After a long dispute with city officials over his stadium lease, Finley moved his show to Oakland in 1968, quickly bought the California Seals hockey team and, in 1972, basketball's Memphis Tams. But baseball remained his first priority. Finley promoted the designated-hitter experiment in the American League. This year he hired Sprinter Herb Washington to serve as a kind of designated runner for the A's. In an era of absentee ownership, General Manager Finley exercises more day-to-day control over his empire than does any of his major-league rivals. "In reality," he says...