The Best Infielders of the Athletics Era in Oakland
An IBWAA member looks back at the top infielders to play for the A's in Oakland
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Pregame Pepper
Did you know…
. . . Louisiana State University (LSU) swept Coastal Carolina for the NCAA baseball College World Series (CWS) title over the weekend. The win is the eighth for the LSU program. Incredibly, the Bayou Bengals have won all of their titles since 1991. The only school with more national titles is the University of Southern California, who has 12, though none since 1998. LSU has appeared in 20 CWS, tied for fifth-most all-time. The University of Texas leads that category with 38 CWS appearances.
. . . LSU pitcher Kade Anderson, likely one of the top two draft picks in next month’s MLB Draft, was voted as the 2025 CWS Most Outstanding Player. Anderson becomes the 39th pitcher to win the award, by far the most-honored position among recipients of an award that began in 1949. However, with that length of time, only one future MLB Hall of Famer was ever selected for the award, Dave Winfield, who received the award as a pitcher and outfielder for the 1973 University of Minnesota Golden Gophers.
Leading Off
The Best Infielders of the Athletics Era in Oakland
By Rich Campbell
In the last year, we have looked at the best shortstops, third basemen, second basemen, first basemen, left fielders, right fielders center fielders, catchers, designated hitters, right handed starters, left handed starters and relievers to play in San Francisco and Oakland during the Bay Area’s two team era.
This month, we will start a new series focused on the best A’s players from the franchise’s time in Oakland. Any list of this nature is subjective, so without further ado, here are my first team infielders for the Oakland A’s, spanning 1968-2024:
Catcher: Gene Tenace
In eight seasons and 805 games in Oakland, Tenace won three World Series (including MVP honors in 1972), made the 1975 All-Star team and had a pair of 5 WAR seasons on his way to 23.6 WAR in Oakland.
Did you know? Tenace’s career WAR of 46.8 ranks 14th among catchers, just ahead of Thurman Munson (46.0) and Buster Posey (45.0).
First Base: Jason Giambi
Giambi also spent 8 seasons in Oakland (1995-2001, 2009) and appeared in 1036 A’s games. He won the AL MVP in 2000 (which propelled him juuuussst ahead of Mark McGwire for me) and finished second in 2001, while despite leading the league in WAR, doubles, walks, on base percentage and slugging, he was edged out by Ichiro Suzuki in a 289-281 vote. Giambi had four 5 WAR seasons and 28.8 WAR in Oakland. His career WAR of 50.5 is 33rd, just ahead of Mark Teixeira (50.5) and Hall of Famer Orlando Cepeda (50.1).
Did you know? After spending most of his age-38 season in Oakland, Giambi played five more seasons in Colorado and Cleveland, never reaching 225 plate appearances again.
Second Base: Mark Ellis
Ellis was Mr. Reliable for the A’s across nine years and 1056 games 2002-2010. Never an All Star or even a high-profile player (no 5 WAR seasons, though exceeded for 4 WAR thrice), “Elly” was the quintessential “you had to watch him play every day to truly appreciate him” guy. His 26.8 WAR with the A’s made up the bulk of his career WAR of 33.5. He is 61st in career WAR among second basemen, just behind Robby Thompson (33.8) and Ray Durham (33.8).
Did you know? Ellis was the MVP of the Gainesville regional of the 1998 College World Series, where he was teammates with future Angels shortstop David Eckstein.
Shortstop: Bert “Campy” Campaneris
The franchise’s leader (not just Oakland) with 1795 games, the five-time A’s All-Star gets the nod over Miguel Tejada, who won an MVP, but interestingly made just one ASG in Oakland. Campy is also the franchise leader in Defensive War, hits, at-bats, plate appearances and singles, while he is second to Rickey Henderson with 566 steals for the A’s. He had four 5 WAR seasons (1964 to 1976) toward his A’s total of 49.0. Campy’s career WAR of 53.1 is 22nd all-time for a shortstop and every shortstop above him on the list is in the HOF except Bill Dahlen and Alex Rodriguez.
Did you know? Campaneris played all nine positions in a single game on September 8, 1965, for the Kansas City A’s.
Third Base: Sal Bando
Captain Sal was a stalwart of the 3-time champions of the 1970s. He played 1468 games in eleven A’s seasons (1966-1976) and had MVP finishes of second (1971), third (1974) and fourth (1973). He was a four-time All-Star in the Green and Gold and had six 5-WAR seasons on his way to 52.1 WAR for the A’s. His career WAR of 61.5 is 16th among third baseman, just ahead of active players Manny Machado (60.6) and Evan Longoria (58.9) and recently HOF enshrined Dick Allen (58.7).
Did you know? Bando served as the Brewers’ GM from 1991-1999.
Stay tuned for future articles in this series of Oakland A’s greats.
Rich Campbell is a Marketing Professor at Sonoma State University by day and A’s fan by night. He has previously been a sports business contributor at Forbes.com and his academic writing has appeared in Sport Marketing Quarterly. You can find him on Twitter @RichCampbellPhD.
Extra Innings
Seventy-five years ago today, Joe McCarthy resigned as the manager of the Boston Red Sox, ending what would be a Hall of Fame managerial career. McCarthy managed in multiple minor and independent leagues before getting his first MLB gig with the Chicago Cubs in 1926, and by 1929, he had the Cubs in the World Series, where they lost to the A’s, then based in Philadelphia.
McCarthy left the Cubs after the next season, and he was quickly hired by the New York Yankees. He would go on to win seven World Series championships in eight appearances over 16 seasons at the helm of the Yankees. Those seven championships are tied with Casey Stengel for most by a manager in MLB history.