Overview
With traditions, records, and team lore, this lively, detailed book explores the personalities, events, and facts every Athletics fan should know. This guide to all things A's covers the team's history in Oakland since the franchise moved there in 1968, including the Charlie O. Finley dynasty years, the "Earthquake Series" and rivalry with the San Francisco Giants, and the team's four World Series titles in Oakland. Author Susan Slusser has collected every essential piece of A's knowledge and trivia, including Billy Beane and Moneyball, Stomper, the "Bash Brothers," and Josh Donaldson, as well as must-do activities, and ranks them from 1 to 100, providing an entertaining and easy-to-follow checklist for fans of all ages.
Author Biography
Susan Slusser has been the San Francisco Chronicle's Oakland A's beat writer for 16 seasons. She is an MLB Network correspondent and is a former president of the Baseball Writers' Association of America. She lives in San Carlos, California. Billy Beane is the general manager and minority owner of the Oakland Athletics. He was named the Sporting News' Executive of the Year in 1999 and 2012, and the Baseball America Major League Baseball Executive of the Year in 2002 and 2013. He lives in the Bay Area.
Press Releases
100 Things A’s Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die
By Susan Slusser - Foreword by Billy Beane
Contact: Olivia Aguilar - Triumph Books - 312.676.4238 - o.aguilar@triumphbooks.com
Ever since the Athletics were founded in 1901, the franchise has produced some of the most colorful personalities in the league. From Rube Waddell, a pitcher known for suddenly leaving the mound to chase fire trucks, to Connie Mack, a Hall of Fame manager who built three A’s dynasties, there are countless stories behind this legendary team.
Susan Slusser, the San Francisco Chronicle’s Oakland A’s beat writer, has compiled stories from the team’s beginnings in Philadelphia, their brief time in Kansas City and nearly 50 seasons in Oakland in 100 Things A’s Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die (Triumph Books, June 2015). Slusser not only dives into the history of the franchise, she also includes must-do activities that every die-hard fan should check off their bucket list. This is a compelling look at how the Oakland A’s have been thriving competitors despite their financial limitations. Highlights include:
- A foreword by Billy Beane, the A’s general manager, subject of the bestselling business book Moneyball and central figure of the Oscar-nominated film of the same name, which starred Brad Pitt as Beane
- Exclusive interviews with players, such as Rickey Henderson, baseball’s all-time stolen base leader, who shares his base-stealing technique in detail
- Interesting facts, such as why former A’s first baseman Gus Zernial was responsible for Joe DiMaggio meeting Marilyn Monroe
- Among those who have worked at the Coliseum: MC Hammer, Tom Hanks and Debbi Fields – who started the Mrs. Fields cookie empire by delivering baked goods to the umpires
An extensive and well-written look at the personalities, events and facts every fan should know, 100 Things A’s Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die is the perfect book for fans headed to the Coliseum this spring.
About the Author:
Susan Slusser has been the San Francisco Chronicle’s Oakland A’s beat writer for 17 seasons. She is an MLB Network correspondent and is a former president of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. She lives in San Carlos, California.
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