A's Disregard Their Own History

I'm often struck at the difference between the A's and Giants in how they treat their respective histories. Both teams started out as original teams in their respective leagues, the Giants in New York (moving to San Francisco in 1958) and the A's in Philadelphia (moving to Kansas City in 1955 and again to Oakland in 1968). The Giants celebrate their history, flaunt their history, relive their history. The A's seem to neglect - sometimes on purpose - much of theirs.

The Giants fully embrace their history in New York. With the A's, one would hardly know they played in Philly or KC. The Giants have retired uniform numbers for New York players, the A's don't for Philly or KC players. The Haas family, when they owned the A's in the 80's and 90's, seemed to shun the Charlie Finley years almost fully. They recognized hall of fame players and retired their numbers, but didn't greatly celebrate even their 3 consecutive World Series championships of the early 70's.

I wish the A's would embrace their entire history and teach their fans about it. While their history might not be quite as rich as the Giants or Yankees, it's still pretty good.