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Our All Time Top 50 Oakland Athletics have been revised to reflect the 2024 Season

Yes, we know that this is taking a while!

As many of you know, we at Notinhalloffame.com are slowly generating the top 50 of each major North American sports team. That being said, we have existing Top 50 lists and consistently look to update them when necessary and based on necessity. As such, we are delighted to present our post-2024 revision of our top 50 Oakland Athletics.

As for all of our top 50 players in baseball, we look at the following: 

1.  Advanced Statistics.

2.  Traditional statistics and how they finished in the American League.

3.  Playoff accomplishments.

4.  Their overall impact on the team and other intangibles that are not reflected in a stat sheet.

Please note that our algorithm has changed, which yielded minor changes throughout the baseball lists.

Last year, the Athletics had another awful year, which turned out to be their final season in Oakland, as they will be playing in Sacramento for three years until they move to Las Vegas.  There were no new entrants, but changes within the list based on the new algorithm.

As always, we present our top five, which saw a change at the top based on the new algorithm.

1. Rickey Henderson

2. Lefty Grove

3. Eddie Plank

4. Jimmie Foxx

5. Al Simmons

You can find the entire list here.

As mentioned above, Henderson overtook Grove for the top spot based on the new calculations.

We thank you for your continued support of our lists on Notinhalloffame.com.

Our All-Time Top 50 Oakland Athletics have been revised to reflect the 2023 Season

Yes, we know that this is taking a while!

As many of you know, we here at Notinhalloffame.com are slowly generating the 50 of each major North American sports team.  That being said, we have existing Top 50 lists out and we always consistently look to update them when we can and based on necessity.  As such, we are very happy to present our post 2023 revision of our top 50 Oakland Athletics.

As for all of our top 50 players in baseball we look at the following:

1.  Advanced Statistics.

2.  Traditional statistics and how they finished in Major League Baseball.

3.  Playoff accomplishments.

4.  Their overall impact on the team and other intangibles not reflected in a stat sheet.

Last year, the Athletics had another awful year, where they not only lost a lot of games and were mocked for their lack of attendance.  Their time left in Oakland is questionable, and they remain in a perpetual state of rebuilding.  This led to another year, where we saw no new entrants and elevations.  Nevertheless, at the end of every year we always acknowledge that we took into account the past season.

As always, we present our top five, which (obviously) saw no changes:

1. Lefty Grove

2. Rickey Henderson

3. Eddie Plank

4. Jimmie Foxx

5. Al Simmons

 

You can find the entire list here.

We thank you for your continued support for our lists on Notinhalloffame.com.

Our All Time Top 50 Oakland Athletics have been updated to reflect the 2022 Season

Yes, we know that this is taking a while!

As many of you know, we here at Notinhalloffame.com are slowly generating the 50 of each major North American sports team.  That being said, we have existing Top 50 lists out and we always consistently look to update them when we can and based on necessity.  As such, we are very happy to present our post 2022 revision of our top Oakland Athletics.

As for all of our top 50 players in baseball we look at the following:

1.  Advanced Statistics.

2.  Traditional statistics and how they finished in the American League.

3.  Playoff accomplishments.

4.  Their overall impact on the team and other intangibles not reflected in a stat sheet.

Last year, the Oakland continued their tradition as a basement dweller, that develop talent only to trade them when they can no longer afford them.  This makes it very difficult for anyone to crack the Top 50, and no one was able to do so in 2022, but we wanted to show that this reflects the last season. 

As always, we present our top five, which was not affected by the last season:

1. Lefty Grove

2. Rickey Henderson

3. Eddie Plank

4. Jimmie Foxx

5. Al Simmons

You can find the entire list here.

We welcome your input and comments and as always, we thank you for your support.

13. Lefty Grove

Lefty Grove arrived in Boston in 1934 under the shadow of a "fire sale" in Philadelphia and a disastrous first year at Fenway. Initially, it appeared the legendary southpaw was finished; plagued by arm trouble, he struggled to an 8–8 record and a career-worst 6.50 ERA. However, what followed was one of the most remarkable transformations in pitching history. Grove abandoned the raw power that had defined his youth and reinvented himself as the craftiest pitcher in the American League.

From 1935 to 1939, Grove became a statistical anomaly.  Despite being in his mid-to-late 30s, he secured four ERA titles for the Red Sox (1935, 1936, 1938, and 1939). Even more impressive in advanced metrics, Grove led all AL pitchers in bWAR for three consecutive seasons (1935–1937), proving he was the most valuable arm in the league long after his supposed expiration date.

Though his strikeout totals dipped, Grove’s efficiency skyrocketed. He remained the staff ace for a Red Sox team on the rise, providing a veteran anchor for a clubhouse that would soon include icons like Ted Williams and Bobby Doerr. On July 25, 1941, at the age of 41, Grove achieved one final milestone in a Boston uniform: his 300th career victory, a 10–6 complete-game win over the Cleveland Indians at Fenway Park. It would be the final win of his career, a moment of legacy that cemented his status as a titan of the sport.

Grove retired after the 1941 season with a Boston record of 105–62, a winning percentage (.629) that showcased his ability to win even when he wasn't at his physical peak. Inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1947, he was later named a charter member of the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame.

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