Mark McGwire may have set the single-season Home Run record when he was with the St. Louis Cardinals, but it was in Oakland where he first became a star and would have his greatest overall success.

The heroics of Reggie Jackson may have been at the most viewed in New York City, but it all began with the Athletics.

Rube Waddell’s reputation of being somewhat of an oddball was known before the Philadelphia Athletics signed him, so they knew what they were getting into.  What they may not have known was just how good he was going to be for them.

Eddie Collins was signed by the Philadelphia Athletics in 1906, and by 1909 he was the team's starting Second Baseman.  That year he would swipe 63 bases and bat .347, the perfect showcase of what was to come.  Collins was part of an excellent Philadelphia team that in 1910 would win the World Series, and that season he would lead the AL in Stolen Bases with 81, which made him the first player to ever tally the 80 plus mark.