Charlie Finley

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Charles Oscar Finley (February 22, 1918 - February 19, 1996), nicknamed Charlie O or Charley O, was an American businessman who is best remembered for his tenure as the flamboyant owner of the Oakland Athletics major league baseball team (tenure actually started when the team was still based in Kansas City).

[edit] Early life

Finley was born in Ensley, Alabama, but was raised in Gary, Indiana, and later lived in LaPorte, a small town 60 miles east of Chicago. He played semi-pro baseball in several Indiana cities but had his career cut short in 1946 by a bout of tuberculosis that nearly killed him. After marrying the daughter of an insurance salesman, Finley then made his fortune in the insurance business, being among the first to write group medical insurance policies for those in the medical profession.

[edit] Owner of the A's

[edit] In Kansas City

Finley first attempted to buy the Philadelphia Athletics in 1954, but American League owners instead approved the sale of the team to Arnold Johnson, who moved the A's to Kansas City for the 1955 season. He later made an unsuccessful bid to buy the expansion Los Angeles AL franchise in 1960. (The franchise was purchased by Gene Autry and named the Los Angeles Angels.)

On December 19, 1960, Finley purchased a controlling interest in the Kansas City Athletics from Johnson's estate (Johnson having died in March of that year); he then bought out the minority owners a year later. Finley quickly started to turn the franchise around, refusing to make deals with the New York Yankees (for which the Athletics had been criticized) and searching for unheralded talent. He also made significant investments in the farm system for the first time in the franchise's history.

[edit] Finley's brief endearment to Kansas City fans

Finley endeared himself (albeit briefly) to Kansas City fans by replacing the "A" on the team's caps with an interlocking "KC" and adding "Kansas City" to the road uniforms, and promising that he would never move the team. However, almost as soon as he acquired full control of the team, Finley immediately began shopping it to other cities. At various times, Finley considered moving the team to Dallas-Fort Worth, Atlanta, Milwaukee, Seattle and San Diego (all of whom now have major league teams) and even Louisville, Kentucky (see below).

[edit] Micromanagment

He also started micromanaging the team, ordering players to change their style of play and firing any manager or releasing any player who publicly disagreed with him. From 1961 onward, Finley effectively served as his own general manager, though the team nominally had someone with that title until 1964.

Finley's tactics led to a near-mutiny among the players in 1967; Finley responded by releasing the A's best hitter, Ken Harrelson, who promptly signed with the Boston Red Sox and helped lead them to the pennant.

[edit] Charlie-O becomes the Athletics' mascot

Presumably out of pique for being denied a chance to buy the A's five years earlier, Finley replaced the Athletics' traditional elephant mascot with a live mule. "Charlie-O" was paraded about the outfield, into cocktail parties and hotel lobbies, and into the press room after a large feeding to annoy reporters. (The mule died in 1976, at age 20.)

[edit] The "K.C. Pennant Porch"

After supposedly being told by manager Ed Lopat about the Yankees' success being attributable to the dimensions of Yankee Stadium, he built the "K.C. Pennant Porch" in right field, which brought the right field fence in Kansas City Municipal Stadium to match Yankee Stadium's dimensions exactly, just 296 feet from home plate. However, a rule passed in 1958 held that no (new or renovated) major-league fence could be closer than 325 feet, so league officials forced Finley to move the fences back after two exhibition games. The A's owner then ordered a white line to be painted on the field at the original "Pennant Porch" distance, and told the public address announcer to announce "That would have been a home run in Yankee Stadium" whenever a fly ball was hit past that line but short of the fence. The practice was quickly abandoned after the announcer was calling more "would-be" home runs for the opposition than the A's.

[edit] Uniform changes

Finley also made changes to the team's uniforms. In 1963, Finley changed the team's colors to "Kelly Green, Fort Knox Gold and Wedding Gown White." In 1967, he replaced the team's traditional black cleats with white ones. He also started phasing out the team name "Athletics" in favor of "A's." (When Mickey Mantle saw the A's' green-and-gold uniforms, he jeered, "They should have come out of the dugout on tippy-toes, holding hands and singing," according to Baseball Digest.)

[edit] Move to Oakland

In 1964, Finley signed a contract to move the A's from Kansas City to Louisville (where he would rename the team the Kentucky Colonels, thus keeping the "KC" logo), to play at Fairgrounds Stadium (now Cardinal Stadium), but the other American League owners voted down the move. With declining attendance in Kansas City, approval was eventually given to move the franchise to Oakland, California, for the 1968 season.

[edit] In Oakland

[edit] World Series success

The A's (as they were officially known from 1970) arrived in California just as the new talent amassed over the years in the minors (such as Reggie Jackson, Sal Bando, Joe Rudi, Bert Campaneris, Catfish Hunter, Rollie Fingers, and Vida Blue) was starting to gel. During the early 1970s, the once-moribund A's became a powerhouse, winning three straight World Series from 1972 to 1974 and five straight division titles from 1971 to 1975.

[edit] Animosity between Finley and his players

A major embarrassment for baseball resulted from Finley's actions during the 1973 World Series. Finley forced player Mike Andrews to sign a false affidavit saying he was injured, after the reserve infielder committed two consecutive errors in the 12th inning of Oakland's Game 2 loss to the New York Mets. Other A's, manager Dick Williams and virtually the entire viewing public rallied to Andrews' defense, and Commissioner Bowie Kuhn forced Finley to reinstate Andrews. There was nothing that said the A's had to let Andrews play, however. After Andrews grounded out in a pinch-hit appearance in Game 4, Finley ordered Andrews benched for the rest of the Series; he never played another major-league game. A fed-up Williams resigned after winning the Series, and Finley replaced him with Alvin Dark. However, when Williams tried to become manager of the Yankees, Finley refused to let him take the post, saying that he owed the A's the last year of his contract. Finley eventually relented, and Williams became manager of the Angels.

Years later, the players said they played so well because they all hated Finley with a passion. For instance, Finley threatened to pack Jackson off to the minors in 1969 after Jackson hit 47 homers; Kuhn had to intervene in their contract dispute. Kuhn intervened again after Blue won the A.L. Cy Young Award in 1971 and Finley threatened to send him to the minors.

[edit] Mediocre attendance

The A's were a mediocre draw at best during the 20 years of his ownership, both in Kansas City and in Oakland, despite winning five divisional championships and three World Series in the latter venue. Average yearly attendance for Finley-owned teams was just under 743,000; in 1974, despite being on their way to their third straight world championship, the A's finished next-to-last in the A.L. in attendance. The high-water mark for attendance came in 1975, when 1,075,518 came through the turnstiles. Four years later, in 1979, only 306,783 fans bothered to attend as the A's fell to 54–108, by far the worst record in the AL West, and only one game better than the Toronto Blue Jays, who were in their third season after joining the AL in 1977. Baseball writer Rob Neyer, a native of the Kansas City area, says that this was because Finley thought he could sell a baseball team the same way he sold insurance. At one point during their championship years, the A's radio flagship station was KALX, a 10-watt radio station owned by the University of California, Berkeley. KALX was practically unlistenable more than 10 miles from the Oakland Coliseum. This led one fan to joke about the A's radio network stretching all the way to Hawaii by asking, "Honolulu? How about here?"

[edit] Finley tries to dismantle his club

In 1976, after losing Hunter to free agency, Finley started dismantling his club, attempting to sell Rudi and Fingers to the Red Sox and Blue to the Yankees. Kuhn decided to invoke the rarely-used "best interests of baseball" clause in order to void Finley's sales. Finley, in turn, hired famed sports attorney Neil Papiano and proceeded to file a $10 million dollar restraint-of-trade lawsuit against Kuhn and Major League Baseball. Papiano and Finley lost the case (Finley v. Kuhn). The court ruled that the commissioner had the authority to determine what is in the best interest of baseball. This lawsuit is widely recognized as one of the most famous, influential and precedent-setting sports-related cases in the history of American jurisprudence.

At the end of that season, many of the A's stars simply left the team due to free agency. The next year – only two years after winning a division title and three years after winning a World Series--the A's finished with the worst record in baseball. After that season, he tried to trade Blue again, this time to the Reds. Kuhn vetoed this trade as well, saying that it amounted to a fire sale not unlike the attempted 1976 trades. He also claimed that adding Blue to the Reds' already formidable pitching staff would make the race for the National League West a joke. (This exercise of power by Kuhn may have been more punitive than anything else. The Reds pitching staff had been decimated by free agency and injuries in the 76-77 off-season and as such the Reds finished a distant second to the Dodgers)

The A's remained one of the worst teams in baseball over the next two years, and their already poor attendance fell even further; there were several occasions during 1978 and 1979 that crowds could be counted in the hundreds. Some fans called them "the Triple A's." The Coliseum's upkeep also suffered during this time, leading baseball writers to call it "the Oakland Mausoleum."

[edit] Selling the A's

Finley tried to move the A's to Denver in 1978 and to New Orleans in 1979, but both moves foundered when the city of Oakland and Alameda County refused to let Finley out of his lease with the Coliseum. He was in the process of rebuilding the team again in 1980 when his wife filed for divorce midway through the season. She would not accept part of a baseball team as part of the settlement. With most of his money tied up in the A's or his insurance interests, Finley was forced to sell the team. He initially agreed to sell it to businessman Marvin Davis, who planned to move the A's to Denver. However, a few weeks before Davis and Finley reached a definitive agreement, the Oakland Raiders announced they were moving to Los Angeles. Oakland and Alameda County officials were not about to lose the A's and refused to let them out of their lease. Forced to find a local buyer, Finley finally agreed to sell the A's to Walter A. Haas, Jr., president of Levi Strauss & Co. before the 1981 season.

[edit] Gimmicks

Finley was fond of gimmicks, dressing his players in non-traditional green and gold uniforms and offering his players $300 bonuses to grow moustaches. For star relief pitcher Rollie Fingers, the handlebar moustache he grew for Finley became a trademark. After signing pitcher Jim Hunter, he nicknamed him "Catfish," even fabricating boyhood stories about Hunter to give him press appeal. Finley refused to sign then-prospect Don Sutton to a contract, simply because Sutton didn't have a flashy nickname. He introduced ball girls (one of whom, the future Debbi Fields, went on to found Mrs. Fields' Original Cookies, Inc.), and advocated night games for the World Series to increase fan interest. Finley also was an outspoken advocate of the designated hitter rule, which he pushed until it was adopted by the American League. He suggested many other innovations that were tried and rejected for various reasons, including:

• Orange baseballs - Tried in a few exhibition games, but hitters found it too hard to pick up the spin.
• A three-ball walk and two-strike strikeout - Tried in spring training one year, he thought it would lead to games with more action. Instead, the result was more walks and longer games.
• A mechanical rabbit that would pop up behind home plate and deliver new balls to the umpire - Finley installed one, which he named "Harvey," at the A's home ballparks in Kansas City and Oakland, but the idea never caught on anywhere else and was dropped by the A's after 1969.
• A designated runner - This idea was rejected for several reasons by Major League Baseball, and Finley was so upset at the rejection of the rule that he voted against his own Designated Hitter rule. However, the rejection didn't stop Finley from experimenting on his own in 1974, hiring a college sprinter named Herb Washington exclusively to pinch run and steal bases. Washington stole 29 bases, but was caught stealing 18 times and frequently picked off by opposing pitchers. He was let go after shortly into his second season.
• Hired MC Hammer as Executive Vice President when he was just a teenager to be his "eyes and ears."

[edit] Other sports ventures

Finley purchased the Oakland Seals of the National Hockey League in 1970, renaming the team the California Golden Seals. After finding no buyers for the team, it was eventually taken over by the league in 1974. In 1972, Finley purchased the Memphis Pros of the American Basketball Association, changing the team's name to the Memphis Tams, the name being an acronym for Tennessee, Arkansas and Mississippi. The Tams were taken over by the ABA in 1974 and renamed the Memphis Sounds. In both cases, the team's colors were changed by Finley to Kelly green and gold; furthermore, mimicking his attempt with the A's, he briefly compelled the Seals to wear white skates instead of the traditional black skates, a move deeply unpopular with both players and fans. Both teams were abysmal failures, both at the box office and on the ice or court, respectively.

In March of 1987, Finley proposed a new football league. The league would merge with the Canadian Football League, and be renamed the North American Football League. The American cities would be made up of those that lost out on the United States Football League folding. The idea never got past the planning stages.

[edit] Indiana legend

Finley resided primarily in Chicago and LaPorte, even as he owned the Oakland A's. Even though he would make frequent trips to Oakland, he would run the team from the Midwest, earning more derision as an absentee owner. Still, Finley was popular in his hometown of LaPorte, where he remained involved in the community late into his life.

While Finley was building a championship team in Oakland, the LaPorte High School baseball team was becoming a powerhouse. Finley would send the team equipment every season, including the white shoes the Oakland A's made famous and that the LaPorte High School team would use until the late 1990s.

Finley would occasionally throw a party whenever the A's would be in Chicago to play the White Sox. He bused the players to LaPorte ("God, we hated that," Bando told Sports Illustrated in 1999) and his local friends would mingle with the likes of Reggie Jackson, Vida Blue and Catfish Hunter.

[edit] The Kansas City Beatles concert

When Finley owned the Kansas City Athletics, he promised the people of Kansas City that he would bring The Beatles to play in Kansas City's Municipal Stadium during the group's first tour of North America in the summer of 1964. Finley visited the group's manager, Brian Epstein, in San Francisco on August 19, 1964, where the Beatles were playing the first date of the tour. He told Epstein that he was disappointed that Kansas City was not among the group's itinerary, and offered first $50,000 and then $100,000 if the Beatles would schedule a concert in the Missouri city. Epstein refused, pointing out that on the only free date available, September 17, the band was scheduled for a day of rest in New Orleans. Finley left disappointed, but again encountered Epstein in Los Angeles a week later. Epstein again rejected Finley's offer of $100,000, noting that the band wanted to use their only day off to "explore the traditional home of jazz." Undetered, Finley tore up the $100,000 check and wrote a new one for $150,000. Astonished, Epstein excused himself to talk to the group. John Lennon speaking for his bandmates replied, "We'll do whatever you want." Satisfied that, in exchange for forfeiting their only day off, the Beatles had earned what at the time was the highest fee ever for a musical concert, a staggering $4,838 per minute, Epstein accepted Finley's check. Although Finley is usually remembered by the people of Kansas City as the man who provided mediocre baseball while attempting to abandon the city for a more promising market, it should also be kept in mind that he did deliver on his promise to bring the Beatles to Kansas City.

Source: Mark Lewisohn, The Beatles Live!: The Ultimate Reference Book (New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1986), 168–69.

[edit] Quote

• "Sweat plus sacrifice equals success."
• SSS was engraved in his world series rings. His players would refer to it as "shit plus shit equals more shit".^{[citation needed]}
• When asked how he felt about selling Fingers, Blue, Jackson and other key players on his championship team to the Red Sox he was quoted as saying, "I wish I could have sold more".

[edit] External links

• Baseball Hall of Fame candidate profile
• BaseballLibrary - profile and career highlights
• Charlie Finley at Find A Grave