"An exciting and engrossing book with stories that are worth telling.
This work will engage fans of Charlie O. Finley and the Oakland
Athletics, along with anyone captivated by baseball history." --
Library Journal, starred review
The Oakland A's of the early 1970s: Never before had an entire
organization so collectively traumatized baseball's establishment with
its outlandish behavior and business decisions. The high drama that
played out on the field--five straight division titles and three
straight championships--was exceeded only by the drama in the clubhouse
and front office.
Under the visionary leadership of owner Charles O. Finley, the team
assembled such luminary figures as Reggie Jackson, Catfish Hunter,
Rollie Fingers, and Vida Blue, and with garish uniforms and
revolutionary facial hair, knocked baseball into the modern age.
Finley's insatiable need for control--he was his own general manager and
dictated everything from the ballpark organist's playlist to the menu
for the media lounge--made him ill-suited for the advent of free agency.
Within two years, his dynasty was lost.
A sprawling, brawling history of one of the game's most unforgettable
teams, Dynastic, Bombastic, Fantastic is a paean to the sport's most
turbulent, magical team, during one of major league baseball's most
turbulent, magical times.