Happy Friday, Athletics Nation!
The A’s 2022 season is over, and by the numbers—60 wins to 102 losses—it was quite a downer. Only in 1979 did the team fare worse in the franchise’s Oakland era with a 54-108 record.
As it happens, I first started buying wax packs of Topps baseball cards in 1980; that year’s set “covered” the nadir of Oakland A’s history. I was already an A’s fan because my parents were, having lived in Stockton, CA during the heyday of the “Swingin’ A’s” dynasty. But it was delving into the stats and factoids on the backs of those cards that made me a real baseball fan.