After being swept by the Red Sox 3-0 in the 1975 ALCS, A’s Owner Charlie Finley fired Manager Alvin Dark after two seasons of first place finishes and brought on Chuck Tanner to be at the helm for the 1976 season.
After the free-agency loss of Catfish Hunter to the Yankees in 1975 and the trade of Reggie Jackson to the Orioles at the start of the 1976 season, the A’s finished in second place with a 87-74 record under Tanner.
With the remains of their once-dynasty players like Bert Campaneris, Sal Bando, Joe Rudi and Ken Holtzman gone to take advantage of the free agent market for the 1977 season, Finley sought to fill the catching vacancy left by departing 1972 World Series MVP Gene Tenace and Ray Fosse, who had been traded in mid-1976.