ANAHEIM, Calif. -- It is never a good thing when the Oakland Athletics are drawing comparisons to the Kansas City A's.
The K.C. A's, for those born after World War II, were one of the most woebegone franchises of the modern era. The Philadelphia A's moved to K.C. after drawing 304,666 fans in 1954. They lasted 13 seasons in K.C., did not have a winning season, then moved to Oakland.
The K.C. version is best known for Charlie Finley, the miserly owner who once had a donkey as the team mascot and served as an unofficial affiliate of the Yankees.