A Tough Sell: Charley Finley and Bowie Kuhn

The Oakland A's of the early to mid-1970s, were one of the toughest teams of all-time, winning the World Championship in 1972, '73, and '74. Then free agency came along and A's owner Charlie Finley tried to sell off some of his prize players before they would leave his team without compensation. On June 15, 1976, he sold 3rd baseman Joe Rudi and future Hall of Fame relief pitcher Rollie Fingers to the Red Sox and pitching ace Vida Blue to the Yankees. Three days later, Baseball Commissioner Bowie Kuhn expressed concern about the A's remaining competitive and voided the deals.

This theme ball commemorates the famous Finley and Kuhn confrontation that occurred in 1975.