By Ahmed V. Ortiz | Special to The OBSERVER
While not Chocolate City in the Parliamentary sense, Oakland has profoundly shaped Black American culture. It has given us everything and everyone from the Black Panther Party to Bill Russell; Ryan Coogler to Angela Davis; Too $hort to Tower of Power.
Oakland has also produced a healthy list of prominent Black Major League Baseball players. Start with Hall of Famers Frank Robinson and Joe Morgan. Move along to standouts such as four-time all-star Vada Pinson, five-time Gold Glove winner Gary Pettis, and Curt Flood, the three-time all-star and seven-time Gold Glover who essentially sacrificed his career so players would have the free agency they’ve benefited from for decades. That doesn’t even include a list of notables often credited as being from Oakland but who actually are from neighboring Alameda, such as Jimmy Rollins, Willie Stargell and Dontrelle Willis.
Yes, the previous paragraph features at least two obvious omissions. They of course are not forgotten; they are unforgettable figures in The OBSERVER’s list of the top Black players to suit up for the A’s during their 57 years in Oakland.
PITCHERS
Vida Blue (1969-1977): The 1971 American League Cy Young winner and MVP also started that year’s celebrated All-Star Game, which boasted 22 future Hall of Famers (and opposing starter Dock Ellis!); 124 of his 209 victories were earned wearing the green and gold. He succumbed to cancer in May 2023 at age 73.
Mike Norris (1975-1983, 1990): A 22-game winner in 1980, when he finished second in Cy Young voting. He won only 58 total in a career that addiction derailed for years before an abbreviated coda in 1990.
Blue Moon Odom (1968-1975): A key player on 1972-1974 World Series champions, he was 6-0 with a 1.13 postseason ERA for those teams in 392/3 innings over 10 appearances, mostly out of the bullpen despite being a regular-season starter.
Dave Stewart (1986-1992, 1995): A 20-game winner four years in a row (1987-1990), he was the 1989 World Series MVP in the A’s sweep of the Giants. He won another World Series in 1993 with Toronto, against which he threw a no-hitter June 29, 1990.
CATCHER
Bruce Maxwell (2016-2018): His tenure was brief and he was far from a star, but he gets Afro-pick-fist points for being the first MLB player to kneel during the national anthem.
INFIELD
Tony Kemp (2020-2023): Of the journeyman and current free agent’s 2,247 MLB plate appearances through 2024, 1,488 came with the A’s, for whom he made 351 starts in four seasons.
Davey Lopes (1982-1984): Known mostly for his 10 seasons with the Dodgers, Lopes spent nearly three full, productive seasons with the A’s. He combined with Rickey Henderson for 158 steals in 1982, a record for teammates. (Rickey, with 130, of course carried most of the water.)
Tony Phillips (1982-1989, 1999): The utility player was underappreciated in the game, but not by teammates, who praised his energy and competitive spirit. He appeared for the A’s at every position save for catcher and pitcher. Phillips died of a heart attack in 2016 at age 56.
Marcus Semien (2015-2020): Acquired from the White Sox in a trade that also netted all-star Chris Bassitt, he finished third in MVP balloting in 2019. The A’s let him leave in free agency after 2020. Since, he has twice again finished third in the MVP race, made three all-star teams, and won a Gold Glove, two Silver Sluggers and a World Series.
OUTFIELD
Rickey Henderson (1979-1984, 1989-1993, 1994-1995, 1998): The undisputed Mr. Oakland Athletic and greatest leadoff hitter ever. He retired as the career leader in walks (2,190), runs (2,295) and what’s extremely likely to be a forever steals record (1,406), including an AL-leading 66 at age 39 in 1998. He almost singlehandedly beat Toronto in the five-game 1989 American League Championship Series, going 6 for 15 with four extra-base hits, seven walks against no strikeouts, and eight steals without being thrown out. He treated the Giants with nearly equal malevolence in the ensuing World Series sweep. Rickey left the A’s three times, being traded twice, but the Oakland Technical High School graduate always returned home. His death in December days before what would have been his 66th birthday still shakes the collective soul of a generation of fans. The romantic notion that he couldn’t stand to see his beloved team play under another city’s banner lends mild solace. For many, he’ll forever be the North Star of players.
Reggie Jackson (1968-1975, 1987): The legend of “Mr. October” cemented later with the Yankees began with a World Series MVP performance for Oakland in 1973, the year he also was AL MVP. And though he wears a Yankees hat on his Cooperstown plaque, he played twice as many years (10) and more than twice as many games for Oakland.
Dwayne Murphy (1978-1987): With his high hat and low brim, Murphy just looked cooler than everybody. He backed it up with game, winning six consecutive Gold Gloves (1980-1985) patrolling center field. He put in work offensively, too, posting a 20-20 season in 1982 and hitting 33 home runs in 1984.
DESIGNATED HITTER
Khris Davis (2016-2020, 2021): Davis was a one-dimensional, consistent power source for the A’s. How consistent? Try 40-plus home runs each of his first three years with the team, leading the majors with 48 in 2018. He also hit exactly .247 four straight years, including with Milwaukee in 2015.
HONORABLE MENTION/BENCH
Only outfielders here. Remember, this is a list of African Americans; all the infielders you’re thinking of are Latino. So, Bill North and Dave Henderson lead, joined by Hall of Famers Billy Williams, Harold Baines and the recently and rightly elected Dave Parker. Mitchell Page had some good moments in the lean, late 1970s, and Terrence Long was a key cog on some big winners. He might best be remembered, though, for being on the wrong end of a throw by Ichiro Suzuki that opened everyone’s eyes in the Japanese great’s eighth MLB game. And we cannot leave out the singular career of Herb Washington: 105 games across two seasons and not a single plate appearance for the pinch runner extraordinaire.