Sacramento Athletics

The Philadelphia Athletics were charter members of the American League in 1901, and under manager Connie Mack - who managed the team for an astonishing 50 years - they produced some of baseball's early dynasties. The A's won five World Series titles (1910, 1911, 1913, 1929, 1930) and featured Hall of Famers like Jimmie Foxx, Lefty Grove, and Home Run Baker.

Mack's championship teams were repeatedly dismantled for financial reasons, a pattern that would haunt the franchise across all three of its cities. The late 1930s through the early 1950s were dismal, and by 1954 the franchise was sold and moved to Kansas City.

The Kansas City years (1955-1967) were largely unsuccessful, with the A's serving as an unofficial farm team for the Yankees, regularly trading their best players to New York. The 13 years in Kansas City produced just one winning season and deepened the franchise's identity as perpetual underdogs.

Maverick owner Charlie Finley moved the A's to Oakland in 1968 and assembled one of the most talented - and contentious - rosters in baseball history. The A's won three consecutive World Series from 1972 to 1974, the last team to accomplish the three-peat. Reggie Jackson, Catfish Hunter, Vida Blue, Rollie Fingers, and Sal Bando formed the core of a team that fought with each other as ferociously as they competed against opponents.

Finley's colorful promotions (green and gold uniforms, a mascot mule named Charlie O) and combative personality made the A's a national story, even as his refusal to pay competitive salaries drove players away. Hunter's departure via free agency after the 1974 season - the result of a contract dispute - was a harbinger of the franchise's inability to retain talent.

The dynasty dissolved by the late 1970s as Finley's financial limitations and personality clashes led to a mass exodus of star players. The three-peat remains one of baseball's greatest achievements, accomplished by a team that seemed ready to implode at any moment.

The A's returned to prominence in the late 1980s with the "Bash Brothers" - Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire - powering a team that won three consecutive pennants from 1988 to 1990. The 1989 World Series sweep of the Giants was overshadowed by the devastating Loma Prieta earthquake that struck before Game 3, but the A's dominance was clear. They won the 1989 World Series for the franchise's ninth overall championship.

The early 2000s brought the "Moneyball" revolution. Under general manager Billy Beane, the A's embraced statistical analysis to identify undervalued players and compete with a fraction of the payroll spent by large-market teams. The 2002 team's 20-game winning streak and the franchise's ability to consistently field playoff-caliber rosters on modest budgets changed how baseball teams evaluated talent. Michael Lewis's book "Moneyball" (2003) and the subsequent film made Beane one of the most famous figures in the sport.

The A's made the playoffs six times between 2000 and 2014 but couldn't break through in the postseason, falling in the first round repeatedly. The franchise's inability to translate regular season success into October glory became a painful pattern.