Post by TheShadow on Aug 22, 2008 15:24:31 GMT -5
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By Patrick Patterson
The city of Oakland suffered from an identity crisis for much of its existence as the poor relation across the bay from San Francisco. It wasn’t until the advent of the Oakland Raiders in 1960, Oakland A’s in 1968, and the Golden State Warriors in the early seventies that the city of Oakland was on the map as more than just a port city. By the mid seventies, Oakland joined a select few cities to have won championships in the three major sports. Oakland became known as a city of Champions as the A’s won three World Series championships, the Raiders a Super Bowl, and the Warriors an NBA championship. To look around the city of Oakland outside of the gates of the Coliseum is to see no mention of this legacy of greatness.
The Oakland Coliseum is surrounded by four streets with a name entrance drive way. None of these streets bare the name of any local sports legend. 66th Ave, Hegenberger, Zhone Way, and San Leandro Street, with the only thing close being Coliseum Way, which is only the driveway to get into the north parking lot.
Admiral Chester Nimitz, General Douglass MacArthur, and writer Jack London are the only figures with major landmarks bearing their names. (Interstate 880, Interstate 580, and Jack London Square respectively.) With the sheer number of sports legends who have called Oakland home, it would only be fitting that at least a few would get that high honor. San Francisco has even gone as far as honoring Giants legends, and the Giants haven’t even won a championship on the west coast. Oakland, you can do better.
Oakland Athletics:
The A’s have won more championships than any of the other Oakland Teams with four. Its easy to forget that with the current state of the A’s that they were at one time a dominant team in major league baseball back before they started surrendering every season at the trading deadline.
Reggie Jackson: Reggie came up through the A’s farm system and was the key piece of the A’s dominance in the early 70s. He was sold off in a trade by Charlie O. Finley after the 76 season and went on to the Yankees and Angels before coming back to Oakland to finish his career where it started.
Jim “Catfish” Hunter: Catfish was the ace of the Oakland Staff as they dominated the major leagues in the early 70s. He pitched a perfect game in 1968 and ultimately helped the A’s to three championships. He was also jettisoned by Finley, once Finley decided to cut costs.
Rickey Henderson: Rickey is the quintessential hometown hero. He was raised in Oakland, and went on to set records whilst a member of the Oakland A’s. He set the single season stolen base record, career stolen base record, and numerous other baseball records in the green and gold.
Oakland Raiders:
The Raiders were the first major sports team in Oakland, if the early AFL could be considered a major league. By the end of their first decade, the Raiders had transformed from the laughingstock of a fledgling pro football league to one of the most dominant teams in all of football.
Jim Otto:
Otto was the original Raider. He was drafted in the 1960 AFL draft back when it was thought that the Raiders would be called the Señors. Otto started every game the Raiders played as an AFL team and continued starting and dominating until his retirement after the 1974 season.
Al Davis:
This one won’t happen because he moved the team from Oakland after the 1981 season, but he is the one who is responsible for the greatness of the Raiders. The Raider teams that dominated from 1963 until the Raiders exit in 82 were built to Davis’s specifications.
Gene Upshaw:
Upshaw was a dominant lineman for the Raiders from 1967-81. He never played any home games outside of Northern California and personified Raider greatness.
John Madden:
Madden coached the dominant Raider teams of the seventies, and is a local Northern California native. In his post coaching career he has gained fame as a TV personality and spokesman for the game of football.
The Golden State Warriors:
The Warriors in a way are the ‘poor relation’ of the Oakland teams. For one they are the only one that does not bare the name Oakland in their official name, for another they don’t have the storied history in Oakland that the A’s and the Raiders do. The Warriors spent the early part of their time in Oakland bouncing between the Coliseum Arena and the Cow Palace in San Francisco, before finally settling in as an East Bay team in 1972.
Rick Barry:
Barry was a key to the Warriors taking their only championship in 1974 and a member of the NBA Hall of Fame.
Nate Thurmond:
Thurmond was one of the greatest players the Warriors had, despite never winning a championship with the Golden State Warriors. He is also a member of the basketball Hall of Fame.
Chris Mullin:
Mullin was the first piece of the puzzle that became the Run-TMC glory years of the Warriors. He brought respectability to what had become a morbid franchise. He is a big part of the recent resurgence of the Warriors with his front office position.
It would seem that the city of Oakland would see fit to honor at least a few of these guys who have helped turn the City of Oakland into a major league city.