1st January 1877
The fans of the Athletics have hardly had any time to celebrate their MLB Championship Series win than their world was shaken up again. The first piece of news was that the successful manager Bill Lee has decided that his win is enough for his career and he has decided to retire. His replacement is Kyle Finley. Finley has one MLB Championship to his name but the last 2 or 3 years have not been so kind as he had a losing record with the Brown Stockings in both 1874 and 1875. He was also out of work during the 1876 season. The fans are not happy to lose Lee and are not impressed by his replacement. GM Louis Garcia was rewarded by the Owner for the success last season as he signed a one year contract extension.
If losing your esteemed manager wasn't bad enough for the Athletics fans they must also now find new seats in a new stadium as the owner decided to move the team from their home and relocate to the Oakdale Park stadium.
On the player front 36 year old Short Stop Charlie Smith decided to call it a day on his career. He joined the club at the inauguration of the MLB and spent all 6 years with the club. He played 52 games for the club with 32 starts, 30 of these in 1871. This saw him have 107 at bats along with 22 hits for an average of .206. (real life stats 14 games, 72 at bats and 19 hits for .264 average)
The awards ceremony seemed to be taken over by the Athletics players.
John Cassidy picked up both the Batter of the Year and the Rookie of the Year
George Bradley was voted the Pitcher of the Year
The following players picked up golden glove awards as they were voted to the defensive team of the year. Catcher Doug Allison, First Baseman Joe Start, Second Baseman Paul Hines, Third Baseman Andy Leonard and Short Stop John Peters.
The team took part in the first year draft but only managed to pick 2 players. The first round pick went on First Baseman Chub Sullivan. The full draft log is shown below
Both players signed by the deadline