another dimension. You are being transported to a baseball fantasy land more bizarre than anything

Abner Doubleday ever dared to dream. A land where the good guys always wear white shoes.

They come gloriously guard in Kelly Green and gold uniforms, brashly brandishing bushy

moustaches and sideburns, with the magic a-apostrophe S emblazoned on their chest

to ward off such evil spirits as tigers, Oreos, White Sox, and Reds. Their thrilling outlandish deeds

will be forever chronicled in the great baseball annals under the name of the Oakland Aids.

But to those who knew them well,

they will always be remembered as family and hero.

You know, there's a very thin line between reality and fiction,

and the incredible 1972 baseball season seemed to hover in that gray nebulous area that separates credibility

from imagination. But despite their miracle finishes and phantasmagorical plays, this was the

year that the irrepressible Oakland days were going to prove to the world that they were a very for real team.

Under the watchful eye of Charlie Finley, the team that was to win the championship of 72 began to take shape many years before.

From draft choices and college campuses, through trades in the minor league system came player after player until the

A's had built themselves into one of the most talent-laden teams in the major leagues.

Gone were those losing years in Kansas City and long gone the Philadelphia origins of this team.

This Oakland team was unique. It was probably the most talented in all of baseball, and certainly the most colorful.

They all laughed when the A's introduced baseball's first multicolored uniform.

And white kangaroo shoes.

And moustaches.

And a mule named Charlie O.

grazing in the grass beyond the outfield.

...