April 6, 1969:
AL PREVIEW: ATHLETICS by Bucky Walter (San Francisco Examiner)
Oakland, Calif. - There is the scary possibility that the Oakland Athletics are overrated by American League soothsayers.
The spring-training campaign, the A's first in Arizona, had none of the flair that carried the perky young squad through Florida in 1968 as a zesty victor.
More often than not humiliated - twice by the San Francisco Giants, their unfriendly neighbors - the Athletics puzzled their forceful new manager, Hank Bauer.
Excepting Bauer, the A's have added practically nothing to the roster that last year lifted the erstwhile Kansas City team from rock-bottom tenth to sixth place in its first seaon at Oakland, with a clear gain of 20 victories for an 82-80 record.
The A's 1968 strength was pitching, with a staff earned-run average of 2.98. But this spring, opposing batters gleefully teed off on Chuck Dobson, Blue Moon Odom and Catfish Hunter.
Bauer proposed a four-man starting rotation of Dobson, Odom, Hunter and Jim Nash.
Jut-jawed Lew Krausse was assigned to bullpen duty. The A's, in a classic booboo, let ace fireman Diego Segui go to Seattle in the expanion draft along with their outstanding relief pitcher of 1967, Jack Aker.
Bob Kennedy, who did such a fine job of piloting the A's out of the basement with their best record in the "Finley Era," only to be ditched as a reward, made a prophecy just before owner Charles Finley gave him the inevitable bounce.
"Everyone expects us to finish higher," said Kennedy. "You know, it might not be possible. I feel we're getting the maximum from this personnel."
Another maximum year might be enough to pull the A's through in the Western Division, however.
"I think we've got a chance at the pennant," Bauer said. "Certainly the divisional setup helps. You take away guys like Detroit, Baltimore and Cleveland, they're tough ball clubs."
The A's are thin, however. Front liners are adequate. Behind them, however, only shortstop Ted Kubiak ranks as a strong reserve. And Kubiak will suffer through long, monotonous days on the bench while Campy Campaneris handles the job.
Campaneris, Sal Bando at third, Dick Green at second, and Danny Cater at first comprise an infield combination that hardly evokes snickers. Base-theft champ Campaneris is the No. 1 leadoff man in the league.
There certainly are no better outfield potentials - considering raw physical talent - than Rick Monday and Reggie Jackson. Yet Monday has a history of tailing off in July and Jackson must lay the wood to the ball more consistently. His 29 home runs last season contributed only 74 RBI. Apparently Mike Hershberger is catalogued as the left fielder.
Monday, Jackson and Bando are the A's who, maturing, might provide the runs-batted-in muscle the team lacked in 1968.
Soph Dave Duncan and vet Jim Pagliaroni will handle the catching. Pagliaroni is a fine young defensive backstop. Undeniably, he has tremendous power with the bat. It is a question of when - and if - he will catch up to major league pitching, which has overmatched him so far.
Spring training does not a season make. But Bauer must be wondering if his exceptional young pitchers will return to past performance. You can bet he's wondering.
BERT CAMPANERIS