In 1971, the ambitious and erratic owner of the Oakland A’s went all-in on changing the number of balls for a walk from four to three.
Highlights
- A “wildly eccentric” owner goes to the library and gets a history of the base-on-balls
- A visiting Nippon Professional Baseball team beats the A’s at their own game
- The A’s owner puts words into the commissioner’s mouth to force the Angels to play
- Charlie Finley pivots to somebody else’s idea, the designated hitter rule, and finds what he was looking for all along
Further Reading
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Ted: Substack
Original Research and Writing: Paul Jackson
Production and Music: Ted Walker
Design: Ketaki Kulkarni
