The major individual honors in Athletics history, the MVPs, Cy Youngs, Rookies of the Year, and Managers of the Year who defined each era, from Lefty Grove and Jimmie Foxx in Philadelphia to the Bash Brothers and the Moneyball A's.
The award list traces the franchise's championship eras almost exactly. In Philadelphia, Lefty Grove's 1931 MVP and Jimmie Foxx's back-to-back MVPs in 1932 and 1933 came at the peak of Connie Mack's second dynasty, and Bobby Shantz's 1952 MVP and Harry Byrd's 1952 Rookie of the Year arrived in the club's final Philadelphia seasons.
The Swingin' A's three-peat produced Vida Blue's MVP and Cy Young double in 1971 and Reggie Jackson's 1973 MVP, with Catfish Hunter's 1974 Cy Young capping the dynasty. The Bash Brothers and Tony La Russa years are the most decorated stretch on the list: Jose Canseco (1986 Rookie of the Year, 1988 MVP), Mark McGwire (1987 Rookie of the Year), Walt Weiss (1988 Rookie of the Year), Rickey Henderson's 1990 MVP, Bob Welch's 1990 Cy Young, Dennis Eckersley's 1992 MVP and Cy Young, and La Russa's own two Manager of the Year awards.
The Moneyball era carried the tradition forward on far smaller budgets: Ben Grieve (1998), Bobby Crosby (2004), Huston Street (2005), and Andrew Bailey (2009) as Rookies of the Year, Jason Giambi's 2000 MVP, Miguel Tejada's 2002 MVP, and Barry Zito's 2002 Cy Young, with Bob Melvin later adding two more Manager of the Year trophies in 2012 and 2018 for the competitive Oakland teams that followed.
Individual awards only tell part of the story. The franchise's Hall of Fame class spans both cities that defined it, Connie Mack himself is enshrined as a manager, alongside the stars of his two Philadelphia dynasties and the core of the Oakland dynasty that followed.
Retiring a number is the franchise's highest individual honor short of a bronze plaque in Cooperstown. Every number below belongs to a Hall of Famer, plus number 42, retired across all of Major League Baseball in honor of Jackie Robinson.
The franchise's Hall of Famers and retired numbers, Reggie, Rickey, Catfish, Rollie, Eck and more, live in the history hub.
Major individual honors won while with the Athletics. LV Athletics is an independent fan site and is not affiliated with the Athletics or Major League Baseball.