Thursday, February 28, 2008

1980 Scottsdale Charros Spring Training Program

Today's post is going to feature my most interesting find from the San Francisco TriStar show last weekend. It's a 1980 Spring Training (Rickey's first with the A's) program produced by the Scottsdale Charros, welcoming the Oakland A's to town. The cover features a watercolor of a very "western" A's fan, who I think bears a slight resemblance to Tommy Lee Jones.



Some of you may be wondering, as I did, who the heck are the Scottsdale Charros? When I first saw the program, I figured that they were some minor league or independent league team that let the A's use their stadium for spring workouts. But, they're actually actually a group of local businessman from the Chamber of Commerce, who basically organize local events and activities.



Now that the most pressing question has been answered, we can get back to Rickey. Even though he did play for the A's at the end of the 1979 season, I guess he was still too much of a rookie to warrant a picture in this program. He does get a mention, however, right below Dave Heaverlo and his enormous wad of tobacco!



Most of the program contains advertisements for local businesses and restaurants, with bits and pieces of A's information spread throughout. There is a nice summary of the current A's, mentioning that "21-year old Rickey Henderson and young Dwayne Murphy [had] take[n] over regular outfield positions" the previous season.



Near the middle of the guide they provide a very "modern" looking spreadsheet of the A's winter roster as of 11-30-1979. It lists Rickey as the only switch-hitting A's outfielder, and also provides his 1979 stats from both the Ogden and Oakland A's.



In 1980 the Cactus League consisted of 8 teams, the Angels, Cubs, Indians, Brewers, A's, Padres, Giants, and Mariners. Of these teams, only the Indians no longer play in Arizona, who moved to Florida in the early 90's.

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