Birmingham A's

• Location: Birmingham, AL
• League: Southern League 1967-1970, 1972-1975; Dixie Association 1971
• Affiliation: Kansas City Athletics, 1967; Oakland Athletics, 1968 to 1975
• Ballpark: Rickwood Field

Team History

The Birmingham A's were members of the Southern League from 1967 to 1975. In their first year, the club was led by manager John McNamara and future Hall of Famers Reggie Jackson and Rollie Fingers, and the team captured the league title and the Dixie Series championship. For their entire existence, the A's called Rickwood Field home. The team was treated to many of the top prospects of the Oakland A's as A's owner Charlie Finley had grown up in Birmingham and owned the team as well. However, the A's moved away after the 1975 season.

Author Bill James, in his book The Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract, selected the 1967 Birmingham A's as the greatest minor league team of the 1960s. That team, which featured Fingers and Jackson, won the only edition of the Dixie Series held after its demise in 1958, defeating the Albuquerque Dodgers of the Texas League, four games to two.

Birmingham A's History
Year	Record	Position	Manager
1967	84-55	1st	John McNamara	Southern League champs, Dixie Series champs
1968	66-74	4th	Gus Niarhos
1969	78-62	2nd	Gus Niarhos
1970	73-65	3rd	Phil Cavarretta
1971	48-93	4th	Phil Cavarretta
1972	49-90	4th	Phil Cavarretta
1973	50-88	4th	Harry Bright
1974	54-81	4th	Harry Bright
1975	65-69	2nd	Harry Malmberg

Further Reading

• Jeb Stewart: "The 1967 Dixie Series", in Baseball Research Journal, SABR, Vol. 49, Nr. 1 (Spring 2020), pp. 37-47.