A’s greats have night to remember
Stewart relishes pregame ceremony to honor six of the franchise’s best players and Finley
OAKLAND >> Dave Stewart could be forgiven for perhaps being a bit in awe.
Here he was, the kid from Oakland, who was mentored by Reggie Jackson and knew all about Charlie Finley, Rollie Fingers and Jim “Catfish” Hunter. He was teammates with Dennis Eckersley and of course, his childhood friend, Rickey Henderson.
They, including Stewart, were all part of the inaugural class of the Athletics Hall of Fame that was celebrated in a pregame ceremony Wednesday at the Coliseum before the A’s played the New York Yankees.
“People walk down different paths,” Stewart said, “but for me to grow up a stone’s throw away from here and on this day, go into the Oakland A’s Hall of Fame with guys that I watched, admired and emulated, there is just no better feeling.”
Paul Finley, one of Charlie’s sons, and Helen Hunter, Jim’s wife, also took part in the ceremony on a cool, brisk night that brought together four living members of the Baseball Hall of Fame in Jackson, Fingers, Eckersley and Henderson and a playoff legend in Stewart.
Three members of the A’s World Series dynasty from 197274, three more from the team’s second-greatest era from 198890, and the owner that started it all.
Each gave a short speech as they wore a green jacket, presented to them by team president Dave Kaval, that featured an A’s Hall of Fame crest on the breast pocket.
“It’s a whole lot more than a nice little honor for me,” Jackson told reporters after the ceremony. “I really enjoyed being with the guys and being on the field and sharing some of my feelings to the fans is nice.
“I think I got a little more emotional here than I did in Cooperstown.”
Perhaps not surprisingly. the loudest ovation went to Henderson, one of Oakland’s favorite sons who played 1,704 regular-season games over 14 years with the A’s.
“The Oakland A’s have been in my blood, my heart and my soul,” Henderson said in his speech. “I’ll always be an Oakland A.”
Fingers noted in his speech — from a podium located just a few feet in front of the pitchers mound — that some of his most memorable throws came on the Coliseum field, including the one that captured the franchise’s third straight World Series.
“In 1974, I remember fielding a ground ball, right where I’m standing,” Fingers said, “and throwing it to Gene Tenace in Game 5 to beat the Dodgers.”
The A’s plan to make Hall of Fame inductions an annual event, with each A’s Hall of Fame member getting a vote on who is enshrined.
In all likelihood, though, there will not be another night as starstudded as Wednesday’s.
“It’s great the Oakland A’s organization is bringing back the history of the A’s,” Fingers said. “It’s nice that they’re honoring the great players that played here.”