Elephant Rumblings: 2022 Athletics Hall of Fame inductees announced

Happy Weekend, Athletics Nation!

Standing in for the inimitable Cody F. Schmidt; he’ll be back on Tuesday.

Yesterday, the A’s announced that six new inductees will join the Athletics Hall of Fame this year. The 2022 Class will be honored on Sunday, August 7 before a day game between the A’s and the Giants.

Here are this year’s inductees (player years of service in parenthesis):

• Ray Fosse (1973-75): Beloved for his 36 years in the A’s broadcast booth, Fosse also played catcher and won two World Series rings with the original Swingin’ A’s. He worked in the Athletics front office in 1985 before transitioning to his broadcasting role. His death last year was a heavy blow to the organization and fans alike.
• Sal Bando (1966-76): The first of many great third baseman of the Oakland era, “Captain Sal” led the A’s during their incredible run through the early 70s. Consistent and well rounded, Bando led all of baseball with 33.0 WAR from 1969 through 1973.
• Eric Chavez (1998-2010): Another A’s legend who played the hot corner, Chavez won six straight Gold Gloves from 2001 through 2006 and hit 22 or more home runs—199 in total—from 2000 through 2006. Much like the A’s he played for, Chavez was known to heat up in the second half of the season, which helps explain the baffling fact that he was never named an All-Star—not even in 2002 when he won a Silver Slugger award!
• Keith Lieppman: Currently in his 52nd year with the Athletics organization, Lieppman has been Special Advisor to Player Development since 2020. Prior to that, he served for 25 years as Director of Player Development, eight years managing in the minors, and nine years as a minor-league player.
• Joe Rudi (1967-76, 1982): Another mainstay of the A’s in their glory years of the 1970s, Rudi was a clutch performer in the team’s three straight World Series victories and was the runner up for AL MVP in two of those championship seasons. He won three straight Gold Glove awards from 1974 through 1976.
• Steve Vucinich: The A’s equipment manager from 1994 until his retirement after the 2021 season, Vucinich started out as a ballboy in 1968, the A’s inaugural season in Oakland. He was the sole constant among A’s personnel through the first 54 years of the Oakland era.

The A’s began inducting members to the Athletics Hall of Fame in 2018 and have honored a new class each year except 2020. The Hall includes greats spanning all the way back to the franchise’s early days in Philadelphia.

Here’s a complete list of prior year inductees:

2018 (Oakland era)

• Dennis Eckersley
• Rollie Fingers
• Charlie Finley
• Rickey Henderson
• Catfish Hunter
• Reggie Jackson
• Dave Stewart

2019 (Oakland era)

• Vida Blue
• Bert Campaneris
• Walter A. Haas, Jr.
• Tony La Russa
• Mark McGwire

2021 (Philadelphia era)

• Frank “Home Run” Baker
• Charles “Chief” Bender
• Gordon “Mickey” Cochrane
• Eddie Collins
• Jimmie Foxx
• Robert “Lefty” Grove
• Connie Mack
• Eddie Plank
• Al Simmons
• George “Rube” Waddell

August 7 should be a fine day at the Coliseum. But first, how about getting a few runs against the Guardians for Frankie Montas today so he can notch his first win since April 18? Game starts at 1:10 p.m. PT. Let’s go, Oakland! Seriously.

A’s Coverage:

• Hall: Game #60: A’s almost win, instead lose 10th straight
• Gallegos: Kaprielian takes ‘step in the right direction’
• MLB: A’s to Induct six members into Athletics Hall of Fame on Sunday, Aug. 7
• Gallegos: Blackburn’s gem provides silver lining for A’s
• Avallone: Soderstrom homers on multihit night

MLB News & Interest:

• McDonald: Royce Lewis Diagnosed With Torn ACL Again, To Undergo Season-Ending Surgery
• McDonald: Casey Mize To Undergo Tommy John Surgery
• McDonald: Andrew Kittredge To Undergo Tommy John Surgery
• McDonald: Padres Sign Robinson Cano To Minor League Deal
• McCaffrey: Chris Sale to Red Sox bullpen? Not out of the question as return inches closer ($)
• The Athletic: Son of Orioles owner sues family over control of team, reveals plans to sell ($)
• Stark: Making sense of MLB’s position-players-closing-games trend, manager mayhem and more: Stark’s Weird and Wild ($)
• Franco: Yusmeiro Petit Granted Release From Padres
• Today in Baseball History

Best of Twitter:

Welp.

Is Blackburn gonna be our All-Star?

Always read the fine print.

Roster moves ƪ(‾.‾“)┐

Top of the OPS in the minors.

Bethancourt barreling up.

I think you and I have different priorities, @GoatJerseys, but I would love to see these unis again.