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La Russa, Blue, Campaneris, McGwire, and Haas, Jr. to be Inducted into Athletics Hall of Fame

Published

7 years ago

August 21, 2019

OAKLAND, Calif. – Baseball Hall of Famer Tony La Russa; Cy Young and MVP award winner Vida Blue; six-time All-Star Bert “Campy” Campaneris; Athletics all-time home run leader Mark McGwire; and former A’s owner Walter A. Haas, Jr. will be enshrined in franchise history forever as members of the 2019 class of the Athletics Hall of Fame, the Club announced today. The class will be honored during a pregame ceremony on Saturday, Sept. 21 when the A’s host the Texas Rangers.

Tony La Russa managed the A’s for 10 seasons from 1986 to 1995 and, under his guidance, won four American League West titles, three consecutive AL Pennants from 1988 to 1990, and the World Championship in 1989. La Russa won 798 games during his tenure with the A’s, which are the most in Oakland history and second only in Athletics history to Connie Mack’s 3,582. When he was hired to manage the A’s on July 7, 1986, his first action was to name Dave Stewart as his starting pitcher that day at Boston. The A’s acquired Dennis Eckersley the following season and, under La Russa’s watch, the modern-day closer was born. The A’s won an Oakland-record 104 games in 1988 and La Russa was named AL Manager of the Year, an honor he would garner again in 1992. He was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2014.

No pitcher in Oakland history has struck out more batters (1,315) or started more games (262) than Vida Blue. Drafted by the Kansas City A’s in 1967, Blue made his Major League debut in 1969 just eight days before his 20^th birthday. He tossed a no-hitter in 1970 and then burst onto the national scene in 1971 when he won both the American League Cy Young Award and Most Valuable Player Award as a 21-year-old. Blue set Oakland records with 301 strikeouts and a league-leading 1.82 ERA while compiling a 24-8 record. He was the starting pitcher for the AL in the All-Star Game that year and again in 1975. Vida won 20 games in 1973 and 22 in 1975 and pitched nine seasons with the A’s from 1969-77. He also holds Oakland career records for complete games (105), shutouts (28) and innings pitched (1945.2).

The Athletics all-time leader in games played (1,795) and hits (1,882), Bert “Campy” Campaneris played 13 seasons for the A’s, including four in Kansas City (1964 to 1967) and nine in Oakland (1968 to 1976). When you trace the roots of the A’s three straight World Championships from 1972 to 1974, it all began on April 25, 1961, when the Kansas City A’s signed a 19-year-old Cuban named Dagoberto Campaneris. Campy made his Major League debut on July 23, 1964 and homered twice in his first game. He famously played all nine positions in a nine-inning game on Sept. 8, 1965. Campaneris hit .353 in the 1974 World Series and was a six-time All-Star. He stole 649 bases in his career and led the American League in steals six times, including four straight years from 1965 to 1968.

The A’s all-time home run king with 363, Mark McGwire played 12 seasons with Oakland from 1986-97. He broke the Major League record for home runs by a rookie with a league leading 49 in 1987 and was named American League Rookie of the Year. McGwire was tabbed to his first of an Athletics-record nine All-Star Games that year, including six straight from 1987 to 1992. The A’s reached the Postseason four times with McGwire, highlighted by a World Championship in 1989. He earned the American League Gold Glove for first basemen in 1990 and set Oakland records with 52 home runs and a .730 slugging percentage in 1996. In addition to home runs, McGwire holds Oakland career records for RBI (941), extra base hits (563), and slugging percentage (.551).

The A’s may never have been Rooted in Oakland had Walter A. Haas, Jr. not purchased the team following the 1980 season. Haas owned the club for 15 years from 1981 to 1995 and during that time the A’s won five American League West titles, three AL Pennants, and the 1989 World Championship. The A’s set a franchise record for attendance in Haas’ first season by drawing 1.3 million fans, a record that would be broken four more times, topping out at 2.9 million in 1990. But Haas will be remembered just as much for what went on off the field, beginning with a commitment to the community. Haas stayed in the background while bright young innovators such as Walter J. Haas, Roy Eisenhardt, Sandy Alderson, and Andy Dolich grew the A’s reputation to one of the best in baseball.

The group joins Baseball Hall of Famers Dennis Eckersley, Rollie Fingers, Rickey Henderson, Catfish Hunter, and Reggie Jackson; 1989 World Series MVP Dave Stewart; and former A’s owner Charlie Finley in the Athletics Hall of Fame. The A’s annually induct a class that is voted on by a committee.

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Poll Shows Support for Policies That Help Families Afford Child Care

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — New national polling shows persistent voter concern about the affordability and availability of child care for working parents, alongside broad support across key demographic groups for federal child care policies that help families afford care.

Published

3 days ago

March 2, 2026

Oakland Post

By First Five Years Fund

New national polling shows persistent voter concern about the affordability and availability of child care for working parents, alongside broad support across key demographic groups for federal child care policies that help families afford care.

The national survey was conducted by UpOne Insight on behalf of the First Five Years Fund from January 13–18, 2026.

Key findings include:

• Parents need help: 80% of voters say the ability of working parents to find and afford child care is either in a state of crisis or a major problem.

• This is an affordability issue: 82% believe federal child care funding will help lower costs for working families — including 69% of Republicans, 84% of Independents, and 94% of Democrats.

• And there continues to be strong support (62%) for the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG), a federal program that makes it possible for hundreds of thousands of families to afford safe, quality care for their children while parents work or go to school, including a majority of Republicans, 63% of Independents and 72% of Democrats.

• Support for funding child care programs remains strong: 75% believe child care funding should be increased or kept at current levels — including 75% of Republicans, 85% of Independents, and 97% of Democrats.

• 74% say funding for child care is an important and good use of tax dollars, including a majority of Republicans, three-quarters of Independents, and nine in ten Democrats.

FFYF Executive Director Sarah Rittling said, “Voters across the country are sending a clear message: federal child care and early learning programs work. These investments help parents stay in the workforce, strengthen families, and support healthy child development. They have also long had strong bipartisan support in Congress. At a time when affordability is top of mind for families, continued federal funding is essential to ensure child care remains accessible and within reach.”

First Five Years Fund works to protect, prioritize, and build bipartisan support for quality child care and early learning programs at the federal level. Reliable, affordable, and high-quality early learning and child care can be transformative, not only enhancing a child’s prospects for a brighter future but also bolstering working parents and fostering economic stability nationwide.

We work with Congress and the Administration to identify federal solutions that work for families with young children, as well as states and communities. We work with policymakers to identify ways to increase access to affordable, high-quality child care and early learning programs for children. And we collaborate with advocacy groups to help align best practices with the best possible policies. http://www.ffyf.org

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Oakland Post: Week of February 25 – March 3, 2026

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of – February 25 – March 3, 2026

Published

4 days ago

March 1, 2026

Oakland Post

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Trump’s MAGA Allies are Creating Executive Order Plan to Steal the 2026 Midterms

NNPA NEWSWIRE — The document that could lead to an executive order proposes using the claim that China interfered with the 2020 elections as grounds to “declare a national emergency.” The move would be an unprecedented step that would grant Trump new authority over the voting systems in the U.S.

Published

6 days ago

February 27, 2026

Oakland Post

By Lauren Victoria Burke, NNPA Newswire Correspondent

A group of MAGA pro-Trump activists, who say they are working in coordination with the White House, are circulating a 17-page draft executive order that would claim without evidence that China interfered with the 2020 presidential election. Donald Trump lost the 2020 presidential to President Joe Biden by over 7 million votes. Since Trump lost to Biden in 2020, he has repeatedly claimed that the election was “stolen” without evidence. The report of a group of “Trump allies” preparing an executive order to give Trump power over elections was first reported by The Washington Post.

The lies around the right-wing campaign that pushed falsehoods that the 2020 election was stolen was trafficked through right-wing media, particularly Fox News. Fox News was then sued for defamation for the claims by Dominion Voting Systems. Fox lost the case and had to settle for the largest defamation amount on record of $787.5 million in April 2023.

The document that could lead to an executive order proposes using the claim that China interfered with the 2020 elections as grounds to “declare a national emergency.” The move would be an unprecedented step that would grant Trump new authority over the voting systems in the U.S.

The story in The Washington Post arrives as Trump increasingly signals that he may take actions that would alter the result of the 2026 midterms. The Republicans are widely expected to lose as their approval ratings plummet as a result of a failing economy under Trump. Over 50 members of Congress have announced they will retire this year and not return in 2027.

The Trump Department of Justice, which now has a large image of Trump on the side of it, “sued five new states Thursday [Feb. 26, 2026] demanding access to their unredacted voter rolls — escalating a campaign that has been rejected by multiple federal courts and faces resistance from Republican-led states as well,” according to Democracy Docket, a group that works to protect voting rights.

Trump claimed back in late 2020, the last year of his first term, that he had the authority to issue an executive order related to mail-in voting for the 2020 elections — which he would then lose. But the Constitution states that control of elections lies with the states. As the GOP works to place hurdles in front of voting, Democrats worked to make voting easier.

In March 2021, President Biden signed an executive order calling on federal agencies to expand voting access as part of the Biden Administration’s effort “to promote and defend the right to vote for all Americans who are legally entitled to participate in elections.”

Trump’s focus is clearly on altering the November 2026 midterm elections. Trump’s polling numbers and the elections and special elections that have taken place around the U.S. over the last year clearly indicate that Republicans are about to be hit by a blue wave of Democratic victories.

Lauren Victoria Burke is an independent investigative journalist and the founder of Black Virginia News. She is a political analyst who appears on #RolandMartinUnfiltered and hosts the show LAUREN LIVE on YouTube @LaurenVictoriaBurke. She can be contacted at LBurke007@gmail.com and on twitter at @LVBurke