This year could very well be the last season of baseball in Oakland for the A's, and with that in mind, we thought it would be fitting to remember every player that has worn an A's jersey at some point in time. That is why, every day this year we are celebrating A's history by talking about a slew of players on their birthdays.
Today we're going to change up the format a little bit. With so many birthdays in recent days, we're going to start really focusing on one or two players from the day's list and talking more about their careers while still mentioning everyone.
Yesterday we talked about Jason Giambi, one of Oakland's last superstar players, and Bert Kuczyski, who left the A's to join the military, and when he returned went to play in the NFL.
Today's birthdays: Kiko Calero, T. J. Matthews, Stan Javier, Don Hopkins, Joe Wallis, Guido Grilli, Ralph Terry, Bob Duliba, Jim Tyack, Dave Keefe, and Jim Mullen
Kiko Calero
Calero was born in 1975 in Santurce, Puerto Rico and selected by the Kansas City Royals in the 27th round of the 1996 Draft. He was one of only two players to make it to the big-leagues from the 27th round that year, with Kyle Snyder joining Calero on that list. Following the 2002 season, the Royals granted him free agency and he signed on with the St. Louis Cardinals, debuting for them the next season, posting a 2.82 ERA in 38 1/3 innings.
In 2004, Calero matched his rookie campaign, throwing up a 2.78 ERA in 45 1/3 innings and pitched in five of the seven games in the NLCS that season. A's fans likely remember what happened next. The right-hander was traded to the A's along with Dan Haren and Daric Barton in the Mark Mulder deal. The first of what has proven to be many teardowns over the years.
Calero spent four seasons with the A's, holding a cumulative 3.96 ERA. He was released by the A's in '08 and made it back to the big leagues with the Florida Marlins in '09, posting a 1.95 ERA in 60 innings. He was once again granted free agency, and signed on with the New York Mets and Los Angeles Dodgers, but never made it back to the majors.
Stan Javier
Javier was born in 1964 in San Francisco de Macoris, Dominican Republic and was originally signed by the St. Louis Cardinals in 1981. The Cardinals traded him to the New York Yankees for three prospects that never made the majors. He made it to New York due to some injuries in 1984 when he was just 20, and got seven plate appearances while being used as a defensive replacement.
From his SABR bio, "I was waiting to be sent down to the minors, but the Yankees kept me around to play defense when other players got hurt. At one point, I requested to be sent to the minors so I could play every day. My teammate Lou Piniella said I was probably the only player to ever request a demotion.”
After the season he was traded to the Oakland A's along with Eric Plunk, Jay Howell, José Rijo and Tim Birtsas in exchange for Rickey Henderson.
Fun fact: Eric Plunk was actually traded to the A's in the Henderson deal in '84, and then back to the Yankees in the '89 Henderson trade.
Javier played in 377 games in his first four years with the A's, batting a cumulative .237 with a .308 OBP. He held a 74 OPS+ in that span, 26% below league average. In May of 1990 the A's ended up trading Javier, still just 26, to the Dodgers in exchange for Willie Randolph. That was the year Javier started to turn things around. He hit .304 with a .384 OBP with L.A. and showed what kind of production he was capable of as an everyday player.
A wrist injury and a role as the team's fourth outfielder hurt his production the in 1991, and his average dropped by 100 points. He was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies in 1992 and had a stop with the California Angels in '93 before returning to the A's for the '94-95 seasons where he hit a combined .275 with a .351 OBP and a 101 OPS+. From there, he signed on with the San Francisco Giants and stayed with the team until 1999 when he was traded to the Houston Astros. He signed with the Seattle Mariners as a free agent that off-season and stuck with them through 2001, his 17th season in The Show.
In his final year on the 116 win Seattle Mariners, he was still a 2.8 bWAR player.
T.J. Matthews (1970) was acquired in the Mark McGwire trade (so many trades today!) and played four seasons in Oakland.
According to his Baseball Reference page, Don Hopkins (1952) played in 85 games for the A's between 1975 and 1976 and collected all of eight plate appearances. His fielding chart also says he never started a game.
Joe Wallis (1952) was traded to the A's in 1978 for Gary Alexander and played in 108 games between 1978-79.
Guido Grillo (1939) was traded to the Kansas City A's by Boston in 1966 and held a 6.89 ERA in 16 games.
Ralph Terry (1936-2022) was part of one of the many trades between the A's and Yankees in the 1950's. In 1957, Terry and Billy Martin were part of a trade to the A's. Martin would later be named the team's manager in 1980 after they'd settled in in Oakland. Terry was traded back to the Yankees, as was customary between the two teams at this time, in 1959.
Bob Duliba (1935) was traded to the A's for the final year of his career in 1966 and appeared in seven games.
Jim Tyack (1911-1995) played in 54 games for the Philadelphia A's back in 1943 and hit .258. That was the only big-league playing time of his career.
Dave Keefe (1897-1978) played parts of four seasons for the Philadelphia A's in 1917, 1919-1921. He was traded in 1922 for first baseman Joe Hauser, who finished 20th in the MVP voting in 1923 and 7th in 1924.
Jim Mullen (1877-1956) had two stints with the Philadelphia A's in 1904, playing in a total of 41 games. He was also loaned out to the Washington Nationals (current Minnesota Twins) for 27 games that season. He was purchased by the Nationals ahead of the 1905 season.
Tomorrow's birthdays: Rico Garcia, Matt Roney, Adam Kennedy, Chuck Dobson, Willie McCovey, Ted Bowsfield and Bill Lillard,
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