On June 15, 1976, I was seated midways up along the left field side of the Oakland Coliseum. There was a walkway just to the left of me. Prior to the start of the game, I saw one of the most surprising sights I had ever seen at a ball game. Joe Rudi and Rollie Fingers walking with one another, wearing Red Sox uniforms as they headed out onto the field. I had no idea what had transpired earlier in the day. Soon after, people listening to the radio filled me in on what had happened, as Charlie Finley had tried to begin dismantling the A's.
Rollie Fingers was part of a few historic deals and non-deals during his career. A's owner Charlie Finley announced he had swapped Fingers and Joe Rudi to the Boston Red Sox, and also that he had sold Vida Blue to the New York Yankees. However, Commissioner Bowie Kuhn voided the deals, citing that they were "not in the best interest of baseball." While an enraged Finley sued MLB, the A's sat Fingers, Rudi and Blue on the bench until the issue was resolved in Kuhn's favor in June.
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