Carl Finley was a high school principal working in Dallas in 1961. He was 37, and he had never lived outside of Texas, aside from serving in World War II.
Late that year, he met with his cousin, Charlie, who had bought the Kansas City Athletics the previous year.
“Dad said he looked really beat up, not physically, but mentally,” Nancy Finley, Carl’s daughter, told USA TODAY Sports. "And I remember Mom made a comment about that, too. His hair was disheveled. He just didn't look like the Charlie they knew. That's when Charlie asked Dad to join him.”
Charlie Finley, who was an insurance broker, had never been an athlete or worked in baseball administration. Neither had Carl, who didn't expect the arrangement to last more than a couple of years.
“He was nervous about the whole thing," Nancy says of her father. "Dad had gone to SMU law school, and had a master's in journalism. He liked to constantly be in it or learning something. And Charlie liked that about him."
Together, they became partners who launched the team's tenure in Oakland that started in 1968.
That run officially ends Monday, when the A’s host their first home game in Sacramento. The team intends to move permanently to Las Vegas in 2028.
Carl was the franchise’s on-site eyes and ears while his cousin ran the insurance business that funded the team from Chicago. He helped transform a perennial loser once known as a feeder team for the Yankees through trades into a World Series champion from 1972-74.
After her parents divorced, Nancy moved from Dallas to live with him during her school-aged years, an experience she captured in the book “Finley Ball” that helps preserve the memories of her late father and controversial cousin who loved outrageous promotions.
Nancy later became a model and paralegal and lived in the Bay Area until 2020. She shares memories of Oakland, from "Hot Pants Day" to the Finleys’ unexpected sale of the team to building lasting friendships and ties to the era the A’s are leaving behind.
(Questions and responses are edited for length and clarity.)
What was it about your dad’s scouting strategy that worked so well?
When he started with the team the summer of 1962, he mainly observed how Charlie handled things. Then Dad was offered a percentage ownership, and would live where the team was based (in Kansas City).
He started visiting our farm team in Birmingham, Alabama, to observe the players. He was fortunate to have former MLB players like Eddie Robinson, Ed Lopat and Hank Bauer in the KC front office.
Dad's goal with Charlie was to build a winning team “from scratch.” Dad preferred to view the high schoolers first. Charlie agreed. Anytime a report came in about a young man who played very well, Dad or Charlie (or both) would personally visit the location to check it out for themselves. Dad told me he was instrumental in signing Vida Blue. He was very proud of Vida.When the team learned it had to move from Kansas City because of increased rent, is it true only location with a ready-to-move-into stadium was Oakland?
Yes, Dad said he knew he would get a call from them at least once a month, maybe more. It would be like a telemarketer today, or one of those calls you get all the time, and they would call and say, “we just want you to remember ...
