Oakland Athletics All-Time Top 20 Hitters in Franchise History

Ranking the Top 20 Hitters in A’s History: From Philadelphia to the Oakland Athletics

Who were the best hitters in A’s history? Swingin’ A’s ranks the top 20 of all time, starting with Danny Murphy:

#20: Danny Murphy

Danny Murphy made his debut before the American League was born, playing in 1900 for the New York Giants. By 1902, he had jumped leagues to the Philadelphia Athletics, where he found instant success as one of the best hitters to ever swing a bat for the A’s.

Altogether, Murphy spent the best 12 years of his 16 year career with the Athletics. In that time, he amassed 185 stolen bases and 40 home runs – not bad for the deadball era. With the A’s, he hit .336/.407/.743.

In addition to plenty of single-season records, Murphy’s longevity with the team helped him become a franchise top-ten player in many areas. Notably, he’s ranked eighth in hits (1,489) and doubles (279), and he leads the franchise with 102 triples in his career.

Murphy is often forgotten in the history books, simply because he’s not a Hall of Famer, but he had five seasons in which he was a top-ten position player in WAR, and six in which he was in the top ten in OPS. He certainly deserves some recognition for those accomplishments.

Next: Top 20 A's Hitters: #19