Oakland A’s history: Remembering Herb Washington

Herb Washington may have been the most unique player in baseball history. Naturally, a team that kept pinch runners felt he would help the Oakland A’s win.

It can certainly be frustrating watching a slugger clogging the bases. In a tie game, when a quicker runner would possibly take an extra base after a base hit, those players are station to station, moving up a base at a time. Depending on the circumstances, having a player with limited speed can leave runs on the diamond.

At least, that was the mindset of former Oakland A’s owner Charlie Finley. An owner who was not afraid to be innovative (he infamously suggested orange baseballs to attempt to improve offense) Finley believed that having…