Winning Championships in Different Areas of the Country
The A's have resided in Oakland since 1968. Sadly, they will be leaving for Las Vegas in the near future in spite of the fact that they won four World Series titles while in Oakland. In their franchise history, the A's have won a total of nine World Series (they also won five World Series when they were in Philadelphia). The A's are not the sole MLB team to win at least three different championships in two different cities as the other Bay Area MLB team also accomplished this. The Giants have won three World Series in San Francisco (2010, 2012, 2014); they also won five more as the New York Giants.
Not only are the Giants and A's the only baseball franchises to win at least three different championships in two different locations, but they are also the only ones to win multiple titles in two different locations. Based on
my research, there are only three other franchises that have won at least one championship in different locations:
What about the NBA? The Lakers are the only franchise to win three championships in two different locations (five in Minneapolis and twelve in Los Angeles). There are two franchises that have won at least one championship in two different locations:
How about the NFL? The first version of the Cleveland Browns won four NFL championships. They then moved to Baltimore (where they became the Ravens) and won two Super Bowl titles. For legal reasons, the Ravens are considered to be a new franchise. So, no NFL franchises have won multiple championships in two different areas. There are three franchises that have won at least one championship in different areas:
- The Raiders won two Super Bowl titles while in Oakland and one title in Los Angeles.
- The Rams won one NFL championship in Cleveland, two titles in Los Angeles (including one Super Bowl), and one Super Bowl in St. Louis.
- The Colts won four championships in Baltimore (including one Super Bowl) and have won one Super Bowl in Indianapolis.
I guess it makes sense that very few major professional sports franchises have won multiple championships in different cities. For example, I could never imagine the 49ers (5 Super Bowl wins) moving from San Francisco/Santa Clara or the Cowboys (also 5 Super Bowl wins) leaving Dallas/Arlington. As we learned from "The Double", winning can keep a franchise from moving.