Elephant Rumblings: A’s promote Ed Sprague to Director of Player Development

Photo by Michael Zagaris/Oakland Athletics/Getty Images

A’s Coverage:

• Slusser: Ed Sprague new A’s farm director; Keith Lieppman gets advisory role... ($)
• Lockard: A’s promote Ed Sprague to farm director as legendary executive Keith Lieppman moves into a special advisory role... ($$$)
• Gallegos: Hendriks has career year in unlikely role for A’s...
• Kurkjian: ‘The sound of fear’ - Thirty years ago, the Loma Prieta earthquake shook the World Series -- and the world...
• Kroichick: The shaken Series... ($)
• Coffey: Meet the 1989 earthquake World Series attendees who are making San Francisco safer, 30 years later... ($$$)

MLB News:

• McTaggart: Springer, Correa put Astros 1 win from Series...
• Heyman: Jayce Tingler seen as favorite for Padres managerial opening...
• Breen: Phillies’ manager search enters final stages; Joe Girardi, Buck Showalter, Dusty Baker seen as favorites...
• Bitzer: Non-tender candidates for each team...

Baseball Interest Stories:

• Drellich: Q & A - John Smoltz on sign stealing, criticism and whether he would prefer that you vacate his lawn... ($$$)
• Carig: For the Yankees’ CC Sabathia, the end is met with pain... ($$$)
• Lindbergh: No Relief - The MLB Postseason Has Given New Life to the Starting Pitcher...
• Jaffe: The Ball Threatens to Overshadow Baseball...
• Clemens: So You Wanna Buy a Baseball Team...

Today in Baseball History:

• 1950 — Connie Mack, at age 87, retires as manager of the Philadelphia Athletics after 50 years, and Jimmy Dykes is named to replace him. Mack, together with Ben Shibe, founded the Athletics in 1901.
• 1967 — The American League owners grant Charlie Finley permission to move the Kansas City Athletics to Oakland, California, in time for the start of the 1968 season. Kansas City is promised a new team by 1971, but when Senator Stuart Symington and Kansas City Mayor Ilus Davis threaten action against the move, AL President Joe Cronin reopens talks. The expansion deadline is moved forward to 1969, and will award new franchises to Kansas City and Seattle.

Best of Twitter:

• Check out this thread for a first look at one of the A’s most talented teenagers...

• Maybe simply putting the ball into play isn’t all it’s made out to be...

• Hopefully this isn’t the way Sabathia’s career ends, but if it is, what an incredible career it was...