Early years and first pennant (1903–1912) The Oaks were one of the six founding teams of the
Single-A Pacific Coast League in 1903. It started as a six-team league, with the others being the
Los Angeles Angels,
Portland Browns,
Sacramento Senators,
San Francisco Seals, and
Seattle Siwashes. In their first season, the team finished last in the league, with a 89-126 record. They recovered the next year to earn their first winning record, 116-109, but quickly fell back down the standings, and had five consecutive losing seasons. They won their first PCL pennant in 1912, edging out the
Vernon Tigers by a single game. Though the major leagues did not accept the PCL into their ranks, the PCL did get promoted to a
Triple-A league starting in 1946, the highest level of minor league play. In 1947, the PCL named the Oaks as named as one of four PCL teams to be considered for promotion into the AL and NL, although this did not come to pass. In 1952, the PCL was promoted again, to a new "Open" league classification, a hybrid position between minor and major league. The Oaks underwent a change in ownership during the war. In 1943, a controlling interest in the Oaks was purchased by C. L. "Brick" Laws and Joe Blumenfeld, who operated the team for its remaining seasons. In 1946, Laws hired
Casey Stengel, the former manager of the
Brooklyn Dodgers and
Boston Braves of the
National League, to manage the Oaks. Attendance and interest in the Oaks grew, including the return of
baseball cards featuring the Oaks' players. It was in Oakland that Stengel developed his talent for
platooning, which later served him as manager of the
New York Yankees. He responded with second and fourth-place finishes, before the club won its most celebrated pennant in 1948. in 1949, his last season with the Oaks before being acquired by the New York Yankees The 1948 team was nicknamed the "Nine Old Men" in that many of the star players were older veterans, including
Ernie Lombardi,
Billy Raimondi,
Cookie Lavagetto,
Nick Etten and
Catfish Metkovich. There were younger players on the team as well, including rookie second baseman
Billy Martin. Rooming with Martin and playing shortstop was
Artie Wilson, the first black player on the Oaks since Jimmy Claxton was fired in 1916. Wilson won the PCL batting title with a .348 average and also led in stolen bases with 47. In 1950, he led the PCL in runs with 168 and hits with 264, helping the Oaks to the 1950 PCL championship. Stengel's success with the Oaks did not go unnoticed, and he became manager of the Yankees in 1949. Stengel was replaced by
Chuck Dressen, who led the Oaks to a second-place finish in 1949 and the PCL pennant in 1950. Again, the Oaks' manager's success resulted in a promotion to the major leagues, with Dressen hired to manage the Dodgers in 1951. Former
New York Giants star
Mel Ott was hired as his replacement. Ott led the Oaks to an 80–88 record in 1951 (seventh place) and a 104–76 mark in 1952 (second place).
Augie Galan replaced Ott as the Oaks' skipper in 1953, and the team stumbled to a 77–103 record and seventh place in the PCL. The next season, Chuck Dressen returned as Oaks manager after three seasons in charge of the Dodgers in Brooklyn. The Acorns finished third with an 85–82 record under Dressen, but won the postseason series, including sweeping their cross-bay rivals, the San Francisco Seals, 3-0 in the finals. This would end up being their final PCL pennant.
The final year in Oakland (1955) Despite the team's success, attendance at Oaks Park had dropped dramatically. After Laws bought the team, Oaks Park was expanded to fit 12,500 fans. By 1953, attendance had cratered to a mere only 1,500 per game. Even in the championship season of 1954, attendance only rebounded to 2,400 per game. The Oaks were not the only team suffering; nationally televised major league games contributed to the decline of the PCL as a whole, as West Coast fans were no longer limited to watching PCL games for high-quality baseball. Changes in the league's schedule and Oaks Park's age further diminished interest in attending the games.
San Francisco Seals legend
Lefty O'Doul took over in Oakland. Under O'Doul, the Oaks finished seventh (77–95) in 1955, and their attendance was the worst of the eight-team league. Owner Laws felt he had no other choice but to move the team. When officials of
Vancouver, British Columbia made him an offer, Laws moved the Oaks to Vancouver, where they were renamed the
Vancouver Mounties. The Mounties would eventually fold in 1963. ==Legacy==