On July 5th, 1987, Mark McGwire became the first rookie to hit 30 homers before the All-Star break and Jose Canseco homered twice, leading Oakland to a 6-3 victory over Boston

The 1987 OAKLAND Athletics finished the season with a .500 record (81-81). But a year later they began a dynasty.

In 1988, OAKLAND won 104 games and went to the World Series (where they ended up losing to the Dodgers). In 1989, they went to the World Series again, but this time won it against their Bay Area rivals, the Giants. In 1990 they won 103 games and went to the World Series for the third year in a row, eventually losing to the Reds.

The genesis of the OAKLAND dynasty was the 1987 season, Mark McGwire’s rookie year when he ended up setting the rookie home run record with an astounding 49 dingers.

Mark McGwire and Jose Canseco were collectively known at the time as “The Bash Brothers.”

I got to see the Bash Brothers and a lot of OAKLAND games during their glory years when they came to town to play against Kirby Puckett and the Twins at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in downtown Minneapolis.

For a five year period between 1987 and 1991, the Twins and OAKLAND were the American League World Series contenders, with the Twins winning two World Series and Oakland one.

It was always fun when OAKLAND came to town in those days. The Dome seemed extra full and rocking. Regular season games had a playoff feel to them. Every game seemed magical when Kirby and the boys hosted The Bash Brothers.