The Phillies open up a three game series against the Oakland Athletics tonight in Oakland. For a breakdown of the upcoming series, you can check out the Week In Review.

In the meantime, here is a brief retrospective of the history of the Phils and A’s.

While many believe the Phillies were a charter member of the original National League, this is a techical misconception. The history of baseball, at least for this sports geek, is endlessly intriguing.

What is the NL today was formed in 1876 with the Boston Red Stockings (now the Atlanta Braves), Chicago White Stockings (now the Chicago Cubs), Cincinnati Red Stockings, Hartord Dark Blue, Louisville Grays, Mutual of New York, St. Louis Brown Stockings, and the Athletic of Philadelphia. Say what?

Both the Athletic and the Mutual were expelled from the NL after its inaugural season for failing to play out the prescribed schedule. What is today the Athletics would form in 1901, using the same name as the earlier NL team. Cincinnati would later be expelled in 1880. Hartford, Louisville, and St. Louis all folded within a couple years.

The Phillies, along with the then New York Giants, were established in 1883 and would immediately join the National League. The Phillies and Giants are the only NL teams to have never been part of any other baseball league or association in their entire history (both the Braves and Cubs came over from the National Association to the National League in 1883). Nine different franchises joined the NL between 1876 and 1883, all of which folded in just a couple years, which was not an uncommon occurrence in those days.

Therefore, technically only the modern day Cubs and Braves are original members of the National League. That being said, the National League went through over two decades of significant turmoil, with teams forming and dissolving, and it was not until 1899 that the league was solidified into the league it is today.

In 1887 the Pittsburgh Pirates joined the National League, coming over from the American Association baseball league. In 1890 the modern day Cincinnati Reds and the then New York based Dodgers also joined from the AA. In 1892 the National League absorbed the American Association, bringing in teams such as the St. Louis Browns, who would later become the Cardinals.. In 1899, the National League went through its largest contraction to date, leaving what are widely considered to be the “Classic Eight.” They are: the Phillies, Dodgers, Giants, Braves, Cubs, Pirates, Reds, and Cardinals. Many of these teams were known by other nicknames in those days, leaving the Phillies to be the longest team with one nickname in one city in sports franchise history. The Cubs have technically been around longer than the Phils, but have been known by several names through their history (including the Orphans).

The Athletics played in Philadelphia from their inception in 1901 till 1955 when they moved to Kansas City. They would later move to Oakland in 1968.

The Athletics were one of the eight charter members of the then upstart American League (formed in 1901 from the Western League), along with the Baltimore Orioles (modern day New York Yankees), Boston, Chicago White Stockings, Cleveland Blues (modern day Indians), Detroit Tigers, Milwaukee Brewers (modern day Orioles), and Washington Senators (modern day Minnesota Twins).

From 1901 until 1955, the city of Philadelphia had both a National League and an American League team, a honor bestowed on few cities throughout history.

Recruited to manage the A’s was former catcher Connie Mack, perhaps the most famous manager of all time, and without a doubt the most prolific and successful manager of all time. Mack managed the A’s from 1901 until 1950 and is the all time leader in games managed (7,755), wins (3,731) and loses (3,948). Mack has over 1,000 more wins then any other manager in the history of the majors. He was the first manager to win three World Series, and is still the only manager to win consecutive championships on two separate occasions. His five World Series are third most in history and his nine American League pennants are second all time among managers.

This week’s match up between the A’s and Phils is of a very historic nature. The Phillies and Athletics have a combined 232 years of baseball history between them. Chicago and Philadelphia were the only two cities to have charter members of both the National and American leagues. New York and Los Angeles would eventually add teams of both leagues, and Philadelphia obviously lost their AL team, leaving Chicago as the only city to originally have franchises from both leagues still there today.

Despite the fact that the A’s have been out of Philly for over 50 years, they still have a devoted following in the City of Brotherly Love. The Philadelphia Athletics Historical Society are a self-described “group of people dedicated to honoring the A’s and preserving the memory of their important place in baseball history.” As you can see by the following the Athletics still command, there is a lot of history found amongst these two teams.

I understand that Philadelphia no longer boasts the population or media market to sustain two major league baseball teams, but I think us modern day fans really missed out on something special. Talking to friends who live in or around New York City and Los Angeles, they always talk of the amazing opportunities at their disposal to see every team in the majors, as well as the two very distinct styles of play of the National and American Leagues.

I don’t know if this is the case so much in Los Angeles where the fans pretty much suck and don’t really care too much about any team not called the Lakers, but the intra-city rivalry in both New York and Chicago amongst those teams respective fanbases is a fascinating relationship. It provides for unending debate and competition, as can be witnessed any given day by reading the different stories on Hot Stove New York. I wish Philly was not like the rest of the northeast and wasn’t riddled with intense crime causing a significant decline in population, but was like Phoenix or Houston or Boise, growing exponentially every year. Alas, that is not to be (no one wants to live in the freezing cold anymore). So instead, I am left with this occasional glimpse into history through the murky and misplaced bi-focals that is interleague play. Eh, it’s better than nothing.

Go Philly!