1955 Kansas City Athletics season

1955 Kansas City Athletics
1955 Kansas City Athletics
Major League affiliations
	American League (since 1901);
Location
	Municipal Stadium (since 1955); Kansas City, Missouri (since 1955);
Other information
Owners	Arnold Johnson
Managers	Lou Boudreau
Local television	none
Local radio	KMBC; (Merle Harmon, Larry Ray)
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The 1955 Kansas City Athletics season was the 55th season for the franchise in MLB's American League, and the first season in Kansas City after playing the previous 54 in Philadelphia. The team won 63 games – only the fifth time in 20 years that they won more than 60 games – and lost 91, finishing sixth in the American League, 33 games behind the AL Champion New York Yankees.

Offseason

In 1954, the Mack family decided to sell the Philadelphia Athletics. Charlie Finley made an offer to purchase the team, but was refused.[1] Clint Murchison also made an offer to purchase the team with plans to relocate to Southern California, but was also refused. On October 12, 1954, the owners approved the sale of the Athletics to Chicago businessman Arnold Johnson, who moved the team from Philadelphia to Kansas City for the 1955 season. Finley would later buy the A's from Johnson's estate in 1960. Murchison's son, Clint Jr., would later become one of the founders of the National Football League's Dallas Cowboys franchise in 1960.

In 1955, the new Kansas City Athletics drew 1,393,054 to Municipal Stadium.

Notable transactions

Prior to 1955 season: Bob Davis was signed as an amateur free agent by the Athletics.[2]

Spring training

The A's and Philadelphia Phillies had played a Philadelphia City Series since 1903. The Kansas City A's returned to Philadelphia at the end of spring training in 1955, and the teams played two games. The A's beat the Phillies in the second game, 10–2, at Wilmington Park, home of the original Wilmington Blue Rocks.[3] Both games were played at Wilmington Park, Wilmington, Delaware, on April 9 and April 10, 1955, immediately prior to the start of the regular season.

Regular season

Opening game

The first game in Kansas City's Major League history was played at home at Municipal Stadium on Tuesday, April 12, 1955, before 32,147 fans.[4] Facing the Detroit Tigers, the Athletics broke a 2–2 deadlock in the sixth inning with a three-run rally keyed by pinch hitter Don Bollweg's two-run single, and went on to win, 6–2. The A's other batting star was center fielder Bill Wilson, who collected three hits and a base on balls, scoring three runs, in four plate appearances; one of his hits was the first home run in Kansas City MLB annals, a solo blast in the eighth inning. Left-hander Alex Kellner got the victory, while former Cincinnati Reds star Ewell Blackwell pitched three scoreless innings in relief for the save.[4]

Starting lineup

7	Vic Power	1B
12	Pete Suder	2B
4	Jim Finigan	3B
30	Gus Zernial	LF
34	Bill Renna	RF
32	Bill Wilson	CF
2	Joe DeMaestri	SS
11	Joe Astroth	C
20	Alex Kellner	P[4]

Season standings

American League	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
New York Yankees	96	58	0.623	—	52–25	44–33
Cleveland Indians	93	61	0.604	3	49–28	44–33
Chicago White Sox	91	63	0.591	5	49–28	42–35
Boston Red Sox	84	70	0.545	12	47–31	37–39
Detroit Tigers	79	75	0.513	17	46–31	33–44
Kansas City Athletics	63	91	0.409	33	33–43	30–48
Baltimore Orioles	57	97	0.370	39	30–47	27–50
Washington Senators	53	101	0.344	43	28–49	25–52

Record vs. opponents

1955 American League record Sources:
Team	BAL	BOS	CWS	CLE	DET	KCA	NYY	WSH
Baltimore	—	8–14	10–12–1	3–19	9–13	10–12–1	3–19	14–8
Boston	14–8	—	9–13	11–11	13–9	14–8	8–14	15–7
Chicago	12–10–1	13–9	—	10–12	14–8	14–8	11–11	17–5
Cleveland	19–3	11–11	12–10	—	12–10	17–5	13–9	9–13
Detroit	13–9	9–13	8–14	10–12	—	12–10	10–12	17–5
Kansas City	12–10–1	8–14	8–14	5–17	10–12	—	7–15	13–9
New York	19–3	14–8	11–11	9–13	12–10	15–7	—	16–6
Washington	8–14	7–15	5–17	13–9	5–17	9–13	6–16	—

Notable transactions

May 11, 1955: Sonny Dixon and cash were traded by the Athletics to the New York Yankees for Enos Slaughter and Johnny Sain.[5]
May 31, 1955: Clete Boyer was signed as an amateur free agent (bonus baby) by the Athletics.[6]
May 1955: Al Sima was traded by the Athletics to the Washington Senators for Gus Keriazakos.[7]
September 10, 1955: Joe Ginsberg was purchased by the Athletics from the Seattle Rainiers.[8]
September 12, 1955: Glenn Cox was purchased by the Athletics from the Brooklyn Dodgers.[9]

Roster

1955 Kansas City Athletics

Roster

Pitchers

Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Manager

5 Lou Boudreau

Coaches

Player stats

= Indicates team leader

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Pos	Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
C	Joe Astroth	101	274	69	.252	5	23
1B	Vic Power	147	596	190	.319	19	76
2B	Jim Finigan	150	549	135	.255	9	68
SS	Joe DeMaestri	123	457	114	.249	6	37
3B	Héctor López	128	483	140	.290	15	68
LF	Gus Zernial	120	413	105	.254	30	84
CF	Harry Simpson	112	396	119	.301	5	52
RF	Enos Slaughter	108	267	86	.322	5	34

[10]

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
Elmer Valo	112	283	103	.364	3	37
Bill Wilson	98	273	61	.223	15	38
Bill Renna	100	249	53	.213	7	28
Billy Shantz	79	217	56	.258	1	12
Pete Suder	26	81	17	.210	0	1
Clete Boyer	47	79	19	.241	0	6
Jack Littrell	37	70	14	.200	0	1
Jerry Schypinski	22	69	15	.217	0	5
Dick Kryhoski	28	47	10	.213	0	2
Tom Saffell	9	37	8	.216	0	1
Spook Jacobs	13	23	6	.261	0	1
Bill Stewart	11	18	2	.111	0	0
Don Plarski	8	11	1	.091	0	0
Alex George	5	10	1	.100	0	0
Don Bollweg	12	9	1	.111	0	2
Jim Robertson	6	8	2	.250	0	0
Hal Bevan	3	3	0	.000	0	0
Eric Mackenzie	1	1	0	.000	0	0

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games played; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Alex Kellner	30	162.2	11	8	4.20	75
Bobby Shantz	23	125.0	5	10	4.54	58
Arnie Portocarrero	24	111.1	5	9	4.77	34
Vic Raschi	20	101.1	4	6	5.42	38
Glenn Cox	2	2.1	0	2	30.86	2

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Art Ditmar	35	175.1	12	12	5.03	79
Art Ceccarelli	31	123.2	4	7	5.31	68
Cloyd Boyer	30	98.1	5	5	6.22	32
Ray Herbert	23	87.2	1	8	6.26	30
Johnny Gray	8	26.2	0	3	6.41	11
Mike Kume	6	23.2	0	2	7.99	7
Walt Craddock	4	15.0	0	2	7.80	9
Gus Keriazakos	5	11.2	0	1	12.34	8

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO
Tom Gorman	57	7	6	18	3.55	46
Bill Harrington	34	3	3	2	4.11	26
Johnny Sain	25	2	5	1	5.44	12
Lou Sleater	16	1	1	0	7.71	11
Marion Fricano	10	0	0	0	3.15	5
Moe Burtschy	7	2	0	0	10.32	9
Charlie Bishop	4	1	0	0	5.40	4
Bob Trice	4	0	0	0	9.00	2
Lee Wheat	3	0	0	0	22.50	0
Ewell Blackwell	2	0	1	0	6.75	2
Bob Spicer	2	0	0	0	33.75	2
Ozzie Van Brabant	2	0	0	0	18.00	1
Sonny Dixon	2	0	0	0	16.20	0
Bill Wilson	1	0	0	0	0.00	1

Awards and honors

All-Star Game

Jim Finigan, third baseman, starter
Vic Power, reserve

[11]

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Columbus Jets	International League	Nick Cullop
A	Savannah Athletics	Sally League	Clyde Kluttz
B	Lancaster Red Roses	Piedmont League	Hank Biasatti
C	Hot Springs Bathers	Cotton States League	Joe Lutz and Mickey O'Neil
C	Burlington A's	Provincial League	Vince Plumbo
D	Welch Miners/Marion A's	Appalachian League	Herb Mancini
D	Seminole Oilers	Sooner State League	Charles Hopkins and Al Evans

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Lancaster
Welch franchise transferred to Marion and renamed, July 14, 1955

References

Charlie Finley: The Outrageous Story of Baseball's Super Showman, pp. 27, G. Michael Green and Roger D. Launius. Walker Publishing Company, New York, 2010, ISBN 978-0-8027-1745-0
Bob Davis page at Baseball Reference
Peterson, John E. (2003). Kansas City Athletics: A Baseball History, 1954–1967. McFarland. p. 52. ISBN 0-7864-1610-6. Retrieved May 22, 2009.
Retrosheet box score: 1955-04-12
Enos Slaughter page at Baseball Reference
Clete Boyer page at Baseball Reference
Al Sima page at Baseball Reference
Joe Ginsberg page at Baseball Reference
Glenn Cox page at Baseball Reference
"1955 Kansas City Athletics Statistics".
"1955 All-Star Game".

External links

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[1] Charlie Finley: The Outrageous Story of Baseball's Super Showman, pp. 27, G. Michael Green and Roger D. Launius. Walker Publishing Company, New York, 2010, ISBN 978-0-8027-1745-0

[2] Bob Davis page at Baseball Reference

[3] Peterson, John E. (2003). Kansas City Athletics: A Baseball History, 1954–1967. McFarland. p. 52. ISBN 0-7864-1610-6. Retrieved May 22, 2009.

[cats-4] Retrosheet box score: 1955-04-12

[5] Enos Slaughter page at Baseball Reference

[6] Clete Boyer page at Baseball Reference

[7] Al Sima page at Baseball Reference

[8] Joe Ginsberg page at Baseball Reference

[9] Glenn Cox page at Baseball Reference

[10] "1955 Kansas City Athletics Statistics".

[11] "1955 All-Star Game".

1955 MLB season by team
American League	Baltimore Boston Chicago Cleveland Detroit Kansas City New York Washington
National League	Brooklyn Chicago Cincinnati Milwaukee New York Philadelphia Pittsburgh St. Louis
1955 All-Star Game 1955 World Series