1955 Kansas City Athletics season

1955 Kansas City Athletics
Major League affiliations
Location
  • Municipal Stadium (since 1955)
Other information
Owner(s) Arnold Johnson
Manager(s) Lou Boudreau
Local television none
Local radio KMBC
(Merle Harmon, Larry Ray)
Previous season     Next season  >

The 1955 Kansas City Athletics season was the 55th season for the franchise in MLB's American League, and the first 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

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, DE on April 9, and April 10, 1955 immediately prior to the start of the regular season.

Regular season

Season standings

American League W L Pct. GB
New York Yankees 96 58 .623 --
Cleveland Indians 93 61 .604 3
Chicago White Sox 91 63 .591 5
Boston Red Sox 84 70 .545 12
Detroit Tigers 79 75 .513 17
Kansas City Athletics 63 91 .409 33
Baltimore Orioles 57 97 .370 39
Washington Senators 53 101 .344 43

Notable transactions

Roster

1955 Kansas City Athletics
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

  •  7 Vic Power
Outfielders Manager

Coaches

Player stats

= Indicates team leader

Batting

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
1B Power, VicVic Power 147 596 190 .319 19 76
2B Finigan, JimJim Finigan 150 549 135 .255 9 68
3B López, HéctorHéctor López 128 483 140 .290 15 68
LF Zernial, GusGus Zernial 120 413 105 .254 30 84

[9]

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
Wilson, BillBill Wilson 98 273 61 .223 15 38
Slaughter, EnosEnos Slaughter 108 267 86 .322 5 34
Boyer, CleteClete Boyer 47 79 19 .241 0 6
George, AlexAlex George 5 10 1 .100 0 0
Mackenzie, EricEric Mackenzie 1 1 0 .000 0 0

Pitching

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
Kellner, AlexAlex Kellner 30 162.2 11 8 4.20 75
Cox, GlennGlenn 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
Ditmar, ArtArt Ditmar 35 175.1 12 12 5.03 79
Ceccarelli, ArtArt Ceccarelli 31 123.2 4 7 5.31 68
Boyer, CloydCloyd Boyer 30 98.1 5 5 6.22 32
Craddock, WaltWalt Craddock 4 15 0 2 7.80 9
Keriazakos, GusGus 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
Gorman, TomTom Gorman 57 7 6 18 3.55 46
Harrington, BillBill Harrington 34 3 3 2 4.11 26
Sain, JohnnyJohnny Sain 25 2 5 1 5.44 12
Fricano, MarionMarion Fricano 10 0 0 0 3.15 5
Burtschy, MoeMoe Burtschy 7 2 0 0 10.32 9
Bishop, CharlieCharlie Bishop 4 1 0 0 5.40 4
Blackwell, EwellEwell Blackwell 2 0 1 0 6.75 2
Dixon, SonnySonny Dixon 2 0 0 0 16.20 0
Wilson, BillBill Wilson 1 0 0 0 0.00 1

Awards and honors

All-Star Game

[10]

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

  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.
  4. ↑ Enos Slaughter page at Baseball Reference
  5. ↑ Clete Boyer page at Baseball Reference
  6. ↑ Al Sima page at Baseball Reference
  7. ↑ Joe Ginsberg page at Baseball Reference
  8. ↑ Glenn Cox page at Baseball Reference
  9. ↑ http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/KCA/1955.shtml
  10. ↑ http://baseball-almanac.com/asgbox/yr1955as.shtml

External links