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1965 Kansas City Athletics season
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March 2026
November 2013
Kansas City Athletics 1965 Kansas City Athletics Cap Logo (1965 to 1967).svg American League Municipal Stadium Kansas City, Missouri 59 103 y 10th Charles O. Finley Pat Friday, Hank Peters Mel McGaha, Haywood Sullivan KCMO KCMO (AM)(Monte Moore, Red Rush)
The 1965 Kansas City Athletics season was the 11th for the franchise in Kansas City and the 65th in its overall history. It involved the A's finishing tenth in the American League with a record of 59 wins and 103 losses, 43 games behind the American League Champion Minnesota Twins. The paid attendance for the season was 528,344, the lowest in the major leagues (and the lowest ever by the A's in Kansas City).Charlie Finley: The Outrageous Story of Baseball's Super Showman, p.92, G. Michael Green and Roger D. Launius. Walker Publishing Company, New York, 2010, 978-0-8027-1745-0 The club won 59 games, their worst showing since the A's moved to Kansas City.
Offseason
January 20, 1965: Rocky Colavito was traded by the Athletics to the Cleveland Indians as part of a three-team trade. Jim Landis, Mike Hershberger and a player to be named later were sent by the Chicago White Sox to the Athletics. Tommy John, Tommie Agee and Johnny Romano were sent by the Indians to the White Sox, and Cam Carreon was sent by the White Sox to the Indians. The White Sox completed the deal by sending Fred Talbot to the Athletics on February 10.Tommy John page at Baseball Reference
Regular season
April 6, 1965: Hank Peters was named general manager.Charlie Finley: The Outrageous Story of Baseball's Super Showman, p.78, G. Michael Green and Roger D. Launius. Walker Publishing Company, New York, 2010, 978-0-8027-1745-0
The A's lost 21 of their first 26 games. On May 15, manager Mel McGaha was replaced by AAA manager Haywood Sullivan. At the age of 34, Sullivan was the youngest manager in the major leagues.Charlie Finley: The Outrageous Story of Baseball's Super Showman, p.92, G. Michael Green and Roger D. Launius. Walker Publishing Company, New York, 2010, 978-0-8027-1745-0
Owner Charlie Finley steadily built up the team's farm system. He was assisted by the creation of the baseball draft in 1965, which forced young prospects to sign with the team that drafted them—at the price offered by the team—if they wanted to play professional baseball. Thus, Finley was spared from having to compete with wealthier teams for top talent. The Athletics, owners of the worst record in the American League in 1964, had the first pick in the first draft, selecting Rick Monday on June 8, 1965.
Promotions
Club owner Charlie Finley had a pitchometer on the scoreboard. In an attempt to speed up the game, it was a way to measure the time a pitcher spent in between pitches thrown.Charlie Finley: The Outrageous Story of Baseball's Super Showman, p.86, G. Michael Green and Roger D. Launius. Walker Publishing Company, New York, 2010, 978-0-8027-1745-0 Finley installed a small zoo in the club picnic area to generate interest in the ball club with small children.
September 8, 1965: The Campy Camp Night promotion was held as Bert Campaneris played every position in the field.Charlie Finley: The Outrageous Story of Baseball's Super Showman, p.93, G. Michael Green and Roger D. Launius. Walker Publishing Company, New York, 2010, 978-0-8027-1745-0
In a promotional move, Finley signed Satchel Paige on September 10,Charlie Finley: The Outrageous Story of Baseball's Super Showman, p.93, G. Michael Green and Roger D. Launius. Walker Publishing Company, New York, 2010, 978-0-8027-1745-0 58 years old at the time, for one game. On September 25, against the Boston Red Sox, Finley invited several Negro league veterans, including Cool Papa Bell, to be introduced before the game. Paige was in the bullpen, sitting on a rocking chair, being served coffee by a "nurse" between innings.Charlie Finley: The Outrageous Story of Baseball's Super Showman, p.94, G. Michael Green and Roger D. Launius. Walker Publishing Company, New York, 2010, 978-0-8027-1745-0 He started the game by getting Jim Gosger out on a pop foul. The next man, Dalton Jones, reached first and went to second on an infield error, but was thrown out trying to reach third on a pitch in the dirt. Carl Yastrzemski doubled and Tony Conigliaro hit a fly ball to end the inning. The next six batters went down in order, including a strikeout of Bill Monbouquette. In the fourth inning, Paige took the mound, to be removed according to plan by Haywood Sullivan. He walked off to a boisterous ovation despite the small crowd of 9,000. The lights dimmed and, led by the PA announcer, the fans lit matches and cigarette lighters while singing "The Old Gray Mare."
Season standings
Kansas City Athletics
Record vs. opponents
KCA
Notable transactions
May 3, 1965: Joe Rudi was selected off waivers from the Athletics by the Cleveland Indians as a first-year waiver pick.Joe Rudi page at Baseball-Reference
May 3, 1965: Doc Edwards was traded by the Athletics to the New York Yankees for Johnny Blanchard and Rollie Sheldon.Doc Edwards page at Baseball-Reference
May 28, 1965: Don Mossi was signed as a free agent by the Athletics.Don Mossi page at Baseball-Reference
June 8, 1965: 1965 Major League Baseball draft notable picks:1965 Kansas City Athletics Picks in the MLB June Amateur Draft
Round 1: Rick Monday (1st pick). Player signed June 15, 1965.Rick Monday page at Baseball-Reference
Round 2: Joe KeoughJoe Keough page at Baseball-Reference
Round 3: Bob Stinson (did not sign)
Round 4: Pete Koegel
Round 6: Sal BandoSal Bando page at Baseball-Reference
Round 7: Scott Reid (did not sign)
Round 10: George Lauzerique
Round 15: Bobby Brooks
Round 20: Gene Tenace
Round 28: Greg Garrett (did not sign)
September 10, 1965: Satchel Paige was signed as a free agent by the Athletics.Satchel Paige page at Baseball Reference
Roster
1965 Kansas City Athletics Roster Pitchers
23 Jack Aker
20 Don Buschhorn
22 Jim Dickson
25 Moe Drabowsky
23,35 Tom Harrison
23 Jesse Hickman
27 Catfish Hunter
34 Dick Joyce
25 Lew Krausse Jr.
32 Paul Lindblad
14 Aurelio Monteagudo
43 Don Mossi
26 John O'Donoghue
13 Blue Moon Odom
29 Satchel Paige
24 Orlando Peña
29 José Santiago
17 Diego Seguí
15 Rollie Sheldon
18 Wes Stock
28 Fred Talbot
46 Ron Tompkins
33 John Wyatt Catchers
9 Billy Bryan
10 Doc Edwards
37,11 Rene Lachemann
Infielders
19 Bert Campaneris
2 Wayne Causey
16 Ed Charles
6 Jim Gentile
1 Dick Green
4,6 Ken Harrelson
8 Skip Lockwood
21 Santiago Rosario
21 Randy Schwartz Outfielders
14 Johnny Blanchard
37 Lou Clinton
3 Mike Hershberger
7 Jim Landis
5 Nelson Mathews
12 Tommie Reynolds
24 Larry Stahl
10 José Tartabull
Other batters
15,36 John Sanders Manager
41 Mel McGaha
41 Haywood Sullivan
Coaches
44 Luke Appling
49 Tom Ferrick
42 Gabby Hartnett
40 Whitey Herzog
Player stats
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 C Billy Bryan 108 325 82 .252 14 51 1B Ken Harrelson 150 483 115 .238 23 66 2B Dick Green 133 474 110 .232 15 55 SS Bert Campaneris 144 578 156 .270 6 42 3B Ed Charles 134 480 129 .269 8 56 LF Tommie Reynolds 90 270 64 .237 1 22 CF Jim Landis 118 364 87 .239 3 36 RF Mike Hershberger 150 494 114 .231 5 48
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 Wayne Causey 144 513 134 .261 3 34 José Tartabull 68 218 68 .312 1 19 Rene Lachemann 92 216 49 .227 9 29 Nelson Mathews 67 184 39 .212 2 15 Johnny Blanchard 52 120 24 .200 2 11 Jim Gentile 38 118 29 .246 10 22 Santiago Rosario 81 85 20 .235 2 8 Larry Stahl 28 81 16 .198 4 14 Skip Lockwood 42 33 4 .121 0 0 Doc Edwards 6 20 3 .150 0 0 Randy Schwartz 6 7 2 .286 0 1 Lou Clinton 1 1 0 .000 0 0 John Sanders 1 0 0 ---- 0 0
Pitching
Starting 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 Fred Talbot 39 198.0 10 12 4.14 117 Rollie Sheldon 32 186.2 10 8 3.95 105 John O'Donoghue 34 177.2 9 18 3.95 82 Satchel Paige 1 3.0 0 0 0.00 1
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 Diego Seguí 40 163.0 5 15 4.64 119 Catfish Hunter 32 133.0 8 8 4.26 83 Moe Drabowsky 14 38.2 1 5 4.42 25 Orlando Peña 12 35.1 0 6 6.88 24 Don Buschhorn 12 31.0 0 1 4.35 9 Lew Krausse Jr. 7 25.0 2 4 5.04 22 Dick Joyce 5 13.0 0 1 2.77 7 Ron Tompkins 5 10.1 0 0 3.48 4
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 John Wyatt John Wyatt (baseball) 65 2 6 18 3.25 70 Jim Dickson Jim Dickson (baseball) 68 3 2 0 3.47 54 Wes Stock 62 0 4 4 5.24 52 Don Mossi 51 5 8 7 3.74 41 Jack Aker 34 4 3 3 3.16 26 Jesse Hickman 12 0 1 0 5.87 16 Paul Lindblad 4 0 1 0 11.05 12 Aurelio Monteagudo 4 0 0 0 3.86 5 José Santiago 4 0 0 0 9.00 8 Blue Moon Odom 1 0 0 0 9.00 0 Tom Harrison 1 0 0 0 9.00 0 Bert Campaneris 1 0 0 0 9.00 1
Farm system
Minor League Baseball
AAA Vancouver Mounties Pacific Coast League Haywood Sullivan and Bobby Hofman AA Birmingham Barons Southern League John McNamara A Leesburg Athletics Florida State League Tony Frulio A Burlington Bees Midwest League Gus Niarhos Short-Season A Lewiston Broncos Northwest League Bobby Hofman, Bill Posedel and Al Ronning A Shelby Rebels Western Carolinas League Wes Ferrell and Jimmy Williams
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Burlington
References
2
External links
1965 Kansas City Athletics team page at Baseball Reference
1965 Kansas City Athletics team page at www.baseball-almanac.com
Category:Kansas City Athletics seasons
Kansas City Athletics season
Category:1965 in sports in Missouri