1955 Kansas City Athletics season

March 2026 November 2013 Kansas City Athletics 1955 Kansas City Athletics Cap Logo (1955 to 1959).svg American League Municipal Stadium Kansas City, Missouri 63 91 y 6th Arnold Johnson Lou Boudreau KMBC(Merle Harmon, Larry Ray) 1954 Philadelphia Athletics season 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.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, 978-0-8027-1745-0 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.Bob Davis page at Baseball Reference 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.Kansas City Athletics: A Baseball History, 1954–1967 Peterson John E. 2003 McFarland 0-7864-1610-6 52 https://books.google.com/books?id=zJUCG0b0K9YC&q=Phillies+Athletics+city+series&pg=PA52 May 22, 2009 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.Retrosheet box score: 1955-04-12 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. Starting lineup   7 Vic Power 1B12 Pete Suder 2B  4 Jim Finigan    3B30 Gus Zernial LF34 Bill Renna RF32 Bill Wilson CF  2 Joe DeMaestri    SS11 Joe Astroth C20 Alex Kellner P Season standings Kansas City Athletics Record vs. opponents KCA 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.Enos Slaughter page at Baseball Reference May 31, 1955: Clete Boyer was signed as an amateur free agent (bonus baby) by the Athletics.Clete Boyer page at Baseball Reference May 1955: Al Sima was traded by the Athletics to the Washington Senators for Gus Keriazakos.Al Sima page at Baseball Reference September 10, 1955: Joe Ginsberg was purchased by the Athletics from the Seattle Rainiers.Joe Ginsberg page at Baseball Reference September 12, 1955: Glenn Cox was purchased by the Athletics from the Brooklyn Dodgers.Glenn Cox page at Baseball Reference Roster 1955 Kansas City Athletics Roster Pitchers 26 Charlie Bishop 36 Ewell Blackwell 18 Cloyd Boyer 27 Moe Burtschy 19 Art Ceccarelli  8 Glenn Cox 15 Walt Craddock 28 Art Ditmar 24 Sonny Dixon 17,29 Marion Fricano 37 Tom Gorman 14 Johnny Gray 26 Bill Harrington 17 Ray Herbert 20 Alex Kellner 27 Gus Keriazakos 29 Mike Kume 25 Arnie Portocarrero 16 Vic Raschi 14 Johnny Sain 21 Bobby Shantz 31 Lou Sleater 29 Bob Spicer 23 Bob Trice 15 Ozzie Van Brabant 16 Lee Wheat Catchers 11 Joe Astroth 10 Eric Mackenzie 33 Jim Robertson 22 Billy Shantz Infielders  1 Hal Bevan  3 Don Bollweg 12 Clete Boyer  2 Joe DeMaestri  4 Jim Finigan 46 Alex George  6 Spook Jacobs  8 Dick Kryhoski  9 Jack Littrell 1,10 Héctor López  7 Vic Power  6 Jerry Schypinski 12 Pete Suder Outfielders  6 Don Plarski 34 Bill Renna  3 Tom Saffell 36,38 Harry Simpson 33 Enos Slaughter 31 Bill Stewart 35 Elmer Valo 32 Bill Wilson 30 Gus Zernial Manager  5 Lou Boudreau Coaches 41 Harry Craft 43 Burleigh Grimes 42 Ski Melillo 40 George Susce 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 C Joe Astroth 101 274 69 .252 5 23 1B Vic Power Victor Pellot 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 34https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/KCA/1955.shtml 1955 Kansas City Athletics Statistics 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 Bill Wilson (outfielder) 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 Alex George (baseball) 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 Eric Mackenzie (baseball) 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 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 Tom Gorman (right-handed pitcher) 57 7 6 18 3.55 46 Bill Harrington Bill Harrington (baseball) 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 Charlie Bishop (baseball) 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 Sonny Dixon (baseball) 2 0 0 0 16.20 0 Bill Wilson Bill Wilson (outfielder) 1 0 0 0 0.00 1 Awards and honors All-Star Game Jim Finigan, third baseman, starter Vic Power, reserve http://baseball-almanac.com/asgbox/yr1955as.shtml 1955 All-Star Game Farm system Minor League Baseball 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: LancasterWelch franchise transferred to Marion and renamed, July 14, 1955 References 2 External links 1955 Kansas City Athletics team page at Baseball Reference 1955 Kansas City Athletics team page at www.baseball-almanac.com Category:Kansas City Athletics seasons Kansas City Athletics season Category:1955 in sports in Missouri