Submitted by NeilT
A’s 3
Astros 1
There were points during the last two seasons when I took solace from the A’s. They have a funny history. Sometimes early they were the best team in baseball, dynasties, really, but then Connie Mack would break them up because he couldn’t afford them. It had nothing to do with rebuilding, it was money. Mack was owner, general manager, and manager, and sometimes he won, but he also had 17-year losing streaks. Mack lost the most games of any manager in baseball, 1,489, for a winning percentage of .398. He’s in the Hall of Fame though.
Then his sons and the Shibe heirs took over the team, squabbled, and lost more games. I think I recall there was a daughter, too, but Connie wouldn’t leave his baseball team to the daughter. In the end the Phils were in the World Series, the A’s were averaging 1,978 fans per game, and Roy and Earle Mack were broke, over-leveraged, and forced to sell the team. In 1954 the A’s won 51 games.
Arnold Johnson—who had owned Yankee Stadium and was a business partner of the Yankee owners—bought the A’s. The American League helped them to move to Kansas City. Nobody in Philadelphia cared.
Kansas City was ecstatic. Johnson was a hero.
The Kansas City Blues were the Yankees top farm team, and Johnson owned Blues stadium. He sold it to Kansas City, and leased it back under—believe it or not—advantageous terms. Kansas City had major league baseball.
The first year the A’s were in Kansas City, 1955, they drew 1,393,054. They also went 58-96. For the next six years under Johnson, their best record was 1958, 73-81. Overall they went 371-552, for a .401 winning percentage. By 1960, attendance was 774,944.
The team under Johnson is famous, though, for completely different reasons. Kansas City is a railroad town, and from 1955 to 1960 every train pointed north and east. They were the Yankee’s farm team.
While Johnson owned the A’s, the Yankees were the best team in baseball. Through 1953, the Yankees had won the World Series a record five times in a row. From 1955 to 1960, the Yankees won the World Series twice, lost it three times, and once, 1959, came in third in their division. Nobody’s perfect. And part of their success was their trades with Kansas City.
The Yankees/A’s trades were so frequent, and so one-sided, that the rumors at the time was that there was some secret agreement between the teams. There were 16 total trades. The A’s sent 27 players and cash to the Yankees for 35 players and cash. The Yankees got Roger Maris, Clete Boyer, Ralph Terry, Bobby Shants, Art Ditmar, and Hector Lopez. The A’s got Marv Throneberry. They also got the Yankee’s aged, problems, and guys who needed more playing time like Bob Cerv. When the Yankees needed Cerv, he went back to New York.
Maybe there was collusion. Maybe the A’s just needed cash for operations. There’s a nice summary of the trades here: http://www.baseball-almanac.com/corner/c042001b.shtml
I didn’t see much of last night’s game. I picked my son up at the airport, and his plane was later than I thought it would be. I got home in the 7th. Keuchel was still pitching, so was Sonny Gray. Gray had the better of it.
Gray pitched a complete game, 5 Ks, 5 hits, no walks. The Astros one run came on another Valbuena solo shot in the 5th. Keuchel gave up 3 earned runs on 10 hits, with one solo home run to Valencia in the 3rd. Wojo got one out in the 8th.
For those keeping track, the Astros OF was Gomez (CF), Rasmus (RF), and Tucker (LF). The outfield combined for 0 hits. Castro caught, and got a single.
The Astros are now1 for 5 on their road trip, and I’m looking at the history of the A’s again.