The 1961 Kansas City Athletics season was a season in American baseball. In their seventh season in Kansas City, the 61st overall for the franchise, the A's finished with a record of 61–100, tying the expansion Washington Senators for ninth place, last in the newly expanded 10-team American League. The A's finished nine games behind the league's other expansion team, the Los Angeles Angels and games behind the World Champion New York Yankees.
Offseason On December 19, 1960, Charles "Charlie O." Finley purchased a controlling interest in the team from Arnold Johnson's estate. In a highly publicized move, he purchased a bus, pointed it in the direction of New York, and burned it to symbolize the end of the "special relationship" with the Yankees. He called another press conference to burn the existing lease at Municipal Stadium, where the team played its home games, which included the despised "escape clause."Charlie Finley: The Outrageous Story of Baseball's Super Showman, pp.43–44, G. Michael Green and Roger D. Launius. Walker Publishing Company, New York, 2010,
Finley made numerous renovations to the stadium, including lighting outside, and radio broadcasts in the restrooms.Charlie Finley: The Outrageous Story of Baseball's Super Showman, pp.45, G. Michael Green and Roger D. Launius. Walker Publishing Company, New York, 2010, The seats were painted yellow, turquoise and orange, while a picnic area was added behind new bleacher seats in right field, and lights were added to the dugout.Charlie Finley: The Outrageous Story of Baseball's Super Showman, pp.45–46, G. Michael Green and Roger D. Launius. Walker Publishing Company, New York, 2010,
In addition, Finley introduced new uniforms, which had "Kansas City" on the road uniforms for the first time ever and an interlocking "KC" on the cap.
Notable transactions January 24, 1961: Whitey Herzog and Russ Snyder were traded by the Athletics to the Baltimore Orioles for Bob Boyd, Al Pilarcik, Jim Archer, Wayne Causey, and Clint Courtney. Clint Courtney was returned to the Orioles on April 14.Whitey Herzog page at Baseball Reference
Regular season Finley hired Frank Lane, a veteran baseball man with a reputation as a prolific trader, as general manager on January 2.Frank Lane is chosen as new A's general boss However, Lane did not even last through the season, as he was fired on August 22 and replaced by Pat Friday.Frank Lane fired from KC position
Part of the tension between Finley and Lane occurred when Finley advised Lane that he wanted to move the club's spring training facilities from West Palm Beach, Florida, to Chandler, Arizona. Lane had negotiated with city officials in Chandler and was prepared to sign a lease. A report on the radio had indicated that Finley reached his own deal with West Palm Beach and signed a five-year lease extension.Charlie Finley: The Outrageous Story of Baseball's Super Showman, p.49, G. Michael Green and Roger D. Launius. Walker Publishing Company, New York, 2010, On June 14, 1961, the feud between Charlie Finley and Frank Lane worsened as Lane traded fan favourite Bud Daley. Lane stated this was done in an attempt to embarrass the owner.Charlie Finley: The Outrageous Story of Baseball's Super Showman, p.51, G. Michael Green and Roger D. Launius. Walker Publishing Company, New York, 2010, Lew Krausse Jr. made his major league debut on June 16, 1961, versus the Los Angeles Angels. Krausse had received a bonus of $125,000 to sign with the club. Finley admitted that he had the highly touted Krausse appear in a game so that fans could forget about the Bud Daley trade.Charlie Finley: The Outrageous Story of Baseball's Super Showman, p.52, G. Michael Green and Roger D. Launius. Walker Publishing Company, New York, 2010, August 17, 1961: Kansas City Star sportswriter Ernie Mehl had published a story indicating that Charlie Finley was ready to relocate the club to Dallas, Texas.Charlie Finley: The Outrageous Story of Baseball's Super Showman, pp.56, G. Michael Green and Roger D. Launius. Walker Publishing Company, New York, 2010, Mehl found out about the proposed relocation because Finley went on a trip to Dallas with the supervisor of American League umpires Cal Hubbard. During the trip, the two visited the Cotton Bowl and Burnett Field. Finley was furious and it led to a long rivalry between the two. Three days later, Finley attempted to publicly humiliate Mehl by having an Ernie Mehl Appreciation Day. Ceremonies for Mehl were held in between a doubleheader with the Chicago White Sox. Finley presented Mehl with a Poison Pen Award in absentia.Charlie Finley: The Outrageous Story of Baseball's Super Showman, pp.58, G. Michael Green and Roger D. Launius. Walker Publishing Company, New York, 2010,
Gimmicks Finley had a mechanical rabbit named Harvey installed to the right of home plate. Whenever the umpire required more baseballs, Harvey would emerge from a spot in the grass with a cage of baseballs. As the rabbit would emerge, the organist would play Here Comes Peter Cottontail.Charlie Finley: The Outrageous Story of Baseball's Super Showman, p.46, G. Michael Green and Roger D. Launius. Walker Publishing Company, New York, 2010, Sheep were on a tall rocky hill beyond the right field fence. Finley had employees dressed as sheep herders, and the employees would ring a bell whenever an Athletics player hit a home run.Charlie Finley: The Outrageous Story of Baseball's Super Showman, p.47, G. Michael Green and Roger D. Launius. Walker Publishing Company, New York, 2010,
Season standings
Record vs. opponents
Notable transactions April 25, 1961: Bert Campaneris was signed as an amateur free agent by the Athletics.Bert Campaneris page at Baseball Reference June 1, 1961: Bill Tuttle and a player to be named later were traded by the Athletics to the Minnesota Twins for Reno Bertoia, Paul Giel and a player to be named later. The Athletics completed the deal by returning Paul Giel to the Twins in exchange for cash on June 10.Bill Tuttle page at Baseball Reference June 8, 1961: Marv Throneberry was traded by the Athletics to the Baltimore Orioles for Gene Stephens.Marv Throneberry page at Baseball Reference June 10, 1961: Ray Herbert, Don Larsen, Andy Carey, and Al Pilarcik were traded by the Athletics to the Chicago White Sox for Wes Covington, Stan Johnson, Bob Shaw, and Gerry Staley.Wes Covington page at Baseball Reference July 2, 1961: Wes Covington was traded by the Athletics to the Philadelphia Phillies for Bobby Del Greco. August 2, 1961: Gerry Staley and Reno Bertoia were traded by the Athletics to the Detroit Tigers for Bill Fischer and Ozzie Virgil.Tigers land 3rd sacker
Roster 1961 Kansas City Athletics Roster Pitchers Catchers
Infielders Outfielders
Other batters 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 C Haywood Sullivan 117 331 80 .242 6 40 1B Norm Siebern 153 560 166 .296 18 98 2B Jerry Lumpe 148 569 167 .293 3 54 SS Dick Howser 158 611 171 .280 3 45 3B 104 312 86 .276 8 49 LF Leo Posada 116 344 87 .253 7 53 CF Bobby Del Greco 74 239 55 .230 5 21 RF Jim Rivera 64 141 34 .241 2 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 Deron Johnson 83 283 61 .216 8 42 Joe Pignatano 92 243 59 .243 4 22 Gene Stephens 62 183 38 .208 4 26 Jay Hankins 76 173 32 .185 3 6 Marv Throneberry 40 130 31 .238 6 24 Andy Carey 39 123 30 .244 3 11 Lou Klimchock 57 121 26 .215 1 16 39 120 29 .242 0 13 Hank Bauer 43 106 28 .264 3 18 25 84 22 .262 0 8 35 60 12 .200 0 9 26 48 11 .229 0 9 Wes Covington 17 44 7 .159 1 6 Frank Cipriani 13 36 9 .250 0 2 Charlie Shoemaker 7 26 10 .385 0 1 Gordon Mackenzie 11 24 3 .125 0 1 11 21 3 .143 0 0 Billy Bryan 9 19 3 .158 1 2 Bobby Prescott 10 12 1 .083 0 0 Chuck Essegian 4 6 2 .333 0 1 3 3 0 .000 0 0 1 1 0 .000 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 39 205.1 9 15 3.20 110 Bob Shaw 26 150.1 9 10 4.31 60 Ray Herbert 13 83.2 3 6 5.38 34 1 3.0 0 0 12.00 3
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 40 170.2 11 11 4.69 74 Jerry Walker 36 168.0 8 14 4.82 56 Joe Nuxhall 37 128.0 5 8 5.34 81 Ed Rakow 45 124.2 2 8 4.76 81 16 63.2 4 8 4.95 36 12 55.2 2 5 4.85 32 20 54.0 0 5 5.67 19 Don Larsen 8 15.0 1 0 4.20 13 Ken Johnson 6 9.1 0 4 10.61 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 58 3 4 4 5.18 46 Gerry Staley 23 1 1 2 3.60 16 Dave Wickersham 17 2 1 2 5.14 10 15 1 0 2 3.86 12 Ed Keegan 6 0 0 1 4.50 3 5 0 0 1 2.45 6 Mickey McDermott 4 0 0 0 14.29 3 Dan Pfister 2 0 0 0 15.43 3 1 0 0 0 37.80 1
Farm system
References
External links 1961 Kansas City Athletics team page at Baseball Reference 1961 Kansas City Athletics team page at www.baseball-almanac.com