# 1955 Kansas City 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. 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.

### 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. 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. 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 | 1B |
| 12 | Pete Suder | 2B |
| 4 | Jim Finigan | 3B |
| 30 | Gus Zernial | LF |
| 34 | Bill Renna | RF |
| 32 | Bill Wilson | CF |
| 2 | Joe DeMaestri | SS |
| 11 | Joe Astroth | C |
| 20 | Alex Kellner | P |

### Season standings

vteAmerican League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| New York Yankees | 96 | 58 | .623 | — | 52‍–‍25 | 44‍–‍33 |
| Cleveland Indians | 93 | 61 | .604 | 3 | 49‍–‍28 | 44‍–‍33 |
| Chicago White Sox | 91 | 63 | .591 | 5 | 49‍–‍28 | 42‍–‍35 |
| Boston Red Sox | 84 | 70 | .545 | 12 | 47‍–‍31 | 37‍–‍39 |
| Detroit Tigers | 79 | 75 | .513 | 17 | 46‍–‍31 | 33‍–‍44 |
| Kansas City Athletics | 63 | 91 | .409 | 33 | 33‍–‍43 | 30‍–‍48 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 57 | 97 | .370 | 39 | 30‍–‍47 | 27‍–‍50 |
| Washington Senators | 53 | 101 | .344 | 43 | 28‍–‍49 | 25‍–‍52 |

### Record vs. opponents

1955 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BAL | BOS | CWS | CLE | DET | KCA | NYY | WSH |
| Baltimore | — | 8–14 | 10–12–1 | 3–19 | 9–13 | 10–12–1 | 3–19 | 14–8 |
| Boston | 14–8 | — | 9–13 | 11–11 | 13–9 | 14–8 | 8–14 | 15–7 |
| Chicago | 12–10–1 | 13–9 | — | 10–12 | 14–8 | 14–8 | 11–11 | 17–5 |
| Cleveland | 19–3 | 11–11 | 12–10 | — | 12–10 | 17–5 | 13–9 | 9–13 |
| Detroit | 13–9 | 9–13 | 8–14 | 10–12 | — | 12–10 | 10–12 | 17–5 |
| Kansas City | 12–10–1 | 8–14 | 8–14 | 5–17 | 10–12 | — | 7–15 | 13–9 |
| New York | 19–3 | 14–8 | 11–11 | 9–13 | 12–10 | 15–7 | — | 16–6 |
| Washington | 8–14 | 7–15 | 5–17 | 13–9 | 5–17 | 9–13 | 6–16 | — |

### 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.
* May 31, 1955: Clete Boyer was signed as an amateur free agent (bonus baby) by the Athletics.
* May 1955: Al Sima was traded by the Athletics to the Washington Senators for Gus Keriazakos.
* September 10, 1955: Joe Ginsberg was purchased by the Athletics from the Seattle Rainiers.
* September 12, 1955: Glenn Cox was purchased by the Athletics from the Brooklyn Dodgers.

### Roster
## 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 | 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 | 34 |

#### 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 57 | 7 | 6 | 18 | 3.55 | 46 |
| Bill Harrington | 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 | 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 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16.20 | 0 |
| Bill Wilson | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 1 |

## Awards and honors

All-Star Game
* Jim Finigan, third baseman, starter
* Vic Power, reserve

## 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