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106-644: The Kansas City franchise played at Municipal Stadium from 1955 to 1967. The Kansas City Athletics had an overall win–loss record of 829–1,224–7 (.404) during their 54 years in Kansas City. No former Kansas City Athletics players were elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame . In 1954, Chicago real estate magnate Arnold Johnson bought the Philadelphia Athletics and moved them to Kansas City, Missouri . Although he

212-526: A 25–19 (.568) record on May 31, 3 games behind the Baltimore Orioles . By June 18, the team fell to eighth place, though was only 7 games behind with a record of 30–32 (.484) . However, the Athletics would continue to falter for the remainder of the season, remaining roughly in eighth place through the season's end. They'd finish in eighth place with a record of 73–89 (.451) , 31½ games behind

318-578: A 52–69 (.430) record, manager Alvin Dark was replaced by Luke Appling . Appling would oversee the team's final 40 games with a 10–30 (.250) , eventually ending the Athletics season with a 62–99 (.385) record, 29½ games behind the Red Sox. During the World Series on October 11, Finley announced Oakland as his team's new desired home. Just four days later, Eddie Lopat resigned as general manger,

424-656: A playoff game between the Chiefs and the Miami Dolphins on Christmas Day 1971 ; the Chiefs moved to the new Arrowhead Stadium in 1972. Jackie Robinson played at the stadium for the Kansas City Monarchs in 1945 until he was signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers . The stadium opened in 1923 as Muehlebach Field . It was named for George E. Muehlebach ( / ˈ m juː l b ɑː k / ), who owned

530-463: A 69–93 record. In subsequent seasons, many future stars made their debuts for the Royals, who were building a highly competitive team, rising up to an 85–76 record in 1971. CF Amos Otis (1970), P Paul Splittorff (1970), SS Freddie Patek (1971), 1B John Mayberry (1972) and P Steve Busby (1972) were a core of young Royals who made their debuts at Municipal Stadium. Each went on to selection into

636-438: A brand new baseball stadium (the eventual Royals Stadium, now Kauffman Stadium ) to be completed in 1973 . Senator Stuart Symington of Missouri blasted Finley on the floor of the U.S. Senate, calling Oakland "the luckiest city since Hiroshima". When Symington threatened to have baseball's antitrust exemption revoked, the owners responded with a hasty round of expansion. Kansas City was awarded an American League expansion team,

742-535: A controlling interest in the team from Johnson's estate after losing out to Johnson six years earlier in Philadelphia. He bought out the minority owners a year later. Finley promised the fans a new day. 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

848-613: A fan and player favorite when Municipal Stadium was nearby. With involvement from former Monarch Buck O'Neil, the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum was founded in 1990 and opened in 1997. Located in the 18th and Vine District , the museum is housed in the former Paseo YMCA building where the Negro leagues were first formed in 1920. The museum is alongside the American Jazz Museum . The site is within

954-546: A home run in Yankee Stadium", whenever a fly ball passed the limit in Municipal Stadium's outfield. That practice ended quickly, however, when it was apparent that other teams were hitting more "would-be" home runs than the A's. The 1964 season would see the Athletics have their worst season in Kansas City since 1956 . The team didn't spend a single day with a positive record and were consistently towards

1060-422: A home run", itself a response to Finley's dictum for Municipal Stadium public address announcer Jack Layton to announce, "That would have been a home run at Yankee Stadium" for any ball hit beyond a line Finley painted in the outfield grass 296 feet away from home plate in Kansas City. Supposedly, Layton's gimmick was short-lived after Finley noticed the vast majority of the "would've been home runs" were being hit by

1166-409: A loosely controlled Yankee farm club." On the positive side, Johnson devoted attention to player development for the first time in the history of the franchise. Under longtime owner and manager Connie Mack , the A's did not or could not spend any money building a farm system, a major reason why Mack's Philadelphia teams fell from World Series champions to cellar-dwellers so quickly. When Johnson bought

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1272-534: A mile of the location of Municipal Stadium. †= Team's stadium under construction or refurbishment at time 1 = A team used the stadium when their permanent stadium was unable to be used as a result of damage. 1961 New York Yankees season The 1961 New York Yankees season was the 59th season for the team. The team finished with a record of 109–53, eight games ahead of the Detroit Tigers , and won their 26th American League pennant . New York

1378-445: A month later, they would record the medley for their fourth studio album, Beatles for Sale . The stadium was demolished in 1976, and replaced by a municipal garden. Today, the former ballpark site is being redeveloped with new single family homes. A plaque at 22nd and Brooklyn Street marks the former stadium's location. The neighborhood still contains legendary Arthur Bryant's Barbecue at 18th and Brooklyn Street, founded in 1908,

1484-563: A result of overtime payments forced officials to reduce capacity to just over 30,000. The Braves Field scoreboard in Boston was purchased for $ 100,000 and moved from Boston to Kansas City, while temporary bleachers were added in the left field corner and parts of the outfield. On opening day 1955, former President Harry S Truman , a resident of nearby Independence , threw out the ceremonial first pitch. Connie Mack and legendary A's player Jimmie Foxx were also in attendance. The A's defeated

1590-514: A role which would not be filled in the Athletics franchise until 1981. Three days later, the Athletics were given permission to move to Oakland for the 1968 , officially marking the 1967 season as the final season of the Kansas City Athletics. Almost as soon as the ink dried on his purchase of the Athletics, Finley began shopping the Athletics to other cities despite his promises that the A's would remain in Kansas City. Soon after

1696-474: A three-way tie with the Baltimore Orioles and Boston Red Sox ), with an 18–18 (.500) record and 5½ games behind the first place Chicago White Sox . However, any sense of being competitive quickly deteriorated, as the team was in ninth place by the end of May and would exclusively place at ninth or last from June 25 on. August 6 saw the Athletics fall to last place permanently. Following the August 19 game, with

1802-470: A three-year escape clause if the team failed to draw one million or more customers per season. The subsequent lease signed in 1960 contained an escape clause that lowered that threshold to 850,000 per season. Normally, Johnson would have had to pay the Yankees an indemnity for moving to Kansas City, and also would have had to reimburse the Yankees for the costs they incurred for moving the Blues to Denver as

1908-476: The AFL–NFL merger , all teams were required to have a minimum stadium capacity of 50,000 people; at its height, Municipal Stadium only seated 35,000 people for football and could not be expanded. However, a replacement would have been needed even without the merger, given its age and condition. Public bonds were issued in 1967 to fund a complex including separate football and baseball stadiums—what would eventually become

2014-523: The Baltimore Orioles , with the added benefit of the designated hitter , hit 257 home runs as a team. In 1961, the American League expanded from eight to ten teams, generally watering down the pitching, but leaving the Yankees pretty much intact. Yankee home runs began to come at a record pace. One famous photograph lined up six 1961 Yankee players, including Mantle, Maris, Yogi Berra , Elston Howard , Johnny Blanchard , and Bill Skowron , under

2120-529: The Boston Red Sox ), with a record of 38–39 (.494) by July 10. However, the Athletics were 12½ games behind the New York Yankees , who themselves were ahead of second place by 11 games. By August, the team fell to mostly seventh place, where they would roughly stay until seasons end, with a record of 73–81 (.474) , 19 games behind the World Series winning Yankees. For the 1959 season,

2226-478: The Denver Bears to make way for the A's. Major-league rules of the time gave the Yankees the major-league rights to Kansas City. However, the Yankees waived these payments as soon as the purchase was approved. Even though the Yankees had no intention of going anywhere, the waivers led to rumors of collusion between Johnson and the Yankees. The rumors grew louder due to the Yankees' thinly concealed support for

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2332-723: The Kansas City Royals from 1969 to 1972 , the Kansas City Chiefs ( American Football League and National Football League ) from 1963 to 1971 and the Kansas City Spurs ( North American Soccer League ) from 1968 to 1969. The stadium hosted the Major League Baseball All-Star Game in 1960 (first game) . In the final football game played there, Municipal Stadium was the site of the longest NFL game in history,

2438-475: The Kansas City Royals . They were initially slated to begin play in 1971 , but Symington was not willing to have Kansas City wait three years for another team, and renewed his threat to have baseball's antitrust exemption revoked unless the Royals began play in 1969 , two years earlier than originally planned. The owners complied. Needing a twelfth team to maintain an even number of teams, the AL settled on Seattle as

2544-433: The New York Yankees . Finley made further changes to the team's uniforms. The Philadelphia Athletics wore blue and white or black and gray outfits through most of their history; in the last years in Philadelphia and the first in Kansas City, the team used a red, white and navy-blue scheme. In 1963, Finley changed the team's colors to "Kelly Green, Fort Knox Gold and Wedding Gown White". In June 1963, Bill Bryson wrote of

2650-439: The New York Yankees . The 1965 season saw the Athletics perform barely better than the previous season, still with a dismal performance. Finley replaced general manager Pat Friday with Hank Peters prior to the start of the season. This season would follow the trend that began the previous year of never spending a day with a positive record. With a terribly poor start of 5–21 (.192) , sitting in last place by 4½ games behind

2756-637: The Truman Sports Complex . It came too late for the A's, however, as Finley moved the franchise to Oakland after the 1967 season . Subsequently, Kansas City was awarded an American League expansion team for 1969 , and the new Kansas City Royals used the stadium as a temporary home from 1969 to 1972. Kansas City welcomed the new Royals, who were led by 1969 American League Rookie of the Year Lou Piniella . The expansion team drew nearly one million fans in their first season, despite

2862-414: The A's permanently in Kansas City and build a winning ball club. I have no intention of ever moving the franchise." The fans, in turn, regarded Finley as the savior of Major League Baseball in Kansas City. While the A's were still dreadful in the first eight years of Finley's ownership, he began to lay the groundwork for a future contender. Finley poured significant resources into the minor league system for

2968-543: The A's to a "cow pasture" in Peculiar, Missouri , complete with temporary grandstands. Not surprisingly, attendance tailed off. The city rejected Finley's offer of a two-year lease agreement; finally, American League President Joe Cronin persuaded Finley to sign a four-year lease with Municipal Stadium in February 1964. During the World Series on October 11, 1967, Finley announced his choice of Oakland over Seattle as

3074-610: The American Football League in two of the four Super Bowls before the leagues merged. As AFL Champions under Coach Hank Stram , the Chiefs won Super Bowl IV , beating the Minnesota Vikings 23–7. Previously, the Chiefs played in the very first, Super Bowl I , losing to the Green Bay Packers of Vince Lombardi . Leading up to the game after Lamar Hunt had first used the term "Super Bowl" in

3180-460: The Athletics ended the season in seventh place, with a slightly improved record to 59–94 (.386) , 38½ games behind the New York Yankees . The 1958 season saw the best season of the Athletics while in Kansas City, although still finishing with a losing record. Prior to the All-Star break, the Athletics were somewhat competitive, mostly placing between second and third place (alternating between

3286-483: The Athletics hired Parke Carroll as their new general manager, in what would be a worse performance than the previous season. The season saw the Athletics falling and rising in the standings several times. Up to June 7, the team spent most of the season in or around fourth place, before dropping to sixth place by the June 15 trade deadline, with a record of 26–29 (.473) . July would see the Athletics place at their lowest of

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3392-466: The Athletics in last place, with a record of 59–103 (.364) , 43 games behind the Minnesota Twins . The 1965 season is most notable for a promotional move of Finley's. On September 25, against the Boston Red Sox , Finley invited several Negro league veterans, including Satchel Paige and Cool Papa Bell , to be introduced before the game. Paige, who was 59 at the time, had signed earlier in

3498-522: The Athletics mostly wavered between sixth and seventh place, having a record of 22–32 (.407) , in seventh place, by the June 15 trade deadline. From June 27 through the end of the season, the team would not leave last place, ending the season with a dismal 52–102 (.338) record, 45 games behind the World Series winning New York Yankees . The 1957 season saw the Athletics hire George Selkirk as general manager, and saw an improvement relative to their previous season, though still perform poorly. Early in

3604-440: The Athletics perform poorly, with their first 100+ loss season since their worst in Kansas City in 1956. Though the team performed at league average through April and May, the Athletics would begin to falter shortly after. Prior to the June 19 game, Finley fired Gordon and as manager and named Hank Bauer as player-manager. By the All-Star break, the Athletics were in last place, with a dismal record of 31–52 (.373) , 23 games behind

3710-440: The Athletics under new manager Bob Elliot . The team placed towards the bottom of the standings for most of the season. From May onwards, the Athletics would not place above sixth, and from August through the end of the season, the team would sit exclusively in last place, ending the season with a 58–96 (.377) record, 39 games behind the New York Yankees . On December 19, 1960, Chicago insurance magnate Charlie Finley purchased

3816-417: The Athletics' opponents. In addition to his notorious tinkering with the right-field corner, Finley experimented with moving the other fences in and out several times during his seven seasons operating the team here. None of those moves had any notable effect on the team's performance, as the club finished in or near last place nearly every year. A small zoo with goats and sheep and picnic area stood behind

3922-591: The Blues and a number of other Kansas City businesses, including Muehlebach Beer and the Muehlebach Hotel . It was built for the minor-league Blues for $ 400,000. It served as a replacement for the Blues' previous home, Association Park . Located in the inner-city neighborhood near 18th and Vine , the stadium first housed the minor-league white Kansas City Blues baseball team and the Negro league Kansas City Monarchs . The first Negro World Series game

4028-642: The Chiefs were beaten by the Dolphins 27–24, when Garo Yepremian kicked a walk-off field goal with 7:20 left in double overtime. The double-overtime playoff contest lasted 82 minutes and 40 seconds (with overtime lasting over 22 minutes) and remains the longest game in NFL history, as well the only post-season football game played at Municipal Stadium. The Chicago Spurs of the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) relocated

4134-590: The Detroit Tigers, 8–2. The baseball field was aligned northeast (home plate to center field) at an approximate elevation of 900 feet (270 m) above sea level . From 1923 to 1955, the stadium was also home to the Negro leagues' longest-running team, the Kansas City Monarchs . The Monarchs won 11 league championships before integration (1923–25, 1929, 1931 in the NNL; 1937–40, 1942, 1946 in

4240-758: The East-West All-Star game. While playing for the Monarchs, Robinson was scouted by the Dodgers' Branch Rickey , who signed Robinson on October 23, 1945. Robinson broke the color barrier in the Major Leagues on April 15, 1947. The Kansas City Blues were one of the eight founding members of the American Association . The franchise existed in its entirety from 1888 to 1954, and was an original tenant of Municipal Stadium. The franchise

4346-438: The June 15 trade deadline, the Athletics mostly placed in fifth or seventh place, eventually falling to a record of 22–36 (.379) , in seventh place. From June 18 through the end of the season, the team would not leave sixth place, ending the season with a 63–91 (.409) record, 33 games behind the New York Yankees . The sophomore season of the Athletics in Kansas City saw the team slide further into mediocrity. Prior to June 27,

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4452-482: The Monarchs. Other Hall of Famers who spent a season or more with the Monarchs include: Cristóbal Torriente , Andy Cooper , Turkey Stearnes , Cool Papa Bell , Bill Foster , Willie Wells , Ernie Banks , and the legendary Jackie Robinson . After being discharged from the United States Army, Jackie Robinson signed with the Monarchs for the 1945 season. He played shortstop and was selected to play in

4558-506: The NAL). They appeared in four Negro World Series . They won the first Series in 1924 and lost the second in 1925 . They won the 1942 Negro World Series , and lost the 1946 Series. Many noteworthy players played for the Monarchs at Muelbach Field. The legendary Buck O'Neil played 10 seasons for the Monarchs. Hall of Famers Bullet Rogan , J. L. Wilkinson , José Méndez , Satchel Paige , Hilton Smith , and Willard Brown all played for

4664-545: The Royals Hall of Fame. After the 1972 baseball season, the Royals moved to Kauffman Stadium in the Truman Sports Complex . The Royals won the final game (and event) at Municipal Stadium, a 4–0 win over the Texas Rangers on October 4, 1972, in what was also the final Major League game managed by Hall of Famer Ted Williams . Amos Otis scored the final run in Municipal Stadium history and Ed Kirkpatrick had

4770-412: The Royals' first season. The double-decked grandstand extended all the way across the south sideline, but ended halfway around the west end zone (third base line). Both teams' benches were on the north sideline in front of the temporary bleachers, as was the case at Wrigley Field , Tiger Stadium , Milwaukee County Stadium and Metropolitan Stadium . The east end zone ended at the right field fence, and

4876-469: The Yankees and arguably helped keep the Yankee dynasty afloat. For example, ten players from the 1961 Yankees , reckoned as one of the best teams of all time, came from the A's. This led to accusations from fans, reporters and even other teams that Johnson had reduced the A's to a Yankee farm team at the major-league level. Bill Veeck , for instance, recalled that under Johnson, the A's were "nothing more than

4982-483: The Yankees farm era who played for the Blues. There were about 580 Blues players who went on to the Major Leagues. The stadium was home to many of the shenanigans of Charlie Finley , who bought the A's after Arnold Johnson's death in 1960 . Most notably, he tried to shorten the rather distant fences in April 1964 by creating a 296 feet (90 m) Pennant Porch in right field, fronting a tiny bleacher section, to mock

5088-414: The Yankees for aging veterans and cash. Over the years, Johnson traded such key players as Roger Maris , Bobby Shantz , Héctor López , Clete Boyer , Art Ditmar and Ralph Terry to New York; in return, he did receive some talented younger players such as Norm Siebern and Jerry Lumpe , and the cash helped the team pay the bills. However, with few exceptions, the trades were heavily weighted in favor of

5194-477: The Yankees' owner, Col. Jacob Ruppert . Ruppert died two years later and the stadium was renamed Blues Stadium in 1943. Arnold Johnson , a Chicago real estate magnate, bought both Blues Stadium and Yankee Stadium in 1953. Johnson then bought the Philadelphia Athletics from Connie Mack in November 1954, announcing plans to move the A's from Philadelphia to Kansas City. Johnson then sold Blues Stadium to

5300-442: The area, and only made $ 20,000 in ticket sales. During their thirteen years in Kansas City, the Athletics' overall record was 829–1224 (.404), and the best season was 1966 at 74–86 (.463). Luke Appling Lou Boudreau Whitey Herzog Tommy Lasorda Satchel Paige Enos Slaughter Municipal Stadium (Kansas City, Missouri) Kansas City Municipal Stadium was an American baseball and football stadium in

5406-419: The bottom of the standings. From May 17 on, the teams spent the rest of the season in ninth or last place. On June 11, with a dismal record of 17–35 (.327) , Finley fired manager Eddie Lopat and elevated coach Mel McGaha to manager. Though the team saw a slight improvement under McGaha (his record as manager was 40–70 (.364) ), the team finished in last place, with a record of 57–105 (.352) , 42 games behind

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5512-636: The central United States , located in Kansas City, Missouri . It was located at the corner of Brooklyn Avenue and E. 22nd Street. Municipal Stadium hosted both the minor-league Kansas City Blues of the American Association and the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro leagues from 1923 to 1955. The stadium was almost completely rebuilt prior to the 1955 baseball season when the Kansas City Athletics moved to Kansas City from Philadelphia . The Athletics played from 1955 to 1967 ,

5618-430: The city, who renamed it Municipal Stadium and leased it back to the A's. Muehlebach had anticipated that Kansas City would eventually get a major league team. Accordingly, he designed the stadium with footings that were theoretically strong enough to support a future upper deck. However, when work began on double-decking the stadium for the A's, it was discovered that three decades of harsh Midwestern winters had weakened

5724-554: The club folded altogether. The Spurs' colors were red and white and their mascot was "Cowboy Joe". On July 11, 1960, Municipal Stadium hosted the best major league players in front of 30,619 fans. During the years when two major league All-Star Games were scheduled each year instead of one, Municipal Stadium hosted the first of the two 1960 games , with the National League winning the contest 5–3. Team rosters included over 15 future Hall of Fame members. Notable players on

5830-449: The competition between Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa was given extensive positive media coverage, sportswriters in 1961 began to play the " M&M Boys " against each other, inventing a rivalry where none existed, as Yogi Berra has testified in recent interviews. The 1961 home run race between Maris and Mantle was dramatized in the 2001 film 61* , filmed under the direction of Billy Crystal . The Yankees played one tie game which

5936-402: The duration of his ownership. In January, Charlie Finley hired Frank Lane , a veteran baseball man with a reputation as a prolific trader, as general manager. Lane began engineering trades with several other teams, including the Yankees, the bus-burning stunt notwithstanding. Finley also fired manager following the 1960 season and hired Joe Gordon as the new manager. The 1961 season saw

6042-476: The duration of his ownership. September would see the Athletics and newly created Washington Senators fight to avoid last place, but would eventually tie for ninth place, each with a record of 61–100 (.379) , 47½ games behind the World Series winning New York Yankees . Though still a poor showing, 1962 saw the Athletics second-best season in Kansas City to date. The team hovered between seventh and eighth place through June, before dropping to ninth for most of

6148-539: The end of the season, 28 games behind the Chicago White Sox . Prior to the start of the season, owner Arnold Johnson was returning from watching the Athletics in spring training when he was fatally stricken with a cerebral hemorrhage . He died in West Palm Beach, Florida on March 3, 1960, at the age of 53. His estate continued to own the team until the end of the year. The 1960 season saw

6254-419: The era, especially in light of the team's dreadful on-field performance. In contrast, during the years of Finley's ownership, the team averaged under 680,000 per year in Kansas City. According to baseball writer Rob Neyer (a native of the Kansas City area), this was largely because Finley tried to sell baseball tickets like he sold insurance. Just before the 1960 season, he mailed brochures to 600,000 people in

6360-468: The era. In 1955, the Kansas City Athletics drew 1,393,054 to Municipal Stadium, a club record easily surpassing the previous record of 945,076 in 1948; in fact, it was the third-highest attendance figure in the majors, behind only the all-powerful Yankees and the also recently relocated Milwaukee Braves in the National League (1953–1965). That number would never be approached again while the team

6466-463: The existing lease at Municipal Stadium which included the despised "escape clause". He spent over $ 400,000 of his own money in stadium improvements (though in 1962 the city reimbursed $ 300,000 of this). He introduced new uniforms which had "Kansas City" on the road uniforms for the first time ever and an interlocking "KC" on the cap. This was the first time the franchise had acknowledged its home city on its uniforms. He announced, "My intentions are to keep

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6572-422: The famed short fence in right field at Yankee Stadium , home of the powerful Yankees . The move was quickly vetoed by the league, so Finley rebuilt the fence to the bare legal minimum of 325 feet (99 m), and repainted the fence to say "One-Half Pennant Porch". Later he tried the ruse of putting a canopy over the little bleacher, which just happened to have an extension that reached out 29 feet (9 m) over

6678-459: The feat in a longer season, and disallowed any reference to him as the record-holder. When commissioner Fay Vincent removed "The Asterisk" in 1991, Maris was finally given credit as the single-season home run record-holder. However, Maris had died in 1985, never knowing that the record belonged to him. In addition to the individual exploits of Maris and Mantle, the '61 Yankees hit a major league record 240 home runs. The record stood until 1996 when

6784-432: The field. The league, not amused by Finley's sense of humor, again ordered him to cease and desist. According to legend, on a road trip that the A's made to New York, a Yankee hitter lofted a long fly ball to left field which, in the cavernous left field of Yankee Stadium, became a routine out. Yankees public address announcer Bob Sheppard is alleged to have then said over the microphone, "In Kansas City, that would have been

6890-551: The final hit. Four days prior Gene Tenace of the Oakland A's hit the final home run, and John Mayberry hit the final Royals home run the night before. Franchise owner Lamar Hunt moved the Dallas Texans of the fledgling American Football League (AFL) to Kansas City after the 1962 season, becoming the Kansas City Chiefs . The stadium was retrofitted for football. The playing field ran an unconventional east–west, along

6996-400: The first base line. Temporary stands were erected in left field to expand the stadium's capacity each fall, but had to be removed during the baseball season. Due to the lower capacity without the temporary bleachers, the Chiefs opened almost every season between 1963 and 1971 with three or more consecutive road games, except 1968, the year in between the Athletics' final season in Kansas City and

7102-478: The first place Detroit Tigers . Following the July 21 game, Bauer would retire from playing and take on the manager role exclusively. August would see Finley replace Lane with Pat Friday as general manager, though his sole qualification for the job was that he managed one of Finley's insurance offices. With the firing of Lane in 1961, Finley effectively became the team's de facto general manager, and would remain so for

7208-536: The first time in the history of the franchise. By 1966, the A's were reckoned as having the strongest farm system in the majors. He was assisted by the creation of the Major League 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

7314-437: The footings until they could no longer support the weight of an upper deck. City officials elected to completely demolish the stadium and rebuild them from scratch. The city ran three shifts and the new stadium was built in 90 days, faithful to the original design, completed in time for the 1955 season opener. The new construction was financed by a bond issuance. The expanded stadium was supposed to seat 38,000, but cost overruns as

7420-684: The franchise to Kansas City after the NPSL and the United Soccer Association formed the North American Soccer League (NASL) in 1967. The Spurs, under Coach Janos Bedl , led the league in attendance, with an average of 8,510 fans. Because of scheduling conflicts with Royals baseball and Chiefs football, the Spurs relocated home matches to the football stadium at Pembroke High School for the 1970 season before

7526-406: The franchise's traditional color scheme of red, white, and blue. The home uniforms was a plain white uniform with script "Athletics" across the chest. The road uniforms were the same save for the shirt being gray. Following the purchase of the team in 1960 by owner Charles O. Finley , he introduced road uniforms with "Kansas City" printed on them, with an interlocking "KC" on the cap (as opposed to

7632-399: The greatest minor league teams of all time. That team was led by Hall of Fame player (and future Yankee Announcer) Phil Rizzuto and Vince Dimaggio , who hit 46 home runs. A young Mickey Mantle hit .361 with 11 HR for the Blues in 1951. Mickey Mantle , Whitey Ford , Ralph Houk , Al Rosen , Billy Martin , Bill Virdon , Johnny Mize and Elston Howard were some of the players in

7738-574: The home of its second expansion team, the Seattle Pilots . It soon became apparent that while Kansas City had an MLB-caliber stadium and well-capitalized ownership, Seattle had neither. The Pilots' stadium and financial problems combined to make them an unviable franchise, and they were ultimately sold and moved to Milwaukee after only one season in Seattle. When the Philadelphia Athletics moved to Kansas City, new owner Arnold Johnson kept

7844-636: The large scoreboard was in this end of the stadium. Due to the fence, there was significantly less room between the end line and the fence of the east end zone than there was in the west end zone, where there was a significant amount of room between the end line and the grandstand. The Chiefs were 44–16–3 (.722) in their tenure at Municipal Stadium and had a roster of Hall of Fame players: Quarterback Len Dawson , Defensive End Buck Buchanan , defensive tackle Curley Culp , Linebackers Bobby Bell and Willie Lanier , defensive backs Emmitt Thomas and Johnny Robinson , and Kicker Jan Stenerud . Lamar Hunt himself

7950-532: The lease-burning stunt, it was discovered that what actually burned was a blank boilerplate commercial lease available at any stationery store. The actual lease was still in force—including the escape clause. Finley later admitted that the whole thing was a publicity stunt, and he had no intention of amending the lease. In 1961 and 1962, Finley talked to people in Dallas–Fort Worth and a four-man group appeared before American League owners, but no formal motion

8056-691: The local media as a term for the AFL–NFL Championship Game, a phrase that was later adopted as the name. Super Bowl IV was the last game played before the merger of the AFL and NFL They moved to Arrowhead Stadium in the Truman Sports Complex for the 1972 season. The Chiefs' final game at Municipal Stadium was played on Christmas Day 1971 and was historic. Despite a brilliant game by the Chiefs' Ed Podolak , who had 350 total yards from scrimmage, an NFL playoff record that still stands,

8162-480: The month to play one game. This game would make Paige the oldest player to ever play in Major League Baseball. Paige went three scoreless innings, facing ten batters and giving up only one hit and throwing one strikeout. The 1966 season would see Finley replace general manager Hank Peters and manager Haywood Sullivan with Eddie Lopat and Alvin Dark , respectively. The new duo would oversee

8268-409: The nickname " Murderers Row ", because they hit a combined 207 home runs that year. The title "Murderers Row", originally coined in 1918, had most famously been used to refer to the Yankees side of the late 1920s. As mid-season approached, it seemed quite possible that either Maris or Mantle, or perhaps both, would break Babe Ruth's 34-year-old home run record. Unlike the home run race of 1998, in which

8374-477: The ninth place Washington Senators , manager Mel McGaha was fired following the game on May 15. Manager of the team's Triple-A affiliate Vancouver Mounties of the Pacific Coast League , Haywood Sullivan , was promoted to manager of the major league team. Under his supervision, the team played at an improved , though the team would still barely see a day out of last place. The season ended with

8480-519: The only one voting in favor. Six weeks later, by the same 9–1 margin, the AL owners denied Finley's request to move the team to Oakland . These requests came as no surprise, as impending moves to these cities, as well as to Atlanta , Milwaukee , New Orleans , San Diego , and Seattle —all of which Finley had considered as new homes for the Athletics—had long been afloat. He also threatened to move

8586-519: The previous "A"). In 1963, Finley changed the team's colors from their traditional red, white, and blue to what he termed "Kelly Green, Wedding Gown White and Fort Knox Gold". It was here that he began experimenting with dramatic uniforms to match these bright colors, such as gold sleeveless tops with green undershirts and gold pants. During the Johnson years, the Athletics' home attendance averaged just under one million per season, respectable numbers for

8692-592: The property before acquiring the Athletics. Johnson had also bought Blues Stadium in Kansas City, home of the Yankees' top Triple A level Minor league baseball farm team, the Kansas City Blues of the second American Association . After Johnson got permission from the American League to move the A's to Kansas City, he sold Blues Stadium to the city, which renamed it Kansas City Municipal Stadium and leased it back to Johnson. The lease gave Johnson

8798-529: The rest of the season. By season's end, the Athletics finished in ninth, with a record of 61–100 (.379) , 24 games behind the World Series winning New York Yankees . The poor showing led to Finley to fire manager Hank Bauer following the conclusion of the season. Following the firing of Hank Bauer , Finley promoted Eddie Lopat from pitching coach to manager for the 1963 season. The season started with promising results, as they were competitive with at least four other teams for first place through May, having

8904-432: The right-field fence. When home runs were hit into the field the goats and sheep would scamper up the hill. At the same time, Finley replaced the Athletics' old elephant mascot with a live mule, appropriately named " Charlie-O ". At home plate a mechanical rabbit, nicknamed "Harvey" in reference to the stage play Harvey (1944) and the subsequent film of the same name (1950), rose out of the ground with new baseballs for

9010-448: The rosters included: Hank Aaron , Ted Williams , Mickey Mantle , Willie Mays , Roberto Clemente (His first All-Star Game), Stan Musial , Yogi Berra , Roger Maris , Whitey Ford , Brooks Robinson , Ernie Banks , Eddie Mathews , Bill Mazeroski , Al Kaline , Orlando Cepeda , Nellie Fox and Luis Aparicio . Ernie Banks , Del Crandall and Al Kaline hit home runs in the contest. On September 17, 1964, The Beatles played

9116-421: The sale, to the point of planting rumors in the press to derail an 11th-hour attempt to keep the A's in Philadelphia. Rumors abounded that Johnson's real motive was to operate the Athletics in Kansas City for a few years, then move the team to Los Angeles (the Brooklyn Dodgers would later move there after the 1957 season). Whatever the concern about the move to Kansas City, fans turned out in record numbers for

9222-463: The season in last place, but not before finishing the month in third place following an 11-game winning streak to bring the team record to 50–49 (.505) and 8½ games behind on July 30. The success would not last long, as after having a great July of 19–10 (.655) , what followed was a dismal August of 9–20 (.310) , which saw the team fall to seventh place, and an even more dismal September of 7–18 (.280) . The Athletics would remain in seventh place until

9328-459: The season, the team was roughly an average team, though as the season progressed, would slowly fall in the standings. From June 20 through the end of the season, the team hovered between seventh and eighth place. Prior to the August 6 game against the Chicago White Sox , the Athletics fired manager Lou Boudreau on August 6 following a 36–67 (.350) record, and Harry Craft was elevated from coach to manager. Following Craft's elevation to manager,

9434-434: The season. Their record was 74–86 (.463) , 23 games behind the World Series winning Baltimore Orioles . The final season of the Athletics in Kansas City was reflective of the team's tenure in Kansas City : that of mediocrity. From April to May, the team slowly improved from being a "second division" to " first division " team, having placed in the upper half of the league, even placing as high as third by May 25 (albeit in

9540-405: The second-best season of the Athletics in Kansas City, second only to the 1958 season. This relative success was not before starting the season with a 3–14 (.176) record by May 5, which was the worst start of the Athletics tenure in Kansas City. The team spent most of the season wavering between eighth and last place, though September saw the Athletics improve to seventh place, where they finished

9646-547: The stadium as part of their first U.S. tour . The date was originally supposed to be an off-day for the band following a concert in New Orleans , but they agreed to perform when Finley offered their manager, Brian Epstein , a then-record sum of $ 150,000 (equivalent to $ 1.14 million in 2014). The group opened the Thursday night concert by saluting the host town with their medley of " Kansas City " and " Hey, Hey, Hey, Hey ";

9752-471: The team name "Athletics" in favor of simply "A's". Some of his other changes—for instance, his repeated attempts to mimic Yankee Stadium's famous right-field "home run porch"—were less successful. AL President Joe Cronin ordered Finley to remove the fence which duplicated the 296-foot right-field foul line in Yankee Stadium. Smarting from this edict from the league office, Finley ordered Municipal Stadium PA announcer Jack Layton to announce, "That would have been

9858-528: The team's new home. A week later on October 18 in Chicago, AL owners at last gave him permission to move the Athletics to Oakland for the 1968 season. According to some reports, Cronin promised Finley that he could move the team after the 1967 season as an incentive to sign the new lease with Municipal Stadium. The move came in spite of approval by voters in Jackson County, Missouri of a bond issue for

9964-431: The team, the A's only had three scouts in the entire organization. Johnson did make some improvements to the farm system, but was unwilling to pay top dollar for players that could get the A's within sight of contention. In the inaugural season of the Athletics in Kansas City, under new manager Lou Boudreau , saw the team slightly improve compared to the final dismal years in Philadelphia, but still perform poorly. Prior to

10070-411: The umpire and a compressed-air device (nicknamed "Little Blowhard") blew dirt off of home plate. Reggie Jackson , Sal Bando , Catfish Hunter , Joe Rudi and Gene Tenace were some young A's players who debuted in Kansas City and went on to lead them in their World Series victories in Oakland. Hunter and Jackson would earn Hall of Fame induction. Municipal Stadium's fate was sealed when, as part of

10176-466: The uniforms, Kelly green is the Athletics' accent color. It was more a nauseous green the players wore on their wholesome, clean-cut faces the first few times they had to appear in public looking like refugees from a softball league. Finley replaced Mack's elephant with a Missouri mule —not just a cartoon logo, but a real mule, which he named after himself: " Charlie O, the Mule ". He also began phasing out

10282-426: The worst record in the American League in 1964, had the first pick in the first draft, selecting Rick Monday on June 8, 1965. In regards to managing the team, Finley would hire general managers Pat Friday , Hank Peters , and Eddie Lopat between 1961 and 1967, though they mere figureheads. With the firing of Frank Lane in 1961, Finley effectively became the team's de facto general manager, and would remain so for

10388-585: Was a top-level farm team for the Pittsburgh Pirates and New York Yankees . The franchise was an AA team (1923–1945) and then an AAA team (1946–54). The city's longtime support of the Blues played a major role in helping it land a Major League Baseball team. As one of the Yankees' top farm teams (sharing that status with the Newark Bears for much of the time) the Blues had many great players and successes. The 1939 Blues have been called one of

10494-556: Was an expansion year, with the American League increasing from eight to ten teams, the first expansion in the 61-year history of the league. The old schedule of 154 games (seven opponents multiplied by 22 games apiece) was replaced by 162 games (nine opponents multiplied by 18 games apiece) which led to some controversy due to the eight extra games that Maris had to try to hit 61. Ultimately, when Maris broke Ruth’s record in game 162, baseball commissioner Ford Frick instigated "The Asterisk", which designated that Maris had only accomplished

10600-409: Was held at the stadium in 1924 . The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum , founded in 1990, is a few blocks from the site. The stadium consisted of a single-decked, mostly covered, grandstand, extending from the right-field foul pole down and around most of the left-field line. When the New York Yankees bought the Blues as its top farm team in 1937, the stadium was renamed Ruppert Stadium in honor of

10706-411: Was in Kansas City, and would remain the club record for attendance until 1982—the Athletics' 15th season in Oakland. The A's of this era were barely competitive; in five years under Johnson's ownership, the closest they got to a winning record was 1958 , when they finished 73–81, eight games below .500 and 19 games out of first. During Johnson's tenure, virtually every good young A's player was traded to

10812-410: Was initially viewed as a hero for making Kansas City a major-league town, it soon became apparent that he was motivated more by profit than any particular regard for the baseball fans of Kansas City. He had long been a business associate of New York Yankees owners Dan Topping , Larry MacPhail , and Del Webb , and had even bought Yankee Stadium in 1953, though the league owners forced Johnson to sell

10918-522: Was managed by Ralph Houk . The Yankees played their home games at Yankee Stadium . In the World Series , they defeated the Cincinnati Reds in 5 games. This season was best known for the home run chase between Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle , with the former beating Babe Ruth 's single season record by hitting 61. The 1961 Yankees are often mentioned as a candidate for the unofficial title of greatest baseball team in history. The 1961 season

11024-407: Was notable for the race between center fielder Mickey Mantle and right fielder Roger Maris to break Babe Ruth 's record of 60 home runs in a season (set in 1927). Maris eventually broke the record, hitting his 61st home run on October 1, the season's final day. During the season, Maris had seven multi-home run games; in a doubleheader against the Chicago White Sox , he hit four home runs. 1961

11130-437: Was put forward to move the team to Texas. In January 1964 , he signed an agreement on to move the A's to Louisville , promising to change the team's name to the "Kentucky Athletics". (Other names suggested for the team were the "Louisville Sluggers" and "Kentucky Colonels", which would have allowed the team to keep the letters "KC" on their uniforms.) The owners turned it down by a 9–1 margin on January 16, with Finley being

11236-519: Was the first Chief elected to the Hall, as his role as a league pioneer resulted in pro football growing from 12 to 26 franchises in the 1960s. In one of the great performances at the stadium, the Chiefs' Hall of Fame Quarterback Len Dawson passed for 435 yards and 6 Touchdowns against the Denver Broncos on November 1, 1964. While at Municipal Stadium, the Chiefs were successful, representing

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