1963 Kansas City Athletics season
1963 Kansas City Athletics | |
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Major League affiliations | |
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Other information | |
Owner(s) | Charles O. Finley |
General manager(s) | Pat Friday |
Manager(s) | Ed Lopat |
Local television | KCMO |
Local radio |
KCMO (AM) (Monte Moore, George Bryson) |
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The 1963 Kansas City Athletics season was the ninth for the franchise in Kansas City and the 63rd overall. It involved the A's finishing 8th in the American League with a record of 73 wins and 89 losses, 31½ games behind the AL Champion New York Yankees. The 1963 season was also the first season in which the Athletics debuted their current color scheme of green and gold.
Regular season
- Owner Charlie Finley changed the team's colors to Kelly green, Fort Knox Gold and Wedding Gown White, and replaced Connie Mack's elephant mascot with a Missouri mule — not just a cartoon logo, but a real mule, which he named after himself: "Charlie O, the Mule." In reading the Chicago Tribune, Charlie Finley read about the Missouri Mule, a mule which helped troops in World War I carry ammunition. Finley decided that a mule would become the club's new mascot.[1]
- He also began phasing out the team name "Athletics" in favor of simply, "A's." In June 1963, Bill Bryson wrote of 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.[2]
- Owner Charlie Finley was upset about his stadium deal with Kansas City. He had visited Dallas, Texas and Oakland, California as prospective places for relocation.[3] Finley also talked to Atlanta Journal sportswriter Furman Bisher about relocating the A's to Atlanta. Later in the season, Finley made threats of moving the club to Louisville, Kentucky and renaming the franchise the Kentucky Colonels.[4] As a sign of protest, Finley relocated the A's offices from the stadium to the garage of team scout J Bowman.[5]
Season standings
American League | W | L | Pct. | GB |
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New York Yankees | 104 | 57 | .646 | -- |
Chicago White Sox | 94 | 68 | .580 | 10.5 |
Minnesota Twins | 91 | 70 | .565 | 13 |
Baltimore Orioles | 86 | 76 | .531 | 18.5 |
Cleveland Indians | 79 | 83 | .488 | 25.5 |
Detroit Tigers | 79 | 83 | .488 | 25.5 |
Boston Red Sox | 76 | 85 | .472 | 28 |
Kansas City Athletics | 73 | 89 | .451 | 31.5 |
Los Angeles Angels | 70 | 91 | .435 | 34 |
Washington Senators | 56 | 106 | .346 | 48.5 |
Record vs. opponents
1963 American League Records Sources: | |||||||||||||
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Team | BAL | BOS | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | LAA | MIN | NYY | WSH | |||
Baltimore | — | 7–11 | 7–11 | 10–8 | 13–5 | 9–9 | 9–9 | 9–9 | 7–11 | 15–3 | |||
Boston | 11–7 | — | 8–10 | 10–8 | 9–9 | 7–11 | 9–8 | 7–11 | 6–12 | 9–9 | |||
Chicago | 11–7 | 10–8 | — | 11–7 | 11–7 | 12–6 | 10–8 | 8–10 | 8–10 | 13–5 | |||
Cleveland | 8–10 | 8–10 | 7–11 | — | 10–8 | 11–7 | 10–8 | 5–13 | 7–11 | 13–5 | |||
Detroit | 5–13 | 9–9 | 7–11 | 8–10 | — | 13–5 | 12–6 | 8–10 | 8–10 | 9–9 | |||
Kansas City | 9–9 | 11–7 | 6–12 | 7–11 | 5–13 | — | 10–8 | 9–9 | 6–12 | 10–8 | |||
Los Angeles | 9–9 | 8–9 | 8–10 | 8–10 | 6–12 | 8–10 | — | 9–9 | 5–13 | 9–9 | |||
Minnesota | 9–9 | 11–7 | 10–8 | 13–5 | 10–8 | 9–9 | 9–9 | — | 6–11 | 14–4 | |||
New York | 11–7 | 12–6 | 10–8 | 11–7 | 10–8 | 12–6 | 13–5 | 11–6 | — | 14–4 | |||
Washington | 3–15 | 9–9 | 5–13 | 5–13 | 9–9 | 8–10 | 9–9 | 4–14 | 4–14 | — |
Notable transactions
- May 25, 1963: Joe Azcue and Dick Howser were traded by the Athletics to the Cleveland Indians for Doc Edwards and $100,000.[6]
- May 26, 1963: Sammy Esposito was signed as a free agent by the Athletics.[7]
Roster
1963 Kansas City Athletics | |||||||||
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Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
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Catchers
Infielders
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Outfielders
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Manager
Coaches
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Player stats
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 |
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C | Edwards, DocDoc Edwards | 71 | 240 | 60 | .250 | 6 | 35 |
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 |
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Howser, DickDick Howser | 15 | 41 | 8 | .195 | 0 | 1 |
Azcue, JoeJoe Azcue | 2 | 4 | 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 |
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Drabowsky, MoeMoe Drabowsky | 26 | 174.1 | 7 | 13 | 3.05 | 109 |
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 |
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Bowsfield, TedTed Bowsfield | 41 | 111.1 | 5 | 7 | 4.45 | 67 |
Bass, NormNorm Bass | 3 | 7.2 | 0 | 0 | 11.74 | 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 |
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Wyatt, JohnJohn Wyatt | 63 | 6 | 4 | 21 | 3.13 | 81 |
Awards and honors
- Norm Siebern, reserve[8]
Farm system
Level | Team | League | Manager |
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AAA | Portland Beavers | Pacific Coast League | Les Peden and Dan Carnevale |
AA | Binghamton Triplets | Eastern League | John McNamara |
A | Daytona Beach Islanders | Florida State League | Bobby Hofman |
A | Burlington Bees | Midwest League | Grady Wilson |
A | Lewiston Broncos | Northwest League | Bill Robertson |
References
- ↑ Charlie Finley: The Outrageous Story of Baseball's Super Showman, p.88, G. Michael Green and Roger D. Launius. Walker Publishing Company, New York, 2010, ISBN 978-0-8027-1745-0
- ↑ Bryson, Bill (June 1963). "Whose Hues? A's colored uniforms recall varied suits of the past". Baseball Digest. pp. 33, 34. Retrieved June 3, 2009.
- ↑ Charlie Finley: The Outrageous Story of Baseball's Super Showman, p.70, G. Michael Green and Roger D. Launius. Walker Publishing Company, New York, 2010, ISBN 978-0-8027-1745-0
- ↑ Charlie Finley: The Outrageous Story of Baseball's Super Showman, p.71, G. Michael Green and Roger D. Launius. Walker Publishing Company, New York, 2010, ISBN 978-0-8027-1745-0
- ↑ Charlie Finley: The Outrageous Story of Baseball's Super Showman, p.72, G. Michael Green and Roger D. Launius. Walker Publishing Company, New York, 2010, ISBN 978-0-8027-1745-0
- ↑ Joe Azcue page at Baseball-Reference
- ↑ Sammy Esposito page at Baseball-Reference
- ↑ http://baseball-almanac.com/asgbox/yr1963as.shtml
External links
- 1963 Kansas City Athletics team page at Baseball Reference
- 1963 Kansas City Athletics team page at www.baseball-almanac.com