1954 Philadelphia Athletics season
Major League Baseball team season
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The 1954 Philadelphia Athletics season involved the A's finishing eighth in the American League with a record of 51 wins and 103 losses, 60 games behind AL Champion Cleveland in their 54th and final season in Philadelphia, before moving to Kansas City, Missouri for the following season.
| 1954 Philadelphia Athletics | |
|---|---|
| League | American League |
| Ballpark | Connie Mack Stadium |
| City | Philadelphia |
| Record | 51–103 (.331) |
| League place | 8th |
| Owners | Earle Mack, Roy Mack |
| Managers | Eddie Joost |
| Television | WPTZ/WCAU/WFIL (By Saam, Claude Haring) |
| Radio | WIBG/WIP (By Saam, Claude Haring, Herb Carneal) |
Offseason
- February 19, 1954: Dave Philley was traded by the Athletics to the Cleveland Indians for Bill Upton and Lee Wheat.[1]
Regular season
The Athletics played the Philadelphia Phillies for the last time in their Philadelphia City Series on June 28, 1954 in the seventh annual Junior Baseball Federation of Philadelphia benefit exhibition game.[2] The Phillies beat the Athletics 3 to 2 in 7 innings in front of 15,993 fans.[3]
Season standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cleveland Indians | 111 | 43 | .721 | — | 59–18 | 52–25 |
| New York Yankees | 103 | 51 | .669 | 8 | 54–23 | 49–28 |
| Chicago White Sox | 94 | 60 | .610 | 17 | 45–32 | 49–28 |
| Boston Red Sox | 69 | 85 | .448 | 42 | 38–39 | 31–46 |
| Detroit Tigers | 68 | 86 | .442 | 43 | 35–42 | 33–44 |
| Washington Senators | 66 | 88 | .429 | 45 | 37–41 | 29–47 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 54 | 100 | .351 | 57 | 32–45 | 22–55 |
| Philadelphia Athletics | 51 | 103 | .331 | 60 | 29–47 | 22–56 |
Record vs. opponents
Sources: | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | BAL | BOS | CWS | CLE | DET | NYY | PHA | WSH | |||||
| Baltimore | — | 11–11 | 7–15 | 3–19 | 8–14 | 5–17 | 10–12 | 10–12 | |||||
| Boston | 11–11 | — | 5–17 | 2–20–2 | 14–8 | 9–13 | 15–7 | 13–9 | |||||
| Chicago | 15–7 | 17–5 | — | 11–11 | 12–10–1 | 7–15 | 17–5 | 15–7 | |||||
| Cleveland | 19–3 | 20–2–2 | 11–11 | — | 14–8 | 11–11 | 18–4 | 18–4 | |||||
| Detroit | 14–8 | 8–14 | 10–12–1 | 8–14 | — | 6–16 | 13–9 | 9–13 | |||||
| New York | 17–5 | 13–9 | 15–7 | 11–11 | 16–6 | — | 18–4–1 | 13–9 | |||||
| Philadelphia | 12–10 | 7–15 | 5–17 | 4–18 | 9–13 | 4–18–1 | — | 10–12–1 | |||||
| Washington | 12–10 | 9–13 | 7–15 | 4–18 | 13–9 | 9–13 | 12–10–1 | — | |||||
Notable transactions
- June 11, 1954: Morrie Martin and Ed McGhee were traded by the Athletics to the Chicago White Sox for Sonny Dixon, Al Sima, Bill Wilson, and $20,000.[4]
| 1954 Philadelphia Athletics | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | Joe Astroth | 77 | 226 | 50 | .221 | 1 | 23 |
| 1B | Lou Limmer | 115 | 316 | 73 | .231 | 14 | 32 |
| 2B | Spook Jacobs | 132 | 508 | 131 | .258 | 0 | 26 |
| SS | Joe DeMaestri | 146 | 539 | 124 | .230 | 8 | 40 |
| 3B | Jim Finigan | 136 | 487 | 147 | .302 | 7 | 51 |
| LF | Gus Zernial | 97 | 336 | 84 | .250 | 14 | 62 |
| CF | Bill Wilson | 94 | 323 | 77 | .238 | 15 | 33 |
| RF | Bill Renna | 123 | 422 | 98 | .232 | 13 | 53 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vic Power | 127 | 462 | 118 | .255 | 8 | 38 |
| Don Bollweg | 103 | 268 | 60 | .224 | 5 | 24 |
| Elmer Valo | 95 | 224 | 48 | .214 | 1 | 33 |
| Pete Suder | 69 | 205 | 41 | .200 | 0 | 16 |
| Billy Shantz | 51 | 164 | 42 | .256 | 1 | 17 |
| Jim Robertson | 63 | 147 | 27 | .184 | 0 | 8 |
| Joe Taylor | 18 | 58 | 13 | .224 | 1 | 8 |
| Ed McGhee | 21 | 53 | 11 | .208 | 2 | 9 |
| Eddie Joost | 19 | 47 | 17 | .362 | 1 | 9 |
| Jack Littrell | 9 | 30 | 9 | .300 | 1 | 3 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arnie Portocarrero | 34 | 248.0 | 9 | 18 | 4.06 | 132 |
| Alex Kellner | 27 | 173.2 | 6 | 17 | 5.39 | 69 |
| Bob Trice | 19 | 119.0 | 7 | 8 | 5.60 | 22 |
| Johnny Gray | 18 | 105.0 | 3 | 12 | 6.51 | 51 |
| Carl Scheib | 1 | 2.0 | 0 | 1 | 22.50 | 1 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marion Fricano | 37 | 151.2 | 5 | 11 | 5.16 | 43 |
| Charlie Bishop | 20 | 96.0 | 4 | 6 | 4.41 | 34 |
| Al Sima | 29 | 79.1 | 2 | 5 | 5.22 | 36 |
| Morrie Martin | 13 | 52.2 | 2 | 4 | 5.47 | 24 |
| Art Ditmar | 14 | 39.1 | 1 | 4 | 6.41 | 14 |
| Lee Wheat | 8 | 28.1 | 0 | 2 | 5.72 | 7 |
| Ozzie Van Brabant | 9 | 26.2 | 0 | 2 | 7.09 | 10 |
| Bill Oster | 8 | 15.2 | 0 | 1 | 6.32 | 5 |
| Bobby Shantz | 2 | 8.0 | 1 | 0 | 7.88 | 3 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Moe Burtschy | 46 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3.80 | 54 |
| Sonny Dixon | 38 | 5 | 7 | 4 | 4.86 | 42 |
| Dutch Romberger | 10 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 11.49 | 6 |
| Bill Upton | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.80 | 2 |
| Dick Rozek | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.75 | 0 |
| Hal Raether | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.50 | 0 |
Farm system
| Level | Team | League | Manager |
|---|---|---|---|
| AAA | Ottawa Athletics | International League | Les Bell and Taft Wright |
| A | Savannah Indians | Sally League | Clyde Kluttz |
| B | Lancaster Red Roses | Piedmont League | Kemp Wicker, Lena Blackburne and Buddy Walker |
| C | Drummondville A's | Provincial League | Hank Biasatti |
| D | Welch Miners | Appalachian League | Jack Crosswhite |
| D | Hopkinsville Hoppers | KITTY League | Ed Wright, Bearl Brooks and Paul Ramsey |