1957 Kansas City Athletics season
Major League Baseball team season
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The 1957 Kansas City Athletics season, the third for the team in Kansas City and the 57th in MLB, involved the A's finishing seventh in the American League with a record of 59 wins and 94 losses, 38+1⁄2 games behind the American League Champion New York Yankees. The club drew 901,067 spectators, sixth in the league.
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| 1957 Kansas City Athletics | |
|---|---|
| |
| League | American League |
| Ballpark | Municipal Stadium |
| City | Kansas City, Missouri |
| Record | 59–94 (.386) |
| League place | 7th |
| Owners | Arnold Johnson |
| General managers | George Selkirk |
| Managers | Lou Boudreau, Harry Craft |
| Radio | KMBC (Merle Harmon, Ed Edwards) |
Offseason
- October 15, 1956: Bob Cerv was purchased by the Athletics from the New York Yankees.[1]
- February 19, 1957: Art Ditmar, Bobby Shantz, Jack McMahan, Wayne Belardi and players to be named later were traded by the Athletics to the New York Yankees for Irv Noren, Milt Graff, Mickey McDermott, Tom Morgan, Rip Coleman, Billy Hunter and a player to be named later. The Yankees completed their part of the deal by sending Jack Urban to the Athletics on April 5. The Athletics completed the deal by sending Curt Roberts to the Yankees on April 4 and Clete Boyer to the Yankees on June 4.[2]
- Prior to 1957 season: Lou Klimchock was signed as an amateur free agent by the Athletics.[3]
Regular season
- First baseman Vic Power became the first black player to lead the American League in fielding percentage at any position. He led all American League first basemen with a .998 fielding average.[4]
- Manager Lou Boudreau, in his third season at the helm, was fired August 4 with the Athletics standing at 36–67 (.350) and in eighth and last place in the American League. Coach Harry Craft, former skipper of the minor-league Kansas City Blues, succeeded Boudreau. Craft led the Athletics to a 23–27 mark, enabling them to escape the basement.
Season standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York Yankees | 98 | 56 | .636 | — | 48–29 | 50–27 |
| Chicago White Sox | 90 | 64 | .584 | 8 | 45–32 | 45–32 |
| Boston Red Sox | 82 | 72 | .532 | 16 | 44–33 | 38–39 |
| Detroit Tigers | 78 | 76 | .506 | 20 | 45–32 | 33–44 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 76 | 76 | .500 | 21 | 42–33 | 34–43 |
| Cleveland Indians | 76 | 77 | .497 | 21½ | 40–37 | 36–40 |
| Kansas City Athletics | 59 | 94 | .386 | 38½ | 37–40 | 22–54 |
| Washington Senators | 55 | 99 | .357 | 43 | 28–49 | 27–50 |
Record vs. opponents
Sources: | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | BAL | BOS | CWS | CLE | DET | KCA | NYY | WSH | |||||
| Baltimore | — | 8–14 | 10–12–1 | 9–12 | 9–13 | 16–5–1 | 9–13 | 15–7 | |||||
| Boston | 14–8 | — | 8–14 | 12–10 | 10–12 | 16–6 | 8–14 | 14–8 | |||||
| Chicago | 12–10–1 | 14–8 | — | 14–8 | 11–11 | 14–8 | 8–14 | 17–5 | |||||
| Cleveland | 12–9 | 10–12 | 8–14 | — | 11–11 | 11–11 | 9–13 | 15–7 | |||||
| Detroit | 13–9 | 12–10 | 11–11 | 11–11 | — | 8–14 | 10–12 | 13–9 | |||||
| Kansas City | 5–16–1 | 6–16 | 8–14 | 11–11 | 14–8 | — | 3–19 | 12–10 | |||||
| New York | 13–9 | 14–8 | 14–8 | 13–9 | 12–10 | 19–3 | — | 13–9 | |||||
| Washington | 7–15 | 8–14 | 5–17 | 7–15 | 9–13 | 10–12 | 9–13 | — | |||||
Notable transactions
- June 15, 1957: Ryne Duren, Jim Pisoni, and Harry Simpson were traded by the Athletics to the New York Yankees for Ralph Terry, Woodie Held, Billy Martin, and Bob Martyn.[5]
- August 1, 1957: Johnny Groth was purchased from the Athletics by the Detroit Tigers.[6]
- August 27, 1957: Al Aber was selected off waivers by the Athletics from the Detroit Tigers.[7]
Roster
| 1957 Kansas City Athletics | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
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Catchers
Infielders
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Outfielders
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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 | Hal Smith | 107 | 360 | 109 | .303 | 13 | 41 |
| 1B | Vic Power | 129 | 467 | 121 | .259 | 14 | 42 |
| 2B | Billy Hunter | 116 | 319 | 61 | .191 | 8 | 29 |
| SS | Joe DeMaestri | 135 | 461 | 113 | .245 | 9 | 33 |
| 3B | Héctor López | 121 | 391 | 115 | .294 | 11 | 35 |
| LF | Gus Zernial | 131 | 437 | 103 | .236 | 27 | 69 |
| CF | Woodie Held | 92 | 326 | 78 | .239 | 20 | 50 |
| RF | Lou Skizas | 119 | 376 | 92 | .245 | 18 | 44 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bob Cerv | 124 | 345 | 94 | .272 | 11 | 44 |
| Billy Martin | 73 | 265 | 68 | .257 | 9 | 27 |
| Tim Thompson | 81 | 230 | 47 | .204 | 7 | 19 |
| Harry Simpson | 50 | 179 | 53 | .296 | 6 | 24 |
| Irv Noren | 81 | 160 | 34 | .213 | 2 | 16 |
| Milt Graff | 56 | 155 | 28 | .181 | 0 | 10 |
| Bob Martyn | 58 | 131 | 35 | .267 | 1 | 12 |
| Jim Pisoni | 44 | 97 | 23 | .237 | 3 | 12 |
| Johnny Groth | 55 | 59 | 15 | .254 | 0 | 2 |
| Clete Boyer | 10 | 0 | 0 | ---- | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ned Garver | 24 | 145.1 | 6 | 13 | 3.84 | 61 |
| Alex Kellner | 28 | 132.2 | 6 | 5 | 4.27 | 72 |
| Ralph Terry | 21 | 130.2 | 4 | 11 | 3.38 | 80 |
Other 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tom Morgan | 46 | 143.2 | 9 | 7 | 4.64 | 32 |
| Jack Urban | 31 | 129.1 | 7 | 4 | 3.34 | 55 |
| Tom Gorman | 38 | 124.2 | 5 | 9 | 3.83 | 66 |
| Arnie Portocarrero | 33 | 114.2 | 4 | 9 | 3.92 | 42 |
| Wally Burnette | 38 | 113.0 | 7 | 12 | 4.30 | 57 |
| Ryne Duren | 14 | 42.2 | 0 | 3 | 5.27 | 37 |
| Rip Coleman | 19 | 41.0 | 0 | 7 | 5.93 | 15 |
| Gene Host | 11 | 23.2 | 0 | 2 | 7.23 | 9 |
| George Brunet | 4 | 11.1 | 0 | 1 | 5.56 | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Virgil Trucks | 48 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 3.03 | 55 |
| Mickey McDermott | 29 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 5.48 | 29 |
| Glenn Cox | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5.02 | 8 |
| Al Aber | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12.00 | 0 |
| Harry Taylor | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.12 | 4 |
| Dave Hill | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27.00 | 1 |
| Ed Blake | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.40 | 0 |
| Hal Raether | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9.00 | 0 |
Awards and honors
Farm system
| Level | Team | League | Manager |
|---|---|---|---|
| AAA | Buffalo Bisons | International League | Phil Cavarretta |
| AA | Little Rock Travelers | Southern Association | Al Evans |
| A | Columbia Gems | Sally League | Ernie White |
| B | Abilene Blue Sox | Big State League | Burl Storie |
| C | Crowley Millers | Evangeline League | Everett Robinson |
| C | Pocatello Athletics | Pioneer League | Vince Plumbo |
| D | Mattoon Athletics | Midwest League | Lew Krausse Sr. |
| D | Grand Island Athletics | Nebraska State League | Art Mazmanian |
| D | Seminole Oilers | Sooner State League | Lee Anthony |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Buffalo, Grand Island