1965 Kansas City Athletics season

1965 Kansas City Athletics
Major League affiliations
American League (since 1901)
Location
Municipal Stadium (since 1955)
Kansas City, Missouri (since 1955)
Other information
Owner(s)	Charles O. Finley
General manager(s)	Pat Friday, Hank Peters
Manager(s)	Mel McGaha, Haywood Sullivan
Local television	KCMO
Local radio	KCMO (AM) (Monte Moore, Red Rush)
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The 1965 Kansas City Athletics season was the eleventh for the franchise in Kansas City and the 65th in its overall history. It involved the A's finishing 10th in the American League with a record of 59 wins and 103 losses, 43 games behind the American League Champion Minnesota Twins. The paid attendance for the season was 528,344, the lowest in the major leagues (and the lowest ever by the A's in Kansas City).^[1] The club won 59 games, their worst showing since the A's moved to Kansas City.

Offseason

• January 20, 1965: Rocky Colavito was traded by the Athletics to the Cleveland Indians as part of a three-team trade. Jim Landis, Mike Hershberger and a player to be named later were sent by the Chicago White Sox to the Athletics. Tommy John, Tommie Agee and Johnny Romano were sent by the Indians to the White Sox, and Cam Carreon was sent by the White Sox to the Indians. The White Sox completed the deal by sending Fred Talbot to the Athletics on February 10.^[2]

Regular season

• April 6, 1965: Hank Peters was named General Manager.^[3]
• The A's lost 21 of their first 26 games. On May 15, manager Mel McGaha was replaced by AAA manager Haywood Sullivan. At the age of 34, Sullivan was the youngest manager in the major leagues.^[4]
• Owner Charlie Finley steadily built up the team's farm system. He was assisted by the creation of the 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 the worst record in the American League in 1964, had the first pick in the first draft, selecting Rick Monday on June 8, 1965.

Promotions

• Club owner Charlie Finley had a pitchometer on the scoreboard. In an attempt to speed up the game, it was a way to measure the time a pitcher spent in between pitches thrown.^[5] Finley installed a small zoo in the club picnic area to generate interest in the ball club with small children.
• September 8, 1965: The Campy Camp Night promotion was held as Bert Campaneris played every position in the field.^[6]
• In a promotional move, Finley signed Satchel Paige on September 10,^[7] 58 years old at the time, for one game. On September 25, against the Boston Red Sox, Finley invited several Negro League veterans, including Cool Papa Bell, to be introduced before the game. Paige was in the bullpen, sitting on a rocking chair, being served coffee by a "nurse" between innings.^[8] He started the game by getting Jim Gosger out on a pop foul. The next man, Dalton Jones, reached first and went to second on an infield error, but was thrown out trying to reach third on a pitch in the dirt. Carl Yastrzemski doubled and Tony Conigliaro hit a fly ball to end the inning. The next six batters went down in order, including a strikeout of Bill Monbouquette. In the fourth inning, Paige took the mound, to be removed according to plan by Haywood Sullivan. He walked off to a boisterous ovation despite the small crowd of 9,000. The lights dimmed and, led by the PA announcer, the fans lit matches and cigarette lighters while singing "The Old Gray Mare."

Season standings

American League	W	L	Pct.	GB
Minnesota Twins	102	60	.630	--
Chicago White Sox	95	67	.586	7
Baltimore Orioles	94	68	.580	8
Detroit Tigers	89	73	.549	13
Cleveland Indians	87	75	.537	15
New York Yankees	77	85	.475	25
California Angels	75	87	.463	27
Washington Senators	70	92	.432	32
Boston Red Sox	62	100	.383	40
Kansas City Athletics	59	103	.364	43

Record vs. opponents

1965 American League Records Sources:
Team	BAL	BOS	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	LAA/ CAL	MIN	NYY	WSH
Baltimore	—	11–7	9–9	10–8	11–7	11–7	13–5	8–10	13–5	8–10
Boston	7–11	—	4–14	8–10	6–12	11–7	5–13	1–17	9–9	11–7
Chicago	9–9	14–4	—	10–8	9–9	13–5	12–6	7–11	8–10	13–5
Cleveland	8–10	10–8	8–10	—	9–9	9–9	9–9	11–7	12–6	11–7
Detroit	7–11	12–6	9–9	9–9	—	13–5	10–8	8–10	10–8	11–7
Kansas City	7–11	7–11	5–13	9–9	5–13	—	5–13	8–10	7–11	6–12
Los Angeles/California	5–13	13–5	6–12	9–9	8–10	13–5	—	9–9	6–12	6–12
Minnesota	10–8	17–1	11–7	7–11	10–8	10–8	9–9	—	13–5	15–3
New York	5–13	9–9	10–8	6–12	8–10	11–7	12–6	5–13	—	11–7
Washington	10–8	7–11	5–13	7–11	7–11	12–6	12–6	3–15	7–11	—

NOTE: The Los Angeles Angels changed their name to California Angels on September 2, 1965, with the season in progress.

Notable transactions

• May 3, 1965: Joe Rudi was selected off waivers from the Athletics by the Cleveland Indians as a first-year waiver pick.^[9]
• May 3, 1965: Doc Edwards was traded by the Athletics to the New York Yankees for Johnny Blanchard and Rollie Sheldon.^[10]
• May 28, 1965: Don Mossi was signed as a free agent by the Athletics.^[11]
• June 8, 1965: 1965 Major League Baseball Draft notable picks:^[12]

Round 1: Rick Monday (1st pick). Player signed June 15, 1965.^[13]

Round 2: Joe Keough ^[14]

Round 3: Bob Stinson (did not sign)

Round 4: Pete Koegel

Round 6: Sal Bando ^[15]

Round 7: Scott Reid (did not sign)

Round 10: George Lauzerique

Round 15: Bobby Brooks

Round 20: Gene Tenace

Round 28: Greg Garrett (did not sign)

• September 10, 1965: Satchel Paige was signed as a free agent by the Athletics.^[16]

Roster

1965 Kansas City Athletics
Roster
Pitchers 23 Jack Aker 20 Don Buschhorn 22 Jim Dickson 25 Moe Drabowsky 23,35 Tom Harrison 23 Jesse Hickman 27 Catfish Hunter 34 Dick Joyce 25 Lew Krausse 32 Paul Lindblad 14 Aurelio Monteagudo 43 Don Mossi 26 John O'Donoghue 13 Blue Moon Odom 29 Satchel Paige 24 Orlando Peña 27 Dan Pfister 29 José Santiago 17 Diego Seguí 15 Rollie Sheldon 18 Wes Stock 28 Fred Talbot 46 Ron Tompkins 33 John Wyatt		Catchers  9 Billy Bryan 10 Doc Edwards 37,11 Rene Lachemann Infielders 19 Bert Campaneris  2 Wayne Causey 16 Ed Charles  6 Jim Gentile  1 Dick Green 4,6 Ken Harrelson  8 Skip Lockwood 21 Santiago Rosario 21 Randy Schwartz		Outfielders 14 Johnny Blanchard 37 Lou Clinton  3 Mike Hershberger  7 Jim Landis  5 Nelson Mathews 12 Tommie Reynolds 24 Larry Stahl 10 José Tartabull Other batters 15,36 John Sanders		Manager 41 Mel McGaha 41 Haywood Sullivan Coaches 44 Luke Appling 49 Tom Ferrick 42 Gabby Hartnett 40 Whitey Herzog

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
CF	Landis, JimJim Landis	118	364	87	.239	3	36
RF	Hershberger, MikeMike Hershberger	150	494	114	.231	5	48

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
Mathews, NelsonNelson Mathews	67	184	39	.212	2	15

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
Paige, SatchelSatchel Paige	1	3	0	0	0.00	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
Buschhorn, DonDon Buschhorn	12	31	0	1	4.35	9

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
Dickson, JimJim Dickson	68	3	2	0	3.47	54
Wyatt, JohnJohn Wyatt	65	2	6	18	3.25	70
Aker, JackJack Aker	34	4	3	3	3.16	26

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Vancouver Mounties	Pacific Coast League	Haywood Sullivan and Bobby Hofman
AA	Birmingham Barons	Southern League	John McNamara
A	Leesburg Athletics	Florida State League	Tony Frulio
A	Burlington Bees	Midwest League	Gus Niarhos
A	Lewiston Broncos	Northwest League	Bobby Hofman, Bill Posedel and Al Ronning
A	Shelby Rebels	Western Carolinas League	Wes Ferrell and Jimmy Williams

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Burlington

References

1. Charlie Finley: The Outrageous Story of Baseball's Super Showman, p.92, G. Michael Green and Roger D. Launius. Walker Publishing Company, New York, 2010, ISBN 978-0-8027-1745-0
2. Tommy John page at Baseball Reference
3. Charlie Finley: The Outrageous Story of Baseball's Super Showman, p.78, G. Michael Green and Roger D. Launius. Walker Publishing Company, New York, 2010, ISBN 978-0-8027-1745-0
4. Charlie Finley: The Outrageous Story of Baseball's Super Showman, p.92, G. Michael Green and Roger D. Launius. Walker Publishing Company, New York, 2010, ISBN 978-0-8027-1745-0
5. Charlie Finley: The Outrageous Story of Baseball's Super Showman, p.86, G. Michael Green and Roger D. Launius. Walker Publishing Company, New York, 2010, ISBN 978-0-8027-1745-0
6. Charlie Finley: The Outrageous Story of Baseball's Super Showman, p.93, G. Michael Green and Roger D. Launius. Walker Publishing Company, New York, 2010, ISBN 978-0-8027-1745-0
7. Charlie Finley: The Outrageous Story of Baseball's Super Showman, p.93, G. Michael Green and Roger D. Launius. Walker Publishing Company, New York, 2010, ISBN 978-0-8027-1745-0
8. Charlie Finley: The Outrageous Story of Baseball's Super Showman, p.94, G. Michael Green and Roger D. Launius. Walker Publishing Company, New York, 2010, ISBN 978-0-8027-1745-0
9. Joe Rudi page at Baseball-Reference
10. Doc Edwards page at Baseball-Reference
11. Don Mossi page at Baseball-Reference
12. 1965 Kansas City Athletics Picks in the MLB June Amateur Draft
13. Rick Monday page at Baseball-Reference
14. Joe Keough page at Baseball-Reference
15. Sal Bando page at Baseball-Reference
16. Satchel Paige page at Baseball Reference

External links

• 1965 Kansas City Athletics team page at Baseball Reference
• 1965 Kansas City Athletics team page at www.baseball-almanac.com