The Peculiar Story of the Kansas City Athletics 

Both of them had numerous dry spells in between pennants and championships. To the Phillies credit, though swept in The '50 Series, the games were all close.

The Phillies were the last of the 16 original teams to win a World Series (1980).@@garyfaught3769

But there's more competition now in a larger league.

Lol true but in defense of the Phillies the A's had Connie Mack who was basically the Nick Saban of his time

@@heartman6314 Connie Mack put Nick Saban to shame!

Great job!!! For a baseball fan of over half a century, this is extremely entertaining

Not like roger maris who didn't like to run out grounf balls he.run half.way first go To the dugout like he had badfeet

How about the residents around old Municipal Stadium selling parking space in their yards?

same as baltimore before camden yards and $35 parking @@IncogNito-gg6uh

You talking about the handlebar mustache A's of the early 70's that beat the Big Red Machine in '72

Had the same experience once myself had about the same age. All I really wanted to see was Charlie over the mule!

Can you share one with us?

@@juliebraden6911It's been a few years but here's one that I laughed at. I'm sorry but I don't remember his name, but in one game, the 2nd string catcher was obviously hung over, and it was a hot day. Mack noticed that the player repeatedly used the water fountain in the dug out. The player wasn't expecting to play, but when Mack saw this, he put him the game, in the fifth inning. When you are told a humorous, but frankly mundane story like this, you know that it's not BS. Ranking also had some great stories from when he was the President of the AA Eastern League, from 1961 until 1968!

There were two Rankin Johnson's that played in the majors. This must have been the son.

@@waynejohanson1083 Yes, it was. He also had a son named Rankin.

@@bernie2231 And if I am not mistaken they both played for the A's.

Same! It's amazing how a few major but unrelated events had so much fallout. The integration of MLB leading to the destruction of the Negro Leagues and a void in baseball-crazed KC, crooked dealings by crooked mobsters conspiring to create a next-level Yankees farm team, the introduction of NFL football in Dallas leading to the introduction of AFL football into KC, and a dirty politician twisting arms. In the end things worked out well for both Oakland and KC, though it looks like the A's mob ties may come full circle soon.

Agreed. For some reason its kind of a forgotten period.

Oakland's W-L records in 2022 and 2023 were reminiscent of the KC A's of old. 😢 (60-102 and 50-112)

@@nostalgia6578 , I lived in KC the entire time the Athletics were in KC ( 13 seasons ), and they NEVER had a winning season!

Oakland won 4 world series, six pennants, and five straight division titles. Glad you root for attendance record though. ☝️😆👍

@@TheBatugan77 I was specifically commenting on the A's run in the 70's, Finley as I'm sure you're aware was no longer the owner of the team during the run the team had in the late 80's.

That ended when Charlie Finley became A's owner

And in 1960 KC had Marvelous Marv Throneberry, former Yankee. Interesting to note that when Charlie O moved KC to Oakland was the time that the Yankees, owned by Columbia Broadcasting System 1966 to much of the 1970s, turned to 💩.

Yankee owners Del Webb and Dan Topping had been largely responsible for getting Arnold Johnson approved as the A's new owner. I'm sure they did so knowing that Johnson would be so grateful for the opportunity to become a major league owner, he wouldn't have any objection to becoming a de facto farm team for the Yankees.

Seattle had already voted in construction of the Kingdome, but Sicks Stadium was so inadequate it couldn't hold up long enough to house the team while waiting for the dome to be finished. Those three years probably would have been enough to allow the Pilots to stay in Seattle. Criminal.

​@@rpc717, Sicks Stadium's conversion to a major league ballpark was just as the first poster on this side of the thread said..WAY BEHIND SCHEDULE.. The PILOTS were going to play in the park until THE KINGDOME was completed, but the primary owner was cash strapped, even seeking out one of the CLEVELAND owners to lend him money, and take a piece of the team..if memory serves, and as a result, when that plan fell through, the PILOT light went out, drowning its flameless sorrows in beertown one season and beyond later..

Jim Bouton's famous Ball Four recounts some of his early experiences with the Seattle Pilots.

​@@rpc717What's in a name - Sicks Stadium (Yes it was a sick stadium!)

The expansion team, the Royals, may have been named that in honor of the Negro League team, the Monarchs. Would seem fitting, ya think?

Yankee farm team

It sure was.

​@JGill.75 No when Finley bought the team in 1960 the farm club for the Yankees, that came to an end

I grew up a Tigers fan and now a Dbacks fan since moving to Arizona. I saw a game of the WS in 68 at Tiger Stadium as a kid. Cardinals are one of the great franchises and their fans are probably the most knowledgeable of any. I remind Dodgers fans that St. Louis has more titles. 😁

That is a great experience and memory for you going to the world series as a kid. @@kentstallard6512

If the NFL expands again I think St. Louis should get a team like Cleveland got one

You got a good laugh from me on that comment. I try whenever I can to make sure on RU-vid sites for stories about the St. Louis Rams they people realize the NFL Relocation committee actually recommended the Rams stay in St. Louis given their new outdoor stadium approved for building here however there was an uninterested owner Stan Krooine who knew the big money was in the much larger L.A. TV market and years prior bought the land for SOFI . As a result of the St. Louis lawsuit with the NFL it was then learned Stan Kroenke swung their owner votes after first failing by signing an indemnification agreemnet he would compensate NFL owners if there were any St. Louis lawsuits. St. Louis does pretty well supporting its XFL Battle Hawks team. I think it would have been better for the NFL to work out a compromise with Stan Kroenke St. Louis should have been offered a expansion team but a good owner would have been needed who wanted to be in St. Louis. Attendance was not an issue here. I agree with your comment.

@@larryloveless2967 After the Greatest Show on Turf days faded away so did interest in the team

I moved to KC in 1990. The one that I took personally was losing Danny Tartabull to the Yankees. I remember seeing him during a batting practice repeatedly volleying shots way beyond left field wall.

Those were flannels everyone in baseball was wearing them until the early 70s In 1972 the A's had new greens golds and whites in a different material

Well, they got back Yankee castoffs like Don Larsen, Norm Siebert and the like :)

Then they told Charlie to take it down

@@michaelleroy9281 yes a few days prior to the start of the '64 season

Finley & the circus he created aside, part of the reason for that was some VERY good young talent that came into its' own. Look at some of the people who appeared on the '67 A's-----Sal Bando, Bert Campaneris, Joe Rudi, Reggie Jackson, Rick Monday, Dave Duncan, Catfish Hunter, Blue Moon Odom, Chuck Dobson, Paul Lindblad...........and Rollie Fingers was in the organization pitching in AA. That organization was bound to eventually win---be it in Oakland, KC, or Moosejaw.

Their first losing season in Oakland wasn't until 1977 the first year Charlie Finley let his best players go elsewhere

@@michaelleroy9281 didn't Reggie Jackson leave in 1976?

Joe Rudy, Reggie Jackson, Sal Bando, Vida Blue, Catfish Hunter, Rollie Fingers come to mind as free agents that left Oakland as soon as free agency allowed them to. Among the first ever after the Curt Flood decision. This franchise is absolutely the best reason for a relegation system like English Soccer has.

They became instant contenders in Oakland thanks to the amateur draft that started in 1965, They were able to draft top players like Rick Monday Reggie Jackson,Sal Bando, Gene Tenace and Vida Blue. If it weren't for the draft, they probably would have been the same sub .500 team in Oakland.

Southernmost too

Is it one time St Louis was the only team west of the Mississippi

St. Louis had the only 2 teams west of the Mississippi until 1954 when the Browns became the Baltimore Orioles in the American League. Not only were the Cardinals a favorite team of western states nearby but also southern states nearby. KMOX radio brought them Cardinals baseball. @@mikekeeler6362

@@blazingbattlehawk9626 Is St.Louis further south than DC? That has to be close.

1958 to be exact. Until then, the "west" was actually the midwest. Then goodbye Brooklyn and NY Giants after 1957.

714th subscriber and I live in the OC! Do my Angels next XD

That drove me nuts as well. C'mon, if you know anything about baseball or its history(or claim to) pronounce the names right. Basic research.

He pronounced it as a Spanish-speaking person would. Not a big deal.

Great video and this is your nitpick? Petty.

Maybe he got confused with Jack Morris

@@kentstallard6512 yes, it kills any credibility and ruins it.

Roger Maris, not Morris

Check out the young talent on the '67 KC A's roster. They were bound to have success whether they moved or not.

KC had a colorful history as a wide open town. Prohibition was never enforced, and there was widespread gambling and prostitution. It had definitely cooled down by 1960, but the reputation was hard to shake. The Mob was still very powerful though.

It's Roger Maris. The narrator mispronounced his surname.

@@armorybrunotjr.3204 Uh, yeah, I know. I was being a wisenheimer.