1965 Kansas City Athletics

From BR Bullpen

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1965 Kansas City Athletics / Franchise: Oakland Athletics / BR Team Page[edit]

Record: 59-103, Finished 10th in American League (1965 AL)

Managed by Mel McGaha (5-21) and Haywood Sullivan (54-82)

Coaches: Luke Appling, Tom Ferrick, Gabby Hartnett and Whitey Herzog

Ballpark: Municipal Stadium

History, Comments, Contributions[edit]

The 1965 Kansas City Athletics were a dreadful team, finishing in last place in the American League, with 103 losses, but there were a few signs that better times were on the way - although the team would have relocated to Oakland by the time these came around. For example, they were the last team in over half a century to have three starting pitcher below the age of 21, in Catfish Hunter, Don Buschhorn and Ron Tompkins. The next team to do that would be the 2018 Atlanta Braves. Another positive sign came in the inaugural amateur draft, when the Athletics had the first overall pick and selected OF Rick Monday, who would turn out to be an excellent player, the first of many stars taken by the A's via the amateur draft.

The Athletics were also the team that gave a 59-year-old Satchel Paige a chance to pitch one game, on September 25th. Paige was already a living legend by then, but he acquitted himself better than anyone thought possible, as he limited the Boston Red Sox to one hit over three scoreless innings before leaving the game. It was not the team's only stunt that year, as on September 8th, SS Bert Campaneris became the first major leaguer to play all nine positions in one game.

Awards and Honors[edit]

Standings[edit]

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

Further Reading[edit]

  • Dom Amore: "A Paige out of history: Satchel's return in '65", mlb.com, February 6, 2022. [1]