Life Magazine Archives Kansas City Municipal Stadium Kansas City Missouri Kansas City Athletics |
After failing to move the team to Dallas Ft. Worth, Chuck Finley tried to show the
fans just how much the Athletics loved Kansas City. He changed the A that had
stood atop the Athletics' ballcaps to an interlocking K.C. and put Kansas City
on all road uniforms. The Athletics had never acknowledged their home city before,
especially when they were in Philadelphia. The fans did seem to appreciate
it. The question was whether or not he could do something with this team. The
Athletics brought yet another former K.C. Blues player to the team when it signed
future Mets 1B Marv Throneberry. (11 HR, .250). Norm Siebern was the only decent
power hitter still left on the team and he batted. 279 with 189 HRs and 69
RBIs... all of which led the team. Dick Williams only had 420 At Bats but hit
.288 with 31 2Bs and 12 HRs. By 1961, Finley's bizarre personality was beginning
to truly shine. While he had no idea how to run a ballclub, his love for the
surreal began to take over. Finley was trying every possible gimmick to keep the
fans interested (with the exception of trying to actually get good players).
In one of his most famous moves at K.C. Muni, Finley brought in sheep, that actually
lived on the outfield berms which ate their way through the stadium... complete
with a shepherd in Old Testament garb. Finley thought that this would easily
make up for the fact that the Athletics were once again a 100 loss team finishing
the season at 61-100. |