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.