1956 Kansas City Athletics season

The 1956 Kansas City Athletics season, the team's 56th in the American League and second in Kansas City, involved the A's finishing 8th in the American League with a record of 52 wins and 102 losses, 45 games behind the World Champion New York Yankees.

1956 Kansas City Athletics
Major League affiliations
American League (since 1901)
Location
Municipal Stadium (since 1955) Kansas City, Missouri (since 1955)
Other information
Owner(s)	Arnold Johnson
Manager(s)	Lou Boudreau
Local television	none
Local radio	KMBC (Merle Harmon, Larry Ray)
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Offseason

• March 2, 1956: Tommy Lasorda was purchased by the Athletics from the Brooklyn Dodgers.[1]

Regular season

Season standings

American League	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
New York Yankees	97	57	0.630	—	49–28	48–29
Cleveland Indians	88	66	0.571	9	46–31	42–35
Chicago White Sox	85	69	0.552	12	46–31	39–38
Boston Red Sox	84	70	0.545	13	43–34	41–36
Detroit Tigers	82	72	0.532	15	37–40	45–32
Baltimore Orioles	69	85	0.448	28	41–36	28–49
Washington Senators	59	95	0.383	38	32–45	27–50
Kansas City Athletics	52	102	0.338	45	22–55	30–47

Record vs. opponents

1956 American League Records Sources:
Team	BAL	BOS	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	NYY	WSH
Baltimore	—	6–16	9–13	5–17	13–9	15–7	9–13	12–10
Boston	16–6	—	14–8	13–9–1	12–10	12–10	8–14	9–13
Chicago	13–9	8–14	—	15–7	13–9	14–8	9–13	13–9
Cleveland	17–5	9–13–1	7–15	—	11–11	17–5	10–12	17–5
Detroit	9–13	10–12	9–13	11–11	—	16–6	12–10	15–7–1
Kansas City	7–15	10–12	8–14	5–17	6–16	—	4–18	12–10
New York	13–9	14–8	13–9	12–10	10–12	18–4	—	17–5
Washington	10–12	13–9	9–13	5–17	7–15–1	10–12	5–17	—

Notable transactions

• April 16, 1956: Lee Wheat, Tom Saffell and cash were traded by the Athletics to the Brooklyn Dodgers for Tim Thompson.[2]
• April 16, 1956: Johnny Groth was purchased by the Athletics from the Washington Senators.[3]
• May 1956: Marion Fricano and $60,000 were traded by the Athletics to the Toronto Maple Leafs for Jack Crimian.[4]
• June 14, 1956: Moe Burtschy, Bill Renna and cash were traded by the Athletics to the New York Yankees for Lou Skizas and Eddie Robinson.[5]
• July 11, 1956: Tommy Lasorda was traded by the Athletics to the New York Yankees for Wally Burnette.[1]
• August 17, 1956: Joe Ginsberg was traded by the Athletics to the Baltimore Orioles for Hal Smith.[6]
• August 25, 1956: Enos Slaughter was selected off waivers from the Athletics by the New York Yankees.[7]

Roster

1956 Kansas City Athletics
Roster
Pitchers 14 Bill Bradford 9,53 George Brunet 23 Wally Burnette 36 Moe Burtschy 19 Art Ceccarelli 16 Glenn Cox 15 Walt Craddock 24 Jack Crimian 28 Art Ditmar 39 Carl Duser 37 Tom Gorman 26 Bill Harrington 17 Troy Herriage 20 Alex Kellner 18,23 Lou Kretlow 23 Tommy Lasorda 14 Jack McMahan 25 Arnie Portocarrero 26,34 José Santiago 21 Bobby Shantz 19 Bob Spicer		Catchers 11 Joe Astroth  9 Joe Ginsberg 32 Hal Smith 22 Tim Thompson Infielders  1 Mike Baxes 12 Clete Boyer  2 Joe DeMaestri  4 Jim Finigan  6 Spook Jacobs 10 Héctor López  8 Rance Pless  7 Vic Power 25 Eddie Robinson		Outfielders 39 Johnny Groth 31 Dave Melton  6 Al Pilarcik 36 Jim Pisoni 34 Bill Renna 38 Harry Simpson 35 Lou Skizas 33 Enos Slaughter 35 Elmer Valo 30 Gus Zernial		Manager  5 Lou Boudreau Coaches 41 Harry Craft 42 Ski Melillo 40 George Susce

Player stats

= Indicates team leader

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

[8]

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

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
Glenn Cox	3	23.1	0	2	4.24	6

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
Tommy Lasorda	18	45.1	0	4	6.15	28

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
Bill Bradford	1	0	0	0	9.00	0

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Columbus Jets	International League	Nick Cullop
A	Columbia Gems	Sally League	Hank Biasatti
B	Abilene Blue Sox	Big State League	Al Evans
C	Crowley Millers	Evangeline League	Vince Plumbo
C	Pocatello Bannocks	Pioneer League	Joe Lutz and Lou Stringer
D	Fitzgerald A's	Georgia–Florida League	Red Treadway
D	Grand Island Athletics	Nebraska State League	Art Mazmanian
D	Seminole Oilers	Sooner State League	Burl Storie

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Seminole

References

1. Tommy Lasorda page at Baseball Reference
2. Lee Wheat page at Baseball Reference
3. Johnny Groth page at Baseball Reference
4. Marion Fricano page at Baseball Reference
5. Lou Skizas page at Baseball Reference
6. Joe Ginsberg page at Baseball Reference
7. Enos Slaughter page at Baseball Reference
8. https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/KCA/1956.shtml

External links

• 1956 Kansas City Athletics team page at Baseball Reference
• 1956 Kansas City Athletics team page at www.baseball-almanac.com