| 1956 Kansas City Athletics | |
|---|---|
| League | American League |
| Ballpark | Municipal Stadium |
| City | Kansas City, Missouri |
| Owners | Arnold Johnson |
| Managers | Lou Boudreau |
| Radio | KMBC (Merle Harmon, Larry Ray) |
The 1956 Kansas City Athletics season, the team's 56th in the American League and second in Kansas City, involved the A's finishing eighth in the American League with a record of 52 wins and 102 losses, 45 games behind the World Series champion New York Yankees.
| 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 |
Sources: | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | BAL | BOS | CWS | CLE | DET | KCA | 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 | — | |||||
| 1956 Kansas City Athletics | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
| Catchers
Infielders
| Outfielders
| Manager Coaches
| ||||||
| = Indicates team leader |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | Tim Thompson | 92 | 268 | 73 | .272 | 1 | 27 |
| 1B | Vic Power | 127 | 530 | 164 | .309 | 14 | 63 |
| 2B | Jim Finigan | 91 | 250 | 54 | .216 | 2 | 21 |
| SS | Joe DeMaestri | 133 | 434 | 101 | .233 | 6 | 39 |
| 3B | Héctor López | 151 | 561 | 153 | .273 | 18 | 69 |
| LF | Gus Zernial | 109 | 272 | 61 | .224 | 16 | 44 |
| CF | Al Pilarcik | 69 | 239 | 60 | .251 | 4 | 22 |
| RF | Harry Simpson | 141 | 543 | 159 | .293 | 21 | 105 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lou Skizas | 83 | 297 | 94 | .316 | 11 | 39 |
| Johnny Groth | 95 | 244 | 63 | .258 | 5 | 37 |
| Enos Slaughter | 91 | 223 | 62 | .278 | 2 | 23 |
| Joe Ginsberg | 71 | 195 | 48 | .246 | 1 | 12 |
| Eddie Robinson | 75 | 172 | 34 | .198 | 2 | 12 |
| Hal Smith | 37 | 142 | 39 | .275 | 2 | 24 |
| Clete Boyer | 67 | 129 | 28 | .217 | 1 | 4 |
| Mike Baxes | 73 | 106 | 24 | .226 | 1 | 5 |
| Spook Jacobs | 32 | 97 | 21 | .216 | 0 | 5 |
| Rance Pless | 48 | 85 | 23 | .271 | 0 | 9 |
| Bill Renna | 33 | 48 | 13 | .271 | 2 | 5 |
| Jim Pisoni | 10 | 30 | 8 | .267 | 2 | 5 |
| Joe Astroth | 8 | 13 | 1 | .077 | 0 | 0 |
| Elmer Valo | 9 | 9 | 2 | .222 | 0 | 2 |
| Dave Melton | 3 | 3 | 1 | .333 | 0 | 0 |
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Art Ditmar | 44 | 254.1 | 12 | 22 | 4.42 | 126 |
| Wally Burnette | 18 | 121.1 | 6 | 8 | 2.89 | 54 |
| Lou Kretlow | 25 | 118.2 | 4 | 9 | 5.31 | 61 |
| Alex Kellner | 20 | 91.2 | 7 | 4 | 4.32 | 44 |
| Glenn Cox | 3 | 23.1 | 0 | 2 | 4.24 | 6 |
| Walt Craddock | 2 | 9.1 | 0 | 2 | 6.75 | 8 |
| Carl Duser | 2 | 6.0 | 1 | 1 | 9.00 | 5 |
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tom Gorman | 52 | 171.1 | 9 | 10 | 3.83 | 56 |
| Troy Herriage | 31 | 103.0 | 1 | 13 | 6.64 | 59 |
| Jack McMahan | 23 | 61.2 | 0 | 5 | 4.82 | 13 |
| Tommy Lasorda | 18 | 45.1 | 0 | 4 | 6.15 | 28 |
| José Santiago | 9 | 21.2 | 1 | 2 | 8.31 | 9 |
| Art Ceccarelli | 3 | 10.0 | 0 | 1 | 7.20 | 2 |
| George Brunet | 6 | 9.0 | 0 | 0 | 7.00 | 5 |
| Arnie Portocarrero | 3 | 8.0 | 0 | 1 | 10.13 | 2 |
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bobby Shantz | 45 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 4.35 | 67 |
| Jack Crimian | 54 | 4 | 8 | 3 | 5.51 | 59 |
| Bill Harrington | 23 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6.45 | 14 |
| Moe Burtschy | 21 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 3.95 | 18 |
| Bob Spicer | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19.29 | 0 |
| Bill Bradford | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9.00 | 0 |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Seminole
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