What Baseball Was Like in KC: 1956

[gblowfish]

Found this old "newsreel" on You Tube about the 1956 Kansas City Athletics. Cool to see the old stadium and shots of old KC.

Screw Charlie Finley....

[gblowfish]

Originally Posted by HemiEd

I noticed the "Super Connie" as well George, with fond memories. Have you ever flown in one of those? They had 4, 3350 engines and would nail you to the seat on take off.

First plane I ever flew on was on TWA, but it was a 707 jet, not a prop plane.

[Halfcan]

Pretty cool video- seems ancient.

[HemiEd]

Originally Posted by gblowfish

First plane I ever flew on was on TWA, but it was a 707 jet, not a prop plane.

My first commercial flight was a turbo prop, but we had a "Super Connie" on Guam.

[mikey23545]

Originally Posted by gblowfish

That TWA Connie is a cool plane. They have one of those on display at the old airport museum. The plastic cow on the column is still there. Notice how crappy the field looks. That was before Toma. 48 stars on the US Flag. H Roe Bartle looks like Billy Butler! You can see a lot of old KC A's uniforms and stuff at Chappel's Restaurant in North KC.

The Constellation is one of the most elegant, beautiful airplanes ever. Much of the design work was done by Kelly Johnson (later famous for some of his "Skunk Work" designs) and Howard Hughes.

That big 4 engine airliner, designed in the late 30's, had a top speed of 375 MPH - faster than a Japanese Zero!

[whoman69]

Originally Posted by WhawhaWhat

KC tried to get several teams before they finally landed the A's. Of course, the A's turned out to be the AAAA affiliate of the Yankees before Charlie Finley bought them and moved to Oakland years later.

That's the truth. Off of this team they sent Enos Slaughter to NY and he batted .350 in the series. Clete Boyer went to the Yanks in 1959. Art Ditmer was traded in 1957.

Here's a great article. Seems odd that the league would let a business associate of another owner buy a team. http://www.baseball-almanac.com/corner/c042001b.shtml

[stevieray]

Originally Posted by gblowfish

First plane I ever flew on was on TWA, but it was a 707 jet, not a prop plane.

i still get nostalgic driving by the ol downtown airport....

[Demonpenz]

from what I heard, lots of woman who worked in factories during ww2 helped build those stadiums.

[Start Croyle]

It's interesting how the crowd used to applaud when their team scored or got on base. Now we all yell and cheer instead. I guess golf is the only sport I can think of where they still applaud.

[Lex Luthor]

Originally Posted by teedubya

That dynasty would have been KC's... Although, I have a sneaky suspicion that the KC Monarchs used up most all of KC's championship karma.

I'll always be bitter about the A's moving. My brother lives in St. Louis and he goes on and on about what a great baseball town St. Louis is and what a great tradition the Cardinals have. I always tell him that if the A's had stayed in Kansas City, Kansas City would have a tradition exactly like St. Louis's. We'd have a history of Catfish and Rudi and Reggie and Canseco and McGwire and all the rest.

And we'd be in ****ing first place right now.

However, I'll be happy to root for Hosmer, Moose, Gordon, Perez, Holland and Shields for the next several years.

Well, hopefully they'll all be here for several years.

[Chiefshrink]

Originally Posted by WhawhaWhat

KC tried to get several teams before they finally landed the A's. Of course, the A's turned out to be the AAAA affiliate of the Yankees before Charlie Finley bought them and moved to Oakland years later.

Originally Posted by WilliamTheIrish

So many what ifs..

I think back to when they left and 4 years later were in the process of winning a trifecta of World Series. All those great players were beginning to show up on the farm and on the roster.

All these guys were on the 67 roster. F'ing Finley. We were so close.

Campy
Catfish
Rudi
Reggie - came up in June
Cap'n Sal.
Blue Moon Odom.

Originally Posted by Zeke

The best is everyone walking across the field to leave the stadium afterwards

Originally Posted by ChiefsCountry

Not really true. Arnold Johnson who moved the team here had money. Trouble was he was in bed with the Yankees owners. He owned Yankee Stadium and Blues Stadium (which was Municipal). Then he ran the A's like a Yankees farm club, since the Yankees ownership group was buddies with him. He died and his widow sold the team to Finley.

Originally Posted by gblowfish

Charlie O was the name of the mule mascot. Finley had sheep grazing out beyond the outfield wall. And there was an electric mechanical rabbit named "Harvey" that popped up out of the ground behind home plate to give the ump more baseballs when he ran out.

I kinda like the Harvey idea.
Maybe we should add a mechanical Sluggrrrr behind home in Kauffman?

Originally Posted by gblowfish

I think that picture was taken from the West Bottoms (stockyards) by where Kemper Arena is now. You would be facing East.

The old KC airport (which is still there) is just north of the downtown loop on the Missouri side, right where the Kaw River and Missouri river meet, and where the Missouri River bends to head north towards St. Joseph.

Originally Posted by WilliamTheIrish

That was all A. Johnson.

Most of the trades didn't amount to much save for dealing Roger Maris. Lots of nobodys went back and forth.

Originally Posted by whoman69

That's the truth. Off of this team they sent Enos Slaughter to NY and he batted .350 in the series. Clete Boyer went to the Yanks in 1959. Art Ditmer was traded in 1957.

Here's a great article. Seems odd that the league would let a business associate of another owner buy a team. http://www.baseball-almanac.com/corner/c042001b.shtml

Originally Posted by stevieray

i still get nostalgic driving by the ol downtown airport....

Yep !

My father was sixteen yrs old playing centerfield for Folger's Coffee in the old 3 & 2 league and he also was on the tarp/ground crew for the A's at the time all the way through high school. Loved every minute of it but did say that Mickey Mantle was a total prick.