1952 Philadelphia Athletics season

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1952 Philadelphia Athletics
Major League affiliations
  • American League (since 1901)
Location
  • Shibe Park (since 1909)
  • Philadelphia (since 1901)
Other information
Owner(s)Earle Mack & Roy Mack
General manager(s)Arthur Ehlers
Manager(s)Jimmy Dykes
Local televisionWPTZ/WCAU/WFIL
(By Saam, Claude Haring)
Local radioWIBG
(By Saam, Claude Haring, George Walsh)
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The 1952 Philadelphia Athletics season saw the A's finish fourth in the American League with a record of 79 wins and 75 losses. They finished 16 games behind the eventual World Series Champion New York Yankees. The Athletics' 1952 campaign would be their final winning season in Philadelphia; it would also be their only winning season of the 1950s. The Athletics would have to wait until 1968, their first season in Oakland, for their next winning record.

Offseason[]

Regular season[]

The Athletics improved 9 games from their 70–84 record in 1951 and improved to 4th in the American League. A Most Valuable Player season was turned in by left-handed pitcher Bobby Shantz and the A.L. batting championship was won by Ferris Fain with a .320 batting average.

Gus Zernial hit 29 home runs and drove in 100 RBI while Eddie Joost chipped in 20 HRS and 75 RBI. However, outside Bobby Shantz, who went 24–7, their best pitcher record-wise was Harry Byrd, with a 15–15 record. They finished 16 games behind the New York Yankees. This would also be the last time that the Athletics would finish with a winning record until 1968, when the team began playing in Oakland.

Season standings[]

  • v
  • t
American League 		W L Pct. GB Home Road
New York Yankees 95 59 0.617 — 49–28 46–31
Cleveland Indians 93 61 0.604 2 49–28 44–33
Chicago White Sox 81 73 0.526 14 44–33 37–40
Philadelphia Athletics 79 75 0.513 16 45–32 34–43
Washington Senators 78 76 0.506 17 42–35 36–41
Boston Red Sox 76 78 0.494 19 50–27 26–51
St. Louis Browns 64 90 0.416 31 42–35 22–55
Detroit Tigers 50 104 0.325 45 32–45 18–59


Record vs. opponents[]

1952 American League Records
  • v
  • t

Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
Team BOS CWS CLE DET NYY PHI STL WSH
Boston — 12–10 9–13 16–6 8–14 12–10 11–11 8–14
Chicago 10–12 — 8–14–1 17–5 8–14 11–11 14–8 13–9–1
Cleveland 13–9 14–8–1 — 16–6 10–12 13–9 15–7 12–10
Detroit 6–16 5–17 6–16 — 9–13 5–17–1 8–14 11–11–1
New York 14–8 14–8 12–10 13–9 — 13–9 14–8 15–7
Philadelphia 10–12 11–11 9–13 17–5–1 9–13 — 14–8 9–13
St. Louis 11–11 8–14 7–15 14–8 8–14 8–14 — 8–14–1
Washington 14–8 9–13–1 10–12 11–11–1 7–15 13–9 14–8–1 —


Notable transactions[]

  • May 10, 1952: Marion Fricano was purchased by the Athletics from the Brooklyn Dodgers.[2]

Roster[]

1952 Philadelphia Athletics
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders Manager

Coaches

Player stats[]

Batting[]

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
C Joe Astroth 104 337 84 .249 1 36
1B Ferris Fain 145 538 176 .327 2 59
2B Skeeter Kell 75 213 47 .221 0 17
SS Eddie Joost 146 540 132 .244 20 75
3B Billy Hitchcock 119 407 100 .246 1 56
OF Gus Zernial 145 549 144 .262 29 100
OF Elmer Valo 129 388 109 .281 5 47
OF Dave Philley 151 586 154 .263 7 71

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
Pete Suder 74 228 55 .241 1 20
Cass Michaels 55 200 50 .250 1 18
Allie Clark 71 186 51 .274 7 29
Ray Murray 44 136 28 .206 1 10
Hank Majeski 34 117 30 .256 2 20
Kite Thomas 75 116 29 .250 6 18
Joe Tipton 23 68 13 .191 3 8
Sherry Robertson 43 60 12 .200 0 5
Hal Bevan 8 17 6 .353 0 4
Tom Hamilton 9 10 2 .200 0 1
Jack Littrell 4 2 0 .000 0 0

Pitching[]

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
Bobby Shantz 33 279.2 24 7 2.48 152
Alex Kellner 34 231.1 12 14 4.36 105
Harry Byrd 37 228.1 15 15 3.31 116
Charlie Bishop 6 30.2 2 2 6.46 17
Morrie Martin 5 25.1 0 2 6.39 13

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
Carl Scheib 30 158 11 7 4.39 42
Bob Hooper 43 144.1 8 15 5.18 40
Bobo Newsom 14 47.2 3 3 3.59 22
Charlie Bishop 6 30.2 2 2 6.46 17

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
Johnny Kucab 25 0 1 2 5.26 17
Ed Wright 24 2 1 1 6.53 9
Dick Fowler 18 1 2 0 6.44 14
Tex Hoyle 3 0 0 0 27.00 1
Marion Fricano 2 0 0 0 1.80 0
Walt Kellner 1 0 0 0 6.75 2
Len Matarazzo 1 0 0 0 0.00 0

Awards and honors[]

Farm system[]

See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Ottawa Athletics International League Frank Skaff
A Savannah Indians Sally League George Staller
A Lincoln Athletics Western League Les Bell
B Fayetteville Athletics Carolina League Ducky Detweiler and
B Harrisburg Senators Interstate League Buck Etchison and Woody Wheaton
C St. Hyacinthe A's Provincial League
D Cordele A's Georgia–Florida League Norm Wilson
D Lexington Indians North Carolina State League , Ducky Detweiler,
and Cliff Bolton
D Corning Athletics PONY League Joe Rullo

References[]

  1. ^ Wally Moses page at Baseball Reference
  2. ^ Marion Fricano page at Baseball Reference

External links[]

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