1952 Philadelphia Athletics
LeagueAmerican League
BallparkShibe Park
CityPhiladelphia
OwnersEarle Mack & Roy Mack
General managersArthur Ehlers
ManagersJimmy Dykes
TelevisionWPTZ/WCAU/WFIL
(By Saam, Claude Haring)
RadioWIBG
(By Saam, Claude Haring, George Walsh)
← 1951
1953 →

The 1952 Philadelphia Athletics season saw the A's finish fourth and in the first division of 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. Managed by Jimmy Dykes, they attracted 627,100 fans to Shibe Park, seventh among the Junior Circuit's eight teams.

The Athletics' 1952 campaign would be their final winning season in Philadelphia; only two years later, in November 1954, the franchise would move to Kansas City; 1952 would also be the Athletics' only winning season of the 1950s. They would have to wait until 1968, their first season in Oakland, for their next winning record.

Offseason

Regular season

The Athletics improved nine games from their 70–84 record in 1951 and improved to fourth 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 average.

Gus Zernial hit 29 home runs and drove in 100 RBI while Eddie Joost chipped in 20 HRs and 75 RBI. However, outside Shantz, who went 24–7, their best pitcher record-wise was Harry Byrd, with a 15–15 record.

Season standings

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 record

Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
Team BOS CWS CLE DET NYY PHA SLB 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

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 30 158.0 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 Red Norris
B Harrisburg Senators Interstate League Buck Etchison and Woody Wheaton
C St. Hyacinthe A's Provincial League John Sosh
D Cordele A's Georgia–Florida League Norm Wilson
D Lexington Indians North Carolina State League Bob Deese, Ducky Detweiler,
Carl Campbell 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

1952 MLB season by team
Oakland Athletics
Categories