#151 Kansas City Athletics Team Card

Beginning in 1956 and going all the way through to 1981, with a one year absence in 1969, Topps included team cards in its flagship sets.

Building the Set

February 13, 2021 from Edmonds, WA - Card #229

Busy with my chosen profession, rarely leaving the house and anxiously awaiting the return of live baseball, I turned to eBay in early February for some cardboard therapy.  After another largely unsuccessful bidding exercise on a 1965 Topps set break hosted by Greg Morris Cards, I went the Buy It Now route with 10 cards from Mitchell's Cards located in Edmonds, Washington.  As we've been completely unable to find packs of 2021 Topps locally, the much-needed package of baseball cards was a welcome sight in our mailbox on February 13th.  I spent $34 on the 10 cards from Mitchell's, with this A's team card costing $3.50.

The Card / Athletics Team Set
With "10TH PLACE" in all capital letters on the front of the card, only a die-hard Kansas City A's fan would have been happy to find this card in packs of 1965 Topps.  The Athletics were in Kansas City for 13 seasons between 1955 and 1967, never finishing better than 7th place and coming the closest to a winning record in 1958 when they went 73-81 (.474).  The team picture used for the card was actually taken in 1964, or at the earliest in 1963, making it unique among the other team cards from the set I've added so far.  The other team cards I have all feature team photos that are several years old.

1962 Topps #384

1963 Topps #397

1964 Topps #151

1966 Topps #492

1965 Season
Manager Mel McGaha (#391) lasted 26 games into the season before he was fired and replaced with Haywood Sullivan.  At the time of McGaha's dismissal, the A's were 5-21 and already mired in last place.  It wouldn't get much better.  Sullivan guided the team to a 54-82 record the rest of the season, giving them a full season record of 59-103 and a 10th place finish, 43 games behind the pennant-winning Twins.  The club's MVP was third baseman Ed Charles (#35), who hit .269 with 8 home runs and 56 RBIs.  First baseman Ken Harrelson (#479) led the team with 23 home runs and 66 RBIs, but batted just .238.  Starting pitchers John O'Donoghue (#71), Diego Segui (#197) and Fred Talbot (#58) lost 18, 15 and 12 games respectively.  A 19-year-old Catfish Hunter (#526) made 20 starts and went 8-8 with a 4.26 ERA.

Update Cards

For each team card featured, I'll be building a checklist of cards that could have been included in a 1965 Topps update set.  For such a bad team, there are quite a few possibilities here for the Athletics:

• Haywood Sullivan - The A's second manager of the season, Sullivan had last played for the team in 1963.  At the time of McGaha's firing, he was managing the Triple-A Vancouver Mounties.  At 34 years old he was the youngest manager in the majors, but his time at the helm would be short.  Al Dark was named the club's new full-time manager for the 1966 season.
• Catfish Hunter - Future Hall of Famer Hunter appears on a Rookie Stars card with a quartet of other prospects, and I'd give him his own solo card in an update set.
• Satchel Paige - In a publicity stunt, team owner Charlie Finley signed the 58-year-old Paige to a one-game contract and had him start on September 8th.  Paige pitched three shutout innings against the Red Sox, striking out opposing pitcher Bill Monbouquette (#142) in the process.  The late great Bob Lemke made a card for Paige over at his blog, and I'm featuring it here.
• Don Mossi - Reliever Mossi appeared in 51 games and was one of the team's most reliable relievers.  Omitted from the 1965 Topps set, he'd get his final Topps card in the 1966 set.
• Mike Hershberger - Hershberger, the team's regular right fielder, was acquired in January 1965 as part of a eight-player, three-team trade with the White Sox and Indians.  He has a card in the set (#89) but it shows him with the White Sox.
• Fred Talbot - Talbot came over with Hershberger and his card shows him with the White Sox too.  He started more games for the Athletics (33) than any other pitcher in 1965.
• Jose Tartabull - I'm going to go over my limit here for Tartabull who appeared in 68 games and batted a strong .312.

Honorable mentions for catcher Rene Lachemann (#526) and reliever Jim Dickson (#286) who both appear on multi-player Rookie Stars cards, as well as Johnny Blanchard (#388) and Rollie Sheldon (#254) who both appear in the set with the Yankees.

Sources
Baseball Reference

Kansas City Baseball Historical Society

Wikipedia

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