The 1957 Kansas City Athletics season, the third for the team in Kansas City and the 57th in MLB, involved the A's finishing seventh in the American League with a record of 59 wins and 94 losses, games behind the American League Champion New York Yankees. The club drew 901,067 spectators, sixth in the league.
Offseason October 15, 1956: Bob Cerv was purchased by the Athletics from the New York Yankees.Bob Cerv page at Baseball Reference February 19, 1957: Art Ditmar, Bobby Shantz, Jack McMahan, Wayne Belardi and players to be named later were traded by the Athletics to the New York Yankees for Irv Noren, Milt Graff, Mickey McDermott, Tom Morgan, Rip Coleman, Billy Hunter and a player to be named later. The Yankees completed their part of the deal by sending Jack Urban to the Athletics on April 5. The Athletics completed the deal by sending Curt Roberts to the Yankees on April 4 and Clete Boyer to the Yankees on June 4.Clete Boyer page at Baseball Reference Prior to 1957 season: Lou Klimchock was signed as an amateur free agent by the Athletics.Lou Klimchok page at Baseball Reference
Regular season First baseman Vic Power became the first black player to lead the American League in fielding percentage at any position. He led all American League first basemen with a .998 fielding average.Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p. 199, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, Manager Lou Boudreau, in his third season at the helm, was fired August 4 with the Athletics standing at 36–67 (.350) and in eighth and last place in the American League. Coach Harry Craft, former skipper of the minor-league Kansas City Blues, succeeded Boudreau. Craft led the Athletics to a 23–27 mark, enabling them to escape the basement.
Season standings
Record vs. opponents
Notable transactions June 15, 1957: Ryne Duren, Jim Pisoni, and Harry Simpson were traded by the Athletics to the New York Yankees for Ralph Terry, Woodie Held, Billy Martin, and Bob Martyn.Ralph Terry page at Baseball Reference August 1, 1957: Johnny Groth was purchased from the Athletics by the Detroit Tigers.Johnny Groth page at Baseball Reference August 27, 1957: Al Aber was selected off waivers by the Athletics from the Detroit Tigers.Al Aber page at Baseball-Reference
Roster 1957 Kansas City Athletics Roster Pitchers Catchers
Infielders Outfielders Manager
Coaches
Player stats = Indicates team leader
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 Hal Smith 107 360 109 .303 13 41 1B 129 467 121 .259 14 42 2B Billy Hunter 116 319 61 .191 8 29 SS Joe DeMaestri 135 461 113 .245 9 33 3B Héctor López 121 391 115 .294 11 35 LF Gus Zernial 131 437 103 .236 27 69 CF Woodie Held 92 326 78 .239 20 50 RF Lou Skizas 119 376 92 .245 18 44
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 124 345 94 .272 11 44 Billy Martin 73 265 68 .257 9 27 Tim Thompson 81 230 47 .204 7 19 Harry Simpson 50 179 53 .296 6 24 Irv Noren 81 160 34 .213 2 16 Milt Graff 56 155 28 .181 0 10 Bob Martyn 58 131 35 .267 1 12 Jim Pisoni 44 97 23 .237 3 12 Johnny Groth 55 59 15 .254 0 2 Clete Boyer 10 0 0 ---- 0 0
Pitching
Starting pitchers Note: G = Games played; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts Player G IP W L ERA SO Ned Garver 24 145.1 6 13 3.84 61 Alex Kellner 28 132.2 6 5 4.27 72 Ralph Terry 21 130.2 4 11 3.38 80
Other pitchers Note: G = Games played; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts Player G IP W L ERA SO Tom Morgan 46 143.2 9 7 4.64 32 Jack Urban 31 129.1 7 4 3.34 55 Tom Gorman 38 124.2 5 9 3.83 66 Arnie Portocarrero 33 114.2 4 9 3.92 42 Wally Burnette 38 113.0 7 12 4.30 57 Ryne Duren 14 42.2 0 3 5.27 37 Rip Coleman 19 41.0 0 7 5.93 15 Gene Host 11 23.2 0 2 7.23 9 George Brunet 4 11.1 0 1 5.56 3
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 Virgil Trucks 48 9 7 7 3.03 55 Mickey McDermott 29 1 4 0 5.48 29 10 1 0 0 5.02 8 3 0 0 0 12.00 0 Harry Taylor 2 0 0 0 3.12 4 Dave Hill 2 0 0 0 27.00 1 2 0 0 0 5.40 0 Hal Raether 1 0 0 0 9.00 0
Awards and honors
League leaders Vic Power, American League leader, fielding percentage, first basemen (.998)
Farm system
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Buffalo, Grand Island
References
External links 1957 Kansas City Athletics team page at Baseball Reference 1957 Kansas City Athletics team page at www.baseball-almanac.com