The Philadelphia Athletics were once one of baseball’s great powers, a proud American League franchise built by Connie Mack and loaded with names like Jimmie Foxx, Lefty Grove, Mickey Cochrane, and Al Simmons.
Then everything fell apart.
In this episode of Rounding Third, Peter Lemieux tells the story of how the Athletics went from Philadelphia powerhouse to Kansas City embarrassment, and how their relationship with the New York Yankees raised serious questions about baseball’s integrity.
Arnold Johnson owned the Athletics, had business ties connected to the Yankees, and oversaw a run of trades that sent major talent from Kansas City to New York. Roger Maris, Bobby Shantz, Clete Boyer, Hector Lopez, Art Ditmar, Ralph Terry, and others all passed through Kansas City before helping the Yankees.
Was Kansas City essentially serving as a Yankees pipeline?
This is the story of a dynasty crumbling, a proud franchise losing its way, and one of baseball history’s strangest collapses.
Chapters:
00:00 Edgar Allan Poe and a baseball tragedy
01:05 The Philadelphia Athletics dynasty
02:20 Connie Mack and the Great Depression
03:35 Selling off the stars
04:35 Philadelphia turns toward the Phillies
05:25 Arnold Johnson buys the Athletics
06:20 The move to Kansas City
07:05 Johnson, Yankee Stadium, and Del Webb
08:10 The suspicious Yankees pipeline
09:10 Roger Maris, Bobby Shantz, Clete Boyer, and more
10:20 Was Kansas City treated like a farm team?
11:35 Baseball integrity and the forgotten scandal
12:45 Charlie Finley inherits the wreckage
13:45 From Kansas City to Oakland
14:40 A dynasty crumbles
15:35 Final thoughts
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