1952 Philadelphia Athletics season

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.

1952 Philadelphia Athletics
Major League affiliations
Location
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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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
American League W L Pct. GB Home Road
New York Yankees 9559 0.617 — 49–28 46–31
Cleveland Indians 9361 0.604 2 49–28 44–33
Chicago White Sox 8173 0.526 14 44–33 37–40
Philadelphia Athletics 7975 0.513 16 45–32 34–43
Washington Senators 7876 0.506 17 42–35 36–41
Boston Red Sox 7678 0.494 19 50–27 26–51
St. Louis Browns 6490 0.416 31 42–35 22–55
Detroit Tigers 50104 0.325 45 32–45 18–59

Record vs. opponents
1952 American League Records

Sources:
Team BOS CWS CLE DET NYY PHI STL WSH
Boston —12–109–1316–68–1412–1011–118–14
Chicago 10–12—8–14–117–58–1411–1114–813–9–1
Cleveland 13–914–8–1—16–610–1213–915–712–10
Detroit 6–165–176–16—9–135–17–18–1411–11–1
New York 14–814–812–1013–9—13–914–815–7
Philadelphia 10–1211–119–1317–5–19–13—14–89–13
St. Louis 11–118–147–1514–88–148–14—8–14–1
Washington 14–89–13–110–1211–11–17–1513–914–8–1—

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
1BFerris Fain145538176.327259
2BSkeeter Kell7521347.221017
SSEddie Joost146540132.2442075
OFGus Zernial145549144.26229100

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
Tom Hamilton9102.20001

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 Shantz33279.22472.48152
Harry Byrd37228.115153.31116
Charlie Bishop630.2226.4617

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

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
Dick Fowler181206.4414
Marion Fricano20001.800

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
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