Hail and Farewell.

 

Just to close out the Athletics, late of Oakland:

In all three of the A's moves (thus far), your New York Yankees have played either their last games of their last season at home, or on the road—or both.

As previously noted, in 1954, Philadelphia A—and future Yankee—Art Ditmar, beat Tommy Byrne at the Stadium, 8-6, before 11,670 fans, on Sept. 26th. Mickey Mantle played a rare game at shortstop, drew three walks and hit a single (to finish at exactly .300 on the season), and had two putouts and four assists—including a double-play—without making an error in the field.

Ditmar notched his first major-league win and his first major-league hit (a single) in the game. After a couple of horrific years in KC—including a 12-22 season in 1956—he was dealt to the Yanks in the massive trade whereby they also acquired Clete Boyer and Bobby Shantz. 

In New York, he was 47-32, 3.24, with 11 saves and 2 shutouts. He helped the team to two pennants and a World Series in 1957-58, pitching almost 10 full innings of scoreless ball against the Braves those years. Unfortunately, that stint was generally overshadowed by two bad starts in the 1960 World Series against the Pirates.

Meanwhile, the Yanks had already closed out the A's 1954 season in beautiful, eccentric old Shibe Park, sweeping the Athletics in three games from Sept. 17-19,  10-3. 6-5, 4-2. Johnny Sain beat the A's in their final home game in the City of Brotherly Love—after 54 seasons—with a save by Jim Konstanty.

For the last contest, on a Sunday, just 1,715 fans showed up. Their team finished last, at 51-103.

The A's last home date in Kansas City, by contrast, was a stunning, doubleheader win that knocked the White Sox out of the pennant race. A certain Catfish Hunter won pitched a three-hit shutout to win the second game. 

But still, even with a contender to spoil, just 5,350 people showed up on a Wednesday night. Charlie Finley would cart Hunter and all of his other, budding Athletics stars off to Oakland for the next season.

But first—the 10th-place A's had to finish out 1967 with a trip to New York, to play your 9th-place Yankees. 

The Yanks already had the next-to-last spot in the AL sewn up tight, but still swept KC in four games. I remember being delighted, as a nine-year-old, that Mel Stottlemyre won the last game, 4-3, to even his record at 15-15. Dooley Womack got the save.  

Stottlemyre finished the 1967 season with a 2.96 ERA, 10 complete games, and 4 shutouts. It was a different game, and a different time.