by Max Silberman

For over 50 years no major league franchise had moved, so it came as quite a shock when the 1952 Boston Braves moved to Milwaukee. The following season, the 1953 St.Louis Browns moved to Baltimore so it was not a complete surprise when our beloved Philadelphia Athletics transferred to Kansas City after the 1954 campaign. By 1958 the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Giants also made moves reflecting the changing demographics of America.

Jeff Stuart, the author of “Twilight Teams” explores the various teams that moved to other cities from 1952-1971. The histories of the teams and reasons for their moves make for fascinating reading, especially the more than 50 pages dealing with the Philadelphia A’s. A brief but thorough team history with anecdotal information is followed by a complete look at the 1954 team and its final season in Philadelphia. A month by month look at the 1954 season complete with all the “back room” maneuvers made in an attempt to keep the team in town is followed by a game by game recap of that last sad season.

To be sure, there are factual errors that will be easily spotted by A’s historians but rare is the book which doesn’t contain a mistake or two. Just reading through every detail of that 1954 season brings a few smiles and a few tears to those of us who lived through the agony of wondering whether or not the team would actually leave. We were “teased” more than once with the hope that a local group of investors would actually be successful in preventing the move. Particularly moving is the account of some of the “tiny” crowds that last year some of which were smaller than a good sized wedding.

Those of us who cherish Athletics history and remember the turbulence of the 1950’s and all the moves from cities which had more than one team will enjoy Stuart’s book.

My father assured me in August of 1954 that the Athetics would never leave us. Since then, I trust no one.

The book is available at the Philadelphia Athletics Historical Society Gift Shoppe.