TRIVIA WINNER: The pitch count when Bill Mazeroski hit his walk off homer in the 7th game of the 1960 World Series was 1-2 and Rich Klein of Plano, TX, had the correct answer. The Prize: Starbucks Gift Card.
TRIVIA CONTEST: By answering the TRIVIA QUESTION CORRECTLY you are automatically entered into a weekly drawing for a Starbucks Gift Card. YOU MUST ENTER VIA THE EMAIL AT THE END OF THIS COLUMN. Please put your mailing address in with the answer so if you win we can send you the gift card in the mail.
NEW TRIVIA QUESTION: What was the first year after they moved to Oakland that the A's brought a million fans to their home games?
No one can accuse the 1966 Kansas City A's of being a power laden club. As a matter of fact, the team leader in home runs barely broke into double figures. Utility outfielder Roger Repoz smacked 11 in 319 At Bats to lead the club. You read that right; 11 homers led the team. Two A's pitchers gave up more home runs than Repoz hit. Jim Catfish Hunter with 17 and Paul Linblad with 14. The entire team smacked 70 Dingers while the pitchers gave up 106.
The A's were a dismal club. They were a young club with few aging veteran hold overs. The only position player over 29 was Ed Charles at 33. Charles at .286 trailed only Danny Cater who batted .292, while Repoz (one of a half dozen rotating outfielders) batted just .219. By mid season he was gone. Sent to the Angels for pitcher Jack Sanford and Jackie Warner.
The A's were on the verge, just a couple seasons away from being contenders. On the 1967 team were futures stars Rick Monday, Ken Harrelson, Bert Campaneris, Dick Green, Sal Bando, Lew Krause, Jim Nash, Blue Moon Odom. A host of pitchers who'd made their mark in the previous 10 years were also on the roster.
The highlight of the season was July 27th in Boston when KC bombed the Red Sox 14-2. Jim Gosger and Mike Hershberger each homered to back the 7-inning shutout pitching of Nash (4-0). Wes Stock shut the Sox down for the final two innings. Starting with 5 runs in the first and 7 more in in the fourth, the day was done early. Repoz had three hits.
Only 12,000 people were at that game which the A's were used too. The club finished near the bottom at home with fewer than 800,000 fans on the season. That was good for 9th place for a team which finished 7th on the season in a 10 team league. Two seasons later they were playing in Oakland.
TRIVIA CONTEST;