At the recent (9/26) St. Louis Browns Historical Society luncheon, Whitey Herzog, in his keynote speech, gave a memorial tribute to his former teammate with the Kansas City Athletics, Ned Garver (who was also a great Brownie, of course).
It is seldom noted that the state of Missouri had an American League representative continuously from 1902 until 1967, with the exception of one year: 1954. This is because the year after the Browns moved to Baltimore, the Athletics moved from Philadelphia to Kansas City, Mo. For all but seven of those 65 years, the state of Missouri was as far west as any American League team had to travel.
And die-hard American League fans in Eastern Missouri could at least road-trip to Western Missouri (a four-hour drive) to get their fix of Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra and Ted Williams... Plus watch their beloved Brownies, now the Baltimore Orioles, take on the Athletics (we at the Browns fan club have met a good number of Browns fans who stayed Orioles/American League fans and never switched to the Cardinals.).
And it is also curious that there was something of a pipeline between the Browns (more properly, ex-Browns) and the Athletics team. Fully 14 players were eventually traded to Kansas City after the Browns left town. That's even half the number of Browns who also played for Baltimore (see chart). And the Orioles inherited all the ex-Browns. Baltimore obviously did a good job of trying to rid itself of ex-Browns as quickly as possible (they were all gone by 1955, although a few, like Clint Courtney were reacquired later). Kansas City however, was not Browns-shy, and had six ex-Browns playing in Kansas City as late as the 1960s. By contrast, only three ex-Browns made appearances in an Orioles uniform in the 1960s.
Here's the skinny of who played for both:
p.s. The followibg also played for two Missouri A.L. teans .. via playing for both the A's and the Royals: Moe Drabowsky, Aurelio Monteagudo, Ken Sanders.
Trivia: the three other states which have had two American League teams are: California, Washington and Wisconsin. Can you name the teams?
It is seldom noted that the state of Missouri had an American League representative continuously from 1902 until 1967, with the exception of one year: 1954. This is because the year after the Browns moved to Baltimore, the Athletics moved from Philadelphia to Kansas City, Mo. For all but seven of those 65 years, the state of Missouri was as far west as any American League team had to travel.
And die-hard American League fans in Eastern Missouri could at least road-trip to Western Missouri (a four-hour drive) to get their fix of Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra and Ted Williams... Plus watch their beloved Brownies, now the Baltimore Orioles, take on the Athletics (we at the Browns fan club have met a good number of Browns fans who stayed Orioles/American League fans and never switched to the Cardinals.).
And it is also curious that there was something of a pipeline between the Browns (more properly, ex-Browns) and the Athletics team. Fully 14 players were eventually traded to Kansas City after the Browns left town. That's even half the number of Browns who also played for Baltimore (see chart). And the Orioles inherited all the ex-Browns. Baltimore obviously did a good job of trying to rid itself of ex-Browns as quickly as possible (they were all gone by 1955, although a few, like Clint Courtney were reacquired later). Kansas City however, was not Browns-shy, and had six ex-Browns playing in Kansas City as late as the 1960s. By contrast, only three ex-Browns made appearances in an Orioles uniform in the 1960s.
- The last ex-Brown to wear an Orioles uniform? Don Larsen September 10, 1965 (Don also gave a speech at the 9/26 luncheon.) Don was released by the Orioles the day before the season opened in 1966. If he lasted one more day he would've had a "Browns" World Series ring. What a kick to have a WS ring for the team he started his career with that had only been in one WS prior to 1966.
- The last ex-Brown to wear a uniform of an American League Missouri team? Satchel Paige, September 25, 1965.
- Ex-Browns who were Kansas City A's coaches are: Don Heffner and Babe Dahlgren.
Here's the skinny of who played for both:
p.s. The followibg also played for two Missouri A.L. teans .. via playing for both the A's and the Royals: Moe Drabowsky, Aurelio Monteagudo, Ken Sanders.
Trivia: the three other states which have had two American League teams are: California, Washington and Wisconsin. Can you name the teams?
