MLB Update (1974 edition, special 1964 rewind remix!)

"The year 1963 was notable in many respects. (Team owner Charles) Finley introduced colorful new uniforms, but more importantly, it was the beginning of the end for the A's in Kansas City. In its last hour, the outgoing city council approved a new four-year contract with Finley. The new city council voided it, saying the contract had been improperly approved. While Finley and the council battled through the expiration date of the old contract, he was preparing for a move to Oakland. Because Oakland lacked a baseball stadium at the time, Finley asked San Francisco Giants owner Horace Stoneham to temporarily share Candlestick Park. The request was turned down haughtily, and would have been rejected, in any case, by the American League owners, who were becoming impatient with Finley's wrangling with the Kansas City fathers. Finley was threatening to play in a cow pasture rather than in Municipal Stadium under a lease unacceptable to him. The crowning blow came on January 6, 1964, when Finley, in a maneuver he still regrets, signed a two-year contract to play in Louisville at the Kentucky State Fairgrounds. He had overlooked one detail. He forgot to tell the American League first.

"The announcement sent a wave of shock and surprise through the other owners. By telegram, League President Joe Cronin enjoined Finley from moving, and Finley countered by blasting Cronin for not keeping the telegram confidential. The league voted 9-1 to forbid the move. Finley was given a deadline of February 1, 1964, to negotiate a new lease with Kansas City and there was speculation that the penalty for noncompliance would be his banishment from baseball. Finley threatened an antitrust suit against his fellow owners and hired powerhouse Louis Nizer as his attorney. Finley began to realize he was painting himself into a corner, that if he fought with the men who would eventually decide his team's destiny, he would never get what he wanted. He signed a four-year lease on Municipal Stadium on February 27, and was given permission by the league to investigate Dallas and Oakland.

"The other owners, smarting over his threats to sue the establishment he'd recently been allowed to join, would make sure he stayed in Kansas City for the full four years. For the same reason, they would oppose his suggestions for improving the sport. At this point, if Finley had advocated round baseballs, his fellow owners would have tried square ones. Finley had threatened the very foundations of the sport. He would pay. But if the lords of baseball thought all would now be quiet on the Finley front, they were wrong. They hadn't seen anything yet." Bergman, Ron Mustache Gang (New York: Dell, 1973) 26-27.



I started reading this paperback, which I had owned for years, last week and was thrilled to discover that there was at least a threat of their being the Louisville A's. That would've been great!

I've also learned that Finley was a native of Ensley, Ala., and lived in La Porte, Ind.

Meanwhile, here were the 1974 standings through games of July 14:

LA 61-29 CIN 8.5gb HOUS 12.5
ATL 13.5 SF 21 SD 22.5

ST. L 44-43 PHIL 44-43 MONT 2.5gb
PITT 6 CHI 6 NY 6.5

BALT 47-39 CLEV 0.5gb BOS 0.5
MIL 3 NY 3.5 DET 3.5

OAK 48-39 KC 4.5gb CHI 5.5
TEX 6.5 MINN 8 CAL 15.5

As we approach the All-Star break, the news is that the Reds are playing better (but aren't gaining ground on the fantastic Dodgers); that nobody seems to want to win the National League East (and tough break for the Cardinals that Lou Brock is on the cover of this week's Sports Illustrated); that the Indians took advantage of Carlton Fisk's injury and Gaylord Perry's 15-start win streak to briefly take the American League East lead (before starting a slide just in time for Ron Fimrite's promoted article in the upcoming SI), and that the Angels lost their first 10 games after hiring two-time-A's-championship manager Dick Williams.

Also, in early July, the Padres inched ahead of the Giants for fifth place in the National League West. It was the latest in a season they had been out of the division cellar since the team's launch in 1969.