Arnold M. Johnson (1906 - 1960) was an American industrialist, father, businessman and sportsman, who purchased the storied but financially unsound Philadelphia Athletics baseball club and moved it to Kansas City, Missouri, in the autumn of 1954. Year 1906 ( MCMVI) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting Year 1960 ( MCMLX) was a Leap year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The Oakland Athletics are a professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. Kansas City Missouri only Items for the metro area Kansas City Kansas or North Kansas City MO should go on their respective pages Year 1954 ( MCMLIV) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1954 Gregorian calendar) He had one son named Jeffery and one daughter.
A native of Chicago, Illinois, and graduate of the University of Chicago, Johnson enjoyed a highly successful business career. Chicago (ʃɪˈkɑːgoʊ is the largest City by population in the state of Illinois and the American Midwest of the United States. The University of Chicago is a Private university located principally in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago. He was a stockbroker and banker, served on the board of directors of a number of corporations, and invested in the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League. The National Hockey League ( NHL) is a professional Ice hockey league composed of 30 teams in North America
In December 1953, Johnson entered baseball through a real estate transaction by purchasing the top two playing venues of the perennial champion New York Yankees--Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, and Blues Stadium in Kansas City, home of the Yanks' top farm club, the Kansas City Blues. Year 1953 ( MCMLIII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the borough of The Bronx, in New York City, New York. The original Yankee Stadium is a Stadium located in The Bronx in New York City. In sports a farm team, feeder team or nursery club, generally refers to a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players with an Concurrently, struggling major league baseball teams-- especially "second" teams in two-team cities--were abandoning their old homes for greener pastures elsewhere. Spurred by Kansas City officials, Johnson decided to bring a major league team to town, and found a target in the Philadelphia Athletics.
The Athletics of Connie Mack had once been one of the pillars of the American League, with eight pennants and five World Series wins to their credit. Cornelius Alexander Mack ( December 22, 1862  – February 8, 1956) born Cornelius Alexander McGillicuddy, was an American For other events named "World Series" see World Series (disambiguation. But the team's chronic failures on the field since the early 1930s and its lack of resources undermined it. In the 1940s, two fatal blows were struck.
First, in 1943, the Phillies of the National League were bought by the wealthy Robert R.M. Carpenter, a DuPont heir. Champions Major League Baseball World Series: New York Yankees over St The Philadelphia Phillies are a Major League Baseball team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States. The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, or simply the National League ( NL) is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball E I du Pont de Nemours and Company (,) is an American chemical company that was founded in July 1802 as a Gunpowder mill by Eleuthère Irénée For most of the first half of the 20th century, Philadelphia had been an "A's town. " When Carpenter bought the Phillies, he proceeded to spend lavishly on young players, while the A's had no farm system worth mentioning. Many of these young players helped the once-moribund Phillies win their second-ever National League pennant in 1950. Champions Major League Baseball World Series: New York Yankees over Philadelphia Phillies (4-0 All-Star The Phillies had played at Shibe Park as tenants of the A's since 1938, but began to outdraw the Athletics and passed them as Philadelphia's favorite baseball team. Shibe Park, known for the last one-third of its existence as Connie Mack Stadium, was a Major League Baseball park in Philadelphia, Champions Major League Baseball World Series: New York Yankees over Chicago Cubs (4-0 All-Star Game
Second, a power struggle between two branches of the Mack family--essentially, Roy and Earle, Mack's two sons from his first marriage, were ranged against Connie's second wife and their son from that union, Connie Jr. --resulted in a dangerous depletion of capital. Roy and Earle eventually won the struggle, but it came at a price. They mortgaged the team and deprived themselves of concessions revenue. Connie Sr. , 87, retired as manager in the autumn of 1950 under pressure from Roy and Earle. Athletics Marathon International Races August 23 &mdash European Championships Marathon, Brussels He remained team president, but when he disappeared from the scene, a lot of goodwill disappeared with him. By 1954, the last-place Athletics were gasping. Artistic Gymnastics 1954 World Championships Men's all-around champion Viktor Chukarin, USSR Women's
Wooing Roy and Earle Mack, who represented their father as majority owners, Johnson finally convinced them to sell their shares for $3. 5 million, then withstood a furious, eleventh-hour "save the A's" campaign from Philadelphia officials that nearly swayed Connie Sr. 's support of the deal. When the 91-year-old patriarch approved the transaction, the A's moved to Kansas City. Amid concerns of a conflict of interest, Johnson sold Yankee Stadium back to the Yankees as a condition of allowing the A's purchase. City officials bought Blues Stadium from Johnson and renamed it Municipal Stadium, heavily renovating it to bring it to major league standards. Kansas City Municipal Stadium was a Baseball and football stadium that formerly stood in Kansas City Missouri.
Johnson showed his true colors in the lease he signed with the city. It contained a three-year escape clause allowing the A's to break the lease if attendance dropped below one million. Rumors swirled that Johnson intended to keep the team in Kansas City for only a few years before moving it to Los Angeles. Los Angeles (lɑˈsændʒələs los ˈaŋxeles in Spanish) is the largest City in the state of California and the American West If that was the case, it became moot when the Brooklyn Dodgers moved there for the 1958 season. The Los Angeles Dodgers are a Major League Baseball team based in Los Angeles California, USA Year 1958 ( MCMLVIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar.
The team drew 1,393,054 fans in its first year in Kansas City, 1955--the third-highest figure in baseball (behind only the Yankees and Milwaukee Braves). Year 1955 ( MCMLV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays the 1955 Gregorian calendar) However, the novelty wore off quickly as loss piled upon loss during the A's 13-year stay in Kansas City. The A's would never even approach their 1955 attendance figures again. Worse, Johnson's former business ties to the Yankees resulted in a series of trades with the Bronx Bombers that helped keep the New York dynasty afloat. Invariably, any good young player was traded to the Yankees for aging veterans and cash. Over the years, Johnson would trade such key players as Roger Maris, Bobby Shantz, Hector Lopez, Clete Boyer, Art Ditmar and Ralph Terry to the Yankees. Roger Eugene Maris ( September 10 1934 &ndash December 14 1985) was an American Right fielder in Major League Baseball Robert Clayton Shantz (born September 26, 1925 in Pottstown Pennsylvania) was a Major League Baseball Pitcher for the Philadelphia Héctor Headley López Swainson (born July 9 1929 (possibly April 8 1932 in Colón, Panama) is a former Left fielder and Third baseman Cletis Leroy “Clete” Boyer ( February 9, 1937 &ndash June 4, 2007) was a former Major League Baseball player Arthur John Ditmar (born April 3, 1929 in Winthrop Massachusetts) is a former Starting pitcher in Major League Baseball who played Ralph Willard Terry (born on January 9, 1936 in Big Cabin Oklahoma) is a former right-handed Pitcher in Major League Baseball who In return, he did receive some talented younger players such as Norm Siebern and Jerry Lumpe, and the cash helped the team pay the bills. Norman Leroy Siebern (born July 26, 1933 in St Louis Missouri) was a Major League Baseball player for the New York Yankees, Jerry Dean Lumpe (born June 2, 1933, in Lincoln Missouri) was a Major League Baseball Second Baseman for the New York Yankees However, the trades were weighted so heavily in the Yankees' favor that many fans, reporters and even other teams thought that Johnson ran the A's as a Yankee farm team at the major league level.
According to The Baseball Hall of Shame by Nash and Zullo, "Johnson had been wheeling and dealing with Yankee owners Del Webb and Dan Topping even before he bought the A's. Webb and Topping held a second mortgage of Johnson's totaling $2. 9 million. . . . and it was Webb's construction company that remodeled Kansas City's stadium to meet major league specifications. " The authors commentetd, 'No wonder Johnson was a Yankee puppet. '
The Commissioner of Baseball, Ford Frick, never stepped in, but fate took a hand. The Commissioner of Baseball is the chief executive of Major League Baseball. Ford Christopher Frick ( December 19, 1894 – April 8, 1978) was an American Sportswriter and executive who served In March 1960, Johnson was returning from watching his Athletics in spring training when he was fatally stricken with a cerebral hemorrhage. Year 1960 ( MCMLX) was a Leap year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. In Major League Baseball, spring training is a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the Regular season. A cerebral hemorrhage (or intracerebral hemorrhage, ICH) is a subtype of Intracranial hemorrhage that occurs within the Brain tissue itself He died in West Palm Beach, Florida, at the age of 53. West Palm Beach, also known as West Palm, is the most populous city in Palm Beach County, Florida, USA. Later that season, his estate would sell its controlling interest in the team to Charles O. Finley, who would eventually move the A's to Oakland and assemble a dynasty there in the early 1970s. Charles Oscar Finley ( February 22 1918 - February 19 1996) nicknamed Charlie O or Charley O, was an American Oakland (ˈoʊklənd founded in 1852 is the eighth-largest city in the U