Why did the A's Leave Philadelphia and Not the Phillies - A What If Friday Episode

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  • čas přidán 14. 06. 2024
  • For decades, the A's were the dominant team of Philadelphia and the Phillies a mere afterthought.
    The A's won pennants in the 1900's, 1910's, 1920's and 1930's, winning the World Series five times while the Phillies won a single pennant and no titles.
    The A's had legends and Hall of Famers and the Phillies were just bad.
    So when it was time for one team to leave, why did the A's skip town and the Phillies become a beloved institution for the City of Brotherly Love?
    To understand that, you need to understand the stubbornness of the Connie Mack family and the fortunate year that the Phillies made it back to the World Series.
    It is a What If Friday episode of Locked on MLB.
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Komentáře • 202

  • @paisan8766
    @paisan8766 Před 2 měsíci +4

    My Pop was born in 1923 and was an A’s fan first. He supported the Phillies, too, and watched them religiously until he passed at age 93.

  • @KevinDanner
    @KevinDanner Před 3 měsíci +33

    Please allow me to add some background to the A's years and eventual departure from Kansas City... When the Truman Sports Complex was first proposed in the late 1960's, it was done to provide top level stadiums for both the Chiefs and the A's. I don't recall all the details, but obviously Charles Finley moved the team to Oakland. Otherwise, they would have been playing in a brand new, baseball-only stadium beginning in 1973. I went to several Kansas City A's games when I was a kid. I relocated to Las Vegas about 20 years ago and now, ironically, I might be attending home games for the A's again!

    • @larryloveless2967
      @larryloveless2967 Před 3 měsíci +4

      I saw a recent video on CZcams about the KC A's and Finley wanted the California market even though a new stadium in KC was to be done similar to how Stan Kroenke left for L.A. anyway even though St. Louis had prepared to build another stadium. At least the MLB realized this and it quickly led to getting the Royals in KC whereas St. Louis got dropped off the map by the NFL.

  • @richardstewart85
    @richardstewart85 Před 3 měsíci +24

    To be honest, I always wondered if the A’s ever considered moving back to Philadelphia as potential new home for the franchise. As a bias, Philadelphian native, I think it would be good for baseball, and extremely a wonderful reunion for the city of Philadelphia to have the Athletics back on the North side and keep the Phillies on the south side. I think Philadelphia is one of the cities that can handle to major league franchises. I believe the A’s could once again thrive in the city. It would be like the Yankees/Mets or the White Sox/Cubs situation but there’s a pipe dream most likely that would never happen.

    • @1923hl
      @1923hl Před 3 měsíci +8

      In the early 50s, Philadelphia was the third largest city in the US, with a population of over 2 million. You can add an additional 1.5 million that then lived in the suburbs. So, in theory, Philadelphia had the potential to easily support two teams. Covering all the reasons why this failed to happen could generate a very long article. However, you bring up an interesting point about the Sox/Cubs in Chicago. It quickly developed that if you were from the south side, you were a Sox fan at Comiskey, and if you were from the north side, you rooted for the Cubs at Wrigley. The A's and the Phillies always competed against each other in north Philly. Had one of the two teams relocated to the set up shop in south Philly (or west Philly), it's possible the attendance for both clubs would have been strengthened. As it was, by the 50s the neighborhood around Shibe Park was turning for the worse and the lack of parking was keeping many fans at home.

    • @86byrdman
      @86byrdman Před 3 měsíci +4

      I don't think Philly fans would like the way the A's go about building a team though, trading promising young players and always rebuilding. I would imagine their business model would change in a place like Philly, but I just can't imagine John Fisher lasting long in a place like Philly.
      Also, you put the A's in Philly, wouldn't that be oversaturation of teams in the Northeast? The Phillies already have a lot of teams that play kind of nearby in the Mets, the Yankees, the Nationals, the Orioles, and the Red Sox.
      With that being said, a Phillies-A's Philadelphia MLB rivalry would be interesting. Baseball needs more rivalries to help draw more interest to the sport... The Philly college basketball rivalries (Villanova, St. Josephs, Temple, and the other college basketball teams in Philly) are big in Philly from what I understand.

    • @rentslave
      @rentslave Před 3 měsíci

      The only thing that made the area around Connie Mack look halfway decent was by going through Camden on the way.@@1923hl

    • @HHSGDFootballJPD
      @HHSGDFootballJPD Před 3 měsíci +5

      ​@@86byrdmanI don't know. On the one hand, the AL would have a team in each major city along the I-95 corridor from D.C. to Boston. On the other hand, interleague regular season baseball didn't happen until the mid 90s and the AL and NL operated as separate baseball leagues until around 2000. If the A's stay in PHI in the 70s, the city gets to see both AL ball (with older designated hitters) and NL ball (pitchers batting).

    • @mmcgahn5948
      @mmcgahn5948 Před 3 měsíci +4

      By MLB rules, the only way a franchise can come within 100 miles of the Philadelphia Phillies home ballpark is with permission of the Phillies.

  • @wooderice64
    @wooderice64 Před 3 měsíci +21

    I have an uncle who is 98 years old and he grew up rooting for the A's. Most people in Philly did back then. It's really just another case of Philly shooting itself in the foot, of which there are unfortunately many.

    • @Nolan33177
      @Nolan33177 Před 3 měsíci +1

      How ? What guarantees the as all the suess the Phillies had since 50. They weren't guaranteed the success in the 70s or 89 or 01. The Phillies have been to like 6 world series got a few rings all kinds of hif players and I wouldn't change it. What bc the As had more success in the 1910s and 30s?

    • @Nolan33177
      @Nolan33177 Před 3 měsíci

      You can say this about 80 pct if teams. Half left. Half were terrible still don't have a title. And the a,s curse might be on the Philadelphia city right now if they stayed. The course of history changes. As woulda had diff management diff player, maybe moved and Philly scrambling and the Phillies start a new in 1952 or whatever in Philly. Ppl don't get one change changes everything. A new owner. Not even a monumental move like moving the team

    • @cuginoeddie8677
      @cuginoeddie8677 Před 3 měsíci

      I’m 48 so I’m old enough to have known people who were around during the time the A’s played here. I’ve never actually met an A’s fan though, it seemed most of the people I knew who did attend their games were going for the Yankees

    • @andrewgreen7473
      @andrewgreen7473 Před 3 měsíci +1

      ​@cuginoeddie8677 my grandfather was an As fan. Had they not left he'd had stayed a diehard one. Because they didn't we grew up following them but we were raised on the Phils. I know more than a few that were raised following the As for that reason. 🤷

    • @dennisholiday1868
      @dennisholiday1868 Před 3 měsíci

      The A's will never leave Philly as long there is a rain delay and they bring out the tarp that a A's winning World Series Pitcher made.

  • @kjorlaug1
    @kjorlaug1 Před 3 měsíci +15

    The A's had a deal to stay in Philly. Then one of Connie's sons voted against it at the owners meeting and scuttled the deal. The team was then sold to a not so secret Yankee fan who promptly moved then to KC

    • @jamaaljoseph4275
      @jamaaljoseph4275 Před 3 měsíci +7

      KC Athletics were known as Yankees “farm” team

    • @andrewgreen7473
      @andrewgreen7473 Před 3 měsíci +5

      Yeah. At the behest of yankees ownership. The Yankees are the reason we lost our team. I will never cease to hate them because of it

    • @peterdesmondhopkins4399
      @peterdesmondhopkins4399 Před 3 měsíci +1

      A factor in the A's leaving Philadelphia not mentioned in your video was the cost to maintain Connie Mack Stadium, which the A's owned. The A's thought that owning the stadium and being a landlord for the Phillies would be a profit center. However, the lease the Phillies had proved to be quite favorable to them, while the A's had declining attendance and were stuck paying for upkeep. The declining attendance was, of course, attributabe to the losing the team did in the 1940s. So, the confluence of this and the arrival of the Whiz Kids made it just a matter of time before the A's left town.

  • @erich2626
    @erich2626 Před 3 měsíci +13

    I was born & raised in Philly area. My grandfather was a die hard A’s fan & hated the Phillies. He used to say that the “Philadelphia’s real baseball team moved out of town.”

    • @KWC33
      @KWC33 Před 3 měsíci

      The Ace was my father’s team too, but he didn’t hate the Phillies

    • @TheHarmmm
      @TheHarmmm Před 3 měsíci +1

      Yeah, my grandfather said Philly was an AL town

  • @jpete3027666
    @jpete3027666 Před 3 měsíci +8

    The A’s are one of the most successful franchises in MLB history. The fact they don’t have a long and storied history in one city is both dumbfounding and sad.

  • @jmadratz
    @jmadratz Před 2 měsíci +2

    I was 13 the last year of Connie Mack Stadium, 1970. My older brother (27) would drive me to some weekday games there and we’d get left field bleacher seats for $0.50 each. I remember my brother just parking his old car right on the street only about 2-3 blocks from the left field bleacher entrance. A hot dog and a coke was $0.50 total. It was a great way to pass the time on a warm summer afternoon. I started following the Phil’s in 1967/1968 and I still think I remember one of their lineups:
    Tony Taylor, 3b
    Cookie Rojas, 2b
    Johnny Callison, RF
    Richie (Dick) Allen, 1B
    Tony Gonzales, CF
    Johnny Briggs, LF
    Clay Dalrymple, C
    Bobby Wine, SS
    Chris Short, LHP
    Jim Bunning, RHP

  • @ernestpolk9555
    @ernestpolk9555 Před 3 měsíci +4

    When I was a kid(18 or so) I loved the A's, Reggie, Fingers, Bando, Catfish, Rudi......what a team 3 straight WS titles.....

  • @markko17
    @markko17 Před 3 měsíci +51

    And even though it's been 70 years since the A's left Philadelphia, the Philadelphia A's have more championships (5) than any other Philadelphia sports team. The Eagles have 4 NFL championships, the 76ers 2 (3 if you want to include the Philadelphia Warriors NBA championship in '55-'56) the Phillies have 2, and the Flyers have 2.

    • @John-pm1hk
      @John-pm1hk Před 3 měsíci +9

      I have always thought that was hilarious tbh. Winningest team in Philadelphia history hasn't been there for 70 years.

    • @garbo8962
      @garbo8962 Před 3 měsíci +2

      Big bum high spending g Flyers have not won a Stanley Cup in 50 years. My bum Phillies where the first major league team to loose 10,000 games. Good thing the Phillies have an outstanding owner with very deep pickets & a great GM.

    • @wvu05
      @wvu05 Před 3 měsíci +6

      The Warriors don't count toward the Sixers total. It was a different franchise that still exists with the same name.

    • @richardcheng3288
      @richardcheng3288 Před 3 měsíci +2

      Check your history again. The Warriors won in 1946-'47.

    • @philipdolan426
      @philipdolan426 Před 3 měsíci +4

      So you were talking about philadelphia A's leaving, but you never did talk about how they had a cup of coffee in kansas city. You can't talk about the History of the A's and not talk about kansas city

  • @tonyfasolo3488
    @tonyfasolo3488 Před 3 měsíci +2

    I am 87 now and saw the As play many games from the breached seats in Shibe Park before it became Connie Mack stadium. My father was broken hearted when the As left. He and his brother were AL fans. My uncle was a Yankee fan and my father a Connie Mack and As fan. He hated the Phillies and as we walked to the stadium along Lehigh avenue he would say in a loud voice “How many WS did the Phillies win( this was before 1950) ? The last year the As were in town attendance was way down. A local grocery chain offered free tickets for every 10 dollars of food purchased. Hardly anyone took them up on this.

  • @cuginoeddie8677
    @cuginoeddie8677 Před 3 měsíci +8

    Great video but I gotta mention that Connie Mack stadium could never been refurbished due to the simple fact of its location.
    1) the area is now a war zone and was so even back then which is why attendance was not good during the last few years.
    2) its not in a great location of the city crime withstanding. It’s very difficult to get to with even today no major highways taking you right there.
    3) adding to that, when the As moved it was the start of suburban sprawl and the majority of the city started leaving Philly for south jersey particularly which is why the spectrum and veterans stadium were put in their current locations in the first place.

    • @mightya
      @mightya Před 2 měsíci +1

      I taught US History at Girls’ HS for many years. When we studied 1950s suburban flight I included Connie Mack Stadium and my experiences there in the discussion. They had no clue.

  • @jimstewart7035
    @jimstewart7035 Před 3 měsíci +4

    I love all the history about baseball. This video and the story about how this all happened is the best story of baseball. I can’t go back this far but any baseball from the early 1960’s is still fresh in my mind. It’s awesome to hear it all! Especially with all the news we get these days like players (not all) who bitch about the insane contracts they get. Keep up the awesome work - I have subscribed so I won’t miss any of this great content!!!!!!

  • @devonbrooks246
    @devonbrooks246 Před 3 měsíci +10

    Sounds a little similar to the Browns leaving St Louis. Although Browns were not as successful as the Cardinals, they did rent the stadium to the Cardinals. In the earlier days, Browns fans outnumbered the Cardinals fans but of course losing games does not help. In contrast A’s had a much more successful history than the Browns and leaving Philly was a bigger deal. Athletics have great history but get moved around way too much.

  • @sebastianbelcher5354
    @sebastianbelcher5354 Před 2 měsíci +1

    Cool video. Makes me wanna take a trip to see old stadium sites. I don't think any sport but baseball has such a fascinating history to it.

  • @edithsullivan8002
    @edithsullivan8002 Před 3 měsíci +6

    ❤Great baseball history! Thanks, Sully!

  • @stefangrey
    @stefangrey Před 3 měsíci +7

    You WALKED from 15th & Lehigh to 21st & Lehigh? How many armed guards did you have?

  • @christianwootton100
    @christianwootton100 Před 3 měsíci +3

    Thank you very much for this.

  • @rickpaton7538
    @rickpaton7538 Před 3 měsíci +3

    This was a great watch!

  • @josephosheavideos3992
    @josephosheavideos3992 Před 3 měsíci +5

    You left out one major reason for the decline of the A's: the Great Depression. Because of financial woes, Connie Mack was forced to sell many of his best players to stay afloat. Interestingly, in the late 1940's, the A's actually had some good young talent, most notably second baseman Nellie Fox, but - again - could not hang onto them.

    • @1923hl
      @1923hl Před 3 měsíci +3

      Perhaps the biggest mistake the A's made in the 40s was trading a young George Kell to the Tigers. He would go on to a Hall of Fame career. I will say that, defensively, the A's infield in the late 40's (Joost, Suder, Fain) rates with the best in history. Nevertheless, with the power of hindsight, imagine an infield with Kell at 3rd, Joost at short, Fox at 2nd, and Fain at 1st. I'm certain the A's would have won many more games with that foursome in place. Another huge bummer for A's fans was having Bobby Shantz mostly sidelined with injuries during 1953-54 after his brilliant seasons in 1951-52. Bobby was a huge favorite and had he stayed healthy the A's might have been able to remain in Philly for several or more seasons.

    • @josephosheavideos3992
      @josephosheavideos3992 Před 3 měsíci +2

      @@1923hl Thank for your reference to George Well. As a White Sox fan, my first thought was to my team's future Hall of Fame, Nellie Fox, who broke in with the Philadelphia A's.

    • @josephosheavideos3992
      @josephosheavideos3992 Před 3 měsíci +1

      @@1923hlOops, I meant to type George Kell, but the computer auto-"uncorrected" it to "Well."

  • @RD24LFG
    @RD24LFG Před 2 měsíci +1

    The way you talk and look reminds me of Jeff Garlin from Curb Your Enthusiasm haha
    Great video!

  • @FAITHandLOGIC
    @FAITHandLOGIC Před 3 měsíci +7

    Many people forget that the American League and National League operated separately. There was not one combined league like there is now. They were separate leagues that competed against each other. This is why you had NY, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia and St. Louis with clubs in both leagues.
    As the country grew and more big cities emerged, it was advantages for some teams to move out west and have a whole city to themselves instead of directly competing against each other. So the Dodgers moved to LA; Giants to SF; Braves to Milwaukee and then again to Atlanta; the A's to KC and then again to Oakland and the StL Browns moved to Baltimore to become the Orioles.
    The A's made the right move but they've been plagued with questionable ownership over the decades and a city that doesn't want to play ball in terms of helping with new stadiums. You can blame the A's all you want but the fact is that Oakland is about to lose their 3rd pro franchise in the last 5 years. The city is part to blame.

    • @David-yw2lv
      @David-yw2lv Před 3 měsíci

      Especially Finley.

    • @tomjones5650
      @tomjones5650 Před 3 měsíci

      Oakland went down the drain. glug glug glug...😮

  • @williambowman1660
    @williambowman1660 Před 3 měsíci +2

    Great video. Another moral to the story is the old saying that nothing breeds failure has continued success. Your story also describes the attitude of the baseball owners then and really until free agency in 1974? and then the strike in 1981. It was Americas Pastime and would always be. The Major Leagues had no equals and was the King of Sports for what seemed forever in America . The only reason that any teams moved was for
    More money instead of changing the product. Because of their arrogance and feeling of superiority, baseball would not change or acknowledge the changes in society. The NFL was such a minor concern ( college football was definitely bigger in the perception of the public and media ) in post World War 2 America, the NHL was 6 teams ( 2 in Canada) until 1967, the NBA was a small concern this baseball was King. Great video and story of Philadelphia and MLB It’s also the story of baseball’s failure to adapt. An old Southern saying applies, House cats don’t hunt. The Philadelphia A’s were lazy house cats and sis not know how to create food on their own. Moving to where someone will give you something is sure easier than to figure out how to hunt.

  • @garbo8962
    @garbo8962 Před 3 měsíci +1

    Can remember my dad giving my & my brother $2 to watch a Sunday afternoon Phillies game at Connie Mack Stadium back in the early 1960's. Only cost 50¢ to get into the grand stands, 50¢ for round trip on PTC bus & maybe ¢25 for a hot dog. Always came hone with some money.

  • @Jem1963
    @Jem1963 Před 3 měsíci +1

    A's fan here great story told,thank you😊

  • @berniemarkley
    @berniemarkley Před 3 měsíci +2

    Great story!. I've always heard of Connie Mack and always thought he was associated with the Phillies. I would have liked to have seen old photos of the Baker Bowl and Shibe Park/Connie Mack Stadium. I'm a Cubs fan, so obviously, i appreciate old ball parks!

  • @AlbertTheConjugator
    @AlbertTheConjugator Před 3 měsíci +2

    Thank you, Mr. Sully! 😊
    🤘🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

  • @willinnewhaven3285
    @willinnewhaven3285 Před 2 měsíci

    The statue and the plaque are very nice touches.

  • @shaindaman13
    @shaindaman13 Před 3 měsíci +7

    Wasn’t much point in going all the way to the old Baker bowl or Shibe Park because all we could see was your head.

    • @LockedOnMLB
      @LockedOnMLB  Před 3 měsíci +1

      Sorry I didn't have the best crew and equipment for it

    • @shaindaman13
      @shaindaman13 Před 3 měsíci

      @@LockedOnMLB yeah. I feel ya. Get you a selfie stick. Or make yourself one from a golf club.

  • @greggwoods7173
    @greggwoods7173 Před 2 měsíci

    Me too! I remember when they moved to Oakland! They were my team as a kid. Don't forget Phil Roof!

  • @larryloveless2967
    @larryloveless2967 Před 3 měsíci +1

    I like baseball history and have wondered the same question. Being from St. Louis the American League St. Louis Browns had the same little success as did the Phillies for many years. The Browns owned the stadium but their tennant the Cardinals had almost all the success. In the early 1950s the Browns had hoped they could get the Cardinals to leave town since only one team would get enough support. New owner Gussie Busch kept the Cardinals from leaving and invested in to the stadium once the Browns left. At least Philly got to have their own early era of great baseball teams but it was from the Athletics. Freak timing with the 1950 Whiz Kids. Interesting video. Cards fan

  • @petercena9497
    @petercena9497 Před 3 měsíci +1

    With television rapidly conquering America, the Phillies started winning at the right time. The A's were losing and nostalgia wasn't a thing back then.

    • @LockedOnMLB
      @LockedOnMLB  Před 3 měsíci +1

      agreed. Timing was everything for the Phillies

  • @fogalicious2644
    @fogalicious2644 Před 2 měsíci

    In an alternate universe, the Oakland Phillies are in the midst of potential relocation to Vegas.

  • @joshsmith4512
    @joshsmith4512 Před 3 měsíci +1

    the baker bowl actually had bleachers on the field of play😂

  • @CalledTurnAGundam
    @CalledTurnAGundam Před 3 měsíci +3

    Because "The Oakland Phillies" would have been really really dumb?

  • @itstherecit17
    @itstherecit17 Před 2 měsíci +1

    It's a shame that you didn't talk about who Mack sold the A's to, and how they became a virtual Yankees farm team when they moved to KC to remain the lambs of the AL. The guy who bought the A's from Mack had been a co-owner of the Yankees, and the exchanging of players to and from the Yankees began because of that conflict(?). That situation was ridiculous, corrupt, lasted for years, and would never fly today in MLB.

    • @LockedOnMLB
      @LockedOnMLB  Před 2 měsíci +1

      that's a future video. Plus I have talked on the podcast several times about the collusion between the Yankees and A's that kept the Yankee dynasty afloat for another decade. Finley buying the A's ended the pipeline to the Bronx and by a complete coincidence, the Yankee dyansty folded as the A's became a powerhouse

  • @itinerantpatriot1196
    @itinerantpatriot1196 Před 3 měsíci +2

    The A's have a very sordid history when it comes to ownership. When they first relocated they were owned by a guy named Arnold Johnson who was a business partner of the Yankee's ownership group. He even owned Yankee Stadium for a time. When he got hold of the A's they became a quasi-farm team for the Yankees. Players such as Roger Maris, Clete Boyer, and Ralph Terry were given to the Yankees for peanuts.
    Then Charlie Finley got the team, moved em west, and built one helluva ballclub, winning three WS titles in a row with Reggie, Catfish, Sal, and Rollie to name a few. I hated that team because they owned my Tigers. After winning a bunch Finley tried to sell the players off but baseball put the quash to that plan. By the end of his reign the players were being outfitted with equipment similar to the stuff you'd find in a bargain basement sporting outlet. Other teams felt sorry for them. But Billy Martin did manage to win a few with his Billy-Ball style of play and they had some decent runs after that. Now? Now they are back being a mess. Move em to Mexico. Maybe that'll satisfy whatever baseball gods that franchise has pissed off lately.

    • @christopherdavenport8336
      @christopherdavenport8336 Před 3 měsíci

      I've heard the story of why they left a couple of times and I remember the Yankees had some round about reason for it.

  • @ericzaremski1297
    @ericzaremski1297 Před 3 měsíci +2

    That statue of Connie Mack originally sat outside Shibe Park.

    • @fooboo98
      @fooboo98 Před 2 měsíci

      And that statue should be at the steps of the art museum instead of rocky

    • @thomasbradley2654
      @thomasbradley2654 Před 2 měsíci

      ​@@fooboo98Maybe it should since "Rocky Balboa" was a fictional character. Connie Mack's statue is a Phillies' tribute to a legendary sports figure and "rival". It is fine right where it is and in a place of honor easily seen by Philadelphia sports fans.

    • @fooboo98
      @fooboo98 Před 2 měsíci

      @@thomasbradley2654 I didn’t even know it was at the bank and I worked on the construction and renovations through the years there .

  • @competesmith
    @competesmith Před 3 měsíci

    Just a note: The Phillies were trapped in Baker Bowl by a 99-year-lease that involved the Cubs ownership pre-Wrigley as their landlords. They had a terrible time escaping that lease, but they FINALLY did in mid 1938. Baker Bowl was a disaster area - with two major collapses, injuring fans such as in 1927 when the rotted wood gave way. Furthermore, the Phillies got by on a shoestring by selling whoever they had, particularly to the Cardinals. This trapped the Phillies in last place, year after year after year. It was hard to imagine that they could get worse, but after they left Baker Bowl they went from a terrible team that at least hit at home in their bandbox to a team that didn't hit anywhere.

  • @EvanEscher
    @EvanEscher Před 3 měsíci +2

    50 years from now someone will be doing a video on why the A's left the Bay Area instead of the Giants

    • @frederickdeanderuiter1080
      @frederickdeanderuiter1080 Před 2 měsíci

      Giants waited 40 years at Candlestick before going China basin to At+t Park !

    • @EvanEscher
      @EvanEscher Před 2 měsíci +1

      @@frederickdeanderuiter1080 and they almost left in the mid 70s and early 90s. Although something tells me that if the Giants had left town in the 90s, the A's would have moved to SF around 2000.

  • @rayrussell6258
    @rayrussell6258 Před 3 měsíci +1

    How do you do that story about the A's and their movement, and totally omit Charles Finley?

    • @williamford9564
      @williamford9564 Před 3 měsíci

      It was not about the move from KC to Oakland. It was about why the team moved to KC from Philadelphia.

    • @LockedOnMLB
      @LockedOnMLB  Před 3 měsíci +1

      Working on an Oakland stadium one where there is no shortage of Finley references

    • @rayrussell6258
      @rayrussell6258 Před 3 měsíci

      @mford9564 the video was about the entire migration, even the possibility of another move to Las Vegas being mentioned, according to what I heard in this video. Plus, the host was standing in Oakland for half the video. Finley was a big part of the migration. He had tried to buy the Athletics when they were still in Philadelphia, but lost out until another chance came his way when they were in KC. So Finley was involved to varying degrees in all three locations.
      I love how some people can watch something, and miss so much of what's going on, then feel a need to criticize anyway. lol
      Tbh, although the personalities involved was discussed, their hard-headedness and timing of events, the specific question about WHY the team moved wasn't really answered.
      Maybe we will hear more about such details on the follow-up video promised by the channel's host.

    • @rayrussell6258
      @rayrussell6258 Před 3 měsíci

      @OnMLB Ok, cool! Thanks for the update.
      But Finley was involved in Philadelphia and KC, before the team moved to Oakland.

  • @Sevendigitz7
    @Sevendigitz7 Před 3 měsíci

    I really wish the A’s would move back to Philly. I would be a fan of both teams. Imma Phillies fan but I’m Philly through and through. Hopefully one day that happens in my life time

  • @edwardcricchio6106
    @edwardcricchio6106 Před 2 měsíci

    I always thought the 1989 World Series should have been moved to New York and Philadelphia after the earthquake rocked California. The Giants ancestral home was New York and of course the A's, Philadelphia.

  • @nascarmadman
    @nascarmadman Před 3 měsíci +1

    The St Louis Browns were THAT close to moving to LA for the 1942 season. Pearl Harbor put everything on hold and MLB had to wait 16 years for west coast baseball. Can you do a 'what if' on that? I think it would be really interesting. Where would Brooklyn go? How about the Giants? Or maybe even the Yankees???
    I'm surprised the A's haven't left Oakland sooner. That 'stadium' is literally a sewer and I can't even pretend to understand why it hasn't been condemned.

  • @lonniestephens6254
    @lonniestephens6254 Před 3 měsíci +1

    Just imagine if the Athletics had stayed in Philadelphia, PA.

  • @jimmcmonagle2360
    @jimmcmonagle2360 Před 2 měsíci +1

    my dad was friends with Connie Mack's grandson (from his first marriage, I think). The grandson was also named Connie (Cornelius) and he recently passed away.

  • @Matt_237
    @Matt_237 Před 2 měsíci +1

    Interesting variations to this story in comments and here. As a friend of now deceased Ruly Carpenter, the story was pretty cut and dry from how he told it. Summing it up, "The Yankees ruined it like they ruin everything else. Crisconi was going to save them here, but the Yankees poison pilled it." --- If you're from Philly, you know all about Philly Motors, John, his crazy wife and how loaded he was, so he'd have the money. I've just always taken Ruly's word for it. Someone said Connie's son voted against it? Never heard that. Not saying it's not true.

  • @wvu05
    @wvu05 Před 3 měsíci

    The problem was really just how bad the Athletics were the last 20 years in Philadelphia. For all his managerial prowess, Connie Mack was slow to build the farm system and he was the only owner at the time who didn't have another main source of income, so the Depression started a death spiral.

  • @kurtheidel6535
    @kurtheidel6535 Před 3 měsíci +3

    Bobby Shantz is still alive, and living in Pottstown, PA

    • @1923hl
      @1923hl Před 3 měsíci

      If I'm not mistaken, Bobby is the last surviving member of the Philadelphia A's.

  • @rwboa22
    @rwboa22 Před 3 měsíci

    While we know all well about the Mack Family, the Carpenter Family that owned the Phillies are related, by marriage between the elder Ruly Carpenter and Margaretta Lammot du Pont, to Pierre S. du Pont (the former President of DuPont and GM as well as the owner of the famed Longwood Gardens near Kennett Square, PA) and the Du Pont Family. Even if the Mack Family was financially strong, the very strong Du Pont finances would have ultimately allowed the Phillies to have a financial edge over the Athletics.
    One other thing, while Citizens Bank Park is the current jewel in the Phillies' crown (and honors both the legacies of the Baker Bowl and Shine Park/Connie Mack Stadium), after the A's moved out of North Philadelphia for Kansas City, the Carpenter Family wanted a new ballpark and in the 1960s, because of restrictive liquor and beer laws in Pennsylvania, even looked at Garden State Park in Cherry Hill, NJ for the proposed ballpark. The City of Philadelphia, with their then-new city charter (allowing them more autonomy on local affairs granted by the pre-1968 Pennsylvania Constitution), countered by having the proposed ballpark being built above the railroad tracks at 30th Street Station, before eventually settling on the Broad Street and Pattison Avenue location in South Philadelphia, becoming the both loved and hated Veterans Memorial Stadium of my childhood and early adulthood.

  • @wimbledon5353
    @wimbledon5353 Před 3 měsíci +2

    It would be like if The Yankees continued to be a piss poor Franchise after 1964 and forced to move out of town while The Mets stayed in NY and usurped their fanbase.

  • @davemarnell8871
    @davemarnell8871 Před 2 měsíci

    7:48, lol. Sacred indeed.

  • @KWC33
    @KWC33 Před 3 měsíci +2

    The Philadelphia Phillies in Las Vegas🙄 I think the name alone is why they stayed here rightfully so how many other ball teams are named after their city directly?

  • @jacobwerman1008
    @jacobwerman1008 Před 2 měsíci

    Well, for one thing, the Oakland Phillies would just be weird.

  • @qmcsing
    @qmcsing Před 3 měsíci +1

    The Yankees had something to do with the A’s moving……

    • @michaelleroy9281
      @michaelleroy9281 Před 2 měsíci

      Not to Oakland by 1967 the A's so called farm club of the Yankees days were long gone

    • @qmcsing
      @qmcsing Před 2 měsíci

      @@michaelleroy9281 the A’s went to Kansas City in 1955…

  • @stevenbauer4799
    @stevenbauer4799 Před 3 měsíci

    Because it only made sense for owners in two league cities to leave to them behind to take advantage of fertile ground out west. And with dodgers and giants fleeing west to cali to give n l west coast presence a l now needed a westward flow to keep up with n l. so philly a's to kc, boston braves to milwaukee, and wash. sens to minn. by early 60's. two league cities were now becoming a thing of the past-philly, st.l (browns to balt. o's), boston, even nyc (with three) for a short time no longer two league cities until mets arrived in nyc in '62. And la added angels to become two league city along with nyc, chicago by '62. Then a's moved farther west to cali in '68 to make bay area two league territory. Second d c sens move to texas in '72 completed the westward flow of teams. Now with interleague play leagues don't matter anymore. All teams see each other-no big deal. Its all about al/nl sharing big market tv $$$'s these days. And o's were never happy to have to share balt./d c market with re-located expos now nats. And giants will be happy to see a's leave bay area so they can have market all to themselves once again. sf having done their job claiming bay area their market and blocking a's stadium attempts in sj/bay area.

  • @ThomasJanik-nf5vi
    @ThomasJanik-nf5vi Před 2 měsíci +3

    I think it's feasible for the A's too move back to Philadelphia.

  • @aresee8208
    @aresee8208 Před 3 měsíci

    I wonder. How easily did A's fans switch their allegiance to the Phillies? And, if the Phillies had moved and the A's had stayed, would the engagement of Philadelphia fans with baseball over all these years have been any different?

  • @Eddunaway-fl3rk
    @Eddunaway-fl3rk Před 2 měsíci

    Connie Mack he refused to shake Jackie Robinson's hand and that one famous pitcher they took holding the bat show the movie 42

  • @christopherdavenport8336
    @christopherdavenport8336 Před 3 měsíci

    Connie Mack stadium site became a bad area of Philly. Not sure about now.

  • @geneporreca3848
    @geneporreca3848 Před 3 měsíci

    Thank God the Phillies, Eagles, Flyers, and Sixers are still here. Cause we don't need No As or Warriors.

    • @andrewgreen7473
      @andrewgreen7473 Před 2 měsíci

      Maybe you don't but I want the As back. And they should bring back the blue too instead of green and gold

  • @frederickdeanderuiter1080
    @frederickdeanderuiter1080 Před 2 měsíci

    Possibly!

  • @jimmcmonagle2360
    @jimmcmonagle2360 Před 2 měsíci

    Oakland Phillies would just sound silly, that's why.

  • @frankr7525
    @frankr7525 Před 2 měsíci

    It was in part because the Yankees hated traveling to Philadelphia.

  • @marcuscarrozza732
    @marcuscarrozza732 Před 2 měsíci +1

    For any one who wants to just get into the reasons why and the history it here on CZcams. I got tired of him not just getting into The reasons and the 2 minutes of him and CZcams commercials before hand . The Yankees played a part of strategically removing the A's because they were to close and wanted to take all of the A's better players. Connie Mac has a hand in it as well .at that time the A's had more titles than the Phillies and was better than the Yankees .

    • @user-yi4bi2he1c
      @user-yi4bi2he1c Před 2 měsíci

      Guy took 2 minutes of content and made a 20 minute video.

  • @frederickdeanderuiter1080
    @frederickdeanderuiter1080 Před 3 měsíci +2

    Would the A’s move to Montreal?

  • @albieh2563
    @albieh2563 Před 3 měsíci

    Hey Sully, how come you never told everybody who Cornelius McGillicuddy was? All right, I'll tell them ......Connie Mack !

  • @christopherdavenport8336
    @christopherdavenport8336 Před 3 měsíci

    A's win 4 more World Series in Oakland.

  • @albertdehaven5285
    @albertdehaven5285 Před 3 měsíci +1

    Diehard Phillies fan my American league team was the already in Oakland a's but think would had loved both being just south of me and a world series between both teams still my fantasy

  • @MikeCee7
    @MikeCee7 Před 2 měsíci

    It takes him 15 minutes to walk a half mile? 4:49 That’s only 880 yards. That’s only 2 MPH. I hope he doesn’t have a go to Grand Central Station, MYC during rush hour, he will get trampled on.

    • @LockedOnMLB
      @LockedOnMLB  Před 2 měsíci

      I was not in a rush. By the way, it is "Grand Central Terminal" and I caught many trains there

    • @MikeCee7
      @MikeCee7 Před 2 měsíci

      @@LockedOnMLB you’re correct it’s GCT. (& I spelled NYC wrong as well) but during rush hours, most New Yorkers, walk a piece of ~3 to >3½ MPH

    • @LockedOnMLB
      @LockedOnMLB  Před 2 měsíci

      @@MikeCee7 When I lived in New York and was in a hurry, I walked fast. When I had an afternoon to kill in Philadelphia on a hot day, I took my time

  • @johnhungerford3814
    @johnhungerford3814 Před 2 měsíci

    Bring them back to Philly 🧐

  • @EpicThe112
    @EpicThe112 Před 2 dny

    If they stayed in Philadelphia rather than go to the San Francisco Bay Area you would have the split the northern side of Philly including Easton Pennsylvania on the Northampton County side of the Delaware River is As country while Southside of Philadelphia Camden County,NJ Phillies. Bucks County split in half across the Delaware River in Hunterdon and Mercer counties NJ its Yankees country.

  • @stevefish3124
    @stevefish3124 Před 3 měsíci +1

    Why don't they move back to Philly? If New York, Chicago and Los Angeles can support 2 teams, why not Philadelphia?

    • @LockedOnMLB
      @LockedOnMLB  Před 3 měsíci

      Exactly how big do you think Philadelphia is?

    • @LockedOnMLB
      @LockedOnMLB  Před 3 měsíci

      Snarky answer aside, the support for two Chicago teams is wobbly. And as a resident of Los Angeles county, I can tell you there is only one team in LA. The Angels are Los Angeles in name only. Orange County is separate from LA in every way. The Angels do have a big following but it isn't in LA. It is in Orange County and the Inland Empire. New York is realistically the only two team market

    • @stevefish3124
      @stevefish3124 Před 3 měsíci

      @@LockedOnMLB i'm not sure, but of course the fan base could range from South Jersey well into Central Pennsylvania.

    • @LockedOnMLB
      @LockedOnMLB  Před 3 měsíci

      @@stevefish3124 I get it. But the Phillies would make everyone's life miserable. And with a few huge metropolitan regions open like Nashville and Charlotte, I am guessing MLB would rather a team be the number one team in that area rather than split up the fans of Atlantic City and King of Prussia

    • @stevefish3124
      @stevefish3124 Před 3 měsíci

      @@LockedOnMLB My how things change. Nashville and Charlotte used to be double A minor league at best.

  • @camionerosfurgoneros5915
    @camionerosfurgoneros5915 Před 3 měsíci

    A's they have 9 titles.
    They should have more
    But all the BSs they had gone through

  • @rogerlambert9316
    @rogerlambert9316 Před 3 měsíci +2

    Too bad it was the Braves that left Boston, instead of the Red Sox. They were planning to build a new Fenway Park just across the street from its current location, but for some strange reason, it didn't happen.
    I sure wish the Red Sox would've moved to Milwaukee. Fenway Park is an overrated fossil.
    Humans will probably colonize Mars, before Fenway Park closes down for good.
    At least, Toronto's SkyDome was first opened in 1989. Plus the SkyDome has a roof.
    Go, Jays, Go!💙⚾️🇨🇦🌭🥜

    • @Nolan33177
      @Nolan33177 Před 3 měsíci

      What???

    • @HHSGDFootballJPD
      @HHSGDFootballJPD Před 3 měsíci

      In the mid 90s, the Celtics and Bruins played in a building with obstructed views, no A/C, and rats (Boston Garden). The Patriots played in a glorified high school stadium. The Sox played at the pre-refurbrished Fenway.
      So I wouldn't be surprised if the Braves were playing at 100 yr old Braves Field and the BU campus expanded to the south towards the Fens.

    • @donaldmackerer9032
      @donaldmackerer9032 Před 3 měsíci

      Then the Red Sox move from Milwaukee to Atlanta. Atlanta Red Sox sounds interesting. Selig would have kept the Brewers in the A.L. and the Houston Astros would have still be in the N.L.

  • @robcohen5585
    @robcohen5585 Před 3 měsíci +1

    Why so down on the Phillies? They're the ones who should have left? Citizen's Bank could have been the A's home? Lot of "woulda, coulda, shouda" and speculation in this video. Who knows if the A's would have had stable ownership in Philadelphia? The Phillies did what they had to do and so did the A's. Baseball was trending westward. The A's saw an opportunity but unfortunately with constant mismanagement they've been forlorn for quite a while.

    • @LockedOnMLB
      @LockedOnMLB  Před 3 měsíci +2

      Remind me how I am down on the Phillies. Before the move, the A's were without question the dominant team of the city except during the 1950's. The A's ownership was hampered by the greedy and bickering sons of Connie Mack. Ergo why the Phillies (one of my favorite teams for my whole life and who I have rooted for in multiple World Series) were the ones to take over the city.

  • @Nolan33177
    @Nolan33177 Před 3 měsíci +1

    The As were more success but with 20 20 hindsight I can't imagine the city of Philadelphia without the Phillies. The name alone gives them the edge for this city

  • @David-yw2lv
    @David-yw2lv Před 3 měsíci +1

    The Phillies won the 1950 pennant and became a contender in the Senior Circuit.The A"s had been cellar dwellers for almost two decades.If the opposite occurred or both teams had been bad,the A's would have stayed in Philadelphia and the team formerly known as the Phillies would have become the Kansas City Cowboys or the San Francisco Seals or some other place & name.Television had a great deal to do with making Philadelphia,St.Louis,& Boston one team cities.

  • @frogger1952
    @frogger1952 Před 3 měsíci +2

    This would have been a much better video if I didn’t have to look up your nose for 19:17. If you’re going to the sites where these teams played, POINT THE CAMERA IN THE OTHER DIRECTION!!!!

  • @MrBird-zy4tx
    @MrBird-zy4tx Před 3 měsíci

    The Oakland Phillies??? Just doesn’t sound right.

  • @georgesouthwick7000
    @georgesouthwick7000 Před 3 měsíci

    Because the Kansas City Phillies just doesn’t sound right.

  • @jessjessjess21
    @jessjessjess21 Před 3 měsíci

    Hashtag everyday sulleanor

  • @user-rv8lg5oc6w
    @user-rv8lg5oc6w Před 3 měsíci +1

    It was a good subject but a terrible presentation .all we see is Sullivan's head .old photos of the ballparks would have made it a more enjoyable experience.

  • @jasonkoch3182
    @jasonkoch3182 Před 3 měsíci +1

    Because the Kansas City Phillies doesn’t make sense.

    • @bombasticanimal1853
      @bombasticanimal1853 Před 3 měsíci +1

      Ah, you'd get used to it... Like the Los Angeles Lakers (no lakes), the Los Angeles Dodgers (no trolleys to dodge), or even the Utah Jazz...

    • @rayrussell6258
      @rayrussell6258 Před 3 měsíci

      they have horses in KC I would think. lol

    • @coreylevine8095
      @coreylevine8095 Před 3 měsíci

      1980 World Series

  • @peterl.johnston1948
    @peterl.johnston1948 Před 3 měsíci

    Full stop. Yes, the Athletics were historically more successful (and they've won four titles since they left). But, by the 1950's the Phillies were a far stronger franchise by every metric. Better team on the field. Deeper minor league system. More deep-pocketed and innovative ownership. And, much more fan support. In terms of attendance, the Phillies blew the Athletics out of the water by the 1950's. 1948 would be the last season that the Athletics outdrew the Phillies. From 1950-54, the Phillies would at least double the Athletics' attebdance (and actually more than TRIPLED it in 1950). The Macks were stuck in the past, had run the Athletics franchise into the ground, were broke (the Athletics franchise was a literal mom and pop operation which represented the Mack family fortune) and riven by an intrafamily feud that played out like a soap opera (Connie Mack's older sons from his first marriage eventually bought out his son--who possibly could have brought a more modern mindset to the organization--and daughters from his second marriage by taking out a costly mortgage on Shibe Park which made the franchise's dire straights financial only more dire). The Phillies were seen as a dynamic exciting franchise while the Athletics were tired, backwards and losing. There's a reason that Philadelphia turned its back to the Athletics and became a Phillies town.

  • @thomasgagliardi5931
    @thomasgagliardi5931 Před 3 měsíci

    😕

  • @boogitybear2283
    @boogitybear2283 Před 3 měsíci +1

    The Athletics have a chance to return to Philadelphia and I think it needs to happen.

  • @winsomepickett7694
    @winsomepickett7694 Před 3 měsíci +1

    Of course the Phillies didn't leave the city -- they're called the Phillies! Would you expect them to move to Kansas City and become the Kansas City Phillies?! That would be dumb.

  • @GOBIRDSDH
    @GOBIRDSDH Před 2 měsíci

    Gonna cry?😂😂😂😂

  • @thomasmacon6661
    @thomasmacon6661 Před 3 měsíci +1

    Oakland Phillies sounds stupid , like Utah Jazz.

    • @donaldmackerer9032
      @donaldmackerer9032 Před 3 měsíci

      You got that right! Who in the world equates Utah with Jazz? They should have changed the name of the team.

    • @joemlakar8310
      @joemlakar8310 Před 3 měsíci

      @@donaldmackerer9032Also the LA Lakers.

  • @mykelengieza7057
    @mykelengieza7057 Před 2 měsíci

    AMSWER: because Los Angeles Phillies sounds stupid

  • @TheOsfania
    @TheOsfania Před měsícem

    What about a story the aborted decision to send the St. Louis Browns to Los Angeles on December 8, 1941, and instead ended up in Baltimore.

  • @jamesfiocca3914
    @jamesfiocca3914 Před 2 měsíci

    Oakland Phillies dont sound right

  • @Rockhound6165
    @Rockhound6165 Před 2 měsíci

    This video is unwatchable. Either invest in a frigging phone stand or get someone to hold the damned phone because this switching from hand to hand is annoying.

  • @dondunbar3386
    @dondunbar3386 Před 2 měsíci

    Philly’s a dump

  • @jackcrozier1982
    @jackcrozier1982 Před 3 měsíci

    Long ad lost me. Bye.

  • @Nolan33177
    @Nolan33177 Před 3 měsíci

    Chuck Klein didn't taint shit. He played under the rules. No peds. And half the stadiums have short porches. So if ya knock Klein knock teddy ballgame. Knock Colorado knock the wind that blew hundreds of homers out

    • @dennisholiday1868
      @dennisholiday1868 Před 3 měsíci

      ​@@chrissadowski253And you have to remember Babe Ruth never did hit a home run at Baker Bowl!

  • @skaz777
    @skaz777 Před 3 měsíci +1

    immoral sponsor - won’t watch.

    • @LockedOnMLB
      @LockedOnMLB  Před 3 měsíci

      which sponsor would that be?

    • @Larry_Harvilla
      @Larry_Harvilla Před 3 měsíci +1

      ​@@LockedOnMLB Funny enough, somebody saying "won't watch" because of a sponsor kinda compelled me to watch at least enough to figure out why the sponsor might be objectionable. Apparently the person who said they wouldn't watch must object to sports gambling -- which is totally their right to do -- but maybe they should have considered the potential of that comment causing the Streisand effect.

  • @RubioBleedzBlue
    @RubioBleedzBlue Před 3 měsíci

    Sorry Sir but You have a Spider 🕷️ trying to crawl out of your nostril!!!!

  • @bradnicola6499
    @bradnicola6499 Před 2 měsíci

    Very boring