Philadelphia Athletics - The War Years (1940-1949)  
   
 

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        Yr P W L   Yr P W L   Yr P W L           1940      
        1940 8 54 100   1943 49 105   1947 5 78 78           Decade      
        1941 8 64 90   1944 72 82   1948 4 84 70           Click      
        1942 8 55 99   1945 52 98   1949 5 81 73           on Logo      
                  1946 49 105                            
                                                             
                                                       
   
  Titles: None Top Athletics Players of the Forties  
     
  BallPark: Shibe Park Pitchers:  
    Phil Marchildon (10.85) -   46  
  Team Name: Athletics Dick Fowler (11.18) -   35  
    Russ Christopher (9.81) -   31  
  Owner: Connie Mack Jesse Flores (13.38) -   30  
    Joe Coleman (4.97) -   18  
  Managers:  Lou Brissie (3.47) -   17  
  Connie Mack Lum Harris (3.86) -   16  
    Bobo Newsom (7.66) -   16  
  No Hitters: Joe Berry (7.51) -   13  
  Dick Fowler (1945) Roger Wolff (7.01) -   13  
  Bill McCahan (1947) Alex Kellner (1.36) -   13  
    Carl Scheib (1.34) -   12  
  Hall of Famers:    
  Connie Mack Catchers:  
  Nellie Fox Blimp Hayes (9.93) -   30  
  George Kell Buddy Rosar (3.11) -   18  
  Al Simmons    
    First Basemen:  
  Rookie of the Year: Dick Siebert (7.19) -   39  
    Ferris Fain (9.13) -   21  
  MVP: None    
    Second Basemen:  
  Notable Events: Pete Suder (-0.43) -  16  
    Irv Hall (0.99) -   15  
  1935 - 1946 - The A's average 56 wins over this twelve year stretch.  Benny McCoy (4.12) -   10  
  They had one almost decent year in 1944 where the A's almost caught up to    
   the competition due to the sheer attrition of the other clubs due to the war. ShortStop:  
   Mack completely stopped  trying. It was a disgrace. Eddie Joost (12) -   29  
  In fact, Mack was quoted in the early Forties that the optimal scenario was for    
  the team to get off to hot start to bring fans in and then to nosedive later  Third Base:  
  in the season so that he didn't have to give his players salary increases. Hank Majeski (8.13) -   22  
   Any money that Mack was making would be put into the ballpark to ensure    
   that his progeny would have something concrete, so to speak, to inherit Outfield:  
    when he died. Little did he know that that's not how it works.  Sam Chapman (15.49) -   55  
  It doesn't matter how nice the building that you are playing in is if your  Elmer Valo (14.1) -   51  
  team stinks.  Indian Bob Johnson (11.78) -   31  
  The A's had owned Philadelphia for most of Mack's tenure, partly because of Bobby Estalella (8.71) -   29  
   the great teams he created from time to time and partly because his Wally Moses (7.59) -   24  
   National League competition, the Phillies, were even worse than the A's, Barney McCoskey (8.39) -   21  
   Mack frittered that advantage away with his blatant disregard for putting a     
  decent product on the field for his fans from the mid Thirties right into the Fifties. Notable Events:  
       
  1943 - The A's drop twenty games in a row, tieing an AL record 1949 - The Mack-men trade future Hall of Famer Nellie Fox to the   
    White Sox for journeyman catcher Joe Tipton in 1949  
  1946 - Philly trades future Hall of Famer George Kell to the Tigers for veteran   
  outfielder Barney McCoskey in 1946 1949 - Philadelphia finishes at .500 or above for the third straight  
    season, falsely giving them some hope for the future