Philadelphia Athletics

The Oakland Athletics, a current Major League Baseball franchise, originated in Philadelphia. This article details the history of the Philadelphia Athletics, from 1901 to 1954, when they moved to Kansas City.

The Western League had been renamed the American League in 1900 by league president Bancroft (Ban) Johnson, and declared itself the second major league in 1901. Johnson created new franchises in the east and eliminated some franchises in the West.Philadelphia had a new franchise created to compete with the National League's Philadelphia Phillies. Former catcher Connie Mack was recruited to manage the club. Mack in turn persuaded Phillies minority owner Ben Shibe as well as others to invest in the team, which would be called the Philadelphia Athletics. Mack himself bought a 25% interest, while the remaining 25% was sold to Philadelphia sportswriters Sam Jones and Frank Hough.

The new league recruited many of its players from the existing National League, persuading them to "jump" to the American League in defiance of their National League contracts. One of the players who jumped to the new league was second baseman Nap Lajoie, formerly of the crosstown Phillies. He won the A.L.'s first batting title with a .426 batting average, still a league record. The Athletics and the American League received a setback when, on April 21, 1902, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court invalidated Lajoie's contract with the Athletics, and ordered him back to the Phillies. This order, though, was only enforceable in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Lajoie was sold to Cleveland, but was kept out of road games in Philadelphia until the National Agreement was signed between the two leagues in 1903.

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