Kansas City baseball: Highlights, lowlights of A's, Royals and other basebal topics: Swoonin' A's, 7-11-60: This Bud's for KC

Bud Daley threw a scoreless inning in front of his hometown crowd, retiring two Hall of Famers, in the first baseball All-Star Game in 1960, back when two All-Star Games were held. Daley was the only Kansas City Athletics player on the American League team, and he was the first A's pitcher to be selected to the game since the team moved to Kansas City in 1955.

By Phil Ellenbecker

When baseball's 1960 All-Star Games rolled around (two games were held back then, an extra one from 1959 through 1962 to raise money for the players' pension fund), and American League manager Al Lopez chose Kansas City's Bud Daley for his pitching staff, he gave Daley a choice.

Daley, who had also been an All-Star selection in 1959, could either pitch the final inning of the first game July 11 before his hometown fans at Municipal Stadium, or he could start the game two days later at Yankee Stadium. That was what "El Senor " offered.

"Without hesitation, the lefty chose the former and even considered it a bigger deal than being the winning pitcher of Game Five of the 1961 World Series," Corey Stolzenbach wrote for the Society for American Baseball Research's Biography Project.

Yes, Daley considered the brief All-Star stint the topper over clinching the World Series title for the New York Yankees next year -- even though it came at the tail end of a game the National League was winning for a team headed for the tail end of Major League Baseball.

Probably helping to make this a distinguished occasion beforehand for Daley was the fact this was the first and only time the Athletics hosted an All-Star game in their 13-year tenure in Kansas City (1955-67) and the fact he was the lone representative on the AL team for the A's, who were headed for a majors-worst 58-96 season and eighth-place finish. That was their lowest win total yet in K.C., and second of four eventual last-place finishes in the AL in their rein of error until headed the hell out of K.C. to Oakland.

So Bud was the King of K.C. on this day when the City of Fountains sparkled among the major leage firmament. Making it even more distinguished once Daley took the mound was that he retired three of the four batters he faced, including two Hall of Famers and kept the score at 5-3 with the Americans having one last chance at bat.

And the only thing keeping it from being even more distinguished was Daley committing a throwing error when he had Ken Boyer picked off.

Boyer had drawn a walk after Daley started off in grand style, after a grand entrance. He struck out the first two batters he faced, Vana Pinson and Hall of Famer Orlando Cepeda

“That was one of the biggest thrills I ever had,” Daley told Stolzenbach. “I came in in the ninth inning to pitch the last inning and the bullpen was in dead center field. I opened the gate and started walking in. From the time I opened the gate until I got to the mound I had a standing ovation the whole way.”

And Daley could be even more appreciative of the fans, or at least one of them -- 30,619 of them on hand this Monday afternoon -- after Daley's gaffe when he had Boyer nailed. Boyer went on to third base on Daley's throwing error but was ordered back to second because of fan interference.

Daley then made it academic by getting another Hall of Famer, Roberto Clemente, to line out to left field.

The Americans put the go-ahead run at the plate in the bottom of the ninth but came up empty. After Bob Buhl got Luis Aparicio to ground out, he appeared one out away from closing the game, but catcher Smoky Burgess dropped a foul fly off the bat of Jim Gentile. Given the reprieve, the future Athletic singled. off Buhl, who then walked Jim Lemon.

Nationals manager Walter Alston brought in Vern Law, who would become the 1960 Cy Young Award winner (only one winner between the two leagues back then) with the world champion Pittsburgh Pirates.

Law got Brooks Robinson to fly out to Pinson in center, and Harvey Kuenn lined out to Clemente in right, giving the NL the first of two All-Star wins this year.

The Nationals jumped on the Americans right off the bat to make it an uphill battle for the junior circuit. Willie Mays led off the game with a triple to right and scored on Bob Skinner's single off Bill Monbouquette. Ernie Banks made it 3-0 with a two-run homer.

Del Crandall upped the score to 4-0 in the second with a solo homer. The Nationals added their final run in the third off Chuck Estrada when Banks doubled and Bill Mazeroski, who would hit the historic game-winning homer in the 1960 World Series, singled him in.

It was a big day for the Pirates. NL starting pitcher Bob Friend got the win with three shutout innings, allowing one hit. And Law got the save with his ninth-inning work.

Willie Mays (left) is pictured with fellow Hall of Famer and San Francisco Giants teammate Orlando Cepeda. Cepeda was one of three Hall of Famers retired by Kansas City Athletics pitcher Bud Daley in his two All-Star Game appearances in 1959 and 1960. Daley didn't face Mays, but Mays went 6-for-8 in the two All-Star Games in 1960 to help the National League win both games.

Mays went 3-for-4 in the game with one run scored, while Banks was 2-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs.

Al Kaline was the big bat for the AL, going 1-for-2 with two RBIs and two runs.

But nobody claimed the MVP award, since no All-Star Game MVP was named until 1962.

Kaline got the Americans on the scoreboard in the sixth when he reached on an error and crossed the plate on Nellie Fox's single off Mike McCormick. He brought the AL within 5-3 in the eighth with a two-run double off Buhl.

Kaline entered the game in the top of the sixth, replacing Mickey Mantle in center field. Kaline was a right fielder for the majority of his 21-year career with the Detroit Tigers, but he played almost as many All-Star Games at center (five) as he did in right (six).

Bye-bye Teddy

This year was marked by the final All-Star Game appearances by Ted Williams. In this first game he batted in the second for Monbouquette with a runner on third. He grounded out to second.

In his final All-Star at-bat of a 19-year career, in the July 13 game he batted for Minnie Minoso with two outs in the seventh and singled Boston teammate Frank Malzone to third. Then he left for a pinch runner.

So maybe not as dramatic an exit as the homer in his final at-bat later in the year, but a positive and fitting one nonetheless.

All-time All-Stars

The All-Star Game was a showcase for both Williams and Mays through the years. Mays is tied with Hank Aaron and Stan Musial for most All-Star Game appearances with 24. Willims is tied for fourth in games played with 18.

All those times in the Midsummer Classic enabled the two to place high in several career categories. Mays is first in runs scored, hits, total bases and triples, and fourth in homers and RBIs.

Williams is first in RBIs, second in homers and third in runs scored, hits and total bases.

Williams' 1946 performance in a 12-0 AL romp at his home Fenway Park has him atop several single-game categories: hits (4), runs (4), homers (2), RBIs (5) and total bases (10).

And then there's Williams' three-run homer that gave the AL a 7-5 win in the 1941 game. Williams ranked that as his biggest career thrill.

Once they started picking All-Star Game MVPs, Mays became the first to win two of them, in 1963 and '68. He was later joined in that status by Gary Carter, Steve Garvey, Cal Ripken Jr. and Mike Trout.

Daley the All-Star

As noted before, this was Daley's second appearance on the AL All-Star team. The year before, just as he would do in the first game this year, he'd finished up the AL pitching July 7 in a 5-4 first-game loss to the Nationals at Pittsburgh's Forbes Field. As just as on July 11 this year, he got out two Hall of Famers, including Cepeda again.

Daley relieved Whitey Ford after the Yankees stalwart had given up a run-scoring triple by Mays. He struck out Banks and got Cepeda to pop out foul to first.

And similarly to 1960’s first game, the Americans had a chance to catch up in the ninth. With two out, Fox singled and went to second on a wild pitch by Don Elston.

And again, Kuenn made the final out, on a foul pop to third.

Daley didn't pitch in the second game, a 7-4 AL win. Neither did he leave the bullpen in the NL's 5-0 second-game win in 1960.

So Daley finished his All-Star career with a 0.00 ERA over 1 2/3 innings.

Meanwhile, two days after Daley shined before his home crowd in 1960, Ford didn't have such luck at Yankee Stadium as the NL won again, 5-0.

Mays hit a solo homer off Ford in the first and Eddie Mathews added a two-run shot in the second. The homer derby continued with Stan Musial teeing off on Gerry Staley for a solo smash in the seventh. Boyer reached Gary Bell for a two-run homer in the ninth.

Mays went 3-for-4, making him 6-for-8 in the two All-Star Games that year.

Onto a bigger stage

While Daley was done pitching in All-Star Games after 1960, he got a chance to pitch for a pair of World Series champs when he was dealt to the Yankees in June 1961. And he continued to pitch well on the big stage, this one the biggest of all.

Daley had a 0.00 ERA over three games and eight innings as the Yankees climbed back into the winner's circle in '61 and '62 after getting knocked off by Pittsburgh in 1960.

In the '61 Series, Daley had seven shutout innings as the Yankees beat Cincinnati in five games. He was the winning pitcher in the close-out game, closing off the Reds with 6 2/3 innings, allowing five hits and two runs, both unearned. He came on with one out in the third after Ralph Terry had surrendered a three-run homer to Frank Robinson that made the score 6-3 Yankees.

Daley had one shutout inning in 1962, in New York's 2-0 Game 2 loss to San Francisco. The Yankees eventually won in seven games.

K.C. All-Stars

Daley became the first Kansas City Athletics pitcher to make an All-Star team. He was joined by John Wyatt in 1964, John O'Donoghue in '65 and Jim "Catfish" Hunter in '66 and '67.

Other two-time K.C. A's All-Stars besides Daley and Hunter were Norm Siebern ('62, '63) and Vic Power ('55, '56).

In 1963 baseball went back to a single All-Star Game. That was also the first year the A's sported green-and-gold uniforms that were somewhat bold for the time. And supposedly that kept Siebern out of the game, by the abashed Yankee skipper. From "Kansas City Athletics: A Baseball History, 1954-1967," by John E. Peterson:

"Norm Siebern … was Kansas City’s lone representative on the (1963) All-Star team but did not appear in the game because Yankees manager Ralph Houk (who was skippering the American League squad that year) felt the green and gold uniform would embarrass the American League."

Hunter had by far the longest stint of a K.C. Athletic in an All-Star Game, by dint of history. After getting passed up for the 1966 game, he was called on as the fifth AL pitcher at the start of the 15th inning in 1967, with the score tied 1-1. He kept it there until Tony Perez homered with one out in the top of the 15th inning at Anaheim Stadium.

Hunter's turn came up with two out in the bottom of the 15th. Ken Berry batted for him and struck out against rookie Tom Seaver, and the NL had won what's tied with the 2008 game as the longest in All-Star history.

Hunter's final line: five innings pitched, four hits, four strikeouts and the one run. His innings were the most in any All-Star Game behind Lefty Gomez's six in 1935.

Besides Hunter and Daley, no K.C. player in this time did anything noteworthy in an All-Star Game, unless you count John Wyatt giving up two homers in the fourth inning of the 1964 game. K.C. All-Star batters went a collective 2-for-8, with Power (1956) and Bob Cerv (1958) each going 1-for-2. Cerv's game was notable for him getting voted in by the players, coaches and managers to start in left field over Ted Williams. The only time Williams had not started before since breaking into the majors in 1939 was in 1954, when his season got off to a late start because of a broken collarbone.

Daley's K.C. status

In his two All-Stars years, Daley went 16-13 with a 3.16 ERA in 1959 and 16-16 with a 4.56 ERA in '60. His win totals were good enough for eighth in the AL the first year and third next year. He also was fourth in WAR and eighth in complete games and ERA in '59. He improved on that workhorse status by placing fourth in both games started and complete games in '60, and seventh innings pitched, and was also eighth in strikeouts that year.

Those would be the best years an A's pitcher enjoyed in the victory column during their time in K.C. The most wins a Kansas City pitcher earned before 1959 was 12 each by Art Ditmar in '55 and '56 and Ned Garver in '58. The most after was 14 by Lew Krausse in 1966.

Daley's final major league record was 60-64 with a 4.03 ERA over 10 years. He bowed out with the Yankees in 1964.

We've seen them before

While Daley was the lone Athletic on the 1960 AL All-Star team, for fans who'd followed Kansas City baseball for a while, there was a familiarity factor in the game at Municipal from the days when Kansas City was a top farm club for the Yankees, and fielded a legendary Negro Leagues team.

Mantle and Bill "Moose" Skowron had played for the Kansas City Blues minor league club, as had Elston Howard. And Howard had played for the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro Leagues.

Banks of the NL had also played for the Monarchs and was a roommate of Howard's with that team.

And for further familiarity, Roger Maris was playing for the AL in 1960 after being dealt from the A's. Maris was in his first full year with the Yankees after joining Daley as a K.C. player on the AL squad the year before. (Maris started in right field and went 0-for-2 in the second All-Star Game.) Maris would be the AL MVP in 1960 and '61, when he'd break Babe Ruth's single-season home-run record.

Ford also had played for Kansas City but didn't pitch in the K.C. All-Star Game, as Lopez saved him to start the second at Yankee Stadium. Which didn't work out too great.

Vic Power, who'd been a fan favorite during the first years in K.C. for the A's, was on the AL team this year with Cleveland, but he didn't play in the All-Star Game in Kansas City. He did go 0-for-2 in the second All-Star Game in New York.

KC to NYC express

When Daley was traded to the Yankees in 1961, it was the 17th deal between the Yankees and Athletics since 1955, as players routinely went back and forth between the two teams. The A's had the reputation of trading players on their way up and getting players on their way down, which got them the reputation of being a farm team for the Yankees even after they'd stopped being a New York farm team when they were awarded an AL franchise.

That was supposed to stop in 1960 when K.C. owner Arnold Johnson died and Charlie Finley bought the team. To stress this, Finley even appeared in a 1961 newspaper photo in front of a burning bus marked "Shuttle Bus to Yankee Stadium."

The problem was, Finley in January 1961 hired Frank "Trader" Lane as his general manager. Lane was about as notorious for making deals as George Steinbrenner became for firing managers with the Yankees. (Lane in fact once traded one manager for another.)

"So Daley put his house in Kansas City up for sale after Lane was hired," Stolzenbach
wrote. "And sure enough, Lane traded him to the Yankees."

Swing game

When the NL swept the AL in the 1960 All-Star Games, it was at the beginning of a reign of dominance for the senior loop that would see them win 13 of 15 games (with one tie) from 1959 through 1970. That rallied the NL from a 15-10 deficit into a 23-17-1 lead in the Series. They'd won eight straight through a 1971 loss, and then won 11 more straight through 1982, at which time the Nationals led 34-18-1.

But from that time on the Americans have put together winning streaks of six, 12 and now the past seven games to give them a 45-43-2 overall lead.