Leaving on a high note, but still leaving

Marion Fricano throws the final pitch for the Philadelphia Athletics 70 years ago today, retiring New York’s Bob Cerv on a grounder to third baseman Joe DeMaestri to seal an 8-6 victory before a Sunday afternoon crowd of 11,670 at Yankee Stadium.

Forty-three days later, American League owners vote 6-2 to allow the team to leave Philadelphia after 54 seasons.

The A's destination in 1955: Kansas City, where the team spends the next 13 seasons before moving – again – in 1968 to Oakland, where coincidentally they play their final home game this afternoon before their eventual move to Las Vegas via Sacramento.

Third baseman ... Yogi Berra

As for their finale in 1954 against the Philadelphia Athletics, well, the 103-win Yankees clearly do not care about the outcome as center fielder Mickey Mantle starts at shortstop, catcher Yogi Berra at third base and power-hitting first baseman Moose Skowron at second.

None of the three makes another start at those positions during their long, distinguished – and, for Mantle and Berra, Hall of Fame – careers.

For the day, the three handle 15 chances in the field with only one error – a botched attempt by Skowron on a grounder by Vic Power with one out in the seventh inning.

Historians note that player-manager Eddie Joost picks up the final hit for Philadelphia, a ninth-inning single to left field.

As for the 1954 A’s, they end their once-distinguished stay in Philadelphia with a last-place record of 51-103 that leaves them a staggering 60 games behind the American League pennant-winning Cleveland Indians but a mere 52 games behind the second-place Yankees.

And what of Fricano, the Philadelphia Athletics’ final pitcher who recorded the game’s final 11 outs to save the victory for starter Art Ditmar?

He moves with the franchise to Kansas City, but goes winless in 10 appearances in 1955 and spends the next six seasons drifting around the minors before retiring.