Now playing second base … and third base … and pitching

With attendance sagging, the last-place Kansas City Athletics hope to boost their crowd numbers at old Municipal Stadium by having second-year shortstop Bert Campaneris become the first in major league history to play all nine positions in one game.

At the behest of team owner Charlie Finley, the gimmick is put into play 59 years ago tonight against the California Angels.

Campaneris starts the game at his familiar position at shortstop for the first inning before moving to second base in the second inning, then to third base in the third, followed by a move per inning to, in order, left field, center field, right field and first base before finally taking the mound for the eighth inning.

To make this possible, Athletics manager Haywood Sullivan needs to use four other players — Jose Tartabull, Wayne Causey, Ed Charles and Jim Landis — in multiple positions to accommodate Campaneris’ constant position switches.

The Angels are winning 2-1 when Campaneris comes in to pitch in relief of Jim Dickson, who in reality is a genuine relief pitcher.

                            (Associated Press photo)

Campaneris starts the top of the eighth by retiring Jose Cardenal on a pop-out to second baseman Dick Green and then – just because Campaneris can these things – he switches hands and pitches left-handed to the lefty-hitting Albie Pearson.

Campaneris ends up walking Pearson and then Jim Fregosi before Joe Adcock follows with a single to score Pearson for a 3-1 lead.

Campaneris wriggles out of the jam on an inning-ending double play with Bobby Knoop striking out and Fregosi being thrown out trying to steal third.

Campaneris then has an even more eventful ninth inning after replacing starting catcher Billy Bryan.

California’s Ed Kirkpatrick leads off the ninth against reliever Aurelio Monteagudo with a walk, steals second base and moves to third on Paul Schaal’s lineout to Landis in center field.

Kirkpatrick eventually makes the final out of the inning at the plate in a collision with Campaneris, who at 160 pounds is 35 pounds lighter than the hard-charging Kirkpatrick.

                                     (John Vawter photo)

Nonetheless, the wobbly Campaneris holds on to the ball for the final out of the ninth, although the one-sided collision leaves him with a sore shoulder and stiff neck.

While the training staff tends to Campaneris, the A’s score twice in the bottom of the ninth to force extra innings.

Not that Campaneris is around for any of the bonus baseball as he is replaced in the top of the 10th inning by Rene Lachemann, who – like Billy Bryan before him – actually is a real catcher.

The game eventually goes 13 innings with the Angels winning 5-3, thanks to a two-run rally consisting of no hits, two walks, an error and a sacrifice fly.

Despite the final score, the game is a success for the team’s ticket office as the A’s attract a crowd of 21,756 on a Wednesday night to watch Campaneris’ well-advertised tour around the diamond – more than double their crowd of 10,489 for their previous home game two days earlier and more than triple their average attendance of 6,523 for each of their 81 home games in 1965.

Not everyone is a fan of Charlie Finley’s move to jumpstart his attendance.

“Well, Finley got what he wanted – a big crowd,” Angels manager Bill Rigney says after the game. “Big deal. It was bush.”

The day after Campaneris’ historic game, though, the A’s are back to being the A’s, drawing only 1,271 fans for a 7-2 loss to the Angels.

As for Campaneris, he ends up sitting out the next four games while recovering from his close encounter of the painful kind with Kirkpatrick.

Campaneris wisely never again catches in a game.