Illinois-Indiana-Iowa League (1958)
Tombstone
Born: November 1, 1957 – Three-I League expansion franchise.1ASSOCIATED PRESS. “Organized Baseball Reality for Rochester”. The Daily Herald (Austin, MN). November 2, 1957
Move Announced: June 1958 (Winona Athletics)
First Game: April 27, 1958 (L 13-1 @ Cedar Rapids Braves)
Last Game: June 28, 1958 (W 12-2 @ Burlington Bees)
Three-I League Championships: None
Stadium
Veterans Memorial Stadium
Ownership & Affiliation
Owners: Rochester Area Baseball, Inc. (Harold Kamm, President)
Major League Affiliation: Kansas City Athletics
Attendance
The attendance in this chart represent Athletics’ Three-I League attendance for home dates played in both Rochester and Winona during the 1958 season.
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Source: The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (3rd ed.), Lloyd Johnson & Miles Wolff, 2007
Background
The Rochester Athletics were a Minnesota-based minor league baseball team that played part of one season in the Class B Three-I League during the summer of 1958. The A’s served as a farm team for Major League Baseball’s Kansas City Athletics.
Several Rochester A’s players eventually advanced to the Major Leagues. The best was 22-year old shortstop Dick Howser. Howser debuted with Kansas City in 1961 and closed out his playing career with the New York Yankees in 1968. In the 1980’s Howser managed both the Yankees and the Kansas City Royals, skippering the latter team to a World Series championship in 1985. Tragically, Howser was diagnosed with brain cancer the following year and would pass away at 51 years old in 1987.
Move to Winona and Aftermath
The A’s failed to catch on in Rochester. By late June, the team was averaging fewer than 500 fans per game and operating at a deficit.2NO BYLINE. “Three I Status Of Rochester Club Unchanged”. The Daily News (Winona, MN). June 23, 1957 As the first half of the Three-I League season drew to a close in June, the team announced a move 44 miles east to Winona, Minnesota for the second half of the league season. The re-christined Winona A’s debuted at Winona’s Gene Gabrych Park on June 29th, 1958.
Winona withdrew from the Three-I League in December 1958 after failing to secure a Major League affiliation for the 1959 season. Professional baseball eventually returned to Rochester in 1993 with the arrival of the Rochester Aces of the independent Northern League.
Rochester Athletics Shop
In Memoriam
Shortstop Dick Howser (Rochester ’58) passed away on June 17th, 1987 following a year-long battle with brain cancer. New York Times obituary.
Links
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