Remembering Bert Campaneris: A Man for All Positions

The Kansas City Athletics (and later, their Oakland version) had few bright spots to offer their fans during the 1960s. Six times during that decade, the A's lost at least 90 games, and in three different seasons the team lost more than 100 games. Prior to the introduction of divisional play in 1969, the Athletics' best finish was sixth in 1968. That season was also the first time in the 1960s that the A's finished with a won-lost record above .500.

The only real bright spot for the franchise during the 1960s was the acquisition and development of a stable of young, talented players who would jell at the end of the 1960s and spur the Oakland Athletics' championship years in the early 1970s. One of the first of those foundation players was a fleet Cuban native named Dagoberto Campaneris.

"Bert" Campaneris came up with the A's as their shortstop in 1964, hitting a home run in his first at-bat and 2 homers in his first game. As an indication of things to come, that performance was misleading, as Campaneris' primary offensive weapon was speed, not power. Starting in 1965, Campaneris led the league in stolen bases in each of his first 4 seasons and in 6 out of his first 8 years with the A's. When Campaneris led the American League with 51 stolen bases in 1965, he ended Luis Aparicio's 9-year reign as AL base-stealing champ (1956-1964).

Campaneris led the league in triples in 1965 (12) and in hits in 1968 (177). During the 1960s, he batted a combined .264 with 292 stolen bases.

Campaneris was the A's shortstop and lead-off for a dozen years. However, he was talented enough to play every position and, on September 8, 1965, Campaneris did just that. In a night game against the California Angels, he played every position, giving up one run in the inning he pitched in a 5-3 loss (Campaneris did not figure in the decision). His only error in that 9-position game occurred in right field. He was error-free in 6 chances at other positions and, ironically, had no fielding chances during the inning he played his everyday position, shortstop.

A 5-time All-Star, Campaneris is still the Athletics' career leader in games (1,795), at-bats (7,180) and hits (1,882).