The Winona A's (or interchangeable "Athletics") were a

minor league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nor ...

baseball team based in Winona, Minnesota. In 1958, the A's played a partial season in Winona as an affiliate of the Kansas City Athletics in the Class B level Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League ("Three-I League"). The team came into existence during the season, when the newly formed Rochester A's team relocated to Winona on June 29, 1958. The team ended the season in fifth place. Winona hosted home minor league games at Gabrych Park.

History

Winona first hosted minor league baseball in 1877, when the Winona "Clippers" were a member of the

League Alliance The League Alliance was the first semi-affiliated minor league baseball league. Proposed by Al Spalding on January 15, 1877. Independent baseball teams were to affiliate with National League teams, which would honor their respective contracts. The ...

. Winona, Minnesota previously hosted minor league baseball from 1909 to 1915, with the

Winona Pirates The Winona Pirates were a Minnesota–Wisconsin League (1909–1912) and Northern League (baseball, 1902–71), Northern League (1913–1914) minor league baseball team based in Winona, Minnesota. They were the first professional team to play in Win ...

teams of the

Minnesota–Wisconsin League The Minnesota–Wisconsin League, known as the "Minny" League, was a professional minor baseball league that existed from 1909 to 1912. It was a Class D league in 1909, 1910 and 1912 and a Class C league in 1911. As its name suggests, it featured ...

and

Northern League Northern League may refer to: Sport Baseball * Northern League (baseball, 1902–71), a name used by several minor leagues that operated in the upper midwestern U.S. and Manitoba from 1902 to 1971 * Northern League (baseball, 1993–2010), an indep ...

. Before moving to Winona, the 1958 Rochester A's began play as a new team in the six-team Class D level Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League. The A's were a minor league affiliate of the Kansas City Athletics. The Burlington Bees,

Cedar Rapids Braves Cedar may refer to: Trees and plants *''Cedrus'', common English name cedar, an Old-World genus of coniferous trees in the plant family Pinaceae * Cedar (plant), a list of trees and plants known as cedar Places United States * Cedar, Arizona * ...

Davenport DavSox Davenport may refer to: Places Australia *Davenport, Northern Territory, a locality *Hundred of Davenport, cadastral unit in South Australia **Davenport, South Australia, suburb of Port Augusta **District Council of Davenport, former local governm ...

, Fox Cities Foxes and

Green Bay Bluejays Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a combina ...

teams joined the Rochester A's in beginning Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League play on April 27, 1958. On June 29, 1958, during the season, the Rochester A's franchise relocated to Winona. The A's had compiled a record of 20–37 at the time of the move. The team continued the season playing as the "Winona A's," compiling a 37–36 record while based in Winona. With an overall record of 57–73, the A's placed fifth in the Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League. Playing the season under managers Burl Storie, Leverette Spencer and Lew Krausse, the A's finished 20.0 games behind the first place

(77–53) in the final regular season standings. The A's did not qualify for the playoff, where Cedar Rapids defeated the second place Davenport DavSox in the Finals. A's pitcher Stan Horvatin led the league with 210 strikeouts. Overall, the A's had a strong offense and led the Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League with both 761 runs scored and 147 home runs. The A's also pitchers also surrendered 764 total runs, most in the league. Richard Rogers led the A's team with 27 home runs. While based in Rochester, the A's drew 27,364 fans, playing home games at Mayo Field and 12,495 based in Winona for a total of 39,589 for the season. The Winona A's played home games at Gabrych Park. Winona did not return to play in the 1959 Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League, as the league expanded to eight teams. Winona has not hosted another minor league team.

The ballpark

The Winona A's hosted minor league home games at Gabrych Park. Today, the ballpark is still in use, located at 950 East 7th Street in Winona. The ballpark was named for Gene Gabrych.

Year–by–year record

Notable alumni

* Dave Hill (1958) * Dick Howser (1958) Kansas City Royals Hall of Fame * Lew Krausse (1958, MGR) * Gordon Mackenzie (1958) *

Dan Pfister Daniel Albin Pfister (December 20, 1936 – November 9, 2020) was an American right-handed professional baseball baseball pitcher, pitcher in the Major League Baseball, Major Leagues from 1961 to 1964. He played for the Kansas City Athletics and ...

(1958) *

Leo Posada Leopoldo Jesús Posada Hernández Jr. (April 1, 1936 – June 23, 2022) was a Cuban baseball player. He played for the Kansas City Athletics of Major League Baseball from 1960 through 1962. After his retirement as a player, Posada served as a ...

(1958) *

Hal Raether Harold Herman Raether (October 10, 1932 – September 26, 2020), nicknamed "Bud", was an American Major League Baseball relief pitcher. He appeared in only two games in MLB, one for the Philadelphia Athletics, and one for the Kansas City Athle ...

(1958)

References

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External links