Joost, ex-Philadelphia A's star and manager, dies

Eddie Joost, who nearly saved the Philadelphia A's as their spark-plug shortstop, then managed the once-regal franchise in its final forlorn season here, died Tuesday in California at 94.

Mr. Joost, a native San Franciscan, died in Fair Oaks, Calif., according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

A slick fielder, he played 17 major-league seasons for the Reds, Braves, A's, and Red Sox. Eight of those years were spent in Philadelphia.

Mr. Joost was an American League all-star with the A's in 1949 and 1952, and was their player-manager in 1954. He had a career average of .239 with 134 homers and 601 RBIs.

During the late 1940s, Mr. Joost helped the A's achieve one last run of respectability in Philadelphia, teaming with first baseman Ferris Fain, second baseman Pete Suder, and third baseman Hank Majeski in a popular and productive infield.

After Connie Mack dismantled his last great team in the mid-'30s, the A's, long the darlings of two-team Philadelphia, plummeted to the bottom of the standings. Between 1935 and 1946, they would finish last nine times, luring ever-tinier crowds to Shibe Park.

Mr. Joost helped spark a final revival for the A's, who had won five World Series earlier in the century. The '47 A's not only finished above .500, but drew a franchise-record 911,566 fans. With Mr. Joost as their acknowledged leader, Mack's fourth-place team went 84-70 the following year and again broke its attendance mark with 945,076 fans.

Purchased for $10,000 after the '46 season, Mr. Joost had a miserable first season here in 1947, batting .206 and striking out 110 times in an era when even the biggest swingers rarely fanned 100 times.

"I had astigmatism," Mr. Joost said in 1994, "but I didn't want Mr. Mack to know it because only [one big-league player] wore glasses. But it got worse. . . . I finally got up the nerve to tell Mr. Mack that I'd probably have to wear glasses."

He wore them, and both his numbers and the A's victory total began to improve. He hit .250 with 16 homers, 55 RBIs and 119 walks in 1948. His numbers jumped to .263 with 23 home runs and 81 RBIs the following season. He would walk at least 100 times a season from 1947-52 and had a lifetime on-base percentage of .361.

Mack retired after 50 seasons as manager following the 1950 season. Mr. Joost hit a career-best .289 in '51, but the A's stumbled again under new manager Jimmy Dykes.

In 1952, with 24-game winner Bobby Shantz, slugging outfielder Gus Zernial and Mr. Joost (. 244, 20, 75) leading off and anchoring the infield, they had one last competitive season, finishing fourth.

"The star of our team in '52 was Bobby Shantz," Mr. Joost said. "Nobody was better than him that year."

It wasn't enough. Dykes' Athletics plummeted to a 59-95, seventh-place 1953 season and the manager was fired. Mr. Joost then became the player-manager of a ghost team.

Amid rumors of the franchise's imminent departure, his virtually penniless, last-place A's lost 103 games, drew 304,666 fans, and soon relocated to Kansas City. He was fired.

"When I became manager, I wanted to disassociate myself from the contractual arguments," Mr. Joost recalled. "But I saw the contracts of Bobby Shantz and Pete Suder on [Mack's son Earle's] desk and said, 'You're kidding me? That's all they're making?' He said, 'They never asked for more.'"

Mr. Joost played 88 games for the 1940 world-champion Reds and had been that team's oldest survivor. His death leaves just 37 surviving Philadelphia A's, the oldest being 98-year-old Ace Parker.

Information on funeral arrangements and survivors was not immediately available.