Roy Mack

Connie Jr., some 20 years younger than his half brothers, had increasingly chafed at the family's bargain-basement approach to running the team, but Roy and Earle believed their half-brother's ideas were too expensive.

Connie Jr. didn't believe his half-brothers could pull it off, but Roy and Earle did so by mortgaging the team to Connecticut General Insurance Company (now part of CIGNA) and pledging Shibe Park as collateral.

The purchase closed the following month; in the resulting reorganization, Connie Sr., Roy and Earle became the Athletics' only shareholders.

[5] However, the team was now saddled with mortgage payments of $200,000 per year, making it difficult to arrest the club's declining performance on the field and deteriorating financial picture.

[5] Initially, the Macks agreed to sell the Athletics to Chicago industrialist Arnold Johnson, who intended to transfer the team to Kansas City, Missouri for the following season.

Shortly before an October 18 deadline to finalize the deal, however, Roy agreed to sell the A's to a group headed by Philadelphia auto dealer John Crisconi.

Johnson offered Roy more for his stock, as well as a guaranteed post in the reorganized franchise's front office.

While he criticized the other owners for throwing their weight behind Johnson, he concluded that no other deal stood a chance of winning league approval.