Tag: baseball

Between 1923 and 1955 the Kansas City Monarchs called Kansas City – and Kansas City Municipal Stadium – “home.”

The Kansas City Monarchs won twelve league championships before major league baseball was racially integrated. The Monarchs appeared in four Negro League World Series, winning it all in 1924. And again in 1942.

The Kansas City Monarchs produced more Major League Baseball players than any other Negro League franchise. Some of whom went on to become household names.

Jackie Robinson played for the Kansas City Monarchs in 1945. Jackie Robinson was later signed by the Dodgers…breaking the color barrier in Major League Baseball in 1947. 

Satchel Paige and Ernie Banks played in Kansas City too. For the Kansas City Monarchs.

There are thirteen one-time Kansas City Monarchs in the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame. There are four Kansas City Monarchs in the Hall of Fame whose Hall of Fame plaques depict the players sporting Kansas City Monarchs uniforms. The four Monarchs in the Hall of Fame, wearing the Monarchs uniform? Willard Brown, Satchel Paige, J.L. Wilkinson and Hilton Smith.

The first Negro League World Series game ever played was played in Kansas City. At Kansas City Municipal Stadium. The year was 1924.

The Negro League Baseball Museum is located a few blocks from where Kansas City Municipal Stadium once stood. In Kansas City’s historic 18th and Vine District. 

Jackie Robinson started out in Kansas City. Jackie Robinson’s first contract as a Kansas City Monarch paid him $400/month.

Kansas City’s one-time minor league baseball team – the Kansas City Blues – were the original Municipal Stadium tenants.

The Kansas City Blues have made some notable contributions to Major League Baseball. And to the winningest team in all of sports…the New York Yankees. 

Mickey Mantle once played in Kansas City. For the Kansas City Blues. Whitey Ford, Elston Howard, Yogi Berra and Phil Rizzuto all played for the Kansas City Blues as well. 

Between 1955 and 1967, the now-Oakland Athletics were then the Kansas City Athletics. The Kansas City Athletics played their home games at Kansas City Municipal Stadium.

Some famous Oakland A’s – then later, famous New York Yankees – got their starts in Kansas City. As Kansas City Athletics. Those famous Kansas City A’s-turned-Yankees? Reggie Jackson and Catfish Hunter. 

Reggie Jackson played his rookie year in Kansas City for the Kansas City Athletics in 1967. Reggie Jackson batted .178 his rookie year in Kansas City. Reggie hit one home run as a Kansas City Athletic that year. 

Catfish Hunter played in Kansas City for the Kansas City Athletics from 1965 until 1967. 

In 1978, in the playoffs, while playing for the Yankees and against Kansas City, Reggie batted .462, He hit twice as many home runs in the 1978 playoffs against Kansas City as he hit as a rookie in Kansas City. As a Kansas City Athletic. Reggie hit two home runs against Kansas City in the 1978 playoffs.

In 1955, the Kansas City Athletics drew nearly 1.4 million fans to their home games at Municipal Stadium. That year, the Kansas City Athletics had the third best home attendance in baseball. 

The New York Yankees had the best attendance in baseball in 1955. On the roster of the 1955 New York Yankees…we find the connection to Kansas City. 

Elston Howard. Yogi Berra. Phil Rizzuto. Billy Martin. And Mickey Mantle. All players on the pennant-winning 1955 New York Yankees. Each tracing the beginning of their careers to Kansas City. And to Kansas City Municipal Stadium.

Elston Howard was a Kansas City Monarch in 1948. While in Kansas City, Howard, the first African American to make it onto a Yankees roster, played for Buck O’Neil, the first African American coach in Major League Baseball history.

Yogi Berra played for the Kansas City Blues in 1944 and 1945.

Whitey Ford played for the Kansas City Blues in 1950.

Phil Rizzuto played for the Kansas City Monarchs in 1931, and from 1933 to 1939. 

Billy Martin played in Kansas City. Not for the Blues. Not for the Monarchs. Billy Martin played in Kansas City for the Kansas City Athletics. In 1957.

Mickey Mantle played for the Kansas City Blues. In 1952.

The Yankees lost the 1955 World Series to the Brooklyn Dodgers. The Dodgers beat the Yankees in the 1955 World Series in seven games. 

On the Series-winning 1955 Dodgers we’d find another all-time great whose career began in Kansas City, playing in Kansas City Municipal Stadium. That Dodger great? Jackie Robinson.