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From
|
To
|
Team Name
|
Baseball League
|
Comment
|
| late
1860's |
1893? |
Antelopes
|
|
They played
near 14th
& Oak, without a grandstand, stadium or scoreboard. Wild Bill
Hickok was a regular fan at the Saturday afternoon games. Once,
Wild
Bill umpired a baseball game between the Kansas City Antelopes and the
archrival Pomeroys of Atchison. With an umpire standing behind
the
plate armed with a pair of six-shooters, neither players nor the
hot-blooded
fans disputed a single call. The Antelopes won the game by 48 to 28 and
Wild Bill Hickok rode off the field in triumph in an open carriage
pulled
by a pair of white horses. |
|
1884
|
1884
|
Unions
|
Union Association
|
 Charter
franchise. Relocated from Altoona Pride in April and May 1884 before
moving
to Kansas City. Folded with league September 1884.
When Altoona
folded in
early June, Union Association president Henry V. Lucas was forced to
seek
a replacement. He turned to Kansas City to fill the void, a city he
should
have considered over Altoona before the start of the season anyway. In
order to join the UA, team owner Americus V. McKim was forced to accept
the most restrictive condition ever imposed on a club: even though
Kansas
City's games would count in their opponents' records, Kansas City could
not win a championship. In effect, the Unions would be in the UA but
would
have no official record.
First association game
of baseball in Kansas
City played at Athletic Park (field located at Southwest Boulevard and
Summit Streets) between the Kansas City Unions and Chicago
Unions, June 7, 1884.
As it turned out,
this
restriction proved irrelevant as Kansas City won just 16 times in 79
games.
The team had to be assembled so quickly that many of the players met
for
the first time as they assembled for the club's first game.
The team was sometimes referred to as the
"Unions" but had no official nickname, but was rarely referred to
anything but the "Unions", "Cowboys" or "Kaycees".
Despite the
team's anemic
record, they were a good draw in Kansas City. At an end of season
banquet,
McKim announced that the team had turned a $7000 profit. An
exaggeration
or not, Kansas City was far more successful financially than any other
Union Association team. So successful was the team financially, that
McKim
began preparing for the 1885 season. He sent manager Ted Sullivan east
to sign new players and also had plans to build a new ball park.
Meanwhile,
the rest of the Union Association continued to crumble.
|
| 1890's |
?
|
Maroons |
Semi-pro |
Played at
Exposition
Park. |
|
1884
|
1903
|
Cowboys
|
Union
Association 1884, Western League 1885,
National League 1886, Western
League 1887,
American
Association 1888-1889, Western League 1892, Western Association
1893, American Association 1902-1903.
|
Hall of
Famer Billy Hamilton with the Kansas City Cowboys on an 1887-1890
baseball card.
|
Team formed Feb
9, 1886. Charter
franchise, disbanded
after 1886 season. League: AL 1900, Western Lg 1901-1903 Franchise:
Became
Kansas City Blues (Class A American Assoc.) 1904.
The Kansas City
Cowboys
joined the National League when Indianapolis failed to fund a franchise
for that city.
The long
distances that
other teams had to travel to reach Kansas City and crowds that were
usually
sparse as well as rowdy proved to be the team's downfall. After the
season,
in which the Cowboys finished 7th, rumors that both Kansas City and 8th
place St. Louis Maroons would be dropped from the League
persisted.
At the March 9th,
1887
NL meeting, the authorization of the Cowboys' purchase of the Maroons
was
refused and both Kansas City and St. Louis were dropped from the
league.
Kansas City's owners were forced to accept a $6,000 buyout from the
League.
Overall record:
30 Wins- 91 Losses. Their uniforms
were white.
Home Field:
Association
Park.
KC
Cowboys
in the National Baseball Hall of
Fame.
|
|
1886
|
1889
|
Blues
|
Western League 1901
American Association
|
League:
Western Lg 1887, AA 1888-1889 Franchise:
Expansion franchise WL. New franchise AA, disbanded after 1889 season.
WA 1894-1900 Franchise: Became Washington Senators AL 1901
The Blues were
Kansas
City's third major league team in five years. The Blues were an
improvement
over the previous National League and Union Association teams that the
city had fielded yet they still found themselves overmatched in the
American
Association.
Kansas City had a
new
club in a new league, but under the same ownership and with the same
manager,
the team put together the same abysmal season that its predecessors
had.
When Baltimore also resigned from the league, the Blues lost their last
ally in the struggle. Wary of the impending Players' League war, Kansas
City also resigned and applied for membership in the minor Western
Association.
Home Field:
Exposition
Park.
After 1900, the Kansas
City Blues later became the Washington Senators, now the Minnesota
Twins.
|
|
1902
|
1903
|
Blue Stockings
|
Western League
|
Not the Red
Legs, Red
Sox or even the White Sox...the Kansas City Blue Stockings!
Home Field: Sportsmans Park, later known as Recreation Park.
|
|
1908?
|
1913?
|
Red Sox
|
?
|
Semi-professional
team
|
|
1914
|
1915
|
Packers
|
Federal League
|
The
Kansas City franchise origins began in 1913 in Covington,
Kentucky.
The team moved to Kansas City in late June, 1913.
Charter
franchise, disbanded
with league after 1915 season. The Federal League lost in the war
against the Majors- National League and American League. (Yes, at
one time there was THREE major leagues of baseball)
The spitball was
legal
in these days. The Packers were in 1st place with a 57-42 record
on 8/8/1915, but ended up in 4th place with an 81-72 record.
Home Field:
Gordon &
Koppel Field, also known as the Federal League Park,
at 47th &
Tracey,
Kansas City, MO.
1914
KC Packers Roster
KC
Packers Team Index |
|
1902
|
1954
|
Blues
|
American Association
(A,AA,& AAA)
|
Yes, at one time,
during
1914-15, Kansas City had two baseball teams, the Packers (Federal
League)
and the Blues (American Association)!
In addition, KC had 2 teams in 1902 and 1903, the American Association
Blues and the Western League Kansas City Blue Stockings.
From 1937-1954,
the KC
Blues were a Minor League farm club of the New York Yankees. The
Blues' association with the Yankees brought many great players to
Kansas
City, including, in 1951 Mickey Mantle. Others included Phil
Rizzuto
and Vince DiMaggio.
Most baseball
teams did
not wear numbers on their jerseys prior to 1930.
In 1935, the KC
Blues
were a farm club of the Pittsburgh Pirates.
The 1939
Blues (107W-47L) were Kansas City's best minor league time of all
time,
according to historians Bill Weiss and Marshall Wright, who were ranked
12th among their top 100. The team was an affiliate of the New
York
Yankees and was owned by Co. Jacob Ruppert, owner of the Yankees.
The 1923
Blues (112W-54L) were ranked as the 18th best minor league
team,
and the 1929
Blues (111W-56L) were 28th best.
The 1923 Blues
set a
league attendance record of 425,000.
The nickname
Blues derived
from the blue uniforms they wore in contrast
to the white
suits of
the American Association Cowboys. General admission to a 1941 Blues
game
was 35 cents, cokes were a nickel and hot dogs were 15 cents.
Home Field:
Recreation Park, Muhleback
Field, Blues Stadium and Ruppert Stadium.
For more
information
about other teams go to the Minor
League Baseball Web Site.
1954
group portrait of Kansas City Blues, Kansas City Blues Queen, and
unidentified
officials outside Municipal Stadium before parade honoring the baseball
team.
1954
KC Blues Queen
Additional KC
Blues Archival
records at the Harry S. Truman Presidential Libary-White House Central
Files.
KC Blues in the National Baseball Hall of
Fame.
|
| 1909 |
1915 |
Giants |
Independent Club |
The Kansas
City Kansas
Giants hosted Negro players in competition against major league,
minor league, barnstormers, or other Negro League teams. |
|
1920
|
1962
|
Monarchs
|
Negro American
League
|
The longest
running franchise
in Negro Leagues history! They became Negro Leagues answer to the
New York Yankees! The Negro National League was
formed in Kansas
City on Feb. 13, 1920 by Rube Foster in a meeting a Paseo YMCA.
League: NNL
1920-1927,
1929-1930, NAL 1937-1950 Franchise: Charter franchise NNL, disbanded
after
1930. Charter franchise NAL,
disbanded with
league
after 1950.
1920 -30 and 1937
-1962.
In 1921, the Monarch's beat a barnstorming team headed up by Babe
Ruth.
In October 1922, in a series billed as a city championship, the
Monarchs
defeated the minor-league Kansas City Blues in five of six games.
The "First Colored World Series" of baseball is held in Kansas City
beginning
on October 20th, 1924, which was won by the Monarch's. Five
consecutive
Negro National, League Titles in 1920's, including
winning the first Negro World Series in 1924. 6
Negro American League Titles between 1937 and 1950. Three
consecutive Negro League Pennant's from 1923 to 1925. Throughout their
thirty years of organized play (1920–1950) they won two world series,
ten
pennants, and had only one losing season! In 1934, the Kansas City
Monarchs
draw so many fans to Sunday baseball games that black churches adjust
their
worship hours. In 1943, The Monarchs thrill their fans with
43 straight wins. The Monarchs were one of the few Negro League
teams
to be owned by a white man, Tom Wilkinson. The Monarch's team
included
famous players such as Jackie Robinson, Satchel Paige, Ernie Banks,
Hilton
Smith and Buck O'Neil. The Monarchs sent most players to Major
League
Baseball after the color barrier was broken!
KC Monarchs in the National Baseball Hall of
Fame.
Home
Field: Muhlebach
Field, Blues Stadium, later called Municipal Stadium.
KINGS
OF BASEBALL
KANSAS
CITY
MONARCHS
Logos of the Kansas City Monarchs Baseball Team
|
1942
|
1942
|
1943
|
1945
|
1947
|
1949
|
 |
|
Jackie Robinson as a
Kansas City Monarch in 1946. He had a .387 batting average in one
season.
|
|
1912
|
1918
|
All-Nations |
Negro Leagues |
The All-Nations team
was a barn storming team in the Midwest, based out of Kansas City and
Des Moines, IA. They got their "All Nations" nickname by having
players from various ethnic groups including Native Americans,
African-Americans, Caucasians, Asians and Latin Americans.
|
|
1948
|
1950
|
Stars
|
Negro Leagues
|
Cool Papa
Bell's contract
called his team to be called the Kansas City Stars or the Travelers
when
they played in Monarch territory and called the Kansas City Monarchs
when
they played outside the Midwestern states. |
|
1955
|
1967
|
Athletics
|
MLB- American League
|
Nickname:
In the
late 19th Century sports fans who worked at various Philly Athletic
Clubs
came together and formed a baseball team named Athletics
(as many
similarly formed
teams were known as).
 Elephant
Logo (1955-1962): In 1902 John McGraw manger of the New
York
Giants referred to the Athletics as the "White Elephants", implying
Mack
shouldn't be allowed to spend money without supervision. Mack defiantly
adopted the White Elephant as the team insignia, and in 1902, the A's
won
the American League pennant. KC Owner Charles Finley replaced the
elephant mascot with a Missouri Mule in 1963.
Relocated from
Philadelphia
Athletics in 1955. Became Oakland Athletics in 1968. Mascot:
"Charlie
O" the Mule.
On April 12, 1955 the first game at Municipal Stadium, with 32,844
present to see the A's beat the Detroit Tigers 6-2.
Home Field: Municipal
Stadium.
Host of 1960 All
Star
Game.
Overalll record: 829
Wins, 1,222 Losses (.404) Nine managers.
Team Colors:
Blue, Red,
and White (1955-1962) Green, and Yellow (1963-1967)
The MLB All Star
Game was
played in Kansas City in 1960.
The A's moved to Oakland in 1968, winning four World Series titles and
six AL pennants through 2005. KC
Athletics in the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
|
|
1969
|
present
|
Royals
|
MLB- American League
|
Expansion
franchise.
1980 Amer. League Champions.
Mascot: Sluggerrr
(Lion)
Home Field: Municipal Stadium-- 1969 to 1972. The Royals first game
ever beat the Minnesota Twins 4-3. The first game at
Royals
Stadium was on April 10, 1973, where a crowd of 39,464 see the Royals
slaughter the Texas Rangers 12-1.
Royals Stadium--
1973
to 1993. The MLB All Star
Game
was played in Kansas City in 1973.
(Royals Stadium
changed
to) Kauffman Stadium on 7/2/1993 to current. Kauffman
Stadium
(formerly Royals Stadium) is part of the Harry S. Truman Sports
Complex,
which includes Arrowhead Stadium.
Team colors:
Blue, White
and Gold
KC
Royals Team Index
KC Royals History
KC
Royals All Time Team Roster
On October 27,
1985 the
Royals win the World Series
1985 World Series Champions
Current
Royals Players and more
KC Royals in the National Baseball Hall of
Fame.
My
Kansas City Royals Hall of Fame Page, Schedule, Videos and more!
Kansas
City Royals Records
|
| 2003 |
present |
T-Bones
|
Northern
League
(Minor League)
|
The franchise
from Duluth-Superior
called the Dukes, moved to Kansas City in 2003. A new
Stadium,
4,500 seating capacity, at a cost of $12 million, built in
2002-03.
Home Field: near the Kansas Speedway, Kansas City, KS. |
Outside soccer
