Kansas City Monarchs
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Kansas City Monarchs | |||||
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Location | Kansas City, Missouri | ||||
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Established | 1942 |
The Kansas City Monarchs were the longest-running franchise in the history of
Negro National League
The Monarchs were formed in 1920, primarily from two sources. Owner
Winning the pennant again in
In 1926 manager Méndez returned to Cuba, and Rogan took over as player/manager. He kept up the Monarchs' tradition of fine pitching, as the team's staff over the next few years featured Negro league greats including Chet Brewer, William Bell, and lefty Andy Cooper. The club traded for legendary Cuban outfielder Cristóbal Torriente, but also permanently lost the services of star shortstop Dobie Moore, whose career ended that year due to a severe off-the-field injury. After winning the first-half pennant, the Monarchs dropped a best of nine playoff to the Chicago American Giants when Rogan lost both games of a series-closing doubleheader to the young Bill Foster, another eventual Hall of Famer. In 1928 the Monarchs narrowly missed a second-half title, but won both halves of the 1929 NNL title with the best overall single-season record ever compiled by a Negro league team at 62 wins and 17 losses. By this time, pitcher Andy Cooper who had made a name for himself by playing for seven years with the Detroit Stars had joined the Monarchs.[1] No World Series was played that year between the Monarchs and the Baltimore Black Sox, champions of the eastern American Negro League.
J.L. Wilkinson
J.L. Wilkinson was the owner of the Kansas City Monarchs team from 1920 until the team was sold to Tom Baird in 1947. J.L. Wilkinson was the first person to use days like "Ladies' Day" and "Kid's Day". These days were used to promote baseball and attract more players to the All Nationals Club to develop their talent and eventually be available to be placed on the Kansas City Monarch team. He was among the top businessmen and promoters for African American baseball. This helped the Kansas City Monarchs become a very stable and successful franchise. J.L. Wilkinson's Kansas City Monarchs was the only team in the Negro Leagues to play against a comedic team even after there were regulations put in place so that other teams could avoid playing against the comedic team. This comedic team wore grass skirts, war paint, and bright uniforms with a clown on the front. [7]
Night Baseball
The Monarchs won four pennant championships before they introduced night baseball in the 1930s. The Kansas City Monarchs started playing night baseball to try to get more people to come to the games. the first night game was in early march, 1930 in Lawrence Kansas. The Monarchs had portable light systems that could be transported on the team's bus to any game. The lights were powered by portable generators and attached to retractable poles. This was the first team to regularly play baseball under artificial light, including the major league teams. Night baseball gave the Monarchs more time to play more games, which also allowed them to make more profits. This increase in profits helped the Kansas City Monarchs continue to be one of the most stable franchises in the Negro Leagues. [8]
Barnstorming, Negro American League
Following the death of the original league, the Monarchs spent several years as an independent team, mostly
At the start of this run the Monarchs acquired their most famous player, Hall of Fame pitcher Satchel Paige, who had since his rookie season in 1927 built a reputation as the best hurler in black baseball for the Birmingham Black Barons, Pittsburgh Crawfords, and several other teams.[9] Suffering from an arm injury and generally thought to be done, Paige joined the Monarchs' B team in 1939; by 1940 he had recovered and been called up to the Monarchs' main squad, where he became their top drawing card. Paige was the subject of a lot of stories, both true and folklore, and became a legend to people who don't even follow baseball. For example, he was known to have known the outfielders to sit on the ground behind him while he struck out the hitter and there was someone on base that could possibly tie the game up. Paige also warmed up before pitching in a game by throwing across a gum wrapper as home plate.[2] Paige led another superb Monarchs' staff that included fellow Hall of Famer Hilton Smith, the veteran Chet Brewer, Booker McDaniels, Jim LaMarque, and several others. They won one last NAL pennant in 1946, but lost a seven-game World Series to the Newark Eagles; in this series, they lost four games and won three.[10]
In 1945, UCLA football star and Army lieutenant
Home fields and move to Grand Rapids
The Monarchs played their home games in the minor league
Minor league affiliate
The Kansas City Monarchs were one of a few Negro league teams that informally employed a farm team. The Monroe Monarchs played from the late 1920s to 1935, mostly as a minor league team loosely associated with Kansas City.[14]
Players
Baseball Hall of Famers
Players and managers listed in bold are depicted on their Hall of Fame plaques wearing a Monarchs cap insignia. An asterisk (*) denotes the player is depicted on Hall of Fame plaque without a cap insignia or with the cap insignia obscured but the Hall of Fame recognizes Monarchs as "Primary Team"
Kansas City Monarchs Hall of Famers | |||
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Inductee | Position | Tenure | Inducted |
Ernie Banks | SS/1B | 1950–1953 | 1977 |
Cool Papa Bell | CF | 1932 | 1974 |
Willard Brown | OF | 1935–1944 1946–1949 |
2006 |
Andy Cooper | P | 1928–1929, 1931 1933–1939 |
2006 |
Bill Foster | P | 1931 | 1996 |
Jose Mendez |
P | 1917, 1920–1926 | 2006 |
Buck O'Neil | Executive | 1938-1943, 1946-1955 | 2022 |
Satchel Paige* | P | 1935, 1940–1947 | 1971 |
Jackie Robinson | 2B | 1945 | 1962 |
Bullet Rogan | P/OF | 1920–1930 1933–1938 |
1998 |
Hilton Smith* | P | 1937–1948 | 2001 |
Turkey Stearnes | OF | 1931, 1934 1938–1940 |
2000 |
Cristobal Torriente |
OF | 1916–1917, 1926 | 2006 |
Willie Wells | SS | 1932 | 1997 |
J.L. Wilkinson * |
Founder | 1920–1947 | 2006 |
Other notable players
- Toni Stone (1954); first woman to play in the negro leagues (1953); she was traded from the Indianapolis Clowns to the Monarchs in the 1950s.
- Elston Howard (1948–1950) 12 x MLB All-Star; 1963 AL Most Valuable Player.
- Quincy Trouppe (1932, 1935)
- Sam Bankhead utility man; highly valued.
Legacy
In February 2021, the team's name was revived by a Kansas City, Kansas, minor league team, the
MLB throwback jerseys
The Kansas City Royals have honored the Monarchs by wearing replica uniforms during regular-season baseball games on several occasions, including July 14, 2001 (at Pittsburgh), July 1, 2007, and May 30, 2009 (at home vs. White Sox), June 9, 2012 (at Pittsburgh), July 21, 2012, and June 23, 2019 (both at home vs. Minnesota), August 24, 2013 (at home vs. Washington Nationals), May 18, 2014 (at home vs. Baltimore), May 17, 2015 (at home vs. New York Yankees), May 15, 2016 (at home vs. Atlanta), May 7, 2017 (at home vs. Cleveland), and August 13, 2022 (at home vs. Los Angeles Dodgers). Throwback jerseys worn during Royals home games have typically been auctioned as a fundraiser for the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum.[16]
See also
- Category:Kansas City Monarchs players - full list of Monarch players
- Kansas City Monarchs (2021–present)- Independent baseball team that adopted the team's name, originally known as the Kansas City T-Bones
References
- ^ a b c d e Goldstein, Richard (27 July 2006). "Belated Recognition: The 17 Inductees". The New York Times.
- ^ a b c d e Goldstein, Richard (2006-07-27). "Belated Recognition". The New York Times. pp. D5.
- ^ a b c "Negro Leagues Baseball EMuseum: Team Profiles: Kansas City Monarchs". K-State College of Education. Retrieved 2011-03-24.
- ^ Dulin, Pete (2020-01-27). "How the Kansas City Monarchs became the city's favorite sports team in the 1920s". Kansas City Magazine. Retrieved 2020-06-21.
- ^ "Jose Mendez". baseballbiography.com. Retrieved 2011-03-24.
- ISBN 0-8488-0425-2.
- ISBN 0-8488-0425-2.
- ISBN 0-8488-0425-2.
- ^ Tye, pp. 122–23.
- ^ a b Negro Leagues Baseball Museum (Exhibits inside museum). Kansas City, Missouri.
- ^ "Long-Time Owner of Monarchs Dies". Kansas City Times. 1962-07-03. p. 17.
- ^ Hardy, Kevin (21 January 2021). "Kansas City Monarchs to play ball again with deal between T-Bones and Negro Leagues". The Kansas City Star. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
- ^ "nlbpa.com - Grand Rapids". www.nlbpa.com.
- ISBN 0-8038-2007-0.
- ^ Weinbaum, Dan (22 January 2021). "The Kansas City Monarchs are back! The T-Bones rebranded as famed Negro League baseball club". KMBZ Radio. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
- ^ "Celebrate with the Kansas City Royals as we pay tribute to the Negro Leagues". MLB.com. Kansas City Royals. Archived from the original on June 4, 2016. Retrieved 15 May 2016 – via Wayback Machine.
Additional references
- Only the Ball was White by Robert Peterson (1970) Publisher: Prentice-Hall (Englewood Cliffs NJ) ISBN 0-19-507637-0
- The Kansas City Monarchs by Janet Bruce-Campbell {1985} Publisher: University Press of Kansas (Lawrence KS) ISBN 0-7006-0343-3
- The Monarchs 1920–1938, Featuring Wilber "Bullet" Rogan by Phil S. Dixon {2002} Publisher: Mariah Press (Sioux Falls SD) ISBN 1-893250-08-3
- The Negro Leagues Book edited by Dick Clark & Larry Lester {1994} Publisher: The Society for American Baseball Research (Cleveland OH) ISBN 0-910137-55-2
- The Complete Book of Baseball's Negro Leagues by John B. Holway {2001} Publisher: Hastings House ISBN 0-8038-2007-0
- Black America Series Black Baseball in Kansas Cityby Larry Lester and Sammy J. Miller (2000) Publisher: Arcadia Publishing (Charleston, SC) ISBN 978-0-7385-0842-9
- Tye, Larry (2009), Satchel: The Life and Times of an American Legend, New York: Random House, ISBN 978-1-4000-6651-3