Kansas City Monarchs
Team logo Cap insignia
Information
League	Negro National League (1920–1931) Independent (1932–1936) Negro American League (1937–1961) Independent (1962–1965) Based in Grand Rapids, Michigan 1956–65 but retained Kansas City as their name
Location	Kansas City, Missouri
Ballpark	Association Park (1920–1923) Muehlebach Field (1923–1955) a.k.a. Ruppert Stadium (1937–1942) a.k.a. Blues Stadium (1943–1954) a.k.a. Municipal Stadium (1955) Valley Field, Grand Rapids (1956–1965)
Established	1920
Disbanded	1965
League titles	1923 1924 1925 1929 1937 1939 1940 1941 1942 1946 1953 1957
Negro World Series championships	1924 1942

The Kansas City Monarchs were the longest-running franchise in the history of baseball's Negro leagues. Operating in Kansas City, Missouri, and owned by J. L. Wilkinson, they were charter members of the Negro National League from 1920 to 1930. J. L. Wilkinson was the first white owner at the time of the establishment of the team.^[1] In 1930, the Monarchs became the first professional baseball team to use a portable lighting system which was transported from game to game in trucks to play games at night, five years before any MLB team did.^[2] The Monarchs won ten league championships before integration, and triumphed in the first Negro League World Series in 1924. The Monarchs had only one season in which they did not have a winning record.^[3] The team produced more major league players than any other Negro league franchise.^[4] It was disbanded in 1965.

Negro National League

The Monarchs were formed in 1920, primarily from two sources. Owner J. L. Wilkinson drew players from his All Nations barnstorming team, which had been inactive during World War I, and the 25th Infantry Wreckers, an all-black team recruited into the U.S. Army almost exclusively for their playing talent. He put together a collection of talent, including pitcher/outfielder Bullet Rogan, an eventual Hall of Famer who established himself as one of the most popular stars of the new league; sluggers Dobie Moore, Heavy Johnson, George Carr, and Hurley McNair; and pitchers Rube Currie and Cliff Bell. Immediate contenders, the Monarchs became bitter rivals to black baseball's reigning power, Rube Foster's Chicago American Giants. After three years of failing to break off the Giants' hold on the pennant (championship victory), Wilkinson fired manager Sam Crawford in mid-1923, replacing him with veteran Cuban star José Méndez, who then led the Monarchs to the league championship.

Frank Duncan, 1924 Monarchs

Winning the pennant again in 1924, the Monarchs participated in the first Negro League World Series, defeating the Eastern Colored League champion Hilldale team from Darby, Pennsylvania, in a ten-game series (five wins, four losses, and one tie). In this series, Méndez had an ERA of 1.42 in four of the games and was responsible for a shutout in the one game he was the starting pitcher in.^[5] ERA is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings played. Motivated by the Monarchs' runaway pennant victory, NNL president Rube Foster changed the league schedule to a split-season format for 1925. A split-season format is where a season is split in half in order to try to maintain the attendance during the summer season. The winner of the first half of the season plays the winner of the second half of the season. However, Kansas City still took the league title again in 1925, but lost the World Series to Hilldale when Rogan was injured just before the series began, winning one game and losing five.^[6] Even though Méndez was the manager, he still pitched during the few years he held the position.^[1] Among the team's regulars during these years were the second baseman/shortstop Newt Allen who in the 1924 series alone had a batting average of .282 and seven doubles ^[2] and Frank Duncan. Newt Joseph played third base for the Monarchs from 1922 through their NNL years, hitting a composite .284 during that time.^[1]

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]

Struggles for African American Baseball Leagues

There were many different difficulties that African American baseball leagues faced. Many of the teams were unstable, especially in the first few years after the league was created and were disbanded or replaced by other teams. Another struggle for African American teams was the inconsistent number of games that teams would play. For example, the American Giants played 62 games, winning 41, which gives the team a .661 winning percentage, but the Kansas City Monarchs played 81 games, winning 50, which gives the team a .617 winning percentage. Even though the Kansas City Monarchs won more games, the team got second place, because the winning percentage was lower than the American Giants winning percentage. Poor newspaper coverage was another difficulty. If newspapers wrote articles about African American baseball, then it was mainly focused on the local teams, but not the league as a whole. When the Eastern League started in 1923, players started joining the Eastern league. Competition between the two leagues for players grew. ^[9] When the color barrier was broken by Jackie Robinson and other players were being signed to major league teams, the African American teams that these players came from, were not compensated. ^[10] However, the African American teams having less players allowed then to save some money, but the African American leagues were just as competitive as the major leagues. The African American players weren't paid as well as white players. An average Negro League player was only paid close to $500 per month whereas the average white player in the major leagues would be paid about $1,000 per month. Players on Latin American teams would be paid anywhere from $600 to $4,000 per month with other expenses paid for and provided for the player and his wife.

Jim Crow

Jim Crow laws were in place that allowed the segregation of train cars and buses. The Kansas City Monarchs would rent entire train cars or "touring cars" before traveling to an away game to avoid these Jim Crow segregation laws. The Monarchs was a very well oriented team that would plan their travels well in advance. The team would book hotels and restaurants and, over time, learn which restaurants and hotels wouldn't turn the team away for being black. There were some exceptions to Jim Crow segregation laws at night. Some restaurant owners would cook meals for the Kansas City Monarchs afterhours when the restaurant was closed. The team was even allowed to eat in the front of the restaurant and use the front door. ^[11]

Barnstorming, Negro American League

Following the death of the original league, the Monarchs spent several years as an independent team, mostly barnstorming through the Midwest, West, and western Canada. They frequently toured with the House of David baseball team. Hall of Famers Hilton Smith, a pitcher, and Willard Brown, a slugging shortstop/outfielder with a consistent batting average of over .300,^[1] became Monarch mainstays during this time. During the 1940s, Willard Brown became the go-to home run hitter for the Monarchs.^[2] With Andy Cooper now at the helm, the Monarchs became charter members of the Negro American League (NAL) in 1937, winning the first league title. Andy Cooper was responsible for leading the Monarchs to bring home the pennant in 1939 and 1940.^[2] The Kansas City Monarchs then won the next two league championships and won ^[3] winning the renewed Negro League World Series in 1942 in four straight games against the Homestead Grays.

Jackie Robinson

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.^[12] 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.^[13]

In 1945, UCLA football star and Army lieutenant Jackie Robinson hit .387 as the Monarchs' shortstop. He became the first Monarch to make the jump to white baseball, signing with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1946. He broke the minor league color line in 1946 with the Montreal Royals, and integrated the major leagues with the Dodgers in 1947. As baseball gradually desegregated in the late 1940s and 1950s, the Monarchs developed a niche as the foremost developer of black talent for the major leagues. The team sent more players to the majors than any other Negro league franchise, including Robinson, Paige, Ernie Banks, Elston Howard, Hank Thompson, and Willard Brown.

Newt Allen succeeded Cooper as manager in 1941, and was followed by Frank Duncan in 1942. Duncan stayed at the helm through the 1947 season winning two league titles and one world title. After Duncan stepped down, longtime first baseman Buck O'Neil took over. Then Monarchs lost the league title to the Birmingham Black Barons in 1948 which prevented them from appearing in the last Negro World Series. 1948 was also the year that Wilkinson sold the Monarchs to Tom Baird who owned the team through their minor league days in the 1950s.^[3] The Monarchs won the league's western division first-half pennant in 1949, but declined to participate in a playoff with the Chicago American Giants, as their roster was depleted by player sales to major league clubs. They won the NAL West Division title in 1950 but did not meet the eastern champion Indianapolis Clowns that year. They won a half-season pennant in 1951 but lost a playoff. O'Neil won his only two league titles in 1953 and 1955, with a last-place finish sandwiched between in 1954 as the Negro American League of the 1950s declined in quality and shrank in size, while in the process grooming a number of eventual major league players.

Home fields and move to Grand Rapids

The Monarchs played their home games in the minor league Kansas City Blues' Association Park from 1920 to 1923, and moved to the Blues' new park, Muehlebach Field, in mid-1923. They mostly barnstormed in the early-to-mid-1930s, but used Muehlebach (later known as Ruppert Stadium or Blues Stadium at different times) from 1937 until 1955. After a single season of scheduling games with the major league Kansas City Athletics as prime tenants of the renamed Municipal Stadium, Tom Baird sold eight players to major league clubs and four more players to minor league teams,^[14] released his manager, Buck O'Neil, who then signed on as a scout for the Chicago Cubs,^[13] and then sold the franchise to baseball entrepreneur Ted Rasberry, who moved its base to Grand Rapids, Michigan, though retaining the name "Kansas City Monarchs".^[15] From 1956 on, the Monarchs were a full-time barnstorming team. The Negro American League ceased operations in 1962, and the Monarchs finally disbanded after the 1965 season. In Grand Rapids, the Monarchs Played at Valley Field, located at 700 Valley Ave NW, 49584.^[16]

Record and Legacy

The Kansas City Monarchs played minor league teams Denver of the Western League and the Kansas City Blues of the American Association in 1922 in two post-regular season series. The Monarchs beat Denver 3 games to 2 and also beat the Blues 5 games to 1. The first Negro World Series occurred in 1924 and it was the Kansas City Monarchs against Hilldale. The Monarchs won 5 games in the NAL World Series and Hilldale won 4 games. José Méndez pitched the last game of the 1924 World Series against his doctor's orders. The Monarchs and Hilldale both returned to the NAL World Series the next year with Hilldale winning 5 games and the Monarchs winning 1 game. The 1942 NNL World Series the Monarchs won 4 games and the Homestead Grays won 0 games. The Newark Eagles won 4 games and the Monarchs won 3 games in the 1946 Negro World Series. The Kansas City Monarchs were often asked to speak at club gatherings, because they were considered to role models and leaders for other young men. The players on the Kansas City Monarchs understood that they had, and important role and they set a high standard for the Negro Leagues. The successful teams gathered many excited spectators around the country. There were 15,000 people in the crowd to watch the Monarchs play against the American Giants and 11,000 people watched the Monarchs play against the Dayton Marcos in 1920. Another Monarchs game in 1943 drew a crowd of 315,000 people. When the Monarchs had the opportunity to play against the major league team St. Louis Cardinals, there were 15,000 spectators in attendance.^[17]

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.^[18]

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"

Members of the Kansas City Monarchs

• 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.
• Newt Allen (1922–1930, 1934, 1941) "The Black Diamond"; replaced Robert Fagan as second baseman; succeeded Bingo DeMoss as best in the position; really good infielder at any position; captain 1923-1925 and 1929; manager in 1941; spent most of his 23-year career with the Monarchs.
• Eugene Baker (1948-1949) MLB All-Star; second baseman.
• Elston Howard (1948–1950) 12 x MLB All-Star; 1963 AL Most Valuable Player.
• Clifford Connie Johnson (1940–1942, 1946–1950); pitcher.
• John Buck O'Neil (1938–1943, 1946–1955); joined the Navy, returned in 1946 in Mexico before returning to the Monarchs; became a scout for the Chicago Cubs in 1956.
• Bartolo Portuondo (1920–1922)
• Henry Hank Thompson (1943, 1946–1948); third baseman.
• Quincy Trouppe (1932, 1935)
• José Méndez (1920-1926); "The Black Diamond"; he contract jumped to the Detroit Stars but was later forced to return to the Monarchs.
• Herb Souell (1946)
• Sam Crawford contract jumped to the Detroit Stars but was later forced to return to the Monarchs.
• John Donaldson contract jumped to the Detroit Stars but was later forced to return to the Monarchs.
• TJ Young; catcher
• Walter Moore "Dobie"; one of the best fielding shortstops at that time.
• Wilber Joe Bullet Rogan (1920-1938); "Bullet"; versatile pitcher and hitter.
• Frank Duncan (1924) catcher and pitcher; joined exhibition tour of Japan (promoted by Lonnie Goodwine).
• Chet Brewer contract jumped and threatened team owner, Ed Bolden, to be switched to the Monarchs.
• Robert Fagan (1921); was the second baseman and eventually replaced by Newton Allen.
• Bingo DeMoss
• Eddie Dwight (1929 and 1936); outfielder; known to be a very fast player.
• Branch Russell (1922)
• William/Bill Drake; pitcher
• Cristobel Torriente (1916-1917, 1926); outfielder.
• George Alexander Sweatt (1920-1927) infielder and outfielder; helped the Monarchs win the 1924 World Series.
• Leroy Robert Satchel Paige (1935, 1939-1947); seen as one of the best pitchers in the league; well known by both black and white players, helped negro leagues grow; played in Latin America, he had an acrobatic windup; told his pitching days were over but regained strength by 1941; had great showmanship; brought into the major leagues in 1948; first African American baseball player indicted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
• Frank Floyd "Jewbaby"; he was the trainer for the Kansas City Monarchs for 30 years; took credit for restoring Satchel Paige's pitching arm.
• Hilton Smith; was seen as good of a pitcher as Satchel Paige; part of dominant Monarchs pitching staff during World War II; Satchel Paige would pitch 3 innings and Smith would finish; many considered that he had the best curveball in baseball history.
• George Carr; pitcher; most renowned African American baseball player to join the Negro National League from the Coast League.
• Joe Greene
• Carroll Dink Mothell (1924-1926, 1934); utility man; highly valued because he could bat and play many positions; outfielder and second baseman in the first Negro World Series; centerfielder; first baseman.
• Walter Joseph (Newt); utility man; highly valued.
• Hurley Allen McNair utility man; highly valued.
• Wade Johnston utility man; highly valued.
• Sam Bankhead utility man; highly valued.
• Lemuel Hawkins shared first base position with George Giles.
• George Giles utility man; highly valued; first baseman that eventually replaced Lemuel Hawkins.
• Ernie Banks (1950-1953); shortstop; first baseman.
• Cool Papa Bell (1932-1934); centerfielder
• Willard Brown Sr. (1935-1944, 1946-1951); "Homerun"; centerfielder.
• Andy Cooper (1928-1929, 1931, 1933-1939); pitcher; manager from 1935-1941.
• Bill Foster (1931); pitcher.
• Jackie Robinson (1945); second baseman; first player to break the color barrier.
• Norman Turkey Stearnes (1931, 1934, 1938-1940); outfielder.
• Earl Taborn (1946-1951); "Mickey"; star catcher.
• Londell Jamerson "Tincy".
• Allen Bryant (1939); "Lefty"; pitcher.
• Jesse Williams; shortstop.
• Quincey J. Gilmore; business manager.
• Charlie Beverly
• Henry Milton (1937); outfielder.
• Hallie Harding; shortstop.
• Curtis Harris (1931 adn 1936); first baseman.
• Frank Bradley; pitching staff.
• Ford Smith; pitching staff.
• Willie Simms; leftfielder.
• Jack Matchett (1940, 1942-1945); pitcher.
• Robert Griffith (1936); pitcher.
• Floyd Kransen (1940).
• Lionel Decuir (1940).
• Junius (Rainey) Bibbs (1940).
• Dick Bradley (1940); one of the hardest throws in the league.
• Leandy Young (1940).
• Frank Duncan Jr. (1941).
• Jim LaMarque; Lefty; pitcher.
• Booker T. McDaniel (1942); pitching staff.
• Pat Patterson (1939); third greatest baseman in Monarch's history
• Woodrow "Lefty" Wilson (1936).
• Bob Madison (1936).
• Leroy Tayler (1936); outfielder.
• Harry Else (1936).
• James Floyd; trainer.
• Bonnie Serrell

^[19][13]

Legacy

In February 2021, the team's name was revived by a Kansas City, Kansas, minor league team, the Kansas City T-Bones. The name was approved through a negotiation with the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum.^[20]

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

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

External links

• Franchise history at Seamheads.com
• 1920 Kansas City Monarchs Calendar