Baseball History Comes Alive Now Ranked #2 by Feedspot Among All Internet Baseball History Websites and Blogs!
Guest Submissions from Our Readers Always Welcome!
Subscribe to my blog for automatic updates. As Bonus get two Free Reports: “Memorable World Series Moments,” and “The Handy Dandy World Series Reference Guide”
“Kansas City Monarchs Through the Years” Photo Gallery
Click on any image below to view entire gallery:
Tribute to the Negro Leagues: The Kansas City Monarchs
The Kansas City Monarchs were the longest-running and most successful franchise in the history of the Negro Leagues. Based in Kansas City, Missouri, they were charter members of the Negro National League from 1920 to 1931. Immediate contenders, the Monarchs became bitter rivals to black baseball’s reigning power, Rube Foster’s Chicago American Giants. In 1930, the Monarchs became the first professional baseball team to use a portable lighting system which they transported from game to game in trucks. This was five years before any major league team played night games.
The Monarchs were independent from 1932-36, barnstorming through the Midwest, frequently touring with the House of David baseball team. Hall-of-Famers Hilton Smith, a pitcher, and Willard Brown, a slugging shortstop/outfielder, became Monarch mainstays during this time.
The Monarchs joined the newly formed Negro American League in 1937, winning the first league title. They won ten league championships before integration (1923-25,’29, ’37, ’39-42, ’46), and titles again in 1950, ’53, and ’55. At the start of this run the Monarchs acquired their most famous player, Hall-of-Fame pitcher Satchel Paige, who at the time was regarded as the best pitcher in black baseball.
The Monarchs triumphed in the first Negro League World Series in 1924, defeating the Eastern Colored League champion Hilldale team, in a thrilling ten-game series. They won the next two league championships and also won the renewed Negro League World Series in 1942 against the Homestead Grays.
In 1945, UCLA football star 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. 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. Other notable Monarch Hall-of-Famers included Buck O’Neal, Bullet Rogan, and Hilton Smith.
Only once over all the years of their existence did the Monarchs not have a winning season. After sending more players to the major leagues than any other Negro League franchise, the team was finally disbanded in 1965.
-Gary Livacari
Photo Credits: All from Public Domain
Information: Excerpts edited from the Kansas City Monarchs Wikipedia page. Read more at: https://en.wikipedia.org/
Thanks for reading my post. Hope you enjoyed it! Before you leave, I hope you’ll consider:
-Viewing the other posts in my blog. Click “Home” icon on left to see display of other posts.
-Following me on any one of my social networks.
-Sharing to your favorite social media
-Leaving a comment…I love interacting with my readers!
-Subscribing for automatic updates and two Free Bonus reports: “Memorable World Series Moments” and “The Handy Dandy World Series Reference Guide.”
Click “Home” icon on left to see display of all my articles. Follow me on Twitter: @Livac2
Visit our Facebook page: Old-Time Baseball Photos
This is a really awesome resource, especially for people who don’t know a whole lot about the sport but want to learn. Nothing too technical, and the writing style is casual and your tone friendly. Love it. Thanks for the information put so clearly!
Question! I’m attempting to write a short story in which I wanted to reference a specific game in which the Kansas City Monarchs would have been playing a home game. Do you know anywhere I could find descriptions of any games they might have played, or even the final scores of any particular game?
(Thanks in advance for any help you might give! And, again, for what you’ve already helped with!)
Thanks for the kind words. Any involved research questions that come up we usually refer to our crack baseball researcher, Don Stokes. If you can give me the specifics of the game you’re researching, I’ll be glad to turn it over to Don. Best, Gary
Why would you not include J.L. Wilkinson in the Monarch story?