Institution

That ballpark was initially known as League Park and built in a low-lying area that was once home to a small pond. The park was humid with minimal breeze which made it a heat sink during the peak of summer. The park earned the derisive nickname "The Hole" because it was in a pit created when dirt was dug out to create a roadbed for Independence Avenue. On what had previously been the site of Ranson’s Pond, the field was 25 feet below street level. An outfield sign read, “Please don’t shoot the umpire. He is doing the best he can.”When the park opened, the Kansas City Times were effusive in their praise, saying, "The grounds are not surpassed by those in any city in the league."By 1888, between the frequently poor showing of the various teams, along with the tendency of the low-lying field to accumulate smelly, swampy water, the Kansas City Times had considerably changed their tune, calling it, "One of the worst base ball parks in the country."The first National League (NL) game was played 30 April 1886 with the last NL game played here on 15 October 1892 (St. Louis versus Chicago). The first American Association game was on 18 April 1888. After 1892, the field was abandoned to developers.

Artist's 1886 depiction of Kansas City's League Park 

Starting in the mid 1880s, this site was home to Association Park where the Kansas City Cowboys of the National League played home games from 30 April to 18 September in 1886. Two years later, in 1888, the Cowboys joined another major league, the American Association. A local newspaper that had eagerly praised the creation of the ballpark soon referred to it as the worst in the country owing to it's low-lying and swampy land--the result of building over what had once been in the pond. The street boundaries of the ballpark were from Lydia Avenue (east, first base) to Sixth Street (south, third base) to John Street and Tracy Avenue (west, left field) to and Independence Avenue (north, right field). The infield of the former ballpark is now the home of the Al-Taqwa Islamic Center.

League Park; Association Park (1886-1892)

This tour includes current and historic ballparks and arenas as well as museums dedicated to the history of sport. The tour includes the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame, and former venues such as Muehlebach Field before concluding at the current home of the Kansas City Royals and Kansas City Chiefs, Kauffman Stadium and Arrowhead Stadium. 

The first convention hall in Kansas City was built and opened in February 1899. It was a grand building intended to represent the city's growth and host national events, but soon after its completion, the structure burned to the ground in April 1900. Just months later, a replacement hall was constructed in time for the city to host the Democratic National Convention. It soon became clear that this structure would not be large enough to suit the city’s needs, but voters rejected bonds to build a new one several times over the following years. In the early 1930s, a Ten Year Plan was proposed to construct a series of public facilities in an effort to revive the city’s ailing fortunes during the Great Depression. The plan would provide jobs to many unemployed workers and create new buildings, including a municipal auditorium, city hall, and a county courthouse, to modernize the city and propel it forward. Much of the planning and support for the project was organized by the local political machine of Tom Pendergast. A $40 million bond for the Ten Year Plan was passed overwhelmingly in a special election in 1931.The Municipal Auditorium was the first building to be constructed under the Ten Year Plan, and work began almost immediately after the bond was passed. Originally scheduled to be built in one year, the auditorium took six years to build and was $2 million over its $4.5 million budget. Two separate architectural firms were commissioned to design the Municipal Auditorium. The firm of Gentry, Voskamp &amp; Neville handled the overall structure of the facility, while the firm of Hoit, Price, and Barnes designed the heating, air conditioning, and ventilation infrastructure. The auditorium was created in what is now known as the Streamline Moderne style of Art Deco architecture. The eleven-story structure was made primarily with limestone and stretched as wide as a city block. The Municipal Auditorium consists of four venues; a 10,000-seat arena, an exhibition hall, a music hall, and a little theater for smaller events. The exterior features decorations such as medallions, friezes, and flag poles.Municipal Auditorium was formally dedicated in a ceremony on October 13, 1936, with President Franklin Roosevelt delivering the keynote address. Over the years it has hosted countless sporting events, concerts, speeches, rallies, dances, plays, meetings, and trade shows. Basketball games have notably been one of the most popular events at the Municipal. The arena hosted nine NCAA basketball championship games, and today it hosts both the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association tournament as well as the NAIA Men’s Division I Basketball National Tournament. It is currently home to teams such as the UMKC Kangaroos, the Kansas City Roller Warriors, and the Kansas City Tornados. In September 1961, Martin Luther King Jr. delivered a speech at Municipal Auditorium to the attendees of the national meeting of the National Baptist Convention. The following year, King addressed a crowd of eight thousand at the Festival of Faith. Both speeches focussed largely on faith and religion, but in each address, King also denounced racial discrimination as incompatible with Christianity. In recent years the Municipal Auditorium has undergone renovations twice, in 2007 and 2013. The changes include electrical upgrades, new seating, more ADA accessibility, and increased stage room.

The Municipal Auditorium, nicknamed the Municipal, is a historic event center in Kansas City. The Art Deco structure was built in the 1930s as part of a Ten Year Plan to revive the city’s economy with construction jobs and new public buildings. Over the decades it has hosted many community and national events, including national basketball championship games and two speeches by Martin Luther King, Jr. Today, the historic structure is part of the overall Kansas City Convention Center Complex.

Kansas City Municipal Auditorium

The Hall of Fame focuses on those who have significantly contributed to college basketball and compliments the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts.

In 2006, the NABC honored around 180 players, coaches, and other notable contributors to college basketball by inducting them into the founding class of the Hall of Fame. Oscar Robertson, Bill Russell, Dean Smith, John Wooden and the family of Dr. James Naismith were selected to represent the first class. Since 2006, over 70 players, coaches, and teams have been inducted into the hall of fame including famous players such as Shaquille O’Neal, “Magic” Johnson, Larry Bird, and Patrick Ewing.Both the College Basketball Experience and the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame have received rave reviews since 2006 and owners say that the response from fans has been overwhelming. The CBE has hosted college basketball players and coaches, and even these “experts” have been impressed by the facility.

The National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame, located in Kansas City, Missouri, occupies about one-third of the College Basketball Experience at the Sprint Center. This hall of fame compliments the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame by recognizing coaches, players, and teams that have made significant contributions to college basketball. Visitors can honor college basketball legends and learn about the history of the game by not just observing but by experiencing college basketball for themselves. 

National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame

African Americans began to play baseball in the late 1800s on military teams, college teams, and company teams. They eventually found their way to professional teams with white players. Moses Fleetwood Walker and Bud Fowler were among the first to participate. However, racism excluded most African Americans from these teams by 1900. Thus, Black players formed their own teams and traveled around the country to play anyone who would challenge them. In 1920, an organized league structure was formed under the guidance of Andrew "Rube" Foster-a former player, manager, and owner of the Chicago American Giants. In a meeting held at the Paseo YMCA in Kansas City, Foster and other Midwestern team owners; Indianapolis ABCs, Cincinnati Cuban Stars, Detroit Starts, St. Louis Giants, Chicago Giants, Kansas City Monarchs and the Dayton Marcos, created the midwestern-based Negro National League (1920-31). Soon after, other leagues were formed including; Eastern Colored League (1923-1928), American Negro League (1929), East-West League (1932), Negro Southern League (1929), eastern-based Negro National League II (1933-1948) and the Negro American League (1937-1962).In 1945, the Brooklyn Dodgers recruited Jackie Robinson from the Kansas City Monarchs. Robinson was not the first African American to play on a Major League team, simply the first to do so in baseball's modern era. Robinson's success paved the way for other Black players, but integration also led to the decline of the Negro Leagues. By the early 1950s, Negro League teams found their best players being signed by MLB teams. The last Negro Leagues teams folded in the early 1960s, but their legacy lives on at the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum.Museum History from the NLBM website:Through the inspiration of Horace M. Peterson III (1945-1992), founder of the Black Archives of Mid-America, a group of local historians, business leaders, and former baseball players came together to create the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in the early 1990s. The museum originally operated out of a small, one-room office in the Lincoln Building. The museum expanded to a 2,000 square-foot space in the Lincoln Building in 1994.During the late 1990s, plans were underway by city officials to create a new home to showcase Kansas City's jazz heritage and to revitalize the Historic District. City officials and Mayors Dick Berkley and Emanuel Cleaver II worked to raise over $20 million in bonds to build a new facility to host the new American Jazz Museum and a new, permanent and expanded, home for the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. This new 50,000 square-foot building opened in September 1997 and the Baseball Museum opened in November. The NLBM broke ground in early 2006 on a $15 million historical preservation and expansion project to restore the Paseo YMCA and convert the national landmark into the John "Buck" O'Neil Education and Research Center.

Located near the founding site of the Negro Leagues, this museum preserves and shares the history of African Americans in baseball from the Civil War to the Civil Rights Movement when MLB teams and Southern minor league teams began to hire Black players, coaches, and front office personnel. The museum includes a replica of Kansas City's Muehlebach Stadium with statues of the game's greatest players. Visitors begin their tour with a documentary film narrated by actor James Earl Jones that shares the general history of Black baseball and the Negro Leagues. The museum then follows a timeline, created by historian and co-founder Larry Lester, that places the history of the Negro Leagues within the larger narrative of American history. Other founders included Phil Dixon, Buck O'Neil, Alfred Surratt, Sr., Bob Motley and Horace Peterson. Static exhibits include original equipment, jerseys, photographs, and several interactive displays. The museum concludes with exhibits about the hiring of Black coaches and managers, and a gift shop that includes replica jerseys, books, pennants, and posters.

Negro Leagues Baseball Museum

John Jordan O’Neil, Jr., was born 13 November 1911 in Carrabelle, Florida. At the age of 94, on 6 October 2006 in Kansas City, O’Neil died of bone cancer and was interred at Forest Hill Cemetery.A longtime local legend, Buck O’Neil became nationally famous when his friend and NLBM co-founder Larry Lester introduced Buck to Lynn Novick, the executive director for Florentine Films, owned by Ken Burns and others. Novick was so impressed with Buck, her son James would later share O’Neil’s middle name of Jordan.The 1994 nine-inning PBS documentary miniseries simply entitled Baseball won the 1995 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Informational Series. The much talked about “Shadow Ball” segment de-Negrofied the debonair Buck, transforming him into the "Smithsonian" of black baseball. O'Neil gained national prominence and afterwards, became the subject of countless national interviews, including appearances on the Late Show with David Letterman and The Late Late Show with Tom Snyder.O’Neil is the subject of several area landmarks which include a statue in the NLBM’s Field of Legends designed by Kwan Wu, et al. In 2010, an incredible mural, by Alexander Austin, can be seen on the south side of the Buck O’Neil Education and Research Center at 18th and The Paseo. The 25’ x 50’ mural includes O’Neil and three Negro League players in a dugout and seven images of legendary Kansas City Monarchs, chosen by BBQ king Ollie Gates, who later played in the re-integrated majors. These remarkable players include Ernie Banks, Willard Brown, Elston Howard, Buck O’Neil, Satchel Paige, Jackie Robinson and Hank Thompson.A statue of O’Neil statue appears at the Kansas City Royals Hall of Fame Museum at Kauffman Stadium, designed by Harry Weber. At Kauffman Stadium is also the Kansas City Royals Legacy Seat, in bright red behind home plate, in Section 127, Seat 9, Row C, to celebrate this Hall of Fame executive. Sculptor E. Spencer Schubert created an O’Neil bust at the Hall of Famous Missourians in Jefferson City, MO, while the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in Springfield, MO, has a marker and bust in O’Neil’s honor. The former Broadway Bridge is now the John Jordan Buck O’Neil Memorial Bridge. And finally a KC Ride streetcar, #22, honors the Buck O’Neil legacy.On 12 November 2001, a Kansas City street formerly known as 17th St. Terrace between Paseo and Highland Avenue, directly behind the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, was renamed John “Buck” O’Neil Way in recognition of his 90th birthday and community contributions.The Kansas City T-Bones retired his number #22 on 26 May 2006. On 7 December 2006, O'Neil was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President George W. Bush; the award was presented to his brother, Warren, on his behalf on December 15. He was chosen due to his "excellence and determination both on and off the baseball field," according to the White House news release. On 24 October 2007, O'Neil was posthumously given a Lifetime Achievement Award by the National Baseball Hall of Fame (HOF), eventually named after him. On 5 November 2021, O'Neil was voted into the HOF by the Early Days Committee as an “executive.”

Located on the side of the historic Paseo YMCA where the Negro Leagues were founded in 1920, this mural depicts members of the Kansas City Monarchs along with team owner J. L. Wilkinson. A second and larger mural honors one of the most influential baseball lives of the 20th century, Hall of Famer John Jordan "Buck" O'Neil. The players called O'Neil "Skip," a term of respect for the man who served as team captain and later manager of the Monarchs, a veritable Mothership that sent more Negro League veterans to the once white-only Major Leagues than any other team in history. O'Neil shaped the baseball careers of major leaguers such as George Altman, Gene Baker, Ernie Banks, Willard “Home Run” Brown, J.C. Hartman, Pancho Herrera, Elston Howard, Connie Johnson, Sweet Lou Johnson, Hank Mason, Satchel Paige, Hank Thompson and Bob Thurman, to name a few. O'Neil played in four East-West All-Star Games in three seasons and two Negro World Series, 1942 and 1946.

Negro Leagues Murals at Buck O'Neil Tribute Park

In 1869, George Muehlebach bought Main Street Brewery which was at the northwest corner of 18th and Main Street. By 1880, Muehlebach had expanded operations and became the largest brewery in the city. The company invested its profits in developing the stadium, a hotel, and several other commercial ventures until 1956 when the company was acquired by Schlitz.In 1923, Muehlebach Field was built to be a home for the Kansas City Blues, a minor league American Association team. The stadium was known as Muehlebach Field from 1923 to 1937, then Ruppert Stadium from 1938-42, and later Blues Stadium. It was the home for the Kansas City Blues of the American Association and the Kansas City Monarchs, of the Negro Leagues, from 1923-54, and later home to the American League Kansas City A’s from 1955-67 and the K.C. Royals from 1969-1972. The street boundaries were 22nd Street (first base side), Brooklyn Avenue (right field), 21st Street (left field) and Euclid Avenue (third base). The stadium is memorably known for Harvey the Mechanical Rabbit which delighted fans when he rose out of the ground behind home plate to give the umpire fresh baseballs from a basket with bunny ears. The right field embankment once included a small "zoo" to entertain fans of all ages, including grazing sheep, China golden pheasants, Capuchin monkeys, German checker rabbits, peafowl, and other animals.  The stadium was home to the Kansas City Monarchs, the Negro League’s longest-running franchise. Seating was segregated for the Blues games, but the lines of division were removed when the Monarchs played. However, in 1933, the Blues were sold to former Chicago Cubs catcher and Kansas City native Johnny Kling, who encouraged integrated seating for attendees. In 1938, when the park was purchased by Yankee owner Jacob Ruppert, he restituted segregated seating, causing an angry response from the Kansas City Call, one of the City’s Black newspapers.The ballpark was also the site of the first Colored World Series in 1924 between Hillsdale of the Eastern Colored League and the Kansas City Monarchs, champion of the Negro National League. During its time, Municipal Stadium featured many hall of famers including some of the Negro League’s greatest pitchers, such as Bullet Rogan, José Méndez, and Hilton Smith. During the entire lifespan of the American Association, the only perfect game, which was thrown by Carl de Rose, came in 1947 at Municipal Stadium. In 1955, a major league baseball team, the Philadelphia Athletics, came to the field as well. Their arrival led to renovations that raised rent prices, which then forced the Kansas City Monarchs to leave the stadium after the 1955 season.1960 was a big year for Municipal Stadium as it hosted both the Major League Baseball All-Star Game and the final Negro Leagues East-West Game. However, the year 1960 was the last big year for Municipal Stadium, though it did remain the home of the Kansas City Athletics until their move to Oakland, California in 1968. Consequently, 1968 became the first year in its history that Municipal Stadium didn’t feature any professional baseball games. After that, it was the home of the Kansas City Royals from 1969-1972. Following the 1972 season, the Royals moved to a new stadium, and Municipal Stadium became empty. Today, part of it is used as a community garden, and part sits as an empty lot.Select Stadium HighlightsSome highlights include being the site of games #5, #6 and #7 of the first Colored World Series between the Monarchs and the Hilldale Club from Pennsylvania. In 1946, the Monarchs played the Newark Eagles in World Series games #3 and #4 at Blues Stadium, splitting the wins. The largest crowd on record was 36,623 on 3 August 1971 when the Royals played the Oakland Athletics, enroute to 101 wins. The A’s featured many former Kansas City players such as Sal Bando, Rick Monday, Reggie Jackson, Vida Blue, Catfish Hunter and Johnny “Blue Moon” Odom.Before 30,619 fans, the 28th annual Major League All-Star game was the first All-Star game to be played in Kansas City. It occurred on Monday 11 July 1960 and featured 18 future members of the Hall of Fame. The game was the last All-Star game for Ted Williams and the first for Roberto Clemente and Brooks Robinson. Two Negro League no-hitters were pitched at the ballpark, the first a combination no-hitter thrown by Hall of Fame pitchers José Méndez and Bullet Rogan in 1923 and the second by another Hall of Famer, Hilton Smith, in 1937. In each game, a perfect game was missed because of a single base on balls.It was also the site of the only nine-inning perfect game ever pitched in the American Association on June 26 1947 by Carl De Rose. The right field embankment featured the image of a German shorthaired pointer dog named Old Drum, a once-legendary dog that has been memorialized with a monument in Warrensburg. Also add “Charlie O. the Mule” to the mix. Also, the short-lived Pennant Porch in 1965, offering a fence 296 feet from home plate to mimic Yankee Stadium’s right field distance. Commissioner Ford Frick vetoed the wooden structure, before the start of the season. This field also saw the final pitching game of Satchel Paige who at the age of 59 pitched while wearing a major league uniform on September 25, 1965 against the Boston Red Sox. Paige pitched three innings, giving up one hit, striking out one batter and yielding no runs.

Kansas City's Muehlebach Field was built at this location in 1923 at a cost of $400,000 to the George Muehlebach Brewing Company. The stadium was built for the Kansas City Blues of Major League Baseball's American Association. The ballpark was also home to the Kansas City Monarchs, the longest-operating and arguably the most successful franchise in Negro League history. From 1923 to 1955, the stadium housed the Monarchs and also featured four Colored World Series. In addition, the stadium was home to three NFL teams throughout its history. The stadium changed its name to Municipal Stadium in 1955 when it became home to the Kansas City Athletics, a team that was part of Major League Baseball's American League between 1955 and 1967. The Athletics left Kansas City for Oakland in 1968 but Municipal Stadium once again hosted Major League baseball when Kansas City and Seattle secured expansion teams in 1969. The Kansas City Royals called Municipal Stadium home for two years, moving to Royals Stadium (known as Kaufmann Stadium today) in 1971. Municipal Stadium also hosted home games of the Kansas City Chiefs between 1963 and the creation of Arrowhead Stadium in 1971. Today, the ballpark is gone and the area is home to several private residences, but there is a small park known as Monarch Plaze that recognizes the history of the field.

Municipal Stadium (Muehlebach Field)

The American Association Park was owned by George Tebeau who restricted Black patrons in attendance to the top 14 rows of seats, even when Black teams were using the field. There was a 30-foot high screen in right field. The park was a single-decked wooden structure. The capacity is unknown. Tebeau and George Muehlebach, a brew master who owned the City’s white team, the Blues, had a disagreement in 1922. Local sports writers hoped that if a fight between the two were to force Muehlebach to build a new stadium, the Monarchs would continue their lease with Tebeau. Muehlebach built his own stadium until 1923. The Monarchs’ owner J. L. Wilkinson could not afford to be the sole tenant at Tebeau’s ballpark, and his team relocated to Muehlebach Stadium.

The second version of Association Park was home to the minor league Kansas City Blues of the American Association from 1902 to 1922. The park was also home to the major league Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro National League from 1920 to 1922. A semi-pro multi-racial team called the All Nations played here in 1916 and 1917. Street boundaries were Prospect Avenue (east, left field); East 20th Street (south, right field); Olive Street (west, first base); and railroad tracks (north, third base). Today it is known as Blues Park, a playground with an historical marker honoring the original ballfield.

Blues Park (Association Park II)

Brief History of Golf in Kansas City
According to various traditions, the first formal golf course in the United States was the St. Andrews Golf Course in Yonkers, New York. In addition to being one of the oldest (founded in 1888), the St. Andrews Course still runs to this day, making it the longest continual Club as well.&nbsp;Some of the older courses include the Oakhurst Golf Course (1884) and the South Carolina Golf Club (1788, though there are no records of golf ever being played there. It mostly served as a social club), and west of the Mississippi, some sources say the Kenwood Course is the oldest. However, golf first came to the Kansas City area at about the same time as the St. Louis, St. Joseph, Omaha, and Iowa courses.1
The first layout for Kenwood was created by Frank Young and Dr. John Binnie in 1894. Some attribute the birth of golf in Kansas City to a young Scot named Stanley Young, who came to Kansas City in the 1890s. At the time, Young expected that a place like Kansas City, with a population of around 132,000, would at least have one golf course.&nbsp;Aching to practice, Young kept on the lookout for some open space where he could tee off, and eventually he found that space between 34th and 36th streets. Men living on McGee, intrigued by Young’s strange-looking activities, most likely came down to watch. Young could see their interest and ordered them clubs from Boston.
Two years after the sport of golf started in Kansas City, it had become so popular that many golfers requested larger spaces to play. The Kansas City Country Club was thereafter incorporated in 1896 by several civic leaders, including the Civil War hero and local businessman, Charles Fessenden Morse.&nbsp;For the new course, the earliest members of the country club leased a pasture at what today is Loose Park. According to an article published in the May 6th, 1986 edition of Westport’s Sentinal Examiner, the land included 120 acres on the west side of what is now Wornall Road and between 51st and 55th streets. The course’s clubhouse was built by acclaimed architect W.C. Root.2
Inscription on the Historical Marker
Play began on the Kenwood Golf Links, an extension of the Hyde Park Country Club, in 1894. A group composed mostly of transplanted Scots laid out nine holes between 36th and 38th Streets, Gillham (Oak) to Charlotte, with the ninth green in the yard of the Van Brunt residence at 3617 Oak. The game quickly became so popular that larger space was sought, and the members found it at 51st and Wornall Road in 1896. They reorganized there as the Kansas City Country Club.3

Although golf dates back to middle of the 15th century in Scotland, the sport didn’t arrive in the United States until 1888. At the time, the first course rested in New York, but golf quickly drew traction as a popular sport and it soon spread west. Known as the third oldest golf course west of the Mississippi, the informal Kenwood Golf Links brought the sport to Kansas City. 

The course was built in Hyde Park by Scottish immigrants in 1894, and it stretched between 34th and 36th streets and from Gillham to Charlotte. According to the Historical Marker inscription, the ninth hole of this course ended in the backyard of the famous architect and writer, Henry Van Brunt. Two years after play began at the and with the popularity of the sport growing, the Kenwood Golf Links reorganized into the Kansas City Country Club. 

The First Golf Course in Kansas City

The Federal League was the brainchild of James A. Gilmore, a coal and paper executive. Kansas City joined the league in mid-season, replacing the Covington, Kentucky franchise, which had been representing an unresponsive Cincinnati area.A mid-season replacement team in the league’s inaugural minor-league season of 1913, the Kansas City Packers were a true dark horse for its concluding one. Finishing a distant sixth place (67-84, 20 games out of first) in 1914, the franchise had barely survived the offseason, losing their ballpark to a flash flood in the waning days of the previous campaign, and just staving off the league’s attempt to move them to Newark. In the wake of those maneuverings, the Indianapolis franchise was transferred instead of Kansas City. Expected to finish again in the bottom of the standings, the Packers were the surprise team of the 1915 season, leading the league for a large part of the way, contending until the last few weeks. They never let up through the entire season.The Packers finished fourth, 5 1/2 games behind the Chicago Whales, with an 81-72 record, half a game better than the Newark Peppers, which finished 80-72. Kansas City would not see as high a finish by a white major league team for another 56 years. When the league practically went bankrupt in its initial campaign, Gilmore actively recruited players with major league talent with his own bankroll and stirred up enough interest to keep the league going for two more years. In the process eighty-one major leaguers jumped to the Federal League. The ballpark had an estimated capacity of 12,000. The team played in an era when teams in the Federal League and other Major and Minor Leagues were only open to white players, but other organized teams that were open to all were beginning to thrive such as the All Nations, a barnstorming team based out of Kansas City that was composed of native-born white Americans, African Americans, and recent Europeans.

Opened in 1910 by sporting goods retailers Arthur F. Gordon and Hugo M. Koppel, this ballpark operated until 1917 and was notorious for flooding. Known initially as Gordon and Koppel Field and later as Federal League Park, this stadium hosted baseball games as well as football, including a legendary game between the University of Kansas and University of Missouri. The stadium was just south of what was then 47th Street and home to the Kansas City Packers baseball team when they joined the Federal league in the spring of 1913. The Federal League was short-lived, lasting only two seasons, but during those years it was one of three organizations whose members were considered a Major League team. The Packers’ first game was played on 16 April 1914 and the team's last game was played on 28 September 1915.

Federal League Park (a.k.a. Gordon and Koppel Field)

Exact dates for the original development of the site are unknown, though articles from the Kansas City Star (published as the Kansas City Times) make reference to a complex of sporting and recreation facilities at the corner of 51st and Swope Parkway maintained by a group known as the Kansas City Field Club. The initial site included the baseball field, a pool, tennis courts, and a clubhouse, though the specific details of the facilities are not clear. Five years later, the Field Club was taken over by the Georgian Gardens Company, who began plans to add garden spaces to the complex, expand the clubhouse to include a restaurant and dance pavilion, and construct a larger pool. This ownership continued through at least the 1930s before changing hands to the Catholic Youth Council. An article dated June 10, 1945 refers to the space as CYC athletic field, and shows an architect's visualization drawing of a combination baseball and football field. At some point between this and the 1980s, use of the facilities declined enough that most of the buildings were removed, leaving only the baseball diamond and stands.In 1982, the government of Kansas City purchased the baseball field from the Catholic Youth Council. In a ceremony on June 5th of that year, the city renamed the facility to Satchel Paige Memorial Stadium, in honor of the former Kansas City Monarchs pitcher. The ceremony was attended by many Kansas City notables, including city councilman Rev. Emanuel[sic] Cleaver, park commissioner Ollie Gates, and three other Monarchs players, including John "Buck" O'Neil and Hilton Smith. According to a June article published by the Kansas City Call, Paige offered comments to the crowd, as well as throwing a ceremonial pitch to christen the stadium. Unfortunately, Paige passed away three days later, after suffering a heart attack at his Kansas City home. Since then, the stadium has played host to numerous amateur leagues and smaller games. However, a lack of maintenance has led to an overall decay of the facility in recent years, despite improvements made to the field by the MLB All Star Legacy Project. As of 2019, there are several ongoing projects that seek to raise money to repair crumbling concrete and faded paint, hoping to bring new life to this monument to a baseball legend.,On 9 August 1971, Satchel Paige became the first player from the Negro Leagues to be selected to the Baseball hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. Armed with Hall of Fame credentials, Paige’s fame and popularity surged in the early 1970s following an appearance on the then popular Ralph Edwards show, “This Is Your Life” on 26 January 1972. Special guest appearances were made by his former catcher, Frank Duncan, friends and familyFuneral services for Satchel Paige were held at the Watkins Brothers Memorial Chapel with the Rev. Emanuel Cleaver (later Mayor of Kansas City) giving the eulogy. A 1938 Packard hearse carried Paige’s body to Forest Hill Memorial Park Cemetery. He was survived by his wife and eight children. Later in 1989, the original headstone was removed and replaced by a 6’ 8” tall, 7000-pound granite monument on a remote island along Racine Avenue.The ballfield and final resting place of Paige are among several landmarks that honor the Hall of Famer. For example, there is the Satchel Paige room at the Southmoreland Hotel on the Plaza, a life-size statue at the Field of Legends inside the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, the Satchel Paige Field at the T-Mobile campus at 5750 Sprint Pkwy (at W 117th St) Overland Park, Kansas, artwork by Radcliffe Bailey at the Nelson-Atkins Museum entitled “Mound Magician” and the Economy Parking Lot A, Kiosk A4 marker at MCI airport. The Two Light Luxury Apartments at 1444 Grand Avenue features numerous quotes by Satchel Paige, along with mural of Paige, Buck O’Neil, Wilt Chamberlain and Goose Tatum on the northside of the building. And finally, as an inductee in the Bruce R. Watkins Cultural Heritage Center’s Hall of Fame.

Originally known as the Catholic Youth Council Athletic Field, Satchel Paige Memorial Stadium is situated on East 51st Street near Swope Parkway. At the age of 75 Satchel Paige made his last public appearance on 5 June 1982. Only three days before his death and speaking from a wheelchair with the aid of a respirator, the future Hall of Famer thanked the crowd who had gathered at the rededication of the $250,000 renovated Satchel Paige Memorial Stadium. On that day, Paige greeted numerous well-wishers. The baseball diamond is surrounded by concrete bleachers with an awning overhead and a small press box at the back. The stadium is part of the Kansas City Parks Department's Cultural Mall, along with the Bruce R. Watkins Cultural Center, the Spirit of Freedom Fountain, and a nearby public garden. Initial development of the site began in the early 1900s, with the construction of athletic fields maintained by a group known as the Kansas City Field Club. The stadium was renamed in honor of the famed Monarchs pitcher after the city purchased it from the Catholic Youth Council. The stadium has played host to numerous leagues and smaller games. In 2012, the field was renovated as part of Major League Baseball's All Star Legacy Project. Efforts to touch up or improve the structures surrounding the field, including the bleachers and awnings, have been ongoing since 2019.

Satchel Paige Memorial Stadium

In 1963, the Dallas Texans football franchise was moved to Kansas City, Missouri when franchise owner Lamar Hunt realized Dallas couldn’t support both the Texans and Cowboys. The team was renamed the Kansas City Chiefs after then-Mayor H. Roe Bartle, who had quietly pursued Hunt for the move of the franchise. Bartle was nicknamed ‘The Chief’ with long ties to Native American tribes and substantial involvement with the Boy Scouts of America, establishing the honorary tribe of Mic-O-Say.For years, the Chiefs shared Municipal Stadium with Kansas City’s Major League Baseball team, the Athletics. When the formerly established National Football League agreed to a merger with the newly established American Football League in 1966, the popularity of the sport continued to grow. In response, city leaders planned to build a larger stadium that could accommodate both the Athletics and the Chiefs. The original plan failed and Jack Steadman, the Chiefs General Manager and Hunt's right-hand-man, proposed the idea of a sports complex which would house a separate baseball and football stadium side-by-side. Voters approved the $43 million dollar bond issue in 1967, however, the Athletics were moving to Oakland, California the following year and leaders would only agree to building a new baseball stadium if the city could secure an expansion team. The Royals were established in 1969 and the Jackson County (now Harry S. Truman) Sports Complex became a reality.Designed by Kivett &amp; Meyers, construction of the football stadium began in 1968 and was completed in 1972 with a capacity of 79,000 fans. In an honorary gesture to the Chiefs, Lamar Hunt deemed the name “Arrowhead Stadium.” The opening game on August 12 against the St. Louis Cardinals resulted in a 24-14 victory with a nearly-sold out crowd of 78,190 fans in attendance.Throughout its fifty years of existence, Arrowhead Stadium has undergone many renovations to update and upgrade the facility. In 1991, a JumboTron screen was installed and in 1994 a natural grass field replaced the AstroTurf. In the following two years, the stadium was modernized and expanded further. Renovations from 2007 to 2010 included the installation of a new press box, premium seats and suites, wider concourses, high definition video screens, a 1,625-foot digital ribbon board, an increase in the number of concessions by 50 percent and restrooms by 80 percent, and the opening of the Chiefs Hall of Honor. Due to some of these improvements, the seating capacity was lowered and now offers 76,416 seats, the fifth highest in the NFL.Known for being the loudest outdoor sporting stadium in the world, the Chiefs fans at Arrowhead Stadium set a Guinness World Record of 142.2 decibels during a victorious, Monday Night Football game against the New England Patriots on September 29, 2014. Phillip Robertson, with the Guinness World Records, was at the game the night the Chiefs broke the record; he went on to state “142.2 decibels is astonishing; I’m still in shock about it. I felt the pressure waves at a level that was quite intimidating.” Chiefs fans love their team and love being known as the loudest fans in the league.Besides football, Arrowhead Stadium offers a range of experiences and traditions on game day. Starting before each game, tailgating is a must-do cultural experience with camaraderie, yard games, and an abundance of food and drinks, including an array of Kansas City’s famous barbeque. Once inside the stadium, the fans pack in tight to form a Sea of Red. In the singing of the National Anthem, instead of singing “home of the brave” during the last line, fans loudly yell, “home of the CHIEFS!!” Then as kickoff approaches, a significant Kansas City community member chosen as the “Drum Honoree” has the honor of beating the giant, ceremonial drum to the Chiefs anthem, symbolizing the heartbeat of the stadium.

Named in symbolic honor of its home team, Arrowhead Stadium has been the home to the National Football League franchise the Kansas City Chiefs since its opening in 1972. After the Chiefs' arrival to Kansas City in 1963, they spent years sharing Municipal Stadium with the city’s Major League Baseball teams. To withstand the growing fan base of the two sports, the Truman Sports Complex was concepted as a dual-stadium complex with side-by-side baseball and football stadiums. Arrowhead Stadium opened on August 12, 1972 with a nearly sell-out crowd, and since then, enthusiasm for the Chiefs has continued to grow. Known as the loudest stadium in the world, Chiefs fans at Arrowhead set the Guinness World Record in 2014 at 142.2 decibels. Arrowhead Stadium offers one of the most energetic sports experiences in the nation and is also host to collegiate football games, music performances, festivals and events.

Arrowhead Stadium 

In 1967, voters in Jackson County approved the bonds for the construction of Truman Sports Complex that included a football stadium for the Kansas City Chiefs and a baseball stadium for the Kansas City Athletics. This was a unique proposal as many cities were building multi-use stadiums and the location of the two stadiums next to one another invited questions about the wisdom of not following this trend. When the stadium opened on April 10, 1973, it was celebrated as one of the game's most beautiful ballparks. And while many recent ballparks have surpassed the cost of the construction of this stadium, it retains its reputation owing to its classic design and incorporation of new technologies and updated seating areas. The ballpark has been home to the 1973 and 2012 All-Star Games, three no-hitters, playoff games in 1976, '77, '78, '80, '81, '84, '85, 2014 and '15 with 13 World Series tilts in 1980, 1985, 2014 and 2015. The facility was officially renamed in honor of team owner Ewing M. Kauffman in a ceremony at the stadium on July 2, 1993.Beginning with the 2007 season the Royals had a red seat placed in the stadium among the all-blue seats behind home plate to honor Buck O'Neil. O'Neil played for the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro League from 1937 to 1955 and was the leading force behind the creation of the Negro Leagues museum in Kansas City. The team selects one local person who embodies the spirit of Buck O'Neil selected from community nominees to sit in that seat, formerly occupied by O'Neil, at each home game. The seat is located behind home plate in Section 127 and honorees are recognized at each game for their contributions. Kauffman, who founded Marion Laboratories in his mother's basement and built it into a diversified health care company with sales reaching nearly one billion dollars, possessed a sense of daring and an innate ability to motivate those around him. "Mr. K" also gave much personal attention to the Kansas City community, an important philosophy that was incorporated into the Royals organization. Among the awards Mr. Kauffman won for his leadership include the Kansas City Press Club's 1973 Man of the Year, an induction into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame, and being named one of 20 finalists for enshrinement in the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2008. Mr. K passed away on August 1, 1993.

Kauffman Stadium opened in 1973 and is home to the Kansas City Royals of Major League Baseball. It was built to replace Municipal Stadium, which was constructed in the 1920s and was home to the Kansas City Blues and the Kansas City Monarchs. Kauffman Stadium is part of the Truman Sports Complex along with Arrowhead Stadium, home of the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League. The stadium first opened as Royals Stadium but since 1993, the ballpark has been named in honor of the late Ewing Kauffman, the founder and first owner of the Royals, as well as a leading businessman and philanthropist in the Kansas City area. Upon his passing, Kauffman donated the team to the Greater Kansas City Community Foundation under the condition that the team would be sold to owners who would keep the team in Kansas City with all proceeds from the sale of the team benefiting local charities. The stadium is well known for the water fountains along the outfield fence which formed the largest privately-funded water fountain in the world when the stadium opened. The stadium also features a ten-story scoreboard topped by a gold crown that can be seen by traffic along I-70.

Sports History of Kansas City, Missouri

League Park; Association Park (1886-1892)

Introduction

Images

Backstory and Context

Sources