This former Negro League ballpark became a short-term home for the migrant Athletics—and their pets.
by Rich Watson
After coming from Philadelphia, the Athletics lived in Kansas City only twelve years. This period isn’t discussed often—these A’s never made the playoffs—but it laid the groundwork for the A’s dynasty of the early seventies in Oakland. It was also the cause of further major league expansion in the late sixties.
The A’s played in Municipal Stadium, a place with an extensive history. One of the game’s most colorful and controversial owners began his tenure here. Among the impressions he left included turning the ballpark into a kind of zoo.
The minor league Blues produced future Yankee stars
Municipal Stadium began as Muehlebach Field in 1923, located at 2123 Brooklyn Avenue. George Muehlebach owned the tenants, the minor league Blues. They won two championships in the twenties.
In 1936 they became affiliates of the Yankees. The ballpark became Ruppert Stadium, after the parent club’s owner, Jacob Ruppert. The Blues won another title in 1938. In 1943 the ballpark’s name changed again, to Blues Stadium.
As a Yankee farm team, the Blues produced future major leaguers such as Al Rosen, Johnny Lindell, Phil Rizzuto, and Mickey Mantle. Future Yankee manager Casey Stengel was born in Kansas City (hence his nickname) and was a Blue. Three Blues squads are ranked among the greatest minor league teams in history.
When the A’s came to town in 1955, the Blues moved to Denver.
The Monarchs and the Negro Leagues
Also in 1923, the team that would become the Monarchs of the Negro Leagues moved to Muehlebach. In forty-five years of operation, they won twelve league titles and two Negro World Series.
The Hall of Famers the Monarchs produced rank among the game’s elite: Jackie Robinson, Satchel Paige, Ernie Banks, Cool Papa Bell, Elston Howard and Buck O’Neil, among many others.
After 1955, the Monarchs moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan, but barnstormed around the country as the Kansas City Monarchs. They disbanded in 1965.
In 1990, the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum opened in Kansas City. In 2020, Major League Baseball acknowledged the Negro Leagues as a de facto part of the major leagues.
The Athletics’ early days in Kansas City
With the A’s arrival, the ballpark was renamed again, to Municipal Stadium. In 1955, their first year, they drew
1,393,054 fans, the third highest total in the majors.
Owner Arnold Johnson was cozy with the Yankees, to the point where the A’s dealt a number of their players to New York, including Roger Maris, Ralph Terry and Clete Boyer.
Johnson died in 1960 and insurance magnate Charles O. Finley bought the team. In later years, Finley would become one of the most controversial owners in baseball, offending executives and his own players alike. When the A’s moved to Oakland, though, he also became one of the most successful.
During his days in Kansas City, he had a mediocre team and he needed reasons for fans to come out to Municipal Stadium. He came up with sideshow attractions in the form of animals, real and otherwise.
Harvey the rabbit served up baseballs
In 1961, a local elevator company installed a mechanism which delivered from under the field a basket of baseballs for the umpires. Underneath the basket was the statue of a cartoon rabbit in an A’s uniform.
They called it Harvey, after the character in the Jimmy Stewart film. The stadium organist would play “Here Comes Peter Cottontail” whenever it appeared. Its eyes flashed.
Harvey went with the A’s to Oakland until 1971. In 2018 the A’s introduced its successor.
Sheep grazed beyond the outfield
Municipal Stadium had a grassy knoll beyond the right field fence. In 1963, Finley placed a herd of sheep there, wearing A’s jackets. There was even a shepherd mannequin.
Charlie-O the mule was the A’s mascot
The official state animal of Missouri is the mule. In 1965 Governor Warren Hearnes gave Finley a mule to go with his sheep. Finley presented him to the fans as the A’s new mascot, Charlie-O. He traveled with the team around the American League. He even had his own theme song.
He also accompanied the A’s to Oakland until his death in 1976.
The Chiefs also had an animal mascot
The football Chiefs, who won two NFL championships while playing at Municipal Stadium, called it home from 1963-71.
They, too, contributed to the stadium’s zoo, with a horse named Warpaint. He would circle the field with a rider before Chiefs games and every time they scored a touchdown. He was the inspiration for Charlie-O. The Chiefs retired Warpaint last year.
The move to Oakland and the birth of the Royals
Among Finley’s other changes during his time in Kansas City include referring to the Athletics as the A’s. He turned the A’s uniforms green and gold, a move that did not go over well at first. He even tried shortening right field in imitation of Yankee Stadium, to the commissioner’s dismay.
As early as 1961, Finley had discussed the possibility of moving the A’s from Kansas City, despite public statements to the contrary. By October 1967, he had decided on Oakland.
A state senator responded by challenging baseball’s antitrust exemption. MLB countered with a wave of expansion that included Kansas City. The Royals and the Seattle Pilots (later the Milwaukee Brewers), along with the Expos and Padres, started play in 1969.
The Royals played at Municipal Stadium until 1972, then moved to the new Kauffman Stadium.
Other events and Municipal Stadium’s demolition
Municipal Stadium also hosted the 1960 All-Star Game during the period when MLB held two All-Star games per year. In addition to football and soccer, the venue hosted an early Beatles concert.
The stadium was demolished in 1976. A garden is there now, along with a plaque commemorating the site’s history.
In recognition of the site as a part of Negro League history, it’s also part of Kansas City’s African American Heritage Trail.
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Did you see the animals at Municipal Stadium?
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