Batter Up: New Exhibit Explores KC's Baseball History | KC History

June 29, 2012

As All-Star fever rushes over Kansas City, the Library is presenting a rich look into KC’s 146-year baseball history in the exhibit Amateurs to All-Stars: The Rise of Baseball in Kansas City, open through the 2012 World Series at the Central Library. Before you head down to the Library, peek at a few photo highlights.

The Brush Creek Sluggers. The Rosedale Ramblers. The Bennington Avenue Sunsets…

In the days long before the Royals and their Kiss Cams, Hot Dog Derbies, and other electricity-enabled attractions, Kansas City baseball fans of the late 19th century thrilled to the sight of amateur squads playing “base ball” in parks around town on Sunday afternoons.

With colorful names like the Antelopes, the Hopes, and the Darby Boilermakers, the teams would square off in diamonds-in-the-rough like Exercise Park at 14th and McGee or Paseo Park.

In those early days, ballplayers went hatless in billowing, collared uniforms that look downright cherubic compared to today’s muscular, slim-fitting polyester.

But those puffy uniforms didn’t mean the players were soft – the unruly 1886 Cowboys had a penchant for wild games in which they openly berated the umps.

These scrappy bush leaguers played for amateur “nines” that represented local schools, athletic clubs, and businesses, such as the Schmelzer Arms Co. Some young players even got day jobs based on their skills on the field.

Of course, as the exhibit shows, Kansas City baseball evolved well past the days of handlebar mustaches and tobacco cards. After the early days of amateur clubs came the minor-league Kansas City Blues and their Negro leagues counterparts the Monarchs, which bred major league greats such as Jackie Robinson and Satchel Paige.