Baseball has a rich history in Kansas City, which is believed to have begun in the mid-1860s during the pre-pro era.

There were a variety of rules set for baseball during the pre-pro era. At this time, fielders did not use gloves, and pitchers, known then as hurlers, pitched underhand.

Teams from Fort Leavenworth and Wyandotte played in a Kansas state championship game in 1865 before the Antelope Base Ball Club of Kansas City was formed in 1866.

The Antelopes reported two wins of 48-28 over Pomeroys Club of Atchison in 1866, with one of the games involving a riot against the umpire. The Antelopes also reported a 68-7 win over Active Club of Kansas City in 1870. While the set of rules followed in these games isn’t known, it was certainly different than modern baseball.

With the founding of the National League in 1871, baseball became more certified with a similar set of rules as is played today. In 1884, Kansas City got its first Major League Baseball team after Pennsylvania’s Altoona Union relocated to Kansas City and folded after just one season.

Pro baseball came back to KC in 1886 with the Cowboys. Cowboys player-coach David Rowe reportedly carried a gun and shot one of his players during the season. The team built a rowdy reputation and was thrown out of the league for its bad record and immature actions.

The Kansas City Maroons was the city’s first Black baseball team, beginning play at Exposition Park in 1890 at 18th and Vine.

Kansas City did have a team that left a lasting legacy. That team was the Kansas City Blues, who first appeared in the 1880s as a founding member of the Western Association. The Blues were a Class A club until 1907 when they were moved up to Double-A. The Blues became an affiliate of the Pittsburg Pirates in 1935 before joining the New York
Yankees in 1936, moving to Triple-A a decade later.

The Blues captured 10 league championships from 1888 until folding in 1954. The only Blues manager to win multiple championships was Jim Manning, who won championships in 1888, 1890 and 1898.

The Blues had three 100-win seasons. The first came in 1923 when KC won its sixth championship with a 112-54 record. KC won its seventh championship with a 111-56 record in 1929. The last 100-win season came in 1939 when the Blues lost in the first round of the playoffs after going 107-47 in the regular season.

The Blues were significant contributors to the Yankees during one of the most prolific periods of baseball history as the Bronx Bombers won 12 World Series titles in the 19 years of affiliation with the Blues. KC had a number of legendary players, none more legendary than Yankees Hall of Famers Mickey Mantle and Casey Stengel.

After a slump during his rookie season with the Yankees, Mantle was demoted to the Blues in 1951. In 166 at-bats, the 19-year-old had a batting average of .361 with 11 home runs, 50 RBIs, 60 hits, 32 runs and 24 walks. After 40 games, Mantle was recalled by the Yankees as he went on his way to become one of baseball’s all-time greats.

Stengel dropped out of Central High School in 1909 to start his professional baseball career with the Blues. His time with the Blues wasn’t very successful, however, as he was cut from the team in 1910 before eventually making it elsewhere and becoming one of the most successful managers in MLB history.

Baseball in Kansas City shifted in 1954 when the Philadelphia Athletics moved to Kansas City, forcing the minor-league Blues out of KC.

Before beginning play in, the Athletics renovated Municipal Stadium to accommodate more spectators.

On opening day of 1955, the Athletics beat the Detroit Tigers 1-0 in front of a crowd of 32,147. Multiple crowds of over 33,000 filed into Municipal Stadium to see players like Mantle and Yogi Berra. In their first season, the A’s had MLB’s third-highest average attendance with 18,330. Attendance plummeted after that, falling under 10,000 in 1960 and under 7,000 in 1965.

In the 13 seasons the A’s were in KC, the team never had a winning record and never made the playoffs.

While the team didn’t produce great results on the diamond, they did have some great players including Reggie Jackson in his rookie season, Hall of Famer Dick Williams for two years, Roger Maris for two years and Rick Monday for three years. Royals Hall of Fame managers Dick Howser and Whitey Herzog each played three seasons with the A’s. Howser was a two-time all-star with the Athletics from 1961 to 1963.

The Athletics moved to Oakland after the 1967 season.