KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The first thing you see when you walk in is Buck O’Neil on the video board telling a story. Maybe it’s the story about Jackie Robinson and the gas station. Maybe it’s the story about why Satchel Paige called him Nancy. Maybe it’s the story of Hank Aaron in the Negro Leagues as a cross handed swinging shortstop.
Whatever. The specific story does not matter, or at least not as much as it matters that it’s being told, and told here, in this stadium, Legends Field, where a team called the Kansas City Monarchs played baseball for the first time in 56 years on Tuesday night.
“You’re representing a city, and you’re representing one of the greatest franchises of all-time,” Negro Leagues Baseball Museum president Bob Kendrick told the team before the game. “But even more important, you’re representing the heritage of this game, and I hope you hold that near and dear to your heart. You take that out there on that ballfield with you.”
The sight is a bit jarring. These are fine ballplayers in these jerseys, playing for the rebranded T-Bones in the American Association of Professional Baseball. The team’s talent now is generally better than when they were the T-Bones, in part because Major League Baseball cut some 25 percent of minor league teams.
But, let’s be real. Willard Brown is not walking through that door. They are the Monarchs, but they’re not The Monarchs, you know? There’s a difference.
The Monarchs are one of the most successful franchises in baseball history, producing more big leaguers than any other Negro Leagues franchise. They won 10 league championships and two Negro World Series titles. Four men are depicted in Monarchs caps on their Hall of Fame plaques. Nine others — including Ernie Banks and Jackie Robinson — played for the Monarchs.
That’s a long way from a team that had become known more for missed utility payments than baseball. That was a real hurdle, too. Mark Brandmeyer bought the T-Bones in October 2019 which, you know, turned out to be suboptimal timing. But losing the 2020 season due to the pandemic allowed a deeper reset.
A rebrand made sense, and the Monarchs name had instant appeal. Brandmeyer approached Kendrick with an offer. Kendrick is always looking to sell, so he was interested, but knew there would be resistance.
Some wanted the Monarchs name protected. That’s natural. The Monarchs are a story of resilience, toughness, and excellence. The Museum would get no guarantee that the new Monarchs would have even one Black player (they had several on Tuesday, though a Black pitcher signed with the Mets earlier in the day).
But, let’s be real. Willard Brown is not walking through that door. They are the Monarchs, but they’re not The Monarchs, you know? There’s a difference.
The Monarchs are one of the most successful franchises in baseball history, producing more big leaguers than any other Negro Leagues franchise. They won 10 league championships and two Negro World Series titles. Four men are depicted in Monarchs caps on their Hall of Fame plaques. Nine others — including Ernie Banks and Jackie Robinson — played for the Monarchs.
That’s a long way from a team that had become known more for missed utility payments than baseball. That was a real hurdle, too. Mark Brandmeyer bought the T-Bones in October 2019 which, you know, turned out to be suboptimal timing. But losing the 2020 season due to the pandemic allowed a deeper reset.
A rebrand made sense, and the Monarchs name had instant appeal. Brandmeyer approached Kendrick with an offer. Kendrick is always looking to sell, so he was interested, but knew there would be resistance.
Some wanted the Monarchs name protected. That’s natural. The Monarchs are a story of resilience, toughness, and excellence. The Museum would get no guarantee that the new Monarchs would have even one Black player (they had several on Tuesday, though a Black pitcher signed with the Mets earlier in the day).
Brandmeyer’s motivation is plain. Acquiring the name brings instant exposure, and ties the franchise to legends. The T-Bones’ sorry recent history before Brandmeyer’s purchase is pushed a little further away. Video of Buck O’Neil singing “Take Me Out To The Ballgame” will play every seventh inning stretch. That alone is worth the ticket price.
“You know,” Brandmeyer said, “to be the Kansas City Monarchs is just a lot cooler than being the T-Bones.”
This is a marketing gimmick, genuine salute to history, business decision, and a gamble. These are two businesses in constant pursuit of money, exposure and relevancy hoping they can find a better path together.
The feelings are mixed. Maybe you’re like me. Maybe you cringed a bit when you heard this was happening. The Monarchs have a special place in baseball and American history. Then maybe you thought that if this was good for the museum then it had to be done, and that if the rebrand helped spread baseball to more Kansas Citians? Even better.
I have a third thought about this, and it’s important than the other two. It’s related to a point that Royals general manager Dayton Moore has made a few times, in different ways.
Some of the men on this field will achieve their dream. They’ll play in the major leagues. Most of them will not. And when they’re done playing baseball, many of them will become coaches. They’ll give lessons. They’ll run clinics. They will become the types of baseball lifers who create more and deeper connections with young people than many big leaguers.
And when that happens, now they’ll have been exposed to the story of the Monarchs and the Negro Leagues in a personal way. They’ll know that Negro Leagues games scheduled their Sunday games around church, and that Walter Johnson said Josh Gibson was the best hitter he ever faced, and that Satchel Paige had a pitch he called the Be-ball, “because it be’s where I want it to be when I want it to be there.”
These coaches of tomorrow will know that the Negro Leagues innovated baseball, including with night games, player movement, aggressive base running, batting helmets and shin guards for catchers.
And won’t the game be better off — won’t we all be a little better off? — the more these stories are told?
This is Frank White’s 10th season with this club. Officially he’s the first base coach, but he’s also a Royals Hall of Famer and an eight-time Gold Glove winner so of course he’s more than the first base coach.
White grew up near 22nd and Brooklyn, where the Monarchs played. If you sat on the top row of the bleachers at his high school and looked back, you could see down into Municipal Stadium.
He took the team to the old stadium site and told them stories. He wasn’t sure if it would stick, but the next day at practice they asked him questions. Lots of questions. That kind of thing matters. White says he’s heard more about opening day this year with the Monarchs than he ever did with the T-Bones.
That kind of thing matters, too.
“Things that aren’t talked about usually fade away,” White said. “The Monarchs name is always there, but it’s more about how can you enhance it, and how can you give it life? And I think this gives it life.”
