Kansas City Blues (American Association)
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| Kansas City Blues 1888 – 1954 (1888, 1890 – 1891, 1893 – 1901, 1902 – 1954) Kansas City, Missouri |
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| Class titles | 1929 | ||
| League titles | 1888, 1890, 1898, 1901, 1929, 1938, 1952, 1953 | ||
The Kansas City Blues are a former minor league baseball team located in Kansas City, Missouri in the Midwestern United States. The team was one of the eight founding members of the American Association.[1]
The Blues did not field particularly competitive teams unil 1918, when they won the AA pennant. The team won again in 1923, and again in 1929. They won the Junior World Series championship that year, defeating the Rochester Red Wings of the International League in a best-of-nine series.[1]
In 1936, the Blues became a farm club of the New York Yankees. They won the AA championships five times in the 1930s and 1940s.
When the American League Philadelphia Athletics moved to Kansas City in 1955, the Blues moved to Denver, Colorado.
The official website of Minor League Baseball calls the Blues teams of 1929 and 1939 two of the 100 greatest Minor League Baseball teams ever.[1][2]
[edit] Players and managers
Well-known members of the 1929 World Series-winning Kansas City Blues included:[1]
- Dutch Zwilling, manager
- Clyde "Pea Ridge" Day, pitcher
- Joe Kuhel, 23-year-old first baseman who later played for the Washington Senators
- Lynn (Line Drive) Nelson, pitcher
- Fred Nicholson, outfielder
- Bill Wambsganss, 35-year-old shortstop who was best known for making an unassisted triple play in the 1920 World Series
Other well-known players and managers include:
- Harry Craft, manager in the 1950s
- George Leslie Cochran, switch-hitting infielder
- Dick Kryhoski, first baseman in the late 1940s
- Phil Rizzuto, Sporting News Minor League Player of the Year in 1940
- Homer "Doc" Smoot, outfielder in 1910-11
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d 1929 Kansas City Blues from the Minor League Baseball website
- ^ 1939 Kansas City Blues from the Minor League Baseball website
