Federal League

Kansas City Packers History

By Patrick Mondout

The Kansas City Packers were a Missouri-based franchise in the short-lived Federal League of professional baseball from 1914 to 1915. They played their home games in Gordon & Koppel Field.

At a glance... KANSAS CITY PACKERS Franchise Facts Established 1914 Disbanded 1915 Located Kansas City Owners C.C. Madison (1914) Conrad H. Mann (1915) Charles Baird (1915) S.S. Gordon Year by Year Results W L % 1914  67 84 .444 1915  81 72 .529 Affiliations Federal League (1914-1915) Postseason/Titles FL Titles (0) Nicknames Kansas City Packers (1914-1915) aka Kawfeds Ballparks Gordon & Koppel Field (1914-1915) aka Federal League Park Top Performances Single-Season Career

The team was founded in 1913 as the Covington, Kentucky (close to Cincinnati) franchise in the still-minor league Federal League. The Blue Sox, as they were known, failed in Covington and moved in June of 1913 to Kansas City and became the Packers.

The team seemed to be heading back to the Covington area in early 1914. A May 14, 1914 Chicago Tribune article suggested it was a done deal for the team to move within a month to Spinks Park in Bellevue, Kentucky, a "ten minute street car ride from Cincinnati." It turned out to be just another rumor in a league that suffered not from a shortage of them.

The team also fell victim to the ravages of nature. On September 7, 1914, Mill Creek (and others in the area) flooded damaging the Packers' ballpark. The New York Times reported the next day: "Fences were washed away and the clubhouse was demolished, all the uniforms, bats, and other equipment used by the ball club being lost. Manager Stovall said the team would leave tonight for its final road trip without any equipment. He wired to Chicago for new uniforms and supplies. The groundskeeper and his tow assistants, who were asleep in the clubhouse, escaped."

The team must have liked their new uniforms. Kansas City did not win a Federal League pennant, but they played spoiler both times beating the Chicago Federals on the last day of the 1914 season to give Indianapolis the championship and then beat the St. Louis Terriers on the final day of the 1915 season to give the Chicago Whales the championship.

Federal League sources/bibliography:
The Federal League of 1914-1915 by Marc Okkonen.
The Formation, Sometimes Absorption and Mostly Inevitable Demise of 18 Professional Baseball Organizations, 1871 to Present by David Pietrusza.
May the Best Team Win: Baseball Economics and Public Policy by Andrew Zimbalist.
Total Baseball: The Ultimate Baseball Encyclopedia by John Thorn, et al.