April 12, 1955: The Kansas City Athletics beat the Detroit Tigers, 6-2 at Kansas City Municipal Stadium. It was the 1st home game for the A's after moving from Philadelphia. Their new hometown was back in the major leagues after 40 years.
Former President Harry S Truman, from nearby Independence, Missouri, threw out the ceremonial first ball. For the Tigers, Al Kaline went 2-for-4, and Red Wilson hit the ballpark's 1st major league home run. For the A's, Bill Wilson hit a home run, and Alex Kellner was the winning pitcher.
Previously, Kansas City had these major league teams in baseball: The Kansas City Cowboys of the Union Association, a league which only played the 1884 season; the Kansas City Cowboys of the National League, a team which only played the 1886 season, with none of these teams have any official connection with the other; the Kansas City Cowboys of the American Association, a team which only played the 1888 and 1889 seasons; and the Kansas City Packers of the Federal League, a league which only played the 1914 and 1915 seasons. And, in football, the Kansas City Blues entered the NFL in 1924, became the Kansas City Cowboys in 1925, and folded after the 1926 season.
The Kansas City Blues won 10 American Association Pennants: 1888, 1890, 1898, 1901, 1918, 1923, 1929, 1938, 1952 and 1953. The Kansas City Monarchs won 11 Negro League Pennants: 1923, 12 1924, 1925, 1929, 1937, 1939, 1940, 1941, 1942, 1946 and 1953.
Both teams played at Muehlebach Field, built in 1923 by, and named for, George E. Muehlebach, who owned the Blues and a number of other Kansas City businesses, including Muehlebach Beer and the Muehlebach Hotel. The previous Kansas City ballpark, Association Park, was owned by a railroad, which decided to build a new line through it, creating the need for a new ballpark.
In 1937, the New York Yankees bought the Blues, made them their top farm team, and renamed the ballpark Ruppert Stadium, in honor of team owner Jacob Ruppert. Ruppert died in 1939, and the ballpark was renamed Blues Stadium in 1943.
Knowing that the Philadelphia Athletics had been purchased by Arnold Johnson, and were being moved to Kansas City for the 1955 season, the city added an upper deck to Blues Stadium, and renamed it Kansas City Municipal Stadium. It now seated 35,020 people. When the American Football's League's Dallas Texans became the Kansas City Chiefs in 1963, the addition of football bleachers raised seating capacity to 51,000.
When Johnson died in 1960, the A's were bought by Charles O. Finley. He wanted a bigger ballpark, and when the city wouldn't build him one, he flirted with moving the A's to Dallas and Louisville, before finally moving to Oakland, California for the 1968 season. Kansas City then got an expansion team, and the Royals played there from 1969 to 1972.
Unusual for that era, instead of building one stadium for both baseball and football, Kansas City built a stadium for each. Arrowhead Stadium opened in 1972, Royals Stadium opened in 1973, and the complex was named the Harry S Truman Sports Complex. Missouri's favorite son had died the day after Christmas, 1972.
When the Royals' original owner, pharmaceutical magnate Ewing Kauffman, died in 1993, the stadium was renamed Kauffman Stadium for him. Despite a major renovation in 2009, the Royals are looking to build a new stadium, downtown. (UPDATE: In 2024, the Royals released plans for a new stadium, tentatively set to open in 2028.) The Chiefs renovated Arrowhead Stadium at the same time, and have no plans to replace it.
The Chiefs won the AFL Championship in 1966 and 1969, losing Super Bowl I but winning Super Bowl IV. The Royals won the World Series in 1985 and 2015, having lost it in 1980 and 2014. The Chiefs have since won Super Bowl LIV, while losing Super Bowl LV. (UPDATE: They have since won Super Bowls LVII and LVIII.)
In soccer, the Kansas City Spurs won the 1969 North American Soccer League title, playing home games at Municipal Stadium. But they only lasted 1 more season. The Kansas City Wizards won the 2000 MLS Cup. In 2010, they rebranded as Sporting Kansas City, and moved from Arrowhead to a new stadium in nearby Kansas City, Kansas. They won the MLS Cup again in 2013.
A women's team, FC Kansas City, only lasted from 2013 to 2017, but won the National Women's Soccer League title in 2014 and 2015. In 2021, they were replaced by the Kansas City Current.
The area has been less successful in the indoor sports. In 1972, the NBA's Cincinnati Royals moved in, but, since the baseball team was already called the Royals, they became the Kansas City Kings. In 1974, they moved from the Municipal Auditorium to the new Kemper Arena. That same year, the NHL placed an expansion team there, the Kansas City Scouts.
The Scouts were lousy, and moved after 2 seasons. The Kings won a Division title in 1979 and reached the Western Conference Finals in 1981, but never drew well, and moved to Sacramento in 1985. In 2018, the Kemper Arena was downsized and rebranded as the Hy-Vee Arena. In 2007, the Sprint Center opened downtown, but it has failed to attract and NBA, WNBA or NHL team.
No matter: Kansas City still has MLB and the NFL, the 2 sports that mark a city and its metropolitan area as "major league." And while the A's left, the Royals and the Chiefs aren't going anywhere.
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April 12, 1955 was a Tuesday. This was also the day on which Dr. Jonas Salk announced that the vaccine he had been testing against polio was effective and safe. I have a separate entry for that event
These other baseball games were played:
* The Boston Red Sox beat the Baltimore Orioles, 7-1 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Ted Williams did not play that day.
* The Cleveland Indians beat the Chicago White Sox, 5-1 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.
* The Chicago Cubs beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 14-4 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. For the Cubs, Randy Jackson hit a home run, and Ernie Banks went 2-for-4 with an RBI. For the Cards, Ken Boyer hit a home run, and Stan Musial went 2-for-4 with an RBI.
* The Milwaukee Braves beat the Cincinnati Redlegs, 4-2 at Milwaukee County Stadium. It was the 2nd of 5 seasons when, in the wake of anti-Communist hysteria, the Cincinnati team was known as the Redlegs, not the Reds. Warren Spahn was the winning pitcher, future World Series-winning manager Chuck Tanner hit a home run on the 1st pitch he ever sees in the major leagues, and Hank Aaron went 1-for-4, the hit an RBI triple.
The next day, April 13:
* The New York Yankees and the Washington Senators opened the season at Yankee Stadium. The Yankees won, 19-1.
* The New York Giants and the Philadelphia Phillies opened the season at Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia. The Phillies won, 4-2.
* The Brooklyn Dodgers and the Pittsburgh Pirates opened the season at Ebbets Field. The Dodgers won, 6-1. Nobody knew it yet, but the "Next Year" that their fans had long waited for had finally come.
Football was out of season. The NBA season had ended 2 days earlier, when the Syracuse Nationals beat the Fort Wayne Pistons in Game 7 of the NBA Finals. Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals was played at the Montreal Forum that night, and the Montreal Canadiens beat the Detroit Red Wings, 6-3. But the Wings would win the Cup in Game 7 in Detroit, 2 nights later.
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