The Kansas City Packers were a

Federal League The Federal League of Base Ball Clubs, known simply as the Federal League, was an American professional baseball league that played its first season as a minor league in 1913 and operated as a "third major league", in competition with the e ...

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

club in Kansas City from 1914 to 1915. They finished sixth in 1914 with a 67–84 record, and fourth in 1915 with an 81–72 record. The Packers moved to Kansas City in July 1913 from

Covington, Kentucky Covington is a home rule-class city in Kenton County, Kentucky, United States, located at the confluence of the Ohio and Licking Rivers. Cincinnati, Ohio, lies to its immediate north across the Ohio and Newport, to its east across the Licking ...

, when the Federal League was an independent minor league. The Packers' first home game came on July 12, with news reports saying 10,000 people were in attendance. When the league declared itself major, the Packers’ first signing was of former

St. Louis Browns The St. Louis Browns were a Major League Baseball team that originated in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as the Milwaukee Brewers. A charter member of the American League (AL), the Brewers moved to St. Louis, Missouri, after the 1901 season, where they p ...

manager,

George Stovall George Thomas Stovall (November 23, 1877 – November 5, 1951), nicknamed "Firebrand", was an American first baseman in Major League Baseball. He played for the Cleveland Naps and the St. Louis Browns in the American League, and he also played two ...

, reportedly the first signing of a major league player in violation of his

reserve clause The reserve clause, in North American professional sports, was part of a player contract which stated that the rights to players were retained by the team upon the contract's expiration. Players under these contracts were not free to enter into an ...

. The Packers began their major league life on April 23, 1914 as the visiting team in the first game played in what is now known as

Wrigley Field Wrigley Field is a Major League Baseball (MLB) stadium on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. It is the home of the Chicago Cubs, one of the city's two MLB franchises. It first opened in 1914 as Weeghman Park for Charles Weeghman's Chicago ...

. George "Chief" Johnson was the Packers’ starting pitcher in that historic game, but was removed after two innings when served with an injunction from his former team, the Cincinnati Reds. The Packers’ home season ended early for them, when a flash flood that hit Kansas City after a heavy downpour knocked down the walls of the ballpark,

Gordon and Koppel Field Gordon and Koppel Field is a former baseball ground located in Kansas City, Missouri. The ground was home to the Kansas City Packers of the Federal League, a third major league in 1914 and 1915. It was also called Gordon and Koppel ''Stadium'', a ...

. The Packers finished on the road, and ended in sixth place, 20 games behind the pennant-winning

Indianapolis Hoosiers Indianapolis Hoosiers was the name of three major league and at least three minor league baseball clubs based in Indianapolis. * Indianapolis Hoosiers (American Association), which played in 1884 * Indianapolis Hoosiers (National League), which pla ...

. During the 1914–1915 off-season, the Federal League tried to move the franchise to

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.Indianapolis franchise being moved instead. In the course of the closest pennant race in major league history, the Packers led until late August before fading and finishing 4th, five and one-half games behind the first place

Chicago Whales The Chicago Whales were a professional baseball team based in Chicago. They played in the Federal League, a short-lived "third Major League", in 1914 and 1915. They originally lacked a formal nickname, and were known simply as the "Chicago Fed ...

, and one-half game ahead of the fifth place

Newark Pepper The Newark Peppers, originally known as the Indianapolis Hoosiers, were a Federal League baseball team from 1913–1915. The Federal League (FL), founded in 1913, was a third major league in 1914 and 1915. History The Federal League began as an in ...

. Among the men who played for the Packers were

, Bill Bradley,

Johnny Rawlings John William Rawlings '' ed' (August 17, 1892 – October 16, 1972) was a second baseman and shortstop in Major League Baseball who played for six different teams between the and seasons. Listed at , 158 lb., he batted and threw right-han ...

Chief Johnson George Howard "Chief" Johnson (March 20, 1886 – June 11, 1922) was an American professional baseball pitcher. He played three seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), from 1913 to 1915, for the Cincinnati Reds of the National League and Kansas C ...

Ted Easterly Theodore Harrison Easterly (April 20, 1885 – July 6, 1951) was a catcher in Major League Baseball who played for the Cleveland Naps (1909–1912), Chicago White Sox (1912–1913) and Kansas City Packers (1914–1915). Easterly batted left- ...

and Nick Cullop, who won 22 games in 1915. To mark the centennial of Wrigley Field on April 23, 2014, the Chicago Cubs' opponents, the

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks (colloquially known as the D-backs) are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The ...

, wore the Packers' uniforms. On Sunday, May 31, 2015, the Kansas City Royals wore the Packers' uniforms against the Chicago Cubs who wore the Whales' uniforms.

also got into the act and rebranded itself as Weeghman Park. On the manual scoreboard, Kansas City's label also bore the "FL" designation for the Federal League.

References and external links

Team index page
at Baseball Reference * {{Federal League Baseball teams established in 1914 Baseball teams disestablished in 1915 Federal League teams Defunct Major League Baseball teams Defunct baseball teams in Missouri

See also

References and external links