About Municipal Stadium
Kansas City Municipal Stadium served two MLB franchises across 18 seasons, beginning when the Philadelphia Athletics relocated here in 1955 under owner Arnold Johnson. Johnson had a business relationship with the Yankees that bred suspicion among fans: promising young players seemed to flow from Kansas City to New York with suspicious regularity. Roger Maris, Ralph Terry, and other future champions made the trip from Missouri to the Bronx, leading many to joke that the Athletics were an unofficial Yankee farm team.
Charlie Finley purchased the A's in 1961 and brought his eccentric, promotional genius to the stadium, staging stunts and innovations that were ahead of their time. But the park couldn't hold Finley — he relocated the A's to Oakland in 1968, where they promptly won three consecutive World Series. Kansas City was then awarded an expansion franchise, the Royals, who played at Municipal Stadium from 1969 to 1972 while the magnificent Kauffman Stadium was being built.
The stadium was demolished in 1976, but its legacy runs deep in Kansas City baseball history. It witnessed the beginnings of two very different franchises — the suspect Kansas City Athletics and the nascent Kansas City Royals, who would become AL champions under George Brett in the 1980s.
Fun facts
- Fans suspected the A's were a Yankee farm team — Roger Maris, Clete Boyer, and Ralph Terry all went from KC to NY.
- Charlie Finley's promotional stunts here previewed the innovations he'd use to build Oakland's championship dynasty.
- The stadium originally opened in 1923 for the minor-league Kansas City Blues.
- George Brett's career began when the Royals moved from Municipal Stadium to Kauffman in 1973.
- The site was eventually demolished and is now a residential and commercial neighborhood.
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