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 The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more th ...

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 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 Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

. The Packers’ home season ended early for them, when a

flash flood A flash flood is a rapid flooding of low-lying areas: washes, rivers, dry lakes and depressions. It may be caused by heavy rain associated with a severe thunderstorm, hurricane, or tropical storm, or by meltwater from ice or snow flowing ...

that hit Kansas City after a heavy downpour knocked down the walls of the ballpark, Gordon and Koppel Field. 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 List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat, seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County and the second largest city within the New Yo ...

, but were prevented by injunctions obtained by Kansas City management. The Packers went into spring training believing they would be playing in Newark, but last-minute negotiations led to the 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, 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 William Warren Bradley (born July 28, 1943) is an American politician and former professional basketball player. He served three terms as a Democratic U.S. senator from New Jersey (1979–1997). He ran for the Democratic Party's nomination f ...

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 Ci ...

, Ted Easterly and Nick Cullop, who won 22 games in 1915. To mark the centennial of Wrigley Field on April 23, 2014, the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is locate ...

' 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 The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expans ...

wore the Packers' uniforms against the

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