The Kankakee Kanks were a

minor league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nort ...

baseball team located in

Kankakee, Illinois Kankakee ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Kankakee County, Illinois, United States. Located on the Kankakee River, as of 2020, the city's population was 24,052. Kankakee is a principal city of the Kankakee-Bourbonnais-Bradley, IL MSA, Kan ...

. The Kankakee Kanks played as a member of the Class D level Illinois-Missouri League from 1912 to 1914. The Kankakee "Kays" were the first minor league team based in Kankakee, playing as members of the 1910

Northern Association The Northern Association was a Class D level minor league baseball league. The eight-team league had franchises based in Illinois and Iowa. The league began and ended play in 1910, disbanding on July 19, 1910. The Joliet Jolly-ites moved to Ste ...

. The Kankakee teams hosted home minor league games on the grounds of the Kankakee State Hospital.

Baseball Hall of Fame The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by a private foundation. It serves as the central collection and gathering space for the history of baseball in the United S ...

inductee

Casey Stengel Charles Dillon "Casey" Stengel (; July 30, 1890 – September 29, 1975) was an American Major League Baseball right fielder and Manager (baseball), manager, best known as the manager of the championship New York Yankees of the 1950s and later, t ...

played for the 1910 Kankakee Kays in his first professional season.

History

1910: Northern Association

Minor league baseball began in Kankakee, Illinois in 1910, when the Kankakee Kays team became charter members of the Class D level

. The Clinton Teddies,

Decatur Commodores The Decatur Commodores were a professional minor league baseball team based in Decatur, Illinois that played for 64 seasons. The Commodores are the primary ancestor of today's Kane County Cougars. They played, with sporadic interruptions, from 1 ...

Elgin Kittens Elgin may refer to: Places Canada * Elgin County, Ontario * Elgin Settlement, a 19th-century community for freed slaves located in present-day North Buxton and South Buxton, Ontario * Elgin, a village in Rideau Lakes, Ontario * Elgin, Manito ...

, Freeport Pretzels,

Jacksonville Jacks Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonville consolidated in 1968. It was t ...

Joliet Jolly-ites Joliet or Jolliet may refer to: People * Louis Jolliet (1645–1700), French-Canadian explorer of North America * Oscar Joliet (1878–1969), Belgian scholar-priest and Catholic Auxiliary bishop of Ghent Places in the United States * Joliet, Illi ...

and

Muscatine Pearl Finders Muscatine may refer to: People * Charles Muscatine, scholar of medieval literature * Lissa Muscatine Places * Muscatine County, Iowa * Muscatine, Iowa (County Seat) * Muscatine, Iowa micropolitan area Other * Louisa–Muscatine Community School D ...

teams Joined Kankakee as the charter members of the eight–team league, which began play on May 10,1910. In their first season of minor league play, the Kankakee franchise folded during the season. On July 11, 1910, the Kankakee Kays were in third place with a 34–24 record under manager Dan Collins when the franchise disbanded. The Elgin Kittens franchise disbanded on the same day. Less than a week later, the Northern Association completely disbanded on July 17, 1910.

Casey Stengel

member

made his professional debut for the Kankakee Kays in 1910. Stengel played his first professional game in the season opener on May 10, 1910. At age 19, Stengel hit .251 with one home run, playing in 59 games for Kankakee. In talking about his season playing in Kankakee Casey Stengel said, "We did not draw (fans) and getting paid was quite an adventure." Stengel claimed he had received only half of his $135 per month check when Kankakee had folded in July 1910. Years later, at his birthday party in 1956, the Kankakee Federal Savings and Loan Association presented Stengel with a check. The check was for $483.05, calculated off the original $67.50 owed, plus interest accrued over 46 years. Stengel donated the gift to the Kankakee Little League.

1912 to 1914: Illinois–Missouri League

After the Kankakee Kays folded following the 1910 season, minor league baseball returned for the 1912 season. On May 16, 1912, the Clinton Champs from

Clinton, Iowa Clinton is a city in and the county seat of Clinton County, Iowa, United States. It borders the Mississippi River. The population was 24,469 as of 2020 United States census, 2020. Clinton, along with DeWitt, Iowa, DeWitt (also located in Clinto ...

, members of the Illinois-Missouri League, moved the franchise to Kankakee with a 2–5 record. The Mississippi River flood of 1912 corresponds with the Clinton franchise relocation that year. Playing the remainder of the 1912 season as the Kankakee Kanks, the team compiled a record of 54–51 while based in Kankakee. The Clinton/Kankakee team finished with an overall record of 56–56, placing fourth in the 1912 Illinois-Missouri League playing under managers Claude Suttles and Fred Wilson. The Kanks joined Illinois–Missouri League members Canton Highlanders, Champaign Velvets,

Lincoln Abes The Lincoln Abes were a minor league baseball team based in Lincoln, Illinois. From 1910 to 1914, the Abes played as members of the Class D (baseball), Class D level Illinois-Missouri League. Lincoln won consecutive league championships in 1912 ...

, Pekin Celestials and

Streator Speedboys Streator is a city in LaSalle and Livingston counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. The city is situated on the Vermilion River approximately southwest of Chicago in the prairie and farm land of north-central Illinois. As of the 2020 cens ...

in 1912 league play. Continuing play in the 1913 Illinois–Missouri League, the Kanks finished in third place. With a 35–51 record under manager Red Kelly, Kankakee finished the season 23.5 games behind the first place Lincoln Abes in the six–team league final standings. A.J. Holtzhouser of Kankakee led the Illinois-Missouri League with 118 total hits. In their final season of minor league play, the 1914 Kankakee Kanks folded before the end of the season. On July 3, 1914, Kankakee had a record of 14–33 when the franchise permanently disbanded. At the time they folded, Kankakee was 17.5 games behind the first place Lincoln Abes, who folded the same day. Kankakee played in 1914 under managers Harry Randall, Gene Connelly, Teddy Raines and William Hinley. The Illinois–Missouri League finished the 1914 season without the Kankakee and Lincoln teams. The Illinois–Missouri League permanently disbanded after the 1914 season. Kankakee, Illinois has not hosted another minor league team. Kankakee Hospital

The ballpark

Kankakee minor league teams played home games at the ballpark adjacent to the

Kankakee State Hospital Samuel H. Shapiro Developmental Center, formerly named the Kankakee State Hospital, is a developmental center in Kankakee, Illinois, on the banks of the Kankakee River. History In 1877, the General Assembly established the Illinois Eastern Hospi ...

. The ballpark had hosted a game featuring the

Leland Giants The Leland Giants, originally the Chicago Union Giants, were a Negro league baseball team that competed independently during the first decade of the 20th century. The team was formed via a merge of the Chicago Unions and the Chicago Columbia Gia ...

against a hospital sponsored team in 1907. Because of the ballpark location, patients at the hospital could watch games from the hospital windows. Today, the hospital location is 100 East Jeffery Street in Kankakee, Illinois.

Timeline

Year–by–year records

Notable alumni

(1910) Inducted

, 1966 *

George Hale George Ellery Hale (June 29, 1868 – February 21, 1938) was an American astrophysicist, best known for his discovery of magnetic fields in sunspots, and as the leader or key figure in the planning or construction of several world-leadi ...

(1912) * Elmer Jacobs (1912) *

Bobby Veach Robert Hayes Veach (June 29, 1888 – August 7, 1945) was an American professional baseball player from 1910 to 1930 including 14 seasons in the major leagues. He was the starting left fielder for the Detroit Tigers from 1912 to 1923 and also pl ...

(1910) 3x AL RBI leader *

Bob Wright Robert Charles Wright (born April 23, 1943) is an American lawyer, businessman, lobbyist, and author. He is a former NBC executive, having served as president and CEO from 1986 to 2001, and chairman and CEO from 2001 until he retired in 2007. ...

(1913) *Zacharia Raslan * * Kankakee Kanks players * Kankakee Kays players

References

{{Reflist, 2

External links

Kankakee - Baseball Reference
Kankakee, Illinois Defunct minor league baseball teams Defunct baseball teams in Illinois Baseball teams established in 1912 Baseball teams disestablished in 1914 1912 establishments in Illinois 1914 disestablishments in Illinois Defunct sports clubs and teams in Illinois Professional baseball teams in Illinois Illinois-Missouri League teams