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Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781982214067 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Balboa Press |
| Publication date: | 11/08/2018 |
| Pages: | 278 |
| Sales rank: | 777,038 |
| Product dimensions: | 6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.63(d) |
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CHAPTER 1
K.C. AS A BIG-LEAGUE CITY
Steeped with deep tradition in college basketball and baseball, particularly the Negro Leagues, Kansas City also possessed minor-professional hockey history dating to the first half of the 20th century.
The town's first team, known as the Kansas City Pla-Mors, started play in 1927 as a member of the American Hockey Association. Home ice was Pla-Mor Arena located at 31st and Wyandotte, just off Main. Hockey-like weather – bitter cold and snow – arrived for the Pla-Mors. Vern Banks, later co-owner of a reincarnated version of the Pla-Mors, recalled the club's home debut.
"Jan. 2, 1928. I was with Tulsa then. We had heard about the fabulous new building for hockey – the Pla-Mor," Banks told Sid Bordman of the Kansas City Star in 1974. "We weren't playing Kansas City. Winnipeg was at the Pla-Mor for the opening, which was delayed a couple of months because of construction problems. The east end of the building still wasn't finished and there were tarps hanging up."
There was another hang up. The building's heating system failed.
"It was biting cold outside," former Star sports editor Ernie Mehl said.
"Most of the 4,000 fans had never seen a hockey game before but most of them stayed until the end. They had frost-bitten ears and blue noses."
Those hearty spectators who hung around witnessed a 2-1 Kansas City win.
"Duke Dutkowski scored the winning goal in the third period," Mehl remembered. "He maneuvered the puck from one end of the ice to the other, so the winning goal was a sensational one."
The Pla-Mors would be champions of the AHA in the 1929-30 and 1932-33 seasons but experienced financial problems. An infusion of cash from the Greyhound Bus Company stabilized the franchise which eventually was renamed after the bus line. The Greyhounds won the 1933-34 AHA championship. In 1940, the team was renamed the Kansas City Americans. Just two years later, pro hockey in Kansas City was shutdown by World War II. When the war ended, a second edition of the Pla-Mors joined the United States Hockey League and won the league title.
"Later they ran into more financial trouble and sold the team to a syndicate, which included Bill Tobin. Tobin was one of the owners of the Chicago Blackhawks and front man for Major McLaughlin," said Banks. "Major was married to Irene Castle, the famous dancer. She tried to convince McLaughlin that both the Blackhawks and our team should wear lace on their uniforms. Can you imagine the revolting situation that would have been?"
Clubs later went by the names Mo-Hawks, Cowboys and Royals. In 1951, pro hockey in Kansas City went on sabbatical.
Following a near two-decade absence, the NHL expansionist St. Louis Blues placed a minor-league team in the city beginning in 1967. A member of the Central Hockey League, the Kansas City Blues skated at the American Royal Building until 1972 when the NHL announced Kansas City had been granted its conditional franchise.
* * *
Kansas City first attained modern-era major-league sports status in 1955.
The Philadelphia Athletics were once a winning and influential Major League Baseball franchise, but that run ended in the early 1930s. By the 1950s, family members of iconic owner and manager Connie Mack decided to sell. Final bidders for the Athletics were both Chicago businessmen: Arnold Johnson and Charles O. Finley. A breakfast meeting was arranged with Mack and his sons at which time Johnson and Finley would submit bids. Johnson out-foxed Finley by arriving an hour early. Finley showed up at the agreed-upon time of 9 a.m. only to learn the team had been sold to Johnson for $3.5 million.
"I had a check just as big as Johnson's, but I never got a chance to wave it," Finley bemoaned years later but having learned a lesson. "I may be out-smarted but nobody can out-hustle me."
Johnson moved the Athletics to Kansas City's Municipal Stadium. He owned the team for five seasons. Johnson's death by heart attack at 1960 spring training set in motion Finley's eventual acquisition of 52-percent interest in the club, costing him nearly $2 million. In 1962, he paid another $1.9 million for the remaining 48 percent.
Finley's ownership was marred by nearly-constant turmoil and turnover on-and-off the field. It also included a lot of losing baseball that didn't end until the team's move to Oakland, California following the 1967 season. In Finley's seven Kansas City seasons, he employed seven field managers, four general managers (Finley was always de facto GM) and several sets of broadcasters.
"We were losing so many games we had a champagne party to celebrate when we escaped the cellar one night," radioman Red Rush told author Bill Libby for his 1975 book Charlie O. & The Angry A's. "Charlie came into the broadcasting booth and said, 'Red, tell them we're going to win the pennant.' I said, 'Sure Charlie, sure.' He said, 'Tell them, Red.
Tell them.' So I said, 'Well folks, Charlie Finley's in the booth and he says we're going to win the pennant. And we are going to win the pennant – only I'm not sure when.'"
Rush's employment was soon terminated. Later, he was rehired.
"People and their families don't mean a thing to Finley. He spends half his time trying to hurt them," said eventual Hall of Fame broadcaster Bob Elson, who called A's baseball for one season in the early Oakland days. "Someday, he will regret ignoring the human equation. Someday, he will be held accountable for his actions in this life.
"He is a strange paradox. He has millions of dollars and not a nickel's worth of class."
Whatever Finley lacked for interpersonal skills or tact, he (or his scouts) was astute at finding young talent. Charlie O. inked future superstar pitcher Jim "Catfish" Hunter for a $75,000 bonus in 1964. Hunter was an American League All-Star by 1966. Just weeks into the A's first season in Oakland, Hunter threw the first A.L. perfect game in 46 years. Others snared by Finley's Kansas City net were outfielders Reggie Jackson, Rick Monday and Joe Rudi, third baseman Sal Bando, shortstop Bert Campaneris and pitcher Vida Blue. With the exception of Monday, traded to the Chicago Cubs for pitcher Ken Holtzman, all made significant contributions to Oakland's three consecutive World Series titles in the 1970s.
Finley had numerous and significant problems with Kansas City and Missouri civic leaders before moving. What particularly stuck in his craw was the arrival of the American Football League's Dallas Texans in 1963. Finley resented what he perceived as preferential treatment the renamed Kansas City Chiefs received. In exchange for a promised expansion team, officials in Missouri ceased blocking relocation of the A's.
"We did not want to get rid of baseball so much as we wanted to get rid of Finley," Kansas City Star sports editor Joe McGuff said. "The sad thing is we could see that there were young players on this team who were so good they were bound to make the team one of the best. We had suffered with losers and now we were losing them when they were about to become winners. If we were going to get another team, we would have to start all over again with a loser.
"But, maybe it would be better to lose with someone else than to win with Finley."
The mutual vitriol reached its height when Charlie O. was lambasted by a United States senator. Missouri's Stuart Symington, having come within hours of being John F. Kennedy's vice-presidential running mate at the 1960 Democratic National Convention, stated of Finley, "(He's) one of the most disreputable characters ever to enter the American sports scene. Oakland is the luckiest city since Hiroshima."
* * *
Owner Lamar Hunt's Texans won the AFL championship in 1962, but the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex could not support his club and the NFL's Cowboys. Hunt visited Atlanta, Kansas City and Miami before deciding on K.C., at which point he renamed the franchise the Chiefs. As a point of fact, the Chiefs were not specifically named for titular-leaders of native-American groups. "Chief" was the nickname of Kansas City mayor H. Roe Bartle, a man instrumental in convincing Hunt to relocate in the Midwest.
The Chiefs struggled at the gate their first three seasons while fielding average teams. However, the club drafted well and by 1966 the team had a breakout year. Led by NFL-reject Len Dawson at quarterback, Kansas City won the AFL title with a 12-2-1 record earning the right to play NFL champion Green Bay in the first-ever AFL-NFL World Championship game. The Packers won 35-10.
A merger between the two leagues was in the works. By 1969 it was completed; it was the last season in which the AFL and NFL would compete separately. K.C. defeated the Oakland Raiders 17-7 in their league's final championship game.
Hunt is credited with coining the term "Super Bowl" after watching his children play with a toy called Super Ball. Super Bowl became the official name of American pro football's AFL-NFL Championship game in January 1969 when the New York Jets upset the Baltimore Colts 16-7 in what is now referred to as Super Bowl III. Green Bay's victories in 1967 versus the Chiefs and 1968 against Oakland are now, retroactivily, known as Super Bowls I and II.
Kansas City's win in the last AFL championship paired the Chiefs against the NFL champion Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl IV. Dawson became embroiled in controversy while the two teams practiced in New Orleans, site of the game. Members of the national media claimed Dawson had ties to gambling, an accusation he denied. The reports turned out to be false. Still, the story had gained traction prompting speculation the issue would be a distraction for the underdog Chiefs.
Super Bowl IV was played January 11, 1970 at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans before a crowd of more than 80,000 fans. Wearing "AFL-10" patches commemorating the league's decade run, Kansas City wanted to send the AFL out with a victory against the Vikings.
K.C. dominated the first half with Jan Stenerud kicking three field goals while Mike Garrett ran for a touchdown giving the Chiefs a 16-0 halftime lead. Dawson threw a 46-yard TD pass to Otis Taylor in the third quarter. Kansas City cruised to a 23-7 win.
Today, Super Bowl IV is probably best known for K.C. coach Hank Stram wearing an NFL Films microphone. In audio-video clips, the excited Stram exalts his team by repeatedly referring to his favorite play: 65-toss power-trap. Stram encouraged the Chiefs to "keep matriculating the ball down the field" punctuated with "yeah, baby!" and "way to go, Lenny!" Dawson was named Super Bowl IV's Most Valuable Player.
"I'm particularly happy for Len Dawson because I know how much the game meant to him," Hunt said in the victor's locker room. Both owner and quarterback received a congratulatory telephone call from U.S. President Richard Nixon. A parade was held to celebrate the greatest team-sport accomplishment in Kansas City history. The city would wait 15 years for another world championship, albeit in a different sport. The Chiefs record the following season was 7-5-2. The team bounced back in 1971 but lost in the playoffs to the Miami Dolphins, a club destined for greatness. K.C.'s NFL team would not return to the post-season for 15 years.
The rest of the 1970s and the 1980s were not very good times for the Chiefs. Too often during this time period, tragedy and heartbreak occurred for the team, the city and its fans. The community was shocked in 1980 when former offensive tackle Jim Tyrer, a mainstay of the team in the 1960s and early 70s, killed his wife then committed suicide leaving behind two sons and two daughters. In 1981, rookie running back Joe Delaney rushed for 1,121 yards – 193 in a game against the Houston Oilers. Delaney was American Football Conference Rookie of the Year.
"I've played against the best – O.J. Simpson, Gale Sayers, Walter Payton and he ranks right up there with them," Oilers defensive end Elvin Bethea said. "He's great with a capital G."
Delaney drowned in 1983 attempting to save the lives of three children in his native state of Louisiana. Two weeks later, U.S. President Ronald Reagan honored Delaney's courage by posthumously bestowing him the Presidential Citizen's Medal.
Lamar Hunt had seen enough by 1988. Hunt had not maintained his inherited family wealth by being overly sentimental. Yet by all accounts, he was an honest man as multi-millionaire sports-team owners go. He was also practical. Attendance had plummeted. Something had to be done. Enter Carl Peterson.
The short-lived United States Football League was Peterson's springboard to front-office success. After coaching at the University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA), Peterson moved on to the NFL's Philadelphia Eagles. In 1982, Peterson was hired as GM of the USFL's Philadelphia, then later, Baltimore Stars. The USFL marketed itself as an alternative to the NFL, but played a spring and summer schedule. The upstart league lasted only three seasons, but the Stars won two league championships in 1984 and 1985. One of the Stars' rivals, the New Jersey Generals, was owned by future U.S. President Donald Trump. Hunt named Peterson the Chiefs' President, Chief Operating Officer and GM on December 19, 1988.
One of Peterson's first Kansas City hires proved to be his best – head coach Marty Schottenheimer. During the 1990s, the Chiefs won more games than any NFL team but did not reach the Super Bowl. Arrowhead Stadium rocked to its 79,000-seat capacity. Led by quarterback Joe Montana, the Chiefs reached their first-ever AFC championship game in 1994 losing at the hands of the Buffalo Bills. Schottenheimer left K.C. following the 1998 season with a 10-year regular-season run of 101-58-1 and seven playoff appearances.
Tragedy struck again on January 23, 2000 when nine-time Pro Bowl linebacker Derrick Thomas was seriously injured in an automobile accident while driving to Kansas City International Airport. Winter weather conditions and excessive speed were contributing factors. A passenger was killed; Thomas was left paralyzed. He died February 8, 2000 in his hometown of Miami.
Kansas City went 16-16 in two seasons under Schottenheimer's replacement, Gunther Cunningham. In January 2001, Peterson hired Dick Vermeil as head coach. Peterson had previously worked with Vermeil at UCLA and with the Philadelphia Eagles. Vermeil was one year removed from coaching the St. Louis Rams to a Super Bowl victory. Following 6-10 and 8-8 seasons, K.C. went 13-3 in 2003 but lost to Indianapolis in the playoffs. Vermeil coached two more seasons, then retired with a 44-36 mark. He was replaced by Herman Edwards in 2006.
Hunt had been diagnosed with prostate cancer in 1998. The team founder privately battled the disease for years, but succumbed in December 2006. Though he lived and died in Dallas, Hunt was a Kansas City icon. The city thought of him as one of its own. Hunt's life was celebrated throughout the sports world because he wasn't just a football man. He spent seemingly tireless months and years, along with millions of dollars, promoting amateur and pro soccer. He supported pro tennis.
Hunt was an original investor and long-time minority owner of the NBA's Chicago Bulls. He assisted the NHL's Columbus Blue Jackets getting off the ground in 1997. Led by Peterson's efforts, Hunt's idea of the universities of Kansas and Missouri playing their then-annual rivalry football game at Arrowhead Stadium became reality.
Edwards guided the Chiefs in his first season to a 9-7 record and K.C. lost a wild-card playoff game to Indianapolis. The club then spiraled to 4-12 and 2-14 bringing about major change. Peterson resigned following the 2008 season. New GM Scott Pioli fired Edwards replacing him with Todd Haley. The Pioli regime was mostly abysmal, though it did produce one playoff appearance.
Hunt's son Clark hired longtime Philadelphia Eagles head coach Andy Reid in 2013. Nicknamed "Big Red" due to the color of his hair and sometimes ample girth, Reid's K.C. teams have consistently been among the best in the NFL.
Through all the history, Super Bowl IV remains the Chiefs' crowning achievement. The franchise has never returned to what now has long been the world's greatest single-day sports spectacle.
* * *
The Kansas City Royals were part of Major League Baseball's four-team expansion from 20 to 24 clubs in 1969. Owned by pharmaceutical magnate Ewing Kauffman, K.C. was joined in the American League by the Seattle Pilots; the National League newcomers were the Montreal Expos and San Diego Padres. The Royals finished their first season 6993, which was the best record among the '69 toddlers, and Kansas City outfielder Lou Piniella was named Rookie of the Year. The Pilots lasted one season in Seattle. The franchise was sold and moved to Milwaukee, where it is known as the Brewers.
(Continues…)
Excerpted from "Icing on the Plains"
by .
Copyright © 2018 Troy Treasure.
Excerpted by permission of Balboa Press.
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Table of Contents
Preface, ix,
Chapter 1 K.C. as a Big-League City, 1,
Chapter 2 Ownership, 21,
Chapter 3 The Architect, 31,
Chapter 4 The Expansion Shaft, 39,
Chapter 5 Searching for a Superstar, 47,
Chapter 6 Training Camp, 55,
Chapter 7 North America Tour, 67,
Chapter 8 Back-to-Back: Home Debut, First Win, 79,
Chapter 9 Tragedy, 97,
Chapter 10 Moving Parts, 113,
Chapter 11 Rotten Egg, 127,
Chapter 12 Winless March, 137,
Chapter 13 Summer Reset, 147,
Chapter 14 Another Garden Party, 157,
Chapter 15 Conquering the Canadiens, 173,
Chapter 16 Before The Next Teardrop Falls, 183,
Chapter 17 Bep Bails Out, 191,
Chapter 18 As a Debacle Turns Worse, 199,
Chapter 19 The Final Skates, 219,
Chapter 20 Sayonara, 235,
Chapter 21 Autopsy Results, 247,
Chapter 22 What Ever Happened to:, 249,
Acknowledgements, 259,
Sources, 261,