The Kansas City T-Bones announced today the team has rebranded. The new name of the team will be Kansas City Monarchs, after the famous Negro League team that fielded many future Hall of Famers.
In cooperation with the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, American Association member Kansas City T-Bones has decided tp change the name into Monarchs.
As one of the founding members of the Negro National League in 1920, the Monarchs won ten pennants and the inaugural Negro League World Series in 1924. The Monarchs were also the longest existing club when they folded in 1965 and produced more major leaguers than any other Negro League club. Players like Jackie Robinson, Ernie Banks, Satchel Paige, to name the biggest names.
After the T-Bones were sold to a new owner, the club was looking for a new name and Monarchs was one of the favorites. The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum and Brandmeyer’s MaxFun Entertainment, LLC, the owner of the team, have signed a long-term agreement allowing the use of the Monarchs Baseball Team name.
The beautiful thing about this cooperation is that it creates a long-term revenue stream for the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. It also includes a Negro Leagues exhibit at the Monarchs ballpark. This exhibit will be part of the team’s road games throughout the country. The team also has plans to establish The Monarchs Youth Academy with a mission to enrich the lives of Kansas City urban youth through baseball & softball.
Monarchs owner Mark Brandmeyer stated: “Being entrusted to carry on the Monarchs legacy is truly a dream come true. We are committed to creating a world class experience on and off the field, and the historical and cultural significance of this team’s name will be reflected in everything we do. We will essentially be a traveling billboard for the museum and their mission. And if we can help educate and at the same time field a team our city and the museum can be proud of, that’s our goal.”
Also Negro Leagues Baseball Museum president Bob Kendrick is very pleased about the cooperation between the museum and the club: “This exciting partnership celebrates Kansas City’s rich baseball heritage and becomes an important extension of the work we’re doing to educate the public about the history of the Negro Leagues,. We are thrilled that the proud legacy of the great Kansas City Monarchs will take the field again and look forward to sharing our story through a myriad of opportunities made possible through this historic alliance.”
Being a baseball uniform addict, yours truly cannot wait to see how the new uniforms will look like. If they will look like the ones shown in the promotional video, they are a real blast.
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