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Muehlebach Field /
Municipal Stadium
| Year Opened | 1923 |
| Capacity | 16,000 (1923); 17,476 (1940); 30,296 (1955); 35,561 (1971) |
| Architect | Osborn Engineering (original construction) |
| Original Cost | $400,000 |
| Playing Surface | Grass |
| Baseball Tenants | Kansas City Blues (1923-1954), Kansas City Monarchs (1923-1955), Kansas City Athletics (1955-1967), Kansas City Royals (1969-1972) |
| Location | 22nd Street and Brooklyn Avenue, Kansas City |
Muehlebach Field opened on July 3, 1923 as the home of the Kansas City Blues (American Association), as George Muehlebach gave his Blues a grand new home southeast of downtown Kansas City. Muehlebach was a Kansas City hotelier and brewer -- the Muehlebach Hotel at 12th and Baltimore (shown below) was a landmark in downtown Kansas City and is now a Marriott -- and he bought the team in 1918, yet another American brewer who entered the baseball field.
The Kansas City Blues were a mainstay of the old Class AA American Association, a circuit just below the major leagues operating in Midwest cities like Minneapolis, Columbus, St. Paul, Milwaukee and Toledo. The core of the American Association was stable throughout most of that league's history, and Kansas City regularly was among the league leaders in attendance, attracting 425,000 fans in 1923. The ballpark's design came from Osborn Engineering and began a long history between Kansas City baseball and the New York Yankees, as Osborn Engineering also designed Yankee Stadium.
Muehlebach Field in 1925.
That history became more intertwined when the New York Yankees bought the Blues from Muehlebach in 1937 and renamed the ballpark Ruppert Stadium. (Ruppert had a history of buying ballparks and renaming them Ruppert Stadium: the home of the International League's Newark Bears was also named Ruppert Stadium when the Yankees owned the team.) That name lasted until 1943, when the ballpark was renamed Blues Stadium. (Later on the Kansas City Athletics were accused of being a virtual farm team for the Yankees, as players like Roger Maris began their careers in Kansas City and then thrived in Yankee Stadium.)
The Blues were a successful minor-league team, but the ballpark's other tenant, the Kansas City Monarchs, were the royalty of the Negro Leagues, featuring players like Satchel Paige. The team drew well, and the team's popularity led to the first night game at Muehlebach Field: In 1930 portable lighting was installed for a Monarchs night game, while permanent lighting was first used on July 6, 1932.
The ballpark's original configuration featured a single partially covered grandstand and no outfield seating. It remained relatively unchanged until 1954, when Arnold Johnson announced a move of his Philadelphia Athletics to Kansas City and the city agreed an expanded ballpark for the team, paying $2.5 million from the proceeds of a bond issue. Muehlebach Field then became Municipal Stadium, a 30,296-seat ballpark that opened on April 12, 1955. The seating capacity was expanded with the addition of a covered second deck, while bleachers were moved temporarily into the right-field area to accommodate large crowds. (Also part of the renovation: the scoreboard from Braves Field in Boston was purchased and moved to Kansas City.) It served as the home of the A's until owner Charlie Finley moved the team to Oakland after the 1967 season.
It was at Municipal Stadium where Finley first began his outrageous promotional antics. He installed a petting zoo down the left-field line, complete with monkeys, pheasants, goats and Charlie O, a mule that became a Finley trademark. It was also at Municipal Stadium where Finley first ran afoul of baseball's powers that be when installed a 296-foot home-run "Pennant Porch" down the right-field line in 1965; Commissioner Ford Frick ordered it be removed, even though Finley argues it was the same distance as the famous right-field porch in Yankee Stadium. Finley then built a fence 325 feet from home plate -- the minimum size allowed at the time under MLB rules -- and called it the "One-Half Pennant Porch." (He was a constant tinkerer with the ballpark's dimensions; in 1967 the height of the right-field fence was raised to 40 feet.) And we can't forget Finley's love of mechanical gimmicks: "Harvey" rose out of the ground with new baseballs for the home-plate umpire, while a compressed-air device blew dirt off the plate.
The expansion Kansas City Royals then played at Municipal Stadium until 1973, when Royals Stadium opened. The Kansas City Chiefs also played at Municipal Stadium from 1963 through 1971. After the Royals and Chiefs moved, Municipal Stadium was torn down in 1976, with a community garden now standing on the site.
Dimensions
| Year | L | LC | C | RC | R |
| 1923 | 350 | 408 | 450 | 408 | 350 |
| 1950 | 350 | 408 | 432 | 408 | 350 |
| 1955 | 312 | 382 | 430 | 382 | 347 |
| 1956 | 330 | 382 | 421 | 382 | 352 |
| 1957 | 330 | 375 | 421 | 387 | 353 |
| 1961 | 370 | 390 | 421 | 387 | 353 |
| 1962 | 353 | 390 | 421 | 364 | 355 |
| 1963 | 331 | 364 | 421 | 360 | 338 |
| 1964 | 331 | 392 | 410 | 392 | 338 |
| 1965 | 370 | 409 | 421 | 360 | 325 |
| 1966 | 370 | 409 | 421 | 360 | 338 |
| 1967 | 369 | 409 | 421 | 360 | 338 |
| 1969 | 369 | 408 | 421 | 382 | 338 |
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