1884 Kansas City Cowboys

1884 Kansas City Cowboys / Franchise: Kansas City Cowboys / BR Team Page

Record: 16-63, Finished 11th in Union Association (1884 UA)

Managed by Harry Wheeler (0-4), Matthew Porter (3-13), and Ted Sullivan (13-46)

Ballpark: Athletic Park (June 7 – October 19, 1884)

History, Comments, Contributions

The 1884 Kansas City Cowboys were better known as the Kansas City Unions at the time they played. They replaced the Altoona Mountain City team in the fledgling Union Association on June 7, 1884 and completed the season, finishing with a woeful record of 16-63. Manager Harry Wheeler quit after four games and was replaced with one of the team's investors, Matthew Porter, who was also an amateur ballplayer. Porter also played 3 games for the club. Finally, Ted Sullivan was hired to manage the team, which was 3-17 by that point, and he finished the season, although fortunes did not improve. The league collapsed during the offseason, but the team returned to play in the minor league Western League in 1885. Not that the Union Association was any more major league than the Western League, however.

Source:

• Peter Filichia: Green Cathedrals: The Ultimate Celebrations of All 273 Major League and Negro League Ballparks Past and Present, Addison Wesley Publishing Company (March 1993)