Kansas City Blue Stockings

When the Kansas City Blues moved from the Western League to the American Association in 1902, another team played in Kansas City, MO in the Western League. They were known as the Kansas City Blue Stockings and went 82-54, edging the Omaha Indians by .003 points even though the Indians were 0 games behind the Blue Stockings. Irv Waldron hit .322, fifth in the Western League. Future Hall of Famer Kid Nichols was the player-manager and led the team with a 27-7 record; he tied for the league lead in wins with another Cooperstown-bound moundsman, Three-Finger Brown. The team had a good second arm in Jake Weimer, who struck out 209 batters, the most in the league.

In their second season the Blue Stockings went 65-61 under Nichols' lead, third in the Western League. Mike Jacobs led the Western League with 8 home runs.

After the 1903 season negotiations between the Western League and American Association meant that the Western League gave up the fight in Kansas City and Milwaukee, ceding these territories to the American Association and keeping a class A rating despite lacking the population figures required for such a rating.

Source: "The Western League" by W.C. Madden and Patrick Stewart