Kansas City Monarchs Thomas Y. Baird Letter (1933)

This letter was written by Thomas Y. Baird (Business Manager) of the Kansas City Monarchs to Charles Bender (former National League pitching great and National Baseball Hall of Famer) of Baltimore, Maryland. The purpose of the letter was to sign Bender to a contract as player-manager for the Harjo Indians. This team played out of Holdenville, Oklahoma and had won the prestigious Denver Post Tournament in 1932.

One of the unique things about his letter is that it is written on two different letterheads. Page one of the letter is on House of David letterhead. Page two of the letter is on Kansas City Monarch stationary. The Monarchs had a very close relationship with the House of David as they barnstormed together and the House of David rented the Monarchs’ portable lighting system every day for a series of night games. The letter is signed by Thomas Baird

Thomas Y. Baird Letter - Page One

The Kansas City Monarchs are probably the most widely recognized team from Negro League baseball. The beginnings of the Kansas City Monarchs team can be traced back to 1912 when James L. Wilkinson organized a team in Des Moines, Iowa that he called the All Nations. The All Nations baseball team had African American, Cuban, Hispanic and Asian players as well as a female player. This team included the great Negro League players Jose Mendez and John Donaldson. The team moved to Kansas City in 1915. In 1920, Wilkinson added several players from the U.S. Army 25th Infantry baseball team to form the Kansas City Monarchs.  The Monarchs played in the Negro National League from 1920-1931. They dropped out of the league and played a barnstorming schedule from 1932 to 1936 because Wilkinson felt the Monarchs could be financially more successful by not playing in the league. In 1937 the Kansas City Monarchs joined the Negro American League and played a full league schedule for every year until the league folded after the 1963 season.  They were one of the most successful teams in black baseball. The Monarchs played in the following leagues during their career:

                            Negro National League          1920-1930

                            Independent                            1931

                            Negro Southern League        1932

                            Independent                             1933-1936

                            Negro American League        1937-1963

Thomas Y. Baird was a Kansas City businessman who became partners with J. L. Wilkinson in 1930. Baird’s association with Wilkinson had actually begun in 1919. Before becoming part owner of the Monarchs, Baird worked with Wilkinson in numerous capacities: booking agent, business manager and team officer. Baird is responsible for the booking deal that rented the Monarchs’ lighting system to the House of David baseball team each summer. He also signed Babe Didrikson (female athlete) and Grover Cleveland Alexander to play for the House of David. In 1948 just before Wilkinson passed away, he sold his interest in the team to Baird. This made Baird the sole owner of the Kansas City Monarchs. After he sold the Monarchs to Ted Rasberry in 1955, Baird became a scout for the Kansas City Athletics.