Kansas City Monarchs vs Newark Indians Negro American League (1959)

This broadside was used to promote a game between the Kansas City Monarchs and the Newark Indians of the Negro American League. The game was played at Dietz Stadium in Kingston, New York on Tuesday, June 16^th, 1959. This game was played in one of the last years of the Negro Leagues. 

The Kansas City Monarchs were established in 1920 and had played a major role in Negro League baseball until the league folded in 1963. Ted Rasberry from Grand Rapids, Michigan was the owner of the Monarchs during their final seasons. Some of the players on the 1959 Kansas City Monarchs team were: 

Ben Adams                pitcher 

Jessie Mitchell         outfield

James Bolden          pitcher 

James Sanders        catcher

Henry Brown            pitcher

George Spriggs       outfield

Roger Brown             infield 

B.G. Stephens           pitcher

Willard Brown          outfield 

Tommy Taylor          pitcher

Nate Dancy              second base 

Ozzie Tidmore         second base

Sylvester Donald     infield   

Jesse Townsend      pitcher

Paul Gilbert               first base 

Willie Washington.  third base and Manager

Aubrey Grigsby        pitcher 

John Winston           pitcher   

Palmer Hubbard      outfield 

Irvin Little                  pitcher   

Frank Marsh             outfield 

Ira Mc Knight             catcher   

An interesting footnote to the 1959 Kansas City Monarchs team is that it included one player who was at the end of a Hall of Fame career and another young player who was just starting a career that would lead him to the Major Leagues. Willard “Homerun” Brown who started his Negro League career in 1934 played in the 1959 Monarchs outfield. Willard “Homerun” Brown was inducted to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2006. George Spriggs who was barely nineteen years old, would go on to play for five years in the Major Leagues with the Pittsburgh Pirates and Kansas City Royals. 

Very little is known about the Newark Indians. It is very possible that they did not even play a full schedule during the 1959 season.

Ben Adams

Jessie Mitchell