BY JIM MISUNAS
jmisunas@gbtribune.com

The last names of Gilbert, Livingston, Johnson, Craig, Bondurant, Powell, Artz, Russell and Rugress comprised the 1926 Great Bend town baseball team that challenged the powerhouse Kansas City Monarchs, an all-black baseball team.
Narrator Phil Dixon entertained an appreciative crowd Wednesday night at the Barton County Historical Society with stories about the Kansas City Monarchs, the longest-running franchise in baseball’s Negro Leagues. Kansas City Wyandotte graduate Dixon grew up collecting baseball cards and has enjoyed a lifetime love of the game.
“I was an encyclopedia of baseball because I owned so many baseball cards,” Dixon said. “I learned a lot from reading the back of the baseball cards.”
Gavyn Maddox, 7, was the youngest person to attend.
Great Bend’s baseball team played the Monarchs from 1926-1928 when baseball’s racist beliefs didn’t allow blacks to compete in the major leagues. Dixon believed the Monarchs showcased some of the best baseball players in America. They were compared with the New York Giants and New York Yankees, the best teams in the major leagues.
“It was the golden age of town-team baseball. The Monarchs would play town baseball teams and turn that into a paying proposition,” Dixon said. “They would make more money in a smaller town like Great Bend. The town teams often featured players in their 30s and 40s.”
A crowd of 1,500 was reported in 1926 at the Fairgrounds Park. The Monarchs won 23-2.
In 1927, the Monarchs won 18-11. Great Bend’s new players in the lineup in 1927 were Dressen, Chalfant, Tony and F. Thielan, Locke, Carroll and Faler.
In 1928, Kansas City won 7-2 at East Side Park. Great Bend’s lineup featured newcomers Larry Thielan, Wonley, Banks, Grill, Helfrich and Butler.
Several audience members knew where the old baseball fields were located.
The Monarchs also played baseball in Great Bend in 1952 and 1954 against the Indianapolis Clowns.
The Monarchs played against some of the most famous athletes in America — Babe Ruth, Grover Cleveland Alexander, Olympian Jim Thorpe and Hall of Famer Babe Didrickson Zaharias.
Two people in the audience had personal encounters with baseball Hall of Famer Leroy “Satchel” Paige, who led the Monarchs to the 1942 Negro League World Series. Paige was the oldest rookie and oldest player in the major leagues. On town tours, Paige would have his infielders sit down and then routinely strike out the side.
Dixon authrored a tribute on Paige’s tombstone at Forest Hill Cemtery in Kansas City, Mo.:
“He began work carrying suitcases at Mobile Union Station and devised a sling harness for hustling several bags at once. The other Red Caps said he looked like a walking Satchel Tree. Thus Leroy became Satchel and Satchel became a legend.”
The Monarchs captured three Negro League World Series and qualified for the championship round several other times. The team disbanded in 1965.
Dixon was inspired to go on the road when he heard of Russell native Bob Dole’s plans to visit all 105 Kansas counties.
“I wanted to go back to 90 cities where the Monarchs played,” Dixon said. “When I saw Bob Dole, age 94, in a wheelchair, saying he was going to go to every county in Kansas and thank them for his political career. I knew if Bob Dole could do that, I had no excuse.”
In 1930, the Monarchs became the first professional baseball team to use a portable lighting system which was transported from game to game, five years before lights arrived in the major leagues. The Monarchs were also the first baseball team to travel across the country in a bus.
“Baseball is a unifying factor,” Dixon said. “Last spring, I was in Kansas City, the Donald Trump supporters were on one side and Trump protesters at the other end. But they were all wearing Royals hats and T-shirts.”
Dixon ended his presentation with a brief poem, “The Stars That Did Not Shine,” that paid tribute to players who missed their chance to play major league baseball.
“We played for love and played for pride.
“You know how bad it feels when your best is not good enough.
“Some stars don’t shine. Some were born too soon.
“Please remember all those brown-faced pros — The Stars That Did Not Shine.”