A Twin Bill Of Baseball Visits To Legends Field, Home Of The Kansas City Monarchs

Last week, during my work trip to Kansas City, I had two opportunities to visit Legends Field, home of the Kansas City Monarchs. The Monarchs name should sound familiar to baseball fans. The KC Monarchs of the Negro Baseball Leagues were one of the cornerstone franchises of that league for decades. The current Monarchs honor their legacy and tradition, keeping the name, and are now playing in the American Association of Professional Baseball. The current Monarchs make their home in nearby Kansas City, Kansas at Legends Field, just about a half hour from where the original Monarchs played their home games in Kansas City, Missouri. Monday night, I had a chance to tour the perimeter of Legends Field, as the gates were closed to the public.

I took a spirited walk around the Legends Field parking lot and got what I could view wise. Monday was an extremely hot day and with a full week of work ahead, I was happy just making one loop around the park. I got some really great photos of the exterior, front gate area, and the stadium map. All check marks as far as I was concerned and I left Legends Field with a very positive feeling.

A good friend of mine, Joe Dimino, works in and calls Kansas City, MO home. Joe and I have worked together on a number of projects, most notably the Dwight “Doc” Gooden push to Cooperstown. Joe and I have remained good buddies through text and email, social media, but had never met in person. With my trip to Kansas City booked months in advance, I messaged Joe about getting together when I got into town. And as luck would have it, Joe mentioned that the Kansas City Monarchs would be playing a home game, a playoff game on Thursday of my work trip. So, when Thursday arrived, I purchased a ticket, and looked forward to attending the game with my good friend.

As I typically do, I arrived at Legends Field Thursday night a little under an hour before first pitch (6:35pm). I wanted to get my perimeter walk around and take some photos of the inside of Legends, since I already had photos of the exterior from my Monday visit. I walked the entire perimeter, starting at home plate, stopping at a few of the KC Monarchs (original) commemorative plaques, and finishing back at home plate. Once back at home plate, I texted Joe to let him know I was in the building. He responded, “me too, over at the batting cages in right field.”

I stopped in at each of the plaques, which were really well done. Having just visited the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum on the trip, I recognized a few of the names right away. And those I didn’t know much about, I spent a little more time with. I loved that the past met the present at Legends Field, as the current Monarchs honored great Monarch players of the past.

Joe and I shook hands like old high school buddies. He then introduced me to his son, Miles, who was collecting autographs from Monarch players and coaches in the right field batting cage area. Then, we found a comfortable spot and started a nearly 7 inning conversation. We tackled a ton of stuff in a 2 hour period – family, sports, some politics, our careers, our wives, and of course, Dwight Gooden. I excused myself a few times to head back behind home plate and over to the third base side to get some game footage photos. Joe stayed behind to keep one eye on the game and one on Miles.

I actually ran into someone else I knew at the game. This person I had just met the day before. An older gentleman named Cliff, who was a representative at National Car Rental, with whom I rent when I am on the road. I had an issue with my rental, National asked me to return it for another vehicle, and Cliff was part of the team at the KC International Airport National location that provided me with excellent customer service. While at National, I saw a KC Monarchs jacket and mentioned I would be going to the game with a buddy. It was Cliff’s jacket and he told me which section he was working and said “stop by if you have time” at the game. So, I did just that. And I had a great conversation with my new buddy Cliff at the game. Pretty cool running into two people at a stadium I had never been to.

After returning to spend a few more innings with Joe and Miles, I took a look at the time, and realized I had a very early flight to get some rest for. I thanked Joe for an awesome game, for the great conversations, the chance to meet Miles, and for our friendship over the past year or so. I took one more photo behind home plate before heading out. I had been to Legends Field twice during my work trip to Kansas City and loved both visits. I got to watch a fantastic playoff game and chat a ton of baseball with Joe. For me, it was an incredible Kansas City baseball experience visiting Legends Field, home of the Kansas City Monarchs in beautiful Kansas City, Kansas, USA.

Fast forwarding a bit to today, the Kansas City Monarchs not only won that game, but have since won the 2026 American Association of Professional Baseball championship! Huge congratulations to the Monarchs on an incredible season.