Independence Yankees

Baseball in Independence started with a team in the Kansas State League in 1896. From 1906 to 1911 Independence teams played in four leagues with four different nicknames. From 1921 to 1932, the Independence Producers played as members of the Southwestern League (1921–1924) and the Western Association (1925–1932). The 1921 Producers finished with an overall record of 100–38 and the team is ranked on the The National Baseball Association's top 100 minor league teams of all–time.[1][2] On August 9, 1908 Gene Packard pitched a perfect game for the Independence Jewelers against the Bartlesville Boosters, with 10 strikeouts.[3][4]

On July 2, 1930, Independence pitcher Colonel Bob House had nineteen strikeouts against the Springfield Midgets, which was a Western Association league record for strikeouts in a single game. Four days later the Producers had eight home runs in a game against the Muskogee Chiefs setting a league record.[5][6]

The Independence Yankees were formed in 1947 as an expansion team in the Kansas-Oklahoma-Missouri League. The franchise remained in the league as an affiliate of the New York Yankees (1947–1950) and St. Louis Browns (1952). The team did not play in 1951, and became the Independence Browns in 1952. The Kansas-Oklahoma-Missouri League permanently folded after the 1952 season.[7][8]

Beginning in 1921, Independence teams played at Riverside Stadium, located on East Oak Street. The stadium was later named Producers Park and Shulthis Stadium. Built in 1918 by A.W. Shulthis, the stadium reportedly hosted the first night game in organized baseball, on April 28, 1930. Now part of the athletic field for Unified School District 446, the original grandstand remained as part of a new multipurpose complex until it was demolished in 2015.[14][15][16][17][4]

Shulthis Stadium

Independence Yankees players
Independence Producers players
Independence Champs players
Independence Coyotes players