KANSAS CITY MONARCHS (at-large team)
The Kansas City Monarchs Baseball Club- established in 2010 by GM/Manager, Jonathan Krysa. The team is comprised of mostly ex-collegiate baseball players from NCAA, NAIA, and Junior College programs with a few ex-pros. The average age of our roster is about 30 years of age and ranges from young 20’s to 40’s. The KC Monarchs competes annually in the Kansas City Amateur Baseball Association (KCABA) which is an 18+ adult wood bat baseball league (Sundays) based around the KCMO metro from April through October. The KC Monarchs have won the KCABA league seven of the nine years competing. The KCABA is run by President: Jonathan Krysa. The KC Monarchs also has a team in the Kansas City Men’s Senior Baseball League (KCMSBL; Kansas) and they routinely finish as Champions on a yearly basis as well. The KC Monarchs annually attends a National Amateur Baseball Association (NABA) or Men’s Senior Baseball League (MSBL) World Series in Arizona in October and has claimed the Championship four times and runner-up twice in nine attempts.
The reason this team is named the KC Monarchs is solely in homage to the late Buck O’Neil who was a Kansas City Negro Leagues legend and one of the first black MLB managers and scouts in history. Jonathan Krysa, who at the time was playing professionally with the Kansas City T-Bones in 2006, was fortunate enough to be the starting pitcher of the 2006 Northern League All Star Game that took place at Community America Ball Park in Kansas City, KS. Buck O’Neil was a guest star batter of this game and the first batter Jonathan Krysa faced. After almost hitting the 95 year old in the head with a slow fastball with a Juan Marichal style wind-up, Jonathan proceeded to walk him. This incident made national news and even got the story on David Letterman. Not but a couple months went by after the All Star Game and Buck passed away on October 6th. That year, there was a petition going around to get him inducted into the MLB Hall of Fame but it didn’t pass. After Jonathan’s professional career ended in 2007, he wanted to continue to play, so he created this team in Buck O’Neil’s honor. The team also honors the late Jenese Lynn Krysa (Jonathan Krysa’s mother who passed away in 2015 due to cancer) with a “JK” patch on all jerseys.
The KC Monarchs had the vision to not only play in adult leagues around Kansas City but the team’s main purpose was to play the best competition available in the area. So Jonathan started to reach out to Missouri/Iowa/Nebraska/Kansas League (MINK) and Mid Plains League (MPL) teams to play as an independent opponent to help fill their open dates on their schedule. These games are the highlight of our summer. Since Jonathan Krysa played with the KC T-Bones for five seasons, he knew the front office well. Rick Muntean was the original GM of the T-Bones and when Rick moved to be the GM of the MINK St. Joe Mustangs, that relationship continued and that’s how the KC Monarchs started playing MINK league games in 2011. We started playing the Rossville Rattlers and the Topeka Golden Giants in 2012 before the Mid Plains League was formed. Every year since then, we routinely schedule several games against MPL and MINK league opponents. Since 2019, the KC Monarchs will play each of the Mid-Plains League teams for a Home and Away series set.
KCABA Spring Record (2010-2018): 169-20 (.894)
KCABA Champions: 2018, 2017, 2016, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2010
KCABA Fall Ball Champions: 2018, 2017, 2015, 2014
NABA World Series Champions: 2016 (25+), 2013 (25+), 2010 (18+)
NABA World Series Finalist: 2017 (25+), 2014 (25+)
NABA Denver Mile High Champions: 2018 (18+)
MSBL World Series Champions: 2018 (25+)
May 9, 2016: KC Monarchs WIN vs KC T-Bones (6-5)