History of the Dodge City A's
Amateur baseball in Dodge City has been around for nearly a century as it dates back to at least 1933 when the Dodge City Cowboy's played in the Ban Johnson League. The Ban Johnson League was an amateur organization for youths under the age of 21 and consisted of 19 teams divided into three divisions. The Central Division consisted of Beloit, Concordia, Fairbury (Neb), Junction City, Beatrice (Neb), Manhattan and Marysville. In the Western Division was Dodge City, Garden City, Larned, Liberal and Pratt. In the Southeastern Division was Coffeyville, Fort Scott, Humboldt, Independence, Iola, Parsons, and Pittsburg.
Despite semi-professional baseball being played prior, the Dodge City A's were first affiliated with the National Baseball Congress starting in 1971. In their first two seasons as the A's, they accumulated a 42-24 record overall with two top four finishes at the NBC State Tournament. This success was sustained for just over a decade in the 1970s into the early 1980's. Year after year, Dodge City was the home to some of the finest summer baseball in the country as it racked up wins to go along with three NBC World Series appearances in their first 10 seasons.
During their first decade of existence, Dodge City saw big names come through like Vic Bernal, Marty Castillo, Jeff Dedmon, Ted Power, Steve Lyons, Mickey Tettleton, Mark Davidson, and Jim Eppard that all broke into Major League Baseball during their professional careers. Other notable names included Tom and Dave Holliday who helped manage the A's in 1978 and 1979 and now have quite the baseball family! And then you have big names that are also local legends like Brent Kemnitz and Lon Kruger. Kemnitz pitched for the A's and later went on to a hall of fame coaching career as the pitching coach at Wichita State. Kruger played short stop for the A's before switching his focus over to the basketball court where he had quite the coaching career with head coaching stints at Kansas State, Pan America, Florida, Illinois, the Atlanta Hawks, UNLV and Oklahoma.
While the first run of Dodge City A's baseball was coming to a close, the reboot of the program was unknowingly being shaped 160 miles east. At the same time this chapter was coming to a close in 1981, future Dodge City A's manager, Phil Stephenson, was building his own HOF baseball career at Wichita State where he still holds multiple NCAA records before playing four season of Major League Baseball between the Chicago Cubs and San Diego Padres. He would be the first manager for the A's when they returned in 2007.
Despite just over a decade long of success, the A's organization stopped playing following the 1981 season. Then after a 25 year hiatus from the A's, thanks to the board of directors, the A's returned in the summer of 2007 as a part of the Jayhawk League. It did not take long and the A's were back to bringing in some of the best up and coming baseball players from the college ranks. To this day, there have been more than 90 players and 3 managers that have played or managed for the Dodge City A's that have gone on to professional baseball with 10 of them making it all the way to Major League Baseball.
Looking back on the history of the Dodge City A's, it is a truly incredible program to have in small town Kansas! As we continue to build on the legacy of the Dodge City A's, if you have any information on our history, please get in contact with us on our 'Contact Us' page!
Despite semi-professional baseball being played prior, the Dodge City A's were first affiliated with the National Baseball Congress starting in 1971. In their first two seasons as the A's, they accumulated a 42-24 record overall with two top four finishes at the NBC State Tournament. This success was sustained for just over a decade in the 1970s into the early 1980's. Year after year, Dodge City was the home to some of the finest summer baseball in the country as it racked up wins to go along with three NBC World Series appearances in their first 10 seasons.
During their first decade of existence, Dodge City saw big names come through like Vic Bernal, Marty Castillo, Jeff Dedmon, Ted Power, Steve Lyons, Mickey Tettleton, Mark Davidson, and Jim Eppard that all broke into Major League Baseball during their professional careers. Other notable names included Tom and Dave Holliday who helped manage the A's in 1978 and 1979 and now have quite the baseball family! And then you have big names that are also local legends like Brent Kemnitz and Lon Kruger. Kemnitz pitched for the A's and later went on to a hall of fame coaching career as the pitching coach at Wichita State. Kruger played short stop for the A's before switching his focus over to the basketball court where he had quite the coaching career with head coaching stints at Kansas State, Pan America, Florida, Illinois, the Atlanta Hawks, UNLV and Oklahoma.
While the first run of Dodge City A's baseball was coming to a close, the reboot of the program was unknowingly being shaped 160 miles east. At the same time this chapter was coming to a close in 1981, future Dodge City A's manager, Phil Stephenson, was building his own HOF baseball career at Wichita State where he still holds multiple NCAA records before playing four season of Major League Baseball between the Chicago Cubs and San Diego Padres. He would be the first manager for the A's when they returned in 2007.
Despite just over a decade long of success, the A's organization stopped playing following the 1981 season. Then after a 25 year hiatus from the A's, thanks to the board of directors, the A's returned in the summer of 2007 as a part of the Jayhawk League. It did not take long and the A's were back to bringing in some of the best up and coming baseball players from the college ranks. To this day, there have been more than 90 players and 3 managers that have played or managed for the Dodge City A's that have gone on to professional baseball with 10 of them making it all the way to Major League Baseball.
Looking back on the history of the Dodge City A's, it is a truly incredible program to have in small town Kansas! As we continue to build on the legacy of the Dodge City A's, if you have any information on our history, please get in contact with us on our 'Contact Us' page!
NBC World Series Appearances
1973, 1979, 1980, 2012, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2025
