1933 Wichita Waterworks

Kansas’ first state baseball championship was won in 1867 by Leavenworth with the team awarded a silver baseball that today is in the Kansas State Historical Society’s vault in Topeka.  By 1933 the sport had grown to become true a statewide event with a 32-team state tournament in Wichita.  

During this depression era, the promotional genius of Hap Dumont became apparent as there were 40 teams wanting the 32 slots.  Dumont staged a playoff that started three days before the state tournament.  Mixed in was another playoff for the Wichita city championship in which Wichita Waterworks beat the Wichita Stockyards team two games to none to enter the state tournament.

About a third of the players in the state tournament were former professionals like Max Thomas, who had pitched five seasons with the Kansas City Blues and would return to the high minors to finish a 19-year minor league career.  

Pitching for Waterworks, Thomas stuck out 15 in his start against the Stockyards then won four more games in the tournament, five victories within 14 days.  

The toughest competition for the Water team was the all-black Arkansas City Beavers, whose lineup was sprinkled with active Kansas City Monarchs.

Waterworks won the state championship in five games, winning $1,799 (equal to $41,000 today) as its prize.  With city and state championships in a two-week stretch, Wichita Waterworks is among the best amateur teams in Kansas’ history.