Frank Isbell

Born in New York in 1875, Frank Isbell’s contribution to Kansas baseball came later in his life, after a productive major league career.

Isbell, nicknamed “The Bald Eagle,” spend one season with the Chicago Orphans of the National League in 1898.  He moved cross town and played with the White Sox from 1901-09.  Isbell led the American League in steals with 52 in 1901 and was the second baseman for the 1906 “Hitless Wonders” that beat the Cubs in the World Series.  Isbell hit .308 in the World Series with a record four doubles in a single game.

Isbell was mostly a utility player and played all nine position during his ten years in the major leagues.  For his career, he hit .250 with 253 stolen bases.

Isbell owned a farm in Wichita and threatened to leave the major leagues to manage the Wichita team in the Western Association.  Following his retirement, he did that.  He played first base, managed and was part owner of the Wichita Jobbers in 1910 and 1911.  After moving the team to Pueblo, Colorado and Des Moines, Isbell returned to Wichita in 1917.

At one point, the team was referred to as the Izzies.  They won the Western League in 1921.  He retired from running the team in 1926 and scouted for several years before becoming president of the Topeka Senators, also of the Western League, in 1931.

In the late 1930s, Isbell returned to Wichita and worked for the City’s recreational department.  In 1940, he was elected to the City Commission and died in office in 1941 at the age of 65,

For more, read Frank Isbell’s Society for American Baseball Research bio.