The Omaha area enjoys a rich history and tradition in professional baseball, dating back to the first team in 1879. Over that span, the teams have played in various ballparks in the area, including two seasons in Council Bluffs.
Some of Omaha’s first teams in the late 1890s played at a park at 20th and Paul Streets in Omaha. The 1889 Omahogs team won the Western Association pennant behind future Hall of Fame pitcher Kid Nichols, who won 39 games.
Soon after the turn of the 20th century, the Western League team began playing at the privately-owned Rourke Park, which was named after the owner of the team and the park, William “Pa” Rourke. The park later was named Western League Park and the wooden grandstand could seat up to 7,000 fans.
There were four pennant-winning teams in the Western League, but the Depression years took their toll on the owners. When the park burned down in August, 1936, it marked the end of professional baseball in the Omaha area for over a decade.
Immediately following World War II, organized baseball enjoyed a period of growth and popularity and there was interest in the city earning a berth in the Triple-A American Association. Without a stadium, however, there was little chance for obtaining a team.
While stadium plans progressed, North Omaha banker Bob Hall purchased a franchise in the revived Class A Western League in December, 1946. Hall secured a working agreement with the St. Louis Cardinals, but his team had to play two years, in 1947 and 1948, at Council Bluffs’ Legion Park at 35th and Broadway, until Omaha’s new municipal stadium was ready for use.
The Omaha Cardinals finally moved into their new $1.1 million stadium for the 1949 season. The Cardinals played through 1954 in the Western League, winning pennants in 1950 and 1951. Then, in 1955, the shifting of major league franchises created an opening for Omaha in the American Association. Still under the wing of the St. Louis Cardinals, Omaha played through the 1959 season.
After a one-year absence from baseball, the Los Angeles Dodgers put a farm club in Omaha for the 1961 and 1962 seasons before the American Association was disbanded.
Omaha was without professional baseball until the revival of the American Association in 1969 and the city became the top farm club of the expansion Kansas City Royals. The Royals and the city have been in partnership for 41 consecutive seasons, attracting over 11 million fans and sending hundred of players into the major leagues. The Royals captured 11 division or league titles in the old American Association and another in the Pacific Coast League.
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History