Category: Kansas City Monarchs

Playoffs begin Friday night in KCK

Joe Calfapietra, Kansas City Monarchs manager, was named manager of the year for the American Association of Professional Baseball.

The Monarchs set a franchise record for wins in 2021 and clinched the No. 1 seed in the American Association playoffs. The Monarchs will start postseason play at Legends Field in KCK at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 10, facing the Sioux City Explorers.

Calfapietra claims the award for the second time since taking over the Kansas City franchise’s “top step” in 2017. He won the award following the 2018 championship season.

“It’s always nice to get acknowledged by your peers for the work you’ve done, but this award is truly because of the hard work and determination of our players, coaching staff and athletic trainer on a daily basis,” Calfapietra said.

“I’m so fortunate to have great people around me not only on the field but also in the front office and ownership. This is truly a team award that I am so happy to share with my organization for all the accomplishments we have achieved to this point in our 2021 campaign,” Calfapietra added.

Calfapietra is the first manager in franchise history to finish .500 or above in back-to-back seasons. He has since taken that two steps further, doing it for four straight seasons. No other manager in franchise history has had more than one season above .500.

On July 29 he passed Al Gallagher in wins in franchise history with 218, coming after a 10-6 win over Houston at Legends Field in KCK.

Calfapietra has instilled a philosophy of building his teams through helping his players seek positions back in affiliated baseball.

That philosophy has led to 21 players having their contracts transferred off the roster, including 10 since opening day and four members of the starting rotation from June 5 to 17. Despite the numbers, the Monarchs still have a league high in players transferred and also a league high in wins.

“We are so proud of what Joe has accomplished. Our entire organization shares in this excitement. Joe’s passion and leadership is part of what makes the Monarchs special in Kansas City,” Monarchs owner Mark Brandmeyer said.

Calfapietra was named the sixth manager in the club’s history on Nov. 30, 2016. Calfapietra is in 21st season as a manager, all at the independent level.

The 2021 team set a franchise record for wins at 69 and for games above .500 at 38, also a franchise high. The Monarchs won their second straight American Association Southern Division regular season title, clinching in a win over Kane County on Aug. 26.

The 2019 season was a memorable one for the Pennsylvania native. He guided the club to another winning record of 58-42, the third straight winning record and above .500 finish for KC. He added a Southern Division title, something the franchise had not achieved in the American Association.

That moved the team into the postseason for the second straight season, and he reached his milestone 1,000th win on July 29 in game one of a doubleheader at St. Paul. He joined the 1,000-game winner fraternity that includes St. Paul Manager George Tsamis, former Fargo boss Doug Simunic, current Gary Manager Greg Tagert, and third-year Chicago Dogs Manager Butch Hobson.

In 2018 Calfapietra was named the American Association manager of the year after leading Kansas City to a 62-37 record and a playoff berth as the second-place finishers in the south division. He led the team to their first title as members of the American Association and the third in franchise history.

“I would also like to thank my family for the sacrifices they have to make, being without their father and husband during the season is never easy,” Calfapietra said.

Prior to his arrival in Kansas City, Calfapietra spent 14 seasons as the manager of the New Jersey Jackals of the Can-Am League. While in New Jersey, only four of those 14 teams did not reach the postseason.

The Jackals won the league championship in 2004, at the end of Calfapietra’s second season in New Jersey, and then his teams reached the league championship series in five consecutive seasons, 2011-2015.

The Monarchs will start postseason play at Legends Field on Friday, Sept. 10, facing the Sioux City Explorers. The first pitch Friday is at 7 p.m., and the game can be heard on the Monarchs Broadcast Network with the pre-game beginning 30 minutes prior to first pitch and the video stream airing on aabaseball.tv.

Postseason tickets can be purchased by calling 913-328-5618 or by visiting monarchsbaseball.com/tickets.

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The Kansas City Monarchs, fresh off a 69-31 record-breaking season, have announced that Monarchs’ second baseman Ryan Grotjohn and outfielder Gaby Guerrero have been named to the 2021 American Association All-Star Team.

Ryan Grotjohn, a native of Phoenix, Arizona, hit .329 for Kansas City with 10 home runs and 60 RBI. Playing primarily at second base and batting second in the lineup, Grotjohn swiped 12 bases in 12 tries this season.

He finished seventh at the plate in the American Association this season and slashed a line of .329/.436/.523. Grotjohn was second on the team in average, and he led the team with six triples this season. He added 29 multi-hit games, placing him third on the Monarchs and was the team co-leader along with Darnell Sweeney in runs scored with 76. He trailed only Gaby Guerrero in hits with 109.

Grotjohn was drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 10th round of the 2017 draft out of California State University Bakersfield. He spent three years in the Arizona system after playing four seasons at Bakersfield in the Western Athletic Conference.

Gaby Guerrero led the Monarchs with 86 RBI and 127 hits this past season. A native of the Nizao, Dominican Republic, and a member of the Guerrero baseball playing family, he hit 18 home runs and was second on the team in runs scored with 73.

His 86 RBIs tied him for third in the American Association. His 37 multi-hit games led the Monarchs in 2021, and his 86 RBIs place him fifth in the franchise in single-season RBI totals. Guerrero also had 398 at bats, placing him fifth in franchise history for a single season. For the season Guerrero slashed a line of .319/.355/.485. He makes his home in Paradise Valley, Arizona.

Guerrero played 14 games with the Cincinnati Reds in 2018, and his cousin, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., of the Toronto Blue Jays, is an All-Star as well. His uncles are Vladimir Guerrero and Wilton Guerrero, both former big leaguers. Guerrero came to KC after spending time with the Seattle, Cincinnati, Arizona and Miami organizations.

“We are very happy to announce that Ryan and Gaby are All Stars. Both players had outstanding years, and the honor is very well deserved,” said Monarchs manager Joe Calfapietra.

Both players were part of an offense that finished second in the league at the plate with a .389 average and rewrote the record book for home runs in the league in a season at 147, shattering the old mark of 128. Kansas City led the league in runs scored at 664.

Kansas City had the best record in the American Association at 69-31 and set a franchise record in wins and games above .500.

The Monarchs will start postseason play at Legends Field on Friday Sept. 10, facing the winner of the play-in game between the Sioux City Explorers and Cleburne Railroaders on Wednesday Sept. 8. The first pitch Friday is at 7 p.m. and the game can be heard on the Monarchs Broadcast Network with the pre-game beginning 30 minutes prior to first pitch and the video stream airing on aabaseball.tv.

Post-season tickets can be purchased by calling 913-328-5618 or by visiting monarchsbaseball.com/tickets.

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The Kansas City Monarchs (67-31) kept the Cleburne Railroaders (54-44) at an arms’ length all night in a 6-3 win in the heart of Texas on a Saturday.

Kansas City got on the board early with a second-inning sacrifice fly by Charcer Burks to send Ibandel Isabel home from third to give starter Justin Shafer a lead.

Shafer threw three innings of one hit, one run ball before the Monarchs turned a tied ball game over to Carson LaRue, who surrendered two runs on two hits in three innings.

Isabel had a two-run home run in the fourth to put the Monarchs back in the lead for good. He became the eighth Monarch to hit at least 10 home runs this season.

The Monarchs added another in the sixth when Colin Willis slapped an RBI single to score Gaby Guerrero.

Cleburne got a pair back to make it a one-run game in their half of that inning on a D.J. Peterson two-run shot off LaRue to make the Monarchs sweat; however, they wouldn’t sweat for long. Guerrero hit a single that sent home Morgan McCullough from third and Ryan Grotjohn from second in the seventh to erase the Peterson homer and bring the Monarch lead back to three.

The Railroaders gave Carlos Diaz a little trouble in their half of that inning with runners on first and second, but Diaz finally got Lago to fly out on a 10-pitch at bat.

Kansas City turned to Jameson McGrane out of the bullpen to close out the win and record the save against the heart of the Cleburne order.

The Monarchs have no more regular-season home games, but as the South Division champions, they will hold games in the postseason.

The remaining road games can be heard on the Monarchs Broadcast Network with the pre-game beginning 30-minutes prior to first pitch and the video stream airing on aabaseball.tv. The teams will play game three of the series at 6:05 p.m. Sunday.

Post-season tickets can be purchased by calling 913-328-5618 or by visiting monarchsbaseball.com/tickets.

• Story from Kansas City Monarchs