After 18 years as the Kansas City T-Bones, the independent minor league baseball team out of Kansas City, Kansas rebranded as the Kansas City Monarchs ahead of the 2021 season.
With a new marketing slogan of "Reign Reborn," the franchise set about the season and indeed lived up to the line with hands-down the most impressive season in franchise history.
The Monarchs set American Association records by bashing 147 homers and scoring 664 runs over their 100-game season. On top of that, Kansas City posted a league-best and franchise-record 69 wins, they ripped through a dominating playoff run with a 6-0 record, outscoring their opponents 59-20 along the way.
Unsurprisingly, the clincher was a laugher free of drama, as the Monarchs scored three runs in the third, and two each in the fifth and sixth innings to put the game out of reach. The Monarchs used four scoreless innings from four relievers to close out the 8-1 win, with closer Jameson McGrane notching the final out on a comebacker.
From there, the party was on, which of course included the time-honored tradition of spraying victory champagne:
Later on, American Association commissioner Josh Schaub joined the celebration to present the American Association Finals MVP trophy to Gabby Guerrero, who went 6-for-14 with six RBI in the series, capping a postseason where he batted .519 with one homer, 13 RBI in just six games.
Following that, the Miles Wolff Cup was presented by Schaub to Monarchs owner Mark Brandmeyer, who capped off his first year owning the team in style:
Afterwards, series MVP Gabby Guerrero spoke about his series, as well as a key three-run double he hit that kicked off the scoring in the decisive Game 3:
Manager Joe Calfapietra also talked about the special season his club had, as well as how rewarding the title is after the 2020 season was wiped away:
The championship is the third for the franchise, having previously won the Northern League in 2008 and the AA in 2018 under the T-Bones banner.
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