Municipal Stadium ( Kansas City ) Kansas City Municipal Stadium was a baseball and football stadium that formerly stood in Kansas City , Missouri . It hosted the minor league Kansas City Blues of the American Association from 1923 to 1954 and the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro Leagues during the same period . The stadium was razed and rebuilt prior to the 1955 baseball season and hosted the Kansas City Athletics of the AL from 1955 to 1967 , the Kansas City Royals of the AL from 1969 to 1972 , and the Kansas City Chiefs of the AFL and NFL from 1963 to 1971 , as well as other short - lived professional teams . Early history . Municipal Stadium was originally built as Muehlebach Field in 1923 for the minor - league Blues for $ 400 , 000 . It was named for Blues owner George E . Muehlebach , who also owned Muehlebach Beer and the Muehlebach Hotel . It was located in the inner city neighborhood near 18th and Vine to house the minor league white Kansas City Blues baseball team and the Negro League Kansas City Monarchs . The first Negro League World Series game was held at the stadium in 1924 . Today , the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum is a few blocks from the site . The stadium consisted of a single - decked , mostly covered , grandstand extending from the right field foul pole down around most of the left field line . When the New York Yankees bought the Blues for their farm system in 1937 , the stadium was renamed Ruppert Stadium in honor of the Yankees owner , Col . Jacob Ruppert . Ruppert died two years later , and the stadium was renamed Blues Stadium in 1943 . Rebuilding . When Arnold Johnson bought the Philadelphia Athletics from Connie Mack in November 1954 , he announced that he would move the team to Kansas City . He had purchased Blues Stadium a year earlier , but sold it back to the city . Muehlebach built Blues Stadium in 1923 with footings sufficiently strong to support a second - deck . However , when renovation work on Blues Stadium began to add a second - deck , it was discovered that the footings were not strong enough . City officials elected to raze Blues Stadium and rebuild from scratch . The city ran three - shifts and the new stadium was built in 90 - days , completed in time for the April 1955 opening . The new construction was financed by a bond issuance . The Braves Field scoreboard was purchased and moved to Kansas City and temporary bleachers were added in the left field corner and parts of the outfield . Kansas City Athletics . Municipal Stadium was home to many of the shenanigans of Charlie Finley , who bought the A ' s after Johnson ' s death in 1960 . Most notably , he tried to shorten the rather distant fences by creating a 296 - foot ( 90 m ) " Pennant Porch " in right - field , fronting a tiny bleacher section , to mock the famed short fence in right field at Yankee Stadium , home of the powerful Yankees . The move was quickly vetoed by the league . So Finley rebuilt the fence to the bare legal minimum of 325 feet ( 99 m ) , and repainted the fence to say " One - Half Pennant Porch " . Later he tried the ruse of putting a canopy over the little bleacher , which just happened to have an extension that reached out 29 feet over the field . The league , not amused by Finley ' s sense of humor , again ordered him to cease and desist . According to legend , on a road trip that the A ' s made to New York , a Yankee hitter lofted a long fly ball to left field which , in the cavernous left field of Yankee Stadium , became a routine out . Yankees public address announcer Bob Sheppard is alleged to have then said over the microphone , " In Kansas City , that would have been a home run " , itself a response to Finley ' s dictum for Municipal Stadium public address announcer Jack Layton to announce , " That would have been a home run at Yankee Stadium " for any ball hit beyond a line Finley painted in the outfield grass 296 feet away from home plate in Kansas City . In addition to his notorious tinkering with the right field corner , Finley experimented with moving the other fences in and out several times during his seven seasons operating the team here . None of those moves had any notable effect on the team ' s performance , as the club finished in or near last place nearly every year . A small zoo with goats and sheep and picnic area stood behind the right - field fence . When home runs were hit into the field the goats and sheep would scamper up the hill . At the same time , Finley replaced the Athletics ' old elephant mascot with a live mule , appropriately named " Charlie - O " . At home plate a mechanical rabbit , nicknamed " Harvey " in reference to the stage play and film " Harvey " , rose out of the ground with new baseballs for the umpire and a compressed - air device ( nicknamed " Little Blowhard " ) blew dirt off of home plate . During the years when two major league All - Star Game s were scheduled each year instead of one , Municipal Stadium hosted the first of the two 1960 games , with the NL winning the contest 5 - 3 . On September 17 , 1964 , The Beatles played Municipal Stadium as part of their first U . S . tour . The date was originally supposed to be an off - day for the band , but they agreed to perform when Finley offered their manager , Brian Epstein , a then - record sum of $ 150 , 000 . The group opened the concert by saluting the host town with their medley of " Kansas City " and " Hey , Hey , Hey , Hey " . Kansas City Chiefs . When the Dallas Texans of the AFL moved to Kansas City in 1962 , becoming the Kansas City Chiefs , Municipal Stadium was readied for football . Temporary stands were erected in left field to expand the stadium ' s capacity each fall , but had to be removed during the baseball season . The double - decked grandstand extended all the way across the south sideline ( first base line of the baseball field ) , but ended halfway around the west end zone ( third base on the baseball diamond ) . Both teams ' benches were on the north sideline in front of the temporary bleachers , as was the case at other baseball stadiums converted to football use such as Milwaukee County Stadium , Metropolitan Stadium , Tiger Stadium and Wrigley Field . The east end zone ended at the right field fence , and the large scoreboard was in this end of the stadium . Due to the fence , there was significantly less room between the end line and the fence of the east end zone than there was in the west end zone , where there was a significant amount of room between the end line and the grandstand . The Chiefs ' final game at Municipal Stadium was played on Christmas Day 1971 . The ( a loss to the Miami Dolphins ) remains the longest game in NFL history . This classic was the only post - season football game ever played at Municipal Stadium . Kansas City Royals . As Municipal Stadium aged , it became clear that new facilities would be needed , and public bonds were issued in 1967 to fund a complex including separate football and baseball stadiums . It came too late for the A ' s , however , as they moved to Oakland after the 1967 season . Instead , Kansas City was awarded a new American League team for 1969 , and the Royals used Municipal Stadium as a temporary home . After the 1972 baseball season , Municipal Stadium was replaced by the Truman Sports Complex . The new arenas included therein were Royals Stadium for the Kansas City Royals , and the adjacent Arrowhead Stadium for the Kansas City Chiefs . Municipal Stadium was demolished in 1976 , and replaced by a municipal garden . Currently , the former ballpark site is being redeveloped with new single family homes .