{{Use American English|date=March 2026}} {{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}} {{Infobox baseball team |name = Monroe Monarchs |cap_logo = |logo = |established = |disbanded = 1932 |city = Monroe, Louisiana |league = *Texas–Louisiana Negro League (1931) *Negro Southern League (1932) |nickname = |ballpark = *Casino Park (1931-1932) }} The '''Monroe Monarchs''' were a professional baseball team based in Monroe, Louisiana, which played in the Negro leagues from the late 1920s to about 1935, mostly as a minor league team loosely associated with the Kansas City Monarchs.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Complete Book of Baseball's Negro Leagues: The Other Half of Baseball History |last=Holway |first=John |year=2001 |publisher=Hastings House Publishers |location=Fern Park, Florida |isbn=0-8038-2007-0 |page=284}}</ref> The team was created by Fred Stovall, a Texan oil drilling millionaire, who later financed the Negro Southern League. In the 1930s, a time of acute segregation in most of the U.S., the team's games were watched by crowds of black and white people alike. Hall of Famer Hilton Smith played for the team.
==History == When the team first formed it played in the semi-pro Dixie League until Stovall formed the Negro Southern League, with four other teams in 1932. The NSL is considered a major league that year, since it was the only organized league to complete the 1932 season. The Monarchs finished with a 26–22 record in their only season they were considered a major league team, and did not qualify for any post-season play-off.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Complete Book of Baseball's Negro Leagues: The Other Half of Baseball History |last=Holway |first=John |year=2001 |publisher=Hastings House Publishers |location=Fern Park, Florida |isbn=0-8038-2007-0 |page=292}}</ref>
The team played in Casino Park in Monroe, at what became 29th and Hope. It was {{convert|360|ft|m|abbr=off}} in left, {{convert|450|ft|m|abbr=off}} in center and {{convert|330|ft|m|abbr=off}} in right.<ref>{{harvnb|Lowry|2006|pp=135–136}}</ref> Built on Stovall's plantation, the park and its associated recreational facilities (including a swimming pool and a dance pavilion<ref>{{harvnb|Peterson|1970|p=122}}</ref>) were considered some of the finest in the league.<ref>{{harvnb|NLBPA}}</ref>
Stovall accommodated the players in houses on his plantation, provided a cook to prepare their meals, and bought three brand-new Ford cars in 1932 for the team's travel.<ref>Black Ball News (1993)</ref>
The team disbanded soon after 1935<ref>Deduction from lack of references after 1935</ref> and in 1937 Casino Park was leased to a local white team—the Monroe Twins who became the Monroe White Sox in 1938—who played in the Cotton States League.<ref>{{harvnb|Peterson|1970|p=122}}</ref>
== Historical marker ==
In the summer of 2010, the Monroe Monarchs Field was opened to the public in Monroe, Louisiana. At the opening, the Monroe Monarchs Historical Foundation unveiled a historical marker dedicated to the former Negro league team.{{Citation needed|date=May 2024}}
==Notable alumni== {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center |- ! colspan=4|Monroe Monarchs Hall of Famers |- !Inductee !Position !Tenure !Inducted |- | Willard "Home Run" Brown || OF || 1934–1935 || 2006 |- | Hilton Smith || P || 1932–1935 || 2001 |} *Barney "Big" Morris *Red Parnell
==See also== *List of Negro league baseball teams
==Notes== {{reflist}}
==References== * 'Interview with Marlin Carter', ''Black Ball News'' (1993) cited at [https://web.archive.org/web/20050418224802/http://www.monroemonarchs.org/team_roster.html 'Team History', ''Monroe Monarchs Historical Foundation'' (2005)]. Retrieved July 24, 2005. * {{cite web |title=Monroe: Casino Park |website=Negro League Baseball Players Association |url=http://nlbpa.com/ballparks/monroe.html |access-date=December 20, 2023 |ref={{sfnref|NLBPA}} }} Information credited to Paul Letlow. *Loverro, Thom; Fields, Wilmer. ''Encyclopedia of Negro League Baseball'' * {{cite book |last=Lowry |first=Philip J. |title=Green Cathedrals: The Ultimate Celebration of Major League and Negro League Ballparks |date=2006 |publisher=Walker Publishing |isbn=9780802715623 }} * {{cite book |last=Peterson |first=Robert W. |title=Only The Ball Was White: A History of Legendary Black Players and All-Black Professional Teams |location=New York |publisher=Prentice-Hall |date=1970 |isbn=9780195076370}} * {{cite book |last=Robinson |first=Frazier |date=1999 |others=Foreword by John O'Neil |title=Catching Dream: My Life in the Negro Baseball Leagues |publisher=Syracuse University Press |isbn=0815605633 |ref=none}}
==External links== {{Negro league team|sh=MRM |br=MRM }}
{{Negro Southern League (1920–1936)}} {{Negro League teams}}
Category:Negro league baseball teams Category:Professional baseball teams in Louisiana Category:Sports clubs and teams in Monroe, Louisiana Category:Defunct baseball teams in Louisiana Category:Baseball teams disestablished in 1932 Category:Baseball teams established in 1932 Category:1932 establishments in Louisiana Category:1932 disestablishments in Louisiana