Paducah Chiefs
The minor league baseball team that represented the city of Paducah, KY in the first half of the 20th century was called either the Paducah Chiefs or the Paducah Indians (save for one year as the Polecats and one year as the Red Birds) at various times during their existence. Chiefs was the moniker in 1903, 1911-12 and 1949-55. The name honors Chief Paduke the leader of a Chickasaw tribe of Native Americans in the area that were friendly to the settlers of the area in the early 19th century. A monument to Paduke is in the center of Paducah.
Save for two seasons in the Mississippi-Ohio Valley League, the Paducah Chiefs played all of their time in the KITTY League, a Class D league that consisted of teams from Kentucky, Illinois, and Tennessee that spanned the first half of the 20th century.
The Chiefs won the 1913 KITTY League pennant with an excellent 80-47 record. They would be pretty successful throughout their run in the 1950s as well, winning 67 games a few times. However, they wouldn’t win another title until the KITTY League dissolved in 1955, a bitter sweet way to win a title. They finished 64-39 and were declared champions with less wins than Mayfield but a better winning percentage.
During their run the Paducah Kitty League team produced several future major leaguers, including:
Ben Tincup – A Native American of the Cherokee tribe, Tincup pitched for the Philadelphia Phillies in 1913-14 & 1918, then came back the majors a full ten years later and pitched a handful of innings for the Chicago Cubs n 1928. Tincup pitched into his 40’s, appearing for Paducah in 1937, 1939, and 1941. That last season he was 48 years old! He finished up his 30 year minor league career in 1942 with a career mark of 250-195 with a 3.45 ERA in 3761 innings pitched. He was a pretty fair hitter as well posting a.275 career batting average.
Jim Frey – This future AL Pennant winning manager played his first year of minor league baseball with the Paducah Chiefs (that year playing in the Midwest League) as an outfielder. He posted a .325 batting average in over 400 plate appearances as a 19 year old. An arm injury kept him from making it the majors, but he spent several productive years in AAA baseball and posted a .305 career batting average in over 1500 minor league games. His real fame however, came as the manager of the 1980 AL Pennant winning Kansas City Royals. He had picked up a World Series ring in 1970 as a coach for the Baltimore Orioles.
Grover Land – While not the most accomplished major leaguer, he might have been one of the more interesting characters that Paducah produced. A catcher from Frankfort, KY, Land played his first year of minor league baseball in Paducah in 1904. By 1908 he had made it the majors as a light hitting, but tough defensive, backup catcher with the Cleveland Naps. His major league career would wrap up with two years playing for the Brooklyn Tip-Tops in the Federal League. According the Society of American Baseball Research, Grover Land was a fighter both on and off the field. Players claimed he was the toughest catcher in the majors at the time to try to slide into home plate on. He was arrested in 1911 for assaulting the keeper of the gate at Cleveland’s ballpark for not letter two of his friends in. The same year he was arrested in Frankfort, KY for shooting the keeper of a Greek Restaurant (he survived)! In 1926 his wife claimed he fired a revolver at her during a dispute (he missed). Land spent several years as a major league coach for the Cubs and Reds.
