Topeka Hawks

Baseball in Topeka, Kansas, goes back to 1886, when the Topeka Capitals of the Western League featured Bud Fowler, the first African-American player in organized baseball. The franchise carried a dozen names over the decades, and the Topeka Hawks were its 1950s edition. The Hawks played in the Class A Western League from 1956 to 1958 as a Milwaukee Braves affiliate, then moved to the Three-I League (the Illinois-Indiana-Iowa League) in 1959 as a Cincinnati Reds affiliate.

The team was renamed the Topeka Reds for 1960 and won the 1961 Three-I League pennant under manager Dave Bristol, with Tommy Harper named league MVP. The Three-I folded after 1961, and with it professional baseball in Topeka.