The KC Blues can trace its lineage back to the beginning of the league in 1989. The KC Blues were originally known as the Yuptown Bashers and were owned by a Oklahoma Health Department attorney by the name of Mike Wofford. The name Yuptown Bashers came from the fact that Mike lived in Edmond, Oklahoma - a town full of yuppies. Mike maintained sole ownership of the team through the 1991 season. In 1991, Mike moved to Bartlesville, Oklahoma, and changed the name of the team to the Green Country Bashers. Mike drafted as the first player picked by the Green Country Bashers, Ozzie Guillen.
In 1992, Mike added a co-owner to the Green Country Bashers, Leonard A. Solomon. Mr. Solomon was an Edmond resident and the former boss of the league's commissioner (Mountain). The partnership lasted through the 1993 season. Before the 1994 season Mr. Solomon, in a power struggle with Mike Wofford, took total control of the organization. In 1994, Mr. Solomon changed the name of the team to the Black Sox. The Black Sox were the worst team in League history, with a final total of 59.0 points.
Mr. Solomon abandoned the team after the Major League Baseball strike during the 1994 season. Before the start of the 1995 season the I (Brewmeister) was contacted by the league to take over this woeful organization. I cannot say why I was contacted and chosen to take over the team, but since my last fantasy league dissolved after the strike, I was eager to join a new league. I quickly changed the name of the team to the KC Blues for the 1995 season. I changed the team name because of my ties with Kansas City (I was born and raised there) and listening to my father and grandfather spin stories about the Blues and the NY Yankee farm system players who played there.
My tenure as the KC Blues owner has stabilized the organization. While the 1995 team ended in last place, the 1996 team came in third, the 1997 team came in second and the 1998 team won the league championship and the Commissioner's Cup, the first league championship in team history. Additional championships have been claimed by the Blues in 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2013 and 2016. My tenure as a league owner has not been without controversy and change.
I was the first team owner to trade a player in the current season for a draft pick in the next year draft, a practice that is ongoing today. I was the first owner to place National League players on his roster in the off season, as a hunch and a hope, that they would be added to an American League roster in the future. This practice became improper by the owners passing two rule changes before the 1997 season. (The rule changes are known as the "Brewmeister" rules). I continued such roster innovation in 1998 by intentionally placing a minor league player (Troy Glaus) on my roster before he had ever made the big leagues. While the move was not as successful as hoped (Troy did make the big leagues, but did not perform up to par), I do plan to make such roster moves in the future, unless there are further rule changes.
