Frank Wickware: From Girard, Kansas to Schenectady, New York

Information for this article provided courtesy of Phil Dixon.

Phil Dixon’s visit to Girard for a Humanities Kansas Speakers Bureau presentation begins an unforgettable week commemorating a Negro League legend from Kansas: Frank E. Wickware.

A writer for the 1930 Chicago Defender advised its readers that “Dick “Cannon Ball” Redding and others of days gone by had plenty of speed, but Frank Wickware, speed ball artist from Coffeyville, Kansas, was recognized as the king until LeRoy “Satchel” Paige arrived on the scene with his fastball.” Nearly every baseball fan has heard of Paige; few remember Wickware  until now.

Born in Girard, Kansas, on March 18, 1889, Frank E. Wickware's beginnings were humble.  In 1905, his family moved to Coffeyville, Kansas, where he began playing baseball. He quickly established a legacy in baseball starting well before the Negro Leagues organized in 1920 by playing professionally for the Muskogee Reds, Dallas Giants, Lincoln Giants, Chicago American Giants, the Schenectady Mohawk Giants, and many others. His winters were spent playing baseball in Cuba and California. He reigned as one of the premier pitchers in baseball from 1907 to 1921. In 1910, his first year with “Rube” Foster’s Chicago Leland Giants, he won 40 games and tossed a no-hitter. Hall-of-fame pitcher Walter Johnson, who battled his fellow Kansan several times, stated, “Wickware is the very best in the game. I am tempted to say the greatest of all time, but that might not be doing justice to Christy Matthewson and a few of the other old-timers.” Frank also fought in WWI. He passed away on November 2, 1967, at age 79, in Schenectady, New York, his final resting place.

Recognition for Frank Ellis Wickware, a two-city event, kicks off in Kansas with Baseball Dixon’s Speakers Bureau presentation “The Kansas City Monarchs and America’s National Pastime” at the Girard Public Library on Saturday, March 22, 2025. Dixon’s presentation will incorporate Wickware’s early years in Girard and career highlights. At the end of the presentation, Dixon will receive a Mason jar of Girard dirt that he will take to New York for a presentation there the following week.

Dixon will then travel to New York where he presents on Wickware and Negro Leagues baseball at the Public Library in Albany, New York, on March 27.The following day, Friday, March 28, Dixon will spread the dirt from Wickware’s hometown around his monument at the Vale Cemetery in Schenectady, New York, during a noon program. In this program, he will say a few words and play taps on his trumpet to honor the famous athlete.  

Follow Dixon’s incredible journey on his Facebook page. Kansas nonprofits can bring Dixon’s presentation “The Kansas City Monarchs and America’s National Pastime” to their community for free. Find out how.