Our Story
“KO Bar & Grill reflects reinvigorated North Buffalo neighborhood”
In the summer of 2016, Kevin Osinski purchased the building at 2263 & 2265 Delaware Ave. Buffalo. The building, built in 1925, was originally home to a grocery and liquor store. The owners had mirror apartments on the second floor and an attached garage where the current patio and parking area are located. The first floor was previously the home to several bars and the home to Gordons when purchased five years ago.
Est. 2016
KO Bar & Grill opened on October 24, 2016, after a summer of intense renovation to the bar area. New bathrooms were installed, the kitchen updated and numerous improvements to the bar area.
Since opening the following updates have occurred, new windows were installed on Delaware with sliders to allow great airflow, the basement beer cooler was expanded and a new compressor installed to guarantee cold beer, the parking area received new concrete and a rear building patio, protected from the wind, was installed. In the past several years, the brick wall along Tioga has been replaced, windows updated and painted. As the building approaches 100 years of age, it has received almost a complete update.
Jimmy Collins' Wake
Born James Joseph Collins in 1870 in Niagara Falls, Collins moved at an early age to South Buffalo and later to Black Rock. He starred as an athlete at St. Joseph's College, the forerunner of St. Joe's Collegiate Institute & began his professional career with the Buffalo Bisons of the Eastern League, (the current International League) in 1893.
Collins made his major league debut with the National League Boston Beaneaters in 1895 & led the team to the National League Championship in 1897 (.346 Average/estimated 136 RBIs) & 1898 (.328 average/league-leading 15 HRs).
Jimmy was a founding member of the Players Protective Association in 1900 (the first player's union) serving as Boston player representative.
Collins became the player/manager of the Boston Americans of the fledgling American League in 1900 and led the team to a 2nd place finish in 1901, 3rd place in 1902 (while batting .332 & .322 respectively), and the American League pennants in 1903 & 1904. He led the Americans to victory over the National League's Pittsburgh Pirates in the 1st ever World Series in 1903.
During his 14 year professional career, he revolutionized 3rd base play & is viewed in many baseball circles as the greatest 3rd baseman of all time.
He currently ranks 2nd all-time in put-outs by a 3rd baseman (2,394), trailing only Baltimore's Brooks Robinson (2,712), who played in over 1,100 more games than Collins.
In 1922, Collins became President of the Buffalo Municipal Baseball Association, serving 22 consecutive terms. He grew the "Muny League" into the largest city-run amateur baseball league in the country. Muny ball helped blossom the careers of future Hall of Famer Warren Spahn, NYG P. Sal Maglie, Cle. OF Richie Manning, Det. 3B Phil Mankowski & NYM P. Kevin Kobbel, all Muny League alums
His wake in March of 1943, attracted former teammates & players to his house on Crestwood Avenue in North Buffalo, resulting in a 3-day binge of stories and toasts to "the Skipper". The drunken marathon was made famous by the 2013 Dropkick Murphys' Song, "Jimmy Collins' Wake."
Jimmy Collins was the first 3rd baseman inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1945. He was later a founding inductee of the Western New York Sports Hall of Fame, a member of the Buffalo Baseball Hall of Fame & was named as one of the 10 best athletes in Buffalo History by the Buffalo News in 2016.
Hertel NorthPark Youth Baseball League, which is located at Shoshone Park, has a youth baseball tournament every Memorial Day weekend, honoring Jimmy Collins. The tournament has become a fixture of summer youth baseball activity at Shoshone Park.
