Kansas City Royals History

Kansas City Royals Baseball History

Kansas City Royals, professional baseball team and one of five teams in the Central Division of the American League (AL). Named after Kansas City’s annual American Royal Livestock Parade and Pageant, the club plays at Ewing Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri, and wears uniforms of white and blue.

In the years after the club entered the AL in 1969, the Royals were one of the most successful expansion teams in major league history. The club won four division titles and one pennant in its first 12 seasons. The key to Kansas City’s success during the 1970s and 1980s was third baseman George Brett. One of the most versatile offensive performers of his era, Brett won three batting titles, collected 3,154 hits, and compiled a .305 batting average during his 21-year career with the Royals. The franchise dominated its division during the 1980s and won its first World Series championship in 1985. In addition to Brett, the club’s lineups in the 1980s featured Amos Otis, Frank White, Freddie Patek, Willie Wilson, and pitchers Dan Quisenberry and Bret Saberhagen. Quisenberry led the league in saves five times during the 1980s.

In 1969, two years after Kansas City lost its major league club, the Athletics, to Oakland, pharmaceuticals millionaire Ewing Kauffman was awarded an American League franchise. Kauffman wasted little time in creating the Kansas City Royals. During the team’s first year of play outfielder Lou Piniella won the 1969 AL rookie of the year award. Two years later the Royals stole a league-high 130 bases.

In 1973 rookie George Brett joined Amos Otis and John Mayberry in the Royals’ lineup, which was backed by strong pitching from Steve Busby, Dick Drago, and Paul Splittorff. Brett won his first of three AL batting titles in 1976, and under manager Whitey Herzog the Royals captured the first of three consecutive division championships. In the AL Championship Series, however, the Royals lost to the New York Yankees three years in a row. First-year manager Jim Frey steered Kansas City to the club’s first pennant in 1980. Brett had a sensational year, hitting .390, driving in a league-high 118 runs, and winning the AL most valuable player (MVP) award. Although the Royals swept the Yankees in the AL Championship Series, the team fell to the Philadelphia Phillies in the World Series.

The team won another division title in 1984 but lost to the eventual World Series champion Detroit Tigers in the AL Championship Series. A year later, manager Dick Howser harnessed Kansas City’s power hitting, base-running prowess, and pitching to defeat the cross-state rival St. Louis Cardinals in the 1985 World Series. Pitcher Bret Saberhagen finished the year with a 20-6 win-loss record and won the first of his two AL Cy Young Awards while with the team.

Saberhagen’s second Cy Young Award came in 1989, when he posted a 23-6 record. Also that year, multitalented football running back Bo Jackson had his finest season as a professional baseball player, finishing the year with 32 home runs and 105 runs batted in (RBIs). The Royals’ domination of their division ended in the 1990s, although in 1994 David Cone won the AL Cy Young Award and designated hitter Bob Hamelin was named AL rookie of the year. The team struggled during most of the mid- and late 1990s.
CHAMPIONSHIPS

1985 - Defeated St. Louis in 7 games
Won the AL Pennant in 1980 and 1985
TOP MANAGER
Whitey Herzog led the Royals to three straight division championships from 1976-78 and finished with a 410-304 record. Dick Howser managed Kansas City to its only World Series Championship in 1985 and finished with a 404-365 record.

MVP
George Brett (1980)

CY YOUNG
Bret Saberhagen (1985, 1989), David Cone (1994)

ROOKIE OF YEAR
Lou Piniella (1969), Bob Hamelin (1994), Carlos Beltran (1999)

RETIRED NUMBERS

5 - George Brett (3B)
10 - Dick Howser (Mgr)
20 - Frank White (2B)