Kansas City Royals
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The Kansas City Royals are a Major League Baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. They are in the Central Division of the American League.
- Founded: 1969 (American League expansion)
- Home ballpark: Kauffman Stadium (part of the Truman Sports Complex)
- Uniform colors: Royal Blue, black, and white
- Logo design: Entwined "KC" on a blue shield topped with a gold crown
- Wild Card titles won (0): none
- Division titles won (7): 1976, 1977, 1978, 1980, 1981, 1984, 1985
- American League pennants won (2): 1980, 1985
- World Series championships won (1): 1985
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Franchise history
The Kansas City Royals were purchased as an expansion franchise by pharmaceutical magnate Ewing Kauffman in 1968 and played their first season the following year. Early Royals stars included 1969 Rookie of the Year Lou Piniella, Amos Otis, Paul Splittorff, Cookie Rojas and Hal McRae. In 1971, the Royals had their first winning season, with manager Bob Lemon guiding them to a second-place finish.
In 1973, the Royals moved from Kansas City Municipal Stadium to brand-new Royals Stadium (now Kauffman Stadium). The stadium, which featured deep outfield walls and artificial turf, gave future stars such as George Brett and Frank White their first break as many of Kansas City's veteran players had difficulty playing on turf. The Royals quickly became successful, winning three straight division championships from 1976 to 1978 under manager Whitey Herzog.
The Royals (led by manager Jim Frey) made their first World Series appearance in 1980, losing to the Philadelphia Phillies in six games. That same year, Brett flirted with a .400 batting average and won his second batting title.
In 1983, the Royals were headed for a second-place finish behind the Chicago White Sox when they were rocked by a drug scandal. Leadoff hitter and center fielder Willie Wilson, power-hitting first baseman Willie Aikens, power-hitting outfielder Jerry Martin, and starting pitcher Vida Blue, who had been released on August 5, were charged with attempting to purchase cocaine. The four were charged in October 1983, pleaded guilty, spent three months in prison (becoming the first active players in sports history to serve a prison sentence) and were suspended by commissioner Bowie Kuhn for the entire 1984 season. The four appealed and were permitted to return on May 15. In response to the scandal, owner Ewing Kauffman founded the Ewing Marion Kauffman foundation to give back to the community, allowed Martin to depart via free agency and traded Aikens, retaining only Wilson's services.
The youth movement paid off more quickly than expected. Relying again on Brett's bat and the young pitching of Bret Saberhagen, Mark Gubicza and Danny Jackson, the Royals won their fifth division championship in 1984 (although they were swept by the eventual World Champion Detroit Tigers in the American League Championship Series) and went all the way to the World Series again in 1985 under manager Dick Howser, beating the cross-state St. Louis Cardinals in the so-called I-70 Series in seven games.
1987 proved to be a rather bittersweet season for the Royals. The Royals won 83 out of 162 games (a seven win improvement from 1986). The Royals wound up finishing only two games behind the eventual World Champion Minnesota Twins in the Western Division. But sadly on June 17, 1987, Dick Howser passed away after a year long battle with brain cancer. Howser's #10 soon became the first number that the Royals ever retired.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the Royals developed young stars such as Bo Jackson and Kevin Seitzer and made some free-agent acquisitions but always fell short of their early success. Most of the team's highlights centered around the end of Brett's career, such as his third and final batting title in 1990, which made him the first player to win batting titles in three different decades, and Brett's 3,000th hit.
The 1993 death of Ewing Kauffman left the franchise without permanent ownership until Wal-Mart executive David Glass purchased the team for $96 million in 2000. Escalating salaries made it difficult for the Royals to keep their young stars, and the small-market club usually chose to trade players such as Kevin Appier, Johnny Damon and Jermaine Dye, for whatever they could get rather than lose them to free agency.
In 2003, manager Tony Peña, in his first full season with the club, guided the Royals to their first winning record since the strike-shortened 1994 season.
Picked by many to win their division in 2004 after faring surprisingly well in the free agent market, the Royals got off to a disappointing start and by late June were in rebuilding mode, releasing veteran reliever Curt Leskanic before financial incentives kicked in and trading veteran reliever Jason Grimsley and superstar center fielder Carlos Beltrán for prospects, all within a week of each other.
In 2005, the Royals continued their youth movement, with six of their starting position players, three of their five starting pitchers, and their setup man and closer all under age 30 and one of the smallest payrolls in the major leagues. After a disappointing start for the second straight season, Tony Peña resigned May 10, 2005 as manager after a 8-25 record. The Royals then named bench coach Bob Schaefer interim manager up until May 31, 2005, the day the Royals announced that Buddy Bell would manage for the Royals. Schaefer would end up having a 5-12 record in 17 games managed. After Bell's hiring, Schaefer was moved back to the bench coach position.
Players of note
Baseball Hall of Famers
Royals Hall of Fame
- 1986
- 1987
- 1989
- 1992
- 1993
- 1994
- 1995
- 1996
- 1998
- 2000
- 2003
- 2004
- 2005
Current 25-man roster (updated on June 21, 2005)
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Pitchers
Catchers |
Infielders
Outfielders
Disabled list
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- Manager
- 25
Buddy Bell
- 25
- Coaches
- 44 Bob Schaefer (bench)
- 26 Andre David (hitting)
- 49 Brian Poldberg (bullpen)
- 18 Billy Doran (first base/infield)
- 55 Guy Hansen (pitching)
- 17
Luis Silverio (third base)
- 61 Rubén Rodríguez (bullpen catcher)
- 44
Not to be forgotten
* Manager
** Owner
Retired numbers
- 5 George Brett
- 10 Dick Howser
- 20 Frank White
- 42 Jackie Robinson (retired throughout baseball)
Single Season Records
- Batting average: George Brett, .390 (1980)
- Home runs: Steve Balboni, 36 (1985)
- Runs batted in: Mike Sweeney, 144 (2000)
- Runs: Johnny Damon, 136 (2000)
- Hits: Willie Wilson, 230 (1980)
- Singles: Willie Wilson, 184 (1980)
- Doubles: Hal McRae, 54 (1977)
- Triples: Willie Wilson, 21 (1985)
- Extra-Base Hits: Hal McRae, 86 (1977)
- Stolen bases: Willie Wilson, 83 (1979)
- Hitting streak: George Brett, 30 games (1980)
- Walks: John Mayberry, 122 (1973)
- Strikeouts: Bo Jackson, 172 (1989)
- Pitching wins: Bret Saberhagen, 23 (1989)
- Pitching strikeouts: Dennis Leonard, 244 (1977)
- Pitching ERA: Roger Nelson, 2.08 (1972)
- Pitching saves Jeff Montgomery and Dan Quisenberry, 45 (1993 and 1983)
External link
- Kansas City Royals official web site (http://kansascity.royals.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/kc/homepage/kc_homepage.jsp)
de:Kansas City Royals ja:カンザスシティ・ロイヤルズ sv:Kansas City Royals