- 1969
- 1973
- 1985
- 2003
- 2015
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Kansas City Royals Team Formation
When the Kansas City Athletics moved to Oakland after the 1967 season, Kansas City was left without major league baseball or, for the first time since 1883, professional baseball at all. An enraged Senator Stuart Symington threatened to introduce legislation removing baseball’s antitrust exemption unless Kansas City was granted a team in the next round of expansion. Major League Baseball ... -
Kauffman Stadium Opens
Kauffman Stadium was built specifically for baseball during an era where building multi-sport “cookie-cutter” stadiums were commonplace. It is often held up along with Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles as one of the best examples of modernist stadium design. It is one of two ballparks in the American League to currently be named after a person (Ewing Kauffman), the other ... -
World Series Winner 1985
In the 1985 World Series against the cross-state St. Louis Cardinals (nicknamed the “I-70 Series” because the two teams are both located in the state of Missouri and connected by Interstate 70, the Royals again fell behind 3–1. The key game in the Royals’ comeback was Game 6. Facing elimination, the Royals trailed 1–0 in the bottom of the ninth ... -
David Glass Ownership
David Glass became the interim CEO and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Royals on September 23, 1993, following the death of the founding owner, Ewing Kauffman. Under Glass’s leadership, the board cut the payroll budget from $41 million to $19 million. During the Major League Baseball strike of 1994 – 1995, Glass opposed any settlement with the ... -
World Series Winner 2015
The 2015 World Series was the 111th edition of Major League Baseball’s championship series, a best-of-seven playoff between the National League (NL) champions New York Mets and the American League (AL) champions Kansas City Royals. The series was played between October 27 and November 1, with the Royals winning the series 4 games to 1. It was the first time ...
History of the Royals
The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expansion franchise in 1969 and has played in four World Series, winning in 1985 and 2015, and losing in 1980 and 2014.
The name "Royals" pays homage to the American Royal, a livestock show, horse show, rodeo, and championship barbeque competition held annually in Kansas City since 1899, as well as the identical names of two former Negro league baseball teams that played in the first half of the 20th century. (One was a semi-pro team based in Kansas City in the 1910s and 1920s that toured the Midwest and a California Winter League team based in Los Angeles in the 1940s that was managed by Chet Brewer and included Satchel Paige and Jackie Robinson on its roster.) The Los Angeles team had personnel connections to the Monarchs but could not use the Monarchs' name. The name also fits into something of a theme for other professional sports franchises in the city, including the Kansas City Chiefs of the NFL, the former Kansas City Kings of the NBA, and the former Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro National League.
Entering the American League in 1969 along with the Seattle Pilots, the club was founded by Kansas City businessman Ewing Kauffman. The franchise was established following the actions of Stuart Symington, then-U.S. Senator from Missouri, who demanded a new franchise for the city after the Athletics (Kansas City's previous major league team that played from 1955 to 1967) moved to Oakland, California in 1968. Since April 10, 1973, the Royals have played at Kauffman Stadium, formerly known as Royals Stadium.
Established
1969
City
Kansas City
League History
2000 – Present / Major League Baseball
1969 – 1999 / American League
Team History
1969 – Present / Kansas City Royals
Nickname
Royals – When Kansas City was awarded an expansion franchise in 1969, club officials chose Royals from more than 17,000 entries in a name-the-team contest. “Kansas City’s position as the nation’s leading stocker and feeder market and the nationally known American Royal Livestock and Horse Show.” Royalty stands for the best, that’s another reason.” Coincidentally, Kansas City’s Negro League team was nicknamed the Monarchs.
Championship
World Series 2
2015, 1985
Stadium
1973 – Present / Kauffman Stadium
1969 – 1972 / Municipal Stadium
Owner
2019 - Present / John Sherman
2000 – 2019 / David Glass
1993 – 2000 / Greater Kansas City Community Foundation
1969 – 1993 / Ewing Kauffman
To qualify as the greatest player for this team, the player must have played one season for this team. If not, we will remove the player.
* verifies that player has played for this team as an added player by a fan.
Retired Number
5 / George Brett
10 / Dick Howser
20 / Frank White
42 / Jackie Robinson
*Blue is this team’s history