· The Royals were established as an expansion franchise in 1969.
· They got their name from a name the team contest where the winner got the idea from the American Royal livestock show-horse show-rodeo and barbeque championship completion held annually since 1899 in Kansas City. There were also two teams in the Negro leagues with the same name.
· They play their games at Kauffman stadium which is located in Kansas City, Missouri.
· They have made the playoffs eight times with one wild card berth and seven divisional titles.
· They have won four AL Pennants and two World Series Championships in 1985 & 2015.
Batting Lineup:
1. LF Willie Wilson
2. CF Amos Otis
3. 3B George Brett
4. 1B Mike Sweeney
5. DH Hal McRae
6. RF Carlos Beltran
7. 2B Frank White
8. C Darrell Porter
9. SS Freddie Patek
Starting Rotation:
2. Kevin Appier
4. Mark Gubicza
Bullpen:
1. Closer: Dan Quisenberry
4. Steve Farr
5. Doug Bird
Bench:
OF-Johnny Damon
OF-Jermaine Dye
INF-Cookie Rojas
INF-Joe Randa
Coaching Staff:
Manager-Ned Yost
Ned Yost managed the Royals for ten seasons where he finished with the most wins with 746. He guide them to one wild card berth, one divisional title, two AL Pennants and one World Series Championship in 2015.
Bench Coach-Whitey Herzog
Whitey Herzog managed the Royals for five seasons where he finished with the second most wins with 410, was elected into the Hall of Fame in 2010 and is in the Royals Hall of Fame. He guided them to three divisional titles.
1B Coach-Dick Howser
Dick Howser managed the Royals for six seasons where he finished with the third most wins with 404, is in the Royals Hall of Fame and they retired his number 10. He guided them to two divisional titles, one AL Pennant and one World Series Championship team in 1985.
3B Coach-Tony Muser
Tony Muser managed the Royals for six seasons where he finished with the fourth most wins with 431.
Hitting Coach-John Wathan
John Wathan managed the Royals for five seasons where he finished with the fifth most wins 287. He worked as a coach, a triple AAA manager and had a two winning seasons finishing second both times. He also played ten seasons for them where he was on one World Series Championship team in 1985.
Pitching Coach-Bob Lemon
Bob Lemon managed the Royals for three seasons where he finished with the eight most wins with 207. He started off as the pitching coach and guided them to their first winning season which got him second place in AL Manager of the Year voting. He was elected into the Hall of Fame in 1976 for his career as a pitcher.
Bullpen Coach-Jack McKeon
Jack McKeon managed the Royals for three seasons where he finished with the seventh most wins with 215. He guided them to 88 wins in one season.
There have been eight Hall of Fame players who have played for them at different points in their respective careers. They have retired two numbers for players and one number for a manager.
George Brett spent twenty one seasons in the infield for the Royals as their greatest player/greatest/longest tenured third basemen where he put up numbers that speak for themselves that got him elected into the Hall of Fame in 1999, is in the Royals Hall of Fame and they retired his number 5. He made all thirteen of his All-Star appearances, won three batting titles, won all three silver sluggers, won his only gold glove, won the 1980 AL MVP, won one ALCS MVP and was on one World Series Championship team in 1985. He also finished as the franchise leader in many offensive categories in Royals history like having the most games played, at bats, plate appearances, runs scored, hits, total bases, doubles, triples, home runs, RBIs, walks, singles, extra base hits, highest offensive WAR and highest WAR for position players.
Mike Sweeney spent thirteen seasons in the infield for the Royals as their greatest/longest tenured first basemen where he made all five of his All-Star appearances, was the their captain for five seasons while there and is in the Royals Hall of Fame. He currently works as a special assistant to baseball operations for them. He also finished in the top 10 for many offensive categories in Royals history like having the second highest slugging percentage, second most home runs, third highest batting average, fifth highest offensive WAR, fifth most RBIs, sixth most extra base hits, walks and doubles to name some.
Frank White spent eighteen seasons in the infield for the Royals as their greatest/longest tenured second basemen where he made all five of his All-Star appearances, won his only silver slugger, won all eight of his gold gloves, one ALCS MVP, was on one World Series Championship team in 1985 while there, is in the Royals Hall of Fame and they retired his number 20. He worked as first base coach, minor league manager, front office member and a broadcaster for them. He also finished in in the top 10 for many offensive categories in Royals history like having the highest defensive WAR, second most games played, at bats, plate appearances, hits, third most singles, extra base hits, total bases and doubles to name some.
Willie Wilson spent fifteen seasons in the outfield for the Royals where he made both of his All-Star appearances, won his only gold glove, won both of his silver sluggers, won one batting title, led the AL in stolen bases once, was on one World Series Championship team in 1985 while there and is in the Royals Hall of Fame. He also finished in the top 10 for many offensive categories in Royals history like having the most stolen bases, second most triples, singles, third highest offensive WAR, third highest WAR for position players, third most runs scored, fourth most hits and at bats to name some.
Hal McRae spent fifteen seasons in the outfield for the Royals where he made all three of his All-Star appearances, won his only silver slugger, led the AL in RBIs, was on one World Series Championship team in 1985 while there and is in the Royals Hall of Fame. He also managed them for four seasons. He finished in the top 10 for many offensive categories in Royals history like having the second most extra bases hits, RBIs, doubles, fourth most walks, total bases, triples, plate appearances, games played and fourth highest offensive WAR to name some.
Amos Otis spent fourteen seasons in the outfield for the Royals as their greatest center field where he made all three of his All-Star appearances, stole five bases in a game, led the AL in doubles twice, won all three of his gold gloves, led the AL in stolen bases once while there and is in the Royals Hall of Fame. He also finished in the top 10 for many offensive categories in Royals history like having the second highest offensive WAR, second highest WAR for position players, second most runs scored, total bases, walks, stolen bases, third most RBIs, home runs, triples, hits, plate appearances, at bats and games played to name some.
Carlos Beltran spent seven seasons in the outfield for the Royals where he made one of his nine All-Star appearances and won AL Rookie of the Year while there. He also finished with the fourth highest slugging percentage, seventh most triples, stolen bases, seventh highest offensive WAR, seventh highest WAR for position players and tenth most runs scored in Royals history.
Darrell Porter spent four seasons behind the plate for the Royals as their greatest shortstop where he made three of his four All-Star appearances, was the sixth catcher to have 100 RBIs-100 runs scored and is one of two catchers with 100 walks-100 RBIs-100 runs scored in a season while there. He also finished with the fourth highest on base percentage in Royals history.
Freddie Patek spent nine seasons in the infield for the Royals as their greatest/longest tenured shortstop where he made all three of his All-Star appearances, hit for the cycle, led the AL in triples, led the AL in stolen bases once while there and is in the Royals Hall of Fame. He also finished with the third highest defensive WAR, third most stolen bases, eight most runs scored, walks, games played, ninth most plate appearances, tenth most at bats and singles in Royals history.
Bret Saberhagen pitched eight seasons for the Royals as their greatest pitcher where he made two of his thee All-Star appearances, won two AL CY Young Awards, won his only gold glove, led the majors in wins once, led the AL in ERA once, pitched a no-hitter, won one World Series MVP, was on one World Series Championship team in 1985 while there and is in the Royals Hall of Fame. He also finished in the top 10 for many pitching categories in Royals history like having the second highest WAR for pitchers, third most complete games, fourth most shutouts, strikeouts, fourth lowest ERA and fifth best win-loss percentage to name some.
Kevin Appier pitched thirteen seasons for the Royals where he made his only All-Star appearance, led the AL in ERA once while there and is in the Royals Hall of Fame. He also finished in the top 10 for many pitching categories in Royals history having the highest WAR for pitchers, most strikeouts, fourth most wins, innings pitched and games started to name some.
Dennis Leonard pitched twelve seasons for the Royals where he was the only Royals pitcher to have three 20-win game seasons, led the AL in wins once while there and is in the Royals Hall of Fame. He also finished in the top 10 for many pitching categories in Royals history like having the most complete games, shutouts, second most wins, third most games started, innings pitched and strikeouts to name some.
Mark Gubicza pitched thirteen seasons for the Royals where he made both of his All-Star appearances, was on one World Series Championship team in 1985 while there and is in the Royals Hall of Fame. He also finished in the top 10 for many pitching categories in Royals history like having the second most strikeouts, innings pitched, games started, third most wins, shutouts and third highest WAR for pitchers to name some.
Paul Splittorff pitched fifteen seasons for the Royals where he was on five divisional winnings teams, one AL Pennant team while there and is in the Royals Hall of Fame. He also finished in the top 10 for many pitching categories in Royals history like having the most wins, innings pitched, games started, second most shutouts, complete games and fourth most games played to name some. Other notable starters in Royals history have been Steve Busby, Larry Gura, Al Fitzmorris, Dick Drago, Bud Black, Danny Jackson, Charlie Liendbrant, David Cone, Tim Belcher, Jeff Suppan, Gil Meche, Yordano Ventura, active players Zack Greinke and Danny Duffy.
Johnny Damon spent six years in the outfield for the Royals where he led the AL in stolen bases once and led the AL in runs once while there. He also finished with the sixth most triples, ninth most stolen bases and ninth highest batting average in Royals history.
Jermaine Dye spent five seasons in the outfield for the Royals as their longest tenured right fielder where he made one of his two All-Star appearances and won his only gold glove while there. He also finished with the seventh highest slugging percentage in Royals history. Other notable outfielders in Royals history have been David DeJesus, Lou Piniella, Raul Ibanez, Al Cowens, Bo Jackson, Kirk Gibson, Vince Coleman, Lonnie Smith, Reggie Sanders, Jeff Francoeur, Felix Jose, Danny Tartabull, Cesar Geronimo, Vada Pinson, Pat Kelly, Jorge Orta, active players Alex Gordon, Lorenzo Cain and Melky Cabrera.
Cookie Rojas spent eight years in the infield for the Royals as their second greatest/second longest tenured second basemen where he made four of his five All-Star appearances while there and is in the Royals Hall of Fame.
Joe Randa spent eight seasons in the infield for the Royals as their second greatest/second longest tenured third basemen where he had six hits one game, scored six runs in a game and set the record for most consecutive errorless games for a third basemen in Royals history. He also finished with the ninth most doubles, tenth most total bases, RBIs and extra base hits in Royals history. Other notable infielders in Royals history have been Billy Butler, John Mayberry, Wally Joyner, Bob Oliver, Ken Harvey, Matt Stairs, Willie Aiken, Steve Balboni, Jeff Conine, Bill Buckner, Jose Lind, Omar Infante, Mark Grudzielanek, Jose Offerman, UL Washington, Kurt Stillwell, Greg Gagne, Rey Sanchez, Neifi Perez, Angel Berroa, Yuniesky Betancourt, Paul Schall, Dean Palmer, Mark Teahen, Kevin Seitzer, Gary Gaetti, active players Eric Hosmer, Kendrys Morales, Alcides Escobar, Whit Merrifield and Mike Moustakas.
John Buck spent six seasons behind the plate for the Royals as their second greatest catcher. Other notable catchers in Royals history have been Buck Martinez, Mike MacFarlane, Bob Boone, Jim Sundberg and Ellie Rodriguez.
Dan Quisenberry was the Royals closer for ten seasons where he all three of his All-Star appearances, led the AL in saves five times, won reliever of the year five times, was on one World Series Championship team in 1985 while there and is in the Royals Hall of Fame. He also finished in the top 10 for many pitching categories in Royals history like having the lowest ERA, second most games finished, saves and games played to name some.
Jeff Montgomery was the Royals closer for twelve seasons where he made all three of his All-Star appearances, led the AL in saves once, won reliever of the year once while there and is in the Royals Hall of Fame. He also finished in the top 10 for many pitching categories in Royals history like having the most saves, games played, games finished and third lowest ERA to name some.
Mike MacDougal was the Royals closer for six seasons where he made his only All-Star appearance while there. He also finished with the eight most saves and games finished in Royals history.
Steve Farr was the Royals closer for six seasons where he was on one World Series Championship team in 1985 while there. He also finished with the second lowest ERA, fourth best win-loss percentage, sixth most games finished and night most saves in Royals history.
Doug Bird was the Royals closer for six seasons where he was on three divisional title teams while there. He also finished with the fifth most saves, games finished, sixth best win-loss percentage, ninth lowest ERA and tenth most games played in Royals history.
Tom Burgmeier was the Royals closer for five seasons.Other notable relievers in Royals history have been Ted Abernathy, Steve Mingori, Marty Pattin, Tom Gordon, Luke Hochevar, Al Hrabosky, Roberto Hernandez, active players Joakim Soria, Kelvin Herrera and Wade Davis.
