The Kansas City Royals have had some success in recent years, winning their second World Series title in 2015. The Royals were founded in 1969 as an AL expansion team and were given their nickname to pay homage to the American Royal rodeo, livestock and horse show, and barbecue championship that has been held in Kansas City since 1899. The Royals are also a nod to the two Kansas City Royals Negro League ball clubs that played in the 1910s-1920s and 1940s. The name was actually selected from a contest that allowed fans to name the team, with “Royals” chosen as the winner out of more than 17,000 entries.
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Royals History
The Royals played the first few years of their existence at Kansas City Municipal Stadium before the team moved to Kauffman Stadium, also known as “The K.” The stadium was formerly named Royals Stadium before it was renamed in 1993 after Ewing Kauffman, the founder, and first team owner. Kauffman Stadium also holds the distinction of being the sixth-oldest stadium in Major League Baseball and has hosted the All-Star Game twice, the most recent one being in 2012.
Pennants
The Royals had a lot of early success in its first two decades of existence, making the postseason seven times and winning the West division six times before 1985 when the Royals won the World Series with a seven-game upset over the St. Louis Cardinals. Following the World Series title, the Royals would not make the postseason in the following 28 seasons until finally breaking in with a Wild Card berth in 2014, which ended with a trip to the World Series, where they would lose to the San Francisco Giants in seven games. The Royals would win its first Central Division title the following year and return to the World Series, where this time the club would win the Fall Classic over the New York Mets to bring a second title back to Kansas City, its first in 30 years.
Hall of Famers
One of the most famous Royals in the Baseball Hall of Fame is third baseman George Brett, who was inducted into the Hall in 1999 on the first ballot. Brett spent his entire 21-year career with the Royals and was a part of that 1985 World Series team. He is also the only player in Major League Baseball to win a batting title in three different decades (1976, 1980, 1990) and was named to 13 All-Star Games. Brett also leads all third basemen in major league history with 3,154 career hits, which is 16th among all hitters. He is also just one of four players who have finished their major league careers with more than 3,000 hits, 300 home runs and a batting average of .300.
Second baseman Frank White is also another beloved Royals, appearing in 1,914 games together with Brett, which stood as a record until 1995. During his 18 years with the Kansas City Royals, White helped the club win the 1985 World Series, batting cleanup in the Fall Classic. He finished his career hitting .255 with 160 home runs and 886 runs batted in and his number has since been retired by the team.
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