Royals History

The first season of new millennium brought more prospects and more hopes for the Royals. Young players like Johnny Damon, and Jermaine Dye carved a niche for themselves. The swelling salaries made it difficult for the Royals to keep their young stars. As a result, in the off-season the Royals sold Johnny Damon. The demise of Ewing Kauffman in 1993 left the team without any permanent ownership. In 2000 Wal-Mart executive David Glass bought the team for $96 million. The Royals finished the season with a 77-85 record. The Royals started 2001 the season with a poor performance on the field. The team’s plight worsened when they were forced to trade Jermaine Dye before the trade deadline. The Royals finished the season in last place with an awful 64-97 record. In 2002, Royals fired Manager Tony Muser, to be finally replaced by Tony Peña after Muser. The Royals were on their way to register 8th straight losing season Royals century mark in losses for the first time helped them to finish the season in 4th place with a 62-100 record.

The Royals started the 2003 season with a remarkable 16-3 start. But in the mid of the season most of the pitching star players were sidelined due to the injuries. It looked as if the Royals were once again ready to go to the cellar of discrepancy. However the team’s performance rebounded with the addition of Jose Lima who helped the Royals to improve their performance. But this stability was short-lived since, Jose Lima due to some injury was sidelined from the team. The Royals reacquire Kevin Appier to replace Lima, who had already proved his skills as a star pitcher for the Royals for a decade. The Royals finished the season in 3rd place with an 83-79 record. Angel Berroa became the Rookie of the Year, with 17 Homers and 73 RBI, with 92 runs scored. Encouraged by success in 2003, the Royals entered the 2004 season with new hopes. Slugger Juan Gonzalez and other veterans looked adamant to take the team to a winning spree with a division title. However the Royals awful performance in April immediately sank their playoff hopes and by the end of the season the Royals finished in last place with the franchise’s worst record at 54-108. The Royals started the 2005 season with all the players under the age of 30 and smallest payrolls in the major leagues. In May 2005, Buddy Bell was declared the new manager of the team.

The Kansas City Royals became a MLB team as a part of American League expansion. Pharmaceutical magnate Ewing Kauffman bought the team in 1968. The Royals made their major league debut in 1969. Prior to the Royals, the Athletics were based in Kansas City, who left the city in 1967 to play in Oakland. The Royals early line-up featured Lou Piniella, Amos Otis, Paul Splittorff, Cookie Rojas and Hal McRae. Under manager Bob Lemon, the Royals recorded their first second-place finish, which was certainly better than a last place finish particularly for an expansion franchise. In 1973, the Royals moved from Kansas City Municipal Stadium to newly built Royals Stadium (now Kauffman Stadium). The same season, third baseman George Brett joined the offensive threat of the team. He went on to become the most versatile performers not only of the team but also of the era. Backed by strong pitching from Steve Busby, Dick Drago, and Paul Splittorff, the team immediately became a success. They won three straight division championships from 1976 to 1978 under manager Whitey Herzog. In the AL Championship Series, the Royals lost the series to the New York Yankees three years in a row. The franchise ruled its division during the 1980s. Led by manager Jim Frey, the Royals won their first pennant in 1980. However in the postseason appearance the team fell to the Philadelphia Phillies. Brett for hitting .390, and for recording league-high 118 runs won the AL most valuable player (MVP) award. The team won another division title in 1984 but lost to Detroit Tigers in the ALCS. Under manager Dick Howser, the Royals won their first Fall Classic title in 1985 With the line-up featuring Brett, Amos Otis, Frank White, Freddie Patek, Willie Wilson, and pitchers Dan Quisenberry and Bret Saberhagen. Pitcher Bret Saberhagen finished the year with a 20-6 win-loss record and won the first of his two AL Cy Young Awards.

He won his second Cy Young Award in 1989. Bo Jackson finished season with 32 home runs and 105 runs batted in. the 1990 season marked the end of Brett’s career. Brett in his 21 years of career with the Royals collected 3,154 hits, and accumulated a .305 batting average. The Royals supremacy in their Western Division ended with the onset of the 1990s. In 1991 Bo retired due to a slump in his performance because of a hip injury. Without Bo the Royals finished the season in 6th Place with an 82-80 record. With one postseason victory and seven division titles to their credit the Royals became a symbol of small market wretchedness in baseball in 1994. Although in 1994 David Cone won the AL Cy Young Award and designated hitter Bob Hamelin was named AL rookie of the year. Due to the team’s economic losses, they sold Cy Young winning pitcher David Cone in 1995, and finished the season in second place with a 70-74 record. In the rest of the 90’s the Royals remained in the cellar for hovering in and around the last place finish. The logo of the team has an entwined "KC" place over blue armor topped with a gold crown. The team’s mascot is slugerrr and the team’s nickname is in honor of the old Negro League team in Kansas City the Monarchs.