We continue our off-season project with a look at the Kansas City Royals All-Time 25-Man Roster.
The Kansas City Royals came into existence as an expansion team in 1969. They were joined by the Seattle Pilots in the American League and the Montreal Expos and San Diego Padres in the National League. This expansion also marked the first time major league baseball split each league into divisions, east and west.
Before the Royals were born in Kansas City, there were the Kansas City Athletics. The Athletics had moved from Philadelphia to Kansas City in 1955, then moved to Oakland in 1968. The Kansas City Athletics were a terrible team. In the 13 years they spent in Kansas City, they were 829-1224 (.404) and never once finished in the upper half of the standings.
Despite the poor play of the Athletics, Kansas City was not happy when owner Charles Finley bolted for the west coast. Kansas City mayor Ilus Davis and Missouri senator Stuart Symington fought for their team. Symington threatened to challenge MLB’s antitrust exemption with federal legislation. In response to the threat, MLB agreed to award an expansion team to Kansas City that would begin play no later than the 1969 season. On the floor of the United States Senate, Symington described Finley as “one of the most disreputable characters ever to enter the American sports scene” and said that “Oakland is the luckiest city since Hiroshima.”
One the 1969 season rolled around, the Royals had a better first year than the other three expansion teams. The Expos and Padres finished with identical 52-110 (.321) records and both finished in last place in the NL East and NL West, respectively. The Royals finished in fourth place in the six-team AL West division with a record of 69-93 (.426). They were two spots and five wins better than the Seattle Pilots, who went 64-98 (.395).
The Pilots fled Seattle for Milwaukee after the 1969 season. It would be nine years before the now Brewers franchise had their first winning season. They have played in one World Series but lost it in seven games to the St. Louis Cardinals in 1982. It took the San Diego Padres 13 years until they finally finished over .500. They’ve been to the World Series twice but lost both times (1984 to the Tigers and 1998 to the Yankees). The Montreal Expos had their first winning season in year six. They made the playoffs once while in Montreal, then were ripped from the city and moved to Washington in 2005. Expos fans have still not forgiven major league baseball.
The Kansas City Royals are the most successful of the four 1969 expansion teams. They’ve been to the playoffs nine times, the World Series four times, and have two World Series titles. In fact, they are the only team of these four to win the World Series.
The best stretch in Royals history was the decade from 1976 to 1985 when they made the playoffs seven times in 10 years. Their arch nemesis in the 1970s were the New York Yankees, who beat them in the ALCS three years in a row from 1976 to 1978. They finally beat the Yankees in the ALCS in 1980, then lost the World Series to the Philadelphia Phillies. The strike-shortened 1981 season was another successful year for the Royals, but it ended in disappointment when they lost in the playoffs to the Oakland Athletics.
After a two-year hiatus, the Royals made it back to the playoffs in 1984, but were swept by the 104-win Detroit Tigers in the ALCS. They finally reached the promised land in 1985. They won the AL West, beat the Toronto Blue Jays in seven games in the ALCS, then beat the St. Louis Cardinals in seven games in the World Series (thank you, Don Denkinger).
Royals fans had to savor that World Series title because they wouldn’t get another one for a generation. They didn’t make the playoffs for the next 28 years and only finished within seven games of first place five times during that stretch. They finally surged back to contention in 2014 by claiming a wild card spot. They rode a dominant bullpen, timely hitting, and strong base running all the way to the seventh game of the World Series, but couldn’t overcome the San Francisco Madison Bumgarners and lost Game 7 with the tying run on third base and two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning.
Luckily, Royals fans wouldn’t have to wait long to make it back. In 2015, they won the AL West, beat the Houston Astros in the ALDS, the Toronto Blue Jays in the ALCS, and the New York Mets in the World Series.
As you might expect, the Royals all-time 25-man roster has many players who were key members of the team in their very successful decade in the late 70s to mid-80s. They also have players from their most recent World Series-winning team. Here is the Kansas City Royals all-time 25-man roster.