The 1969

Kansas City 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 expans ...

season was the Royals' inaugural season. The team finished fourth in the newly established

American League West The American League West is one of Major League Baseball's six divisions. The division has five teams as of the 2013 season, but had four teams from 1994 to 2012, and had as many as seven teams before the 1994 realignment. Although its teams curr ...

with a record of 69 wins and 93 losses.

Offseason

A franchise is born

The club's inception is connected to the

Athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competiti ...

franchise. On October 18, 1967, A.L. owners at last gave Charles O. Finley permission to move the Athletics to Oakland for the 1968 season. According to some reports,

Joe Cronin Joseph Edward Cronin (October 12, 1906 – September 7, 1984) was an American professional baseball player, manager and executive. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a shortstop, most notably as a member of the Boston Red Sox. Cronin spe ...

promised Finley that he could move the team after the 1967 season as an incentive to sign the new lease with Municipal Stadium. The move came in spite of approval by voters in Jackson County of a bond issue for a brand new baseball stadium (the eventual

Kauffman Stadium Kauffman Stadium (), often called "The K", is a baseball stadium located in Kansas City, Missouri. It is home to the Kansas City Royals of Major League Baseball (MLB). It is part of the Truman Sports Complex together with the adjacent Arrowhe ...

) to be completed in 1973. When U.S. Senator

Stuart Symington William Stuart Symington III (; June 26, 1901 – December 14, 1988) was an American businessman and Democratic politician from Missouri. He served as the first Secretary of the Air Force from 1947 to 1950 and was a United States Senator from M ...

threatened to have baseball's antitrust exemption revoked, the owners responded with a hasty round of expansion. Kansas City was awarded an American League expansion team, the Royals. They were initially slated to begin play in 1971. However, Symington was not willing to have Kansas City wait three years for another team, and renewed his threat to have baseball's antitrust exemption revoked unless the teams began play in 1969. The owners complied, but it forced the

Seattle Pilots The Seattle Pilots were an American professional baseball, professional baseball team based in Seattle, Washington (state), Washington during the 1969 Major League Baseball season. During their single-season existence, the Pilots played their ho ...

to enter the league earlier than expected without a suitable stadium, leading to financial difficulty, and a rapid relocation to

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

in April

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of X (''Extrem ...

. The Kansas City franchise was formally awarded to

Ewing Kauffman Ewing Marion Kauffman (September 21, 1916 August 1, 1993) was an American pharmaceutical entrepreneur, philanthropist, and Major League Baseball owner. Early life and education Ewing Kauffman was born on September 21, 1916, on a farm near Gard ...

on January 11, 1968.Holtzman, Jerome, "A.L. Vote to Expand Marks 1967 History," ''The Sporting News Official 1968 Baseball Guide and Record Book.'' St. Louis, Missouri:

The Sporting News The ''Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a pr ...

, 1968, pp. 175–181 The owner selected

Los Angeles Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team ha ...

vice president

Cedric Tallis Cedric Nelson Tallis (July 29, 1914 – May 8, 1991) was an American executive in Major League Baseball who served as the first general manager of the expansion Kansas City Royals and later played an important role in the New York Yankees' dynasty ...

as the Royals' first

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

, and Tallis began to assemble a front office staff.

Expansion draft

The

1968 Major League Baseball expansion draft The 1968 Major League Baseball expansion draft was conducted to stock up the rosters of four expansion teams in Major League Baseball created via the 1969 Major League Baseball expansion and which would begin play in the 1969 season. The expansi ...

for the Royals and the

was held on October 15.

Other offseason transactions

* June 7, 1968:

Dane Iorg Dane Charles Iorg ( ; born May 11, 1950) is an American former professional baseball first baseman and outfielder, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from (–) for four teams, including eight seasons spent with the St. Louis Cardinals. Whi ...

was drafted by the Royals in the 16th round of the

1968 Major League Baseball Draft The 1968 Major League Baseball (MLB) draft took place prior to the 1968 MLB season. The draft saw the New York Mets take shortstop Tim Foli first overall. First round selections The following are the first round picks in the 1968 Major Leagu ...

, but did not sign. * August 14, 1968:

Galen Cisco Galen Bernard Cisco (born March 7, 1936) is an American former baseball player and coach. He was a pitcher in Major League Baseball for three different teams between 1961 and 1969. Listed at tall and , Cisco batted and threw right-handed. He was ...

was purchased by the Royals from the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

. * December 12, 1968:

Hoyt Wilhelm James Hoyt Wilhelm (July 26, 1922 – August 23, 2002), nicknamed "Old Sarge", was an American Major League Baseball pitcher with the New York Giants, St. Louis Cardinals, Cleveland Indians, Baltimore Orioles, Chicago White Sox, California Angel ...

was traded by the Royals to the

California Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team ha ...

for

Ed Kirkpatrick Edgar Leon Kirkpatrick (October 8, 1944 – November 15, 2010) was an American professional baseball outfielder and catcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1962 through 1977 for the Los Angeles Angels, Los Angeles / California Angel ...

and

Dennis Paepke Dennis Ray Paepke (born April 17, 1945) is an American former professional baseball catcher who appeared in 80 games over all or part of four Major League Baseball seasons for the Kansas City Royals. He threw and batted right-handed, stood tall ...

. * December 15, 1968:

Dennis Ribant Dennis Joseph Ribant (born September 20, 1941) is a former pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for the New York Mets, Pittsburgh Pirates, Detroit Tigers, Chicago White Sox, St. Louis Cardinals, and Cincinnati Reds. He was traded by the Pir ...

was purchased by the Royals from the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

.Dennis Ribant page at Baseball Reference
/ref> * March 29, 1969: Dennis Ribant was purchased from the Royals by the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals hav ...

1968 MLB June amateur draft and minor league affiliates

The Royals and

, along with the two

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

expansion teams set to debut in 1969, the

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos (french: link=no, Les Expos de Montréal) were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal, Quebec. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in t ...

and

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penna ...

, were allowed to participate in the June 1968 MLB first-year player draft, although the new teams were barred from the lottery's first three rounds. Despite this impediment, the Royals drafted fifty players in the 1968 June draft, including Iorg and other future major leaguers

Lance Clemons Lance Levis Clemons (July 6, 1947 – January 22, 2008) was an American left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for the Kansas City Royals (), St. Louis Cardinals () and Boston Red Sox (). Clemons was born in Philadelphia, Pennsy ...

(seventh round), Monty Montgomery (ninth) and

Paul Splittorff Paul William Splittorff Jr. (; October 8, 1946 – May 25, 2011) was an American professional baseball player and television sports commentator. He played his entire career in Major League Baseball as a left-handed pitcher for the Kansas City Roya ...

(25th). Splittorff would win 166 games for the MLB Royals, including seasons of 20 () and 19 () victories, in a 15-year big-league career, then become a longtime analyst on the team's television crew. The Royals affiliated with three minor league clubs during 1968 to develop drafted players; the rosters were filled out by professional and amateur free agents that had been signed and players loaned from other organizations.

1968 farm system

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: High Point-Thomasville

Regular season

* May 4, 1969:

Bob Oliver Robert Lee Oliver (February 8, 1943 – April 19, 2020) was an American professional baseball first baseman and outfielder, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Pittsburgh Pirates (1965), Kansas City Royals (1969–72), Californ ...

became the first Royal to collect six hits in a nine-inning game.

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Notable transactions

* April 1, 1969:

Steve Whitaker Steve Whitaker (26 June 1955 – 22 February 2008) was a British artist best known as the colourist on the reprint of ''V for Vendetta''. David Lloyd, the artist on ''V for Vendetta'', said Whitaker "was not only one of the finest colourists B ...

and

John Gelnar John Richard Gelnar (born June 25, 1943) is an Americans, American former Major League Baseball pitcher. Gelnar attended Granite High School (Oklahoma), Granite High School in Granite, Oklahoma, and the University of Oklahoma, where he played co ...

were traded by the Royals to the

for

Lou Piniella Louis Victor Piniella ( usually ; born August 28, 1943) is a former professional baseball player and manager. An outfielder, he played 16 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the Baltimore Orioles, Cleveland Indians, Kansas City Royals and ...

. * June 5, 1969:

1969 Major League Baseball Draft The 1969 Major League Baseball (MLB) draft took place prior to the 1969 MLB season. The draft featured future Hall of Famers Bert Blyleven (pick 55) and Dave Winfield (pick 882). First round selections The following are the first round picks ...

** Keith Marshall was drafted by the Royals in the 5th round. **

Frank Ortenzio Frank Joseph Ortenzio Jr. (born February 24, 1951) is a former Major League Baseball first baseman. He played nine games for the Kansas City Royals in . He also played two seasons ( and ) in Japan for the Nankai Hawks. During his time with the Na ...

was drafted by the Royals in the 47th round.Frank Ortenzio page at Baseball Reference
/ref>

The first game

Starting lineup

Scorecard

April 8, Municipal Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri

Roster

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

''Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in''

Other batters

''Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in''

Pitching

Starting pitchers

''Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts''

Other pitchers

''Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts''

Relief pitchers

''Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts''

Farm system

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Omaha Elmira affiliation shared with

Awards and honors

1969 Major League Baseball All-Star Game The 1969 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was the 40th midseason exhibition between the all-stars of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL), the two leagues comprising Major League Baseball. The game was played in the afterno ...

Ellie Rodríguez Eliseo Rodríguez Delgado (born May 24, 1946) is a Puerto Rican former professional baseball catcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1968 to 1976 for the New York Yankees, Kansas City Royals, Milwaukee Brewers, California Angels ...

(reserve, did not play) 1969

AL Rookie of the Year In Major League Baseball, the Rookie of the Year Award is given annually to two outstanding rookie players, one each for the American League (AL) and National League (NL), as voted on by the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA). The aw ...

Notes

References

1969 Kansas City Royals team page at Baseball Reference1969 Kansas City Royals team page at www.baseball-almanac.com
* {{Kansas City Royals Kansas City Royals seasons Kansas City Royals season Inaugural Major League Baseball seasons by team

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more ...