The

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 ...

are a franchise based in

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 ...

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

. They are members of the

Central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

division of

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

's American League. The Royals franchise was formed in

1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 **Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...

. There have been 20 managers for the Royals. Joe Gordon became the first manager of the Kansas City Royals in 1969, serving for one season. Bob Lemon became the first manager who held the title of manager for the Royals for more than one season.

Ned Yost Edgar Frederick Yost III (; born August 19, 1954) is a former Major League Baseball catcher and manager of the Milwaukee Brewers and Kansas City Royals. He played for the Brewers, Texas Rangers, and Montreal Expos. Early life Yost was born on ...

has managed more games than any other Royals manager and as many seasons as Dick Howser and

Tony Muser Anthony Joseph Muser (; born August 1, 1947) is currently a roving instructor in the San Diego Padres organization. He is a former Major League Baseball player, and later served in several coaching positions. From 1997 until 2002, Muser served as ...

Whitey Herzog Dorrel Norman Elvert "Whitey" Herzog (; born November 9, 1931) is an American former professional baseball outfielder and manager, most notable for his Major League Baseball (MLB) managerial career. He made his MLB debut as a player in 1956 wit ...

Jim Frey James Gottfried Frey (May 26, 1931 – April 12, 2020) was an American professional baseball manager, coach, general manager, and Minor League Baseball (MiLB) outfielder. In , Frey led the Kansas City Royals of Major League Baseball (MLB) to ...

, Howser, and

are the only managers to have led the Royals into the playoffs. Three Royals managers—Gordon, Lemon, and Herzog—have been inducted into the

Baseball Hall of Fame The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests. It serves as the central point of the history of baseball in the United States and displays baseball-r ...

; In 1970, Gordon was replaced with

Charlie Metro Charlie Metro (born Charles Moreskonich; April 18, 1918 – March 18, 2011) was an American professional baseball player, manager, coach and scout. Notably, he was an outfielder for the Detroit Tigers and Philadelphia Athletics as well as ...

. The Royals made their first playoff appearance under Herzog. Four managers have led the Royals into the postseason. Dick Howser led the Royals to their first

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...

Championship in

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

. Ned Yost led the Royals into two

appearances, in the

2014 World Series The 2014 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2014 season. The 110th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between the National League (NL) champion San Francisco Giants and the Ameri ...

, and a Win in the

2015 World Series The 2015 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2015 season. The 111th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between the National League (NL) champion New York Mets and the American Leag ...

. Frey, led the Royals to One world series appearance in the

1980 World Series The 1980 World Series was the World Series, championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) season. The 77th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff played between the National League (NL) champion 1980 Philadelphia Phill ...

. The highest

winning percentage In sports, a winning percentage is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. The statistic is commonly used in standings or rankings to compare teams or individuals. It is defined as wins divided by the total number of match ...

of any manager who managed at least one season was Herzog, with a percentage of .574. The lowest percentage was Bob Schaefer in 2005, although he managed for only 17 games. The lowest percentage of a manager with at least one season with the Royals was Buddy Bell, the manager from 2005 through the 2007 season with a percentage of .399. The highest win total for a Royals manager is held by Yost, who also holds the record for losses. Tony Peña became the first Royals manager to win the

Manager of the Year Manager of the Year may refer to: * Major League Baseball Manager of the Year Award * League Managers Association Manager of the Year * Premier League Manager of the Season The Premier League Manager of the Season is an annual association footba ...

award, in 2003.

was hired on May 13, 2010, after Trey Hillman was fired. Yost retired from coaching following the 2019 season, ending a 10-year tenure with Kansas City. Mike Matheny was hired as the new manager for the 2020 season in October 2019.

Table key

Managers

''Statistics current through October 5th, 2022'' File:Dick Howser 1985.jpg, Dick Howser was the manager of the Royals from to , led the Royals to a World Championship in 1985. File:Tony Peña on May 9, 2008.jpg, alt=A man in baseball uniform jogs on toward the diamond on a baseball field., Tony Peña won the Manager of the Year Award in 2003. File:Trey Hillman on July 27, 2009 (cropped).jpg, alt=A man wearing a blue baseball cap with the letters "KC" gestures with his hands., Trey Hillman was the 18th manager in Kansas City Royals' history. File:NedYost.jpg, Ned Yost was the manager of the Royals from 2010 to 2019, and led the Royals to a World Championship in 2015.

Notes

* A running total of the number of managers of the Royals. Thus, any manager who has two or more separate terms is counted only once.

References

{{featured list Kansas City Royals managers

Managers