1969 Kansas City Royals season

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1969  Kansas City Royals
League American League
Division West
Ballpark Municipal Stadium
City Kansas City, Missouri
Owners Ewing Kauffman
General managers Cedric Tallis
Managers Joe Gordon
Television KMBC-TV
Radio KMBZ
(Buddy Blattner, Denny Matthews)
Seasons 1970  →

The 1969 Kansas City Royals season was the Royals' inaugural season. The team finished fourth in the newly established American League West with a record of 69 wins, 93 losses, and 1 tie. [1]

Contents

Offseason

A franchise is born

The club's inception is connected to the Athletics 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 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) to be completed in 1973. When U.S. Senator Stuart Symington 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 to enter the league earlier than expected without a suitable stadium, leading to financial difficulty, and a rapid relocation to Milwaukee in April 1970.

The Kansas City franchise was formally awarded to Ewing Kauffman on January 11, 1968. [2] The owner selected Los Angeles Angels vice president Cedric Tallis as the Royals' first general manager, and Tallis began to assemble a front office staff.

Expansion draft

The 1968 Major League Baseball expansion draft for the Royals and the Seattle Pilots was held on October 15.

PlayerFormer TeamPick
Roger Nelson [3] Baltimore Orioles1st
Joe Foy Boston Red Sox4th
Jim Rooker New York Yankees6th
Joe Keough Oakland A's8th
Steve Jones Washington Senators10th
Jon Warden Detroit Tigers12th
Ellie Rodríguez New York Yankees13th
Dave Morehead Boston Red Sox15th
Mike Fiore Baltimore Orioles17th
Bob Oliver Minnesota Twins19th
Bill Butler Detroit Tigers22nd
Steve Whitaker New York Yankees23rd
Wally Bunker [4] Baltimore Orioles25th
Paul Schaal [5] California Angels27th
Dan Haynes Chicago White Sox29th
Dick Drago [6] Detroit Tigers31st
Pat Kelly Minnesota Twins34th
Billy Harris Cleveland Indians36th
Don O'Riley Oakland A's38th
Al Fitzmorris Chicago White Sox40th
Moe Drabowsky Baltimore Orioles42nd
Jackie Hernández Minnesota Twins43rd
Mike Hedlund Cleveland Indians45th
Tom Burgmeier California Angels47th
Hoyt Wilhelm [7] Chicago White Sox49th
Jerry Adair Boston Red Sox51st
Jerry Cram Minnesota Twins54th
Fran Healy Cleveland Indians56th
Scott Northey Chicago White Sox58th
Ike Brookens Washington Senators60th

Other offseason transactions

1968 MLB June amateur draft and minor league affiliates

The Royals and Seattle Pilots, along with the two National League expansion teams set to debut in 1969, the Montreal Expos and San Diego Padres, 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 (seventh round), Monty Montgomery (ninth) and Paul Splittorff (25th). [11] Splittorff would win 166 games for the MLB Royals, including seasons of 20 (1973) and 19 (1978) 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

LevelTeamLeagueManager
A High Point-Thomasville Hi-Toms Carolina League Jack McKeon
A Dubuque Royals Midwest League Max Lanier and Paul Pettit
A-Short Season Corning Royals New York–Penn League Bobo Osborne

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: High Point-Thomasville

Regular season

Season standings

AL West
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
Minnesota Twins 9765.599—57‍–‍2440‍–‍41
Oakland Athletics 8874.543949‍–‍3239‍–‍42
California Angels 7191.4382643‍–‍3828‍–‍53
Kansas City Royals 6993.4262836‍–‍4533‍–‍48
Chicago White Sox 6894.4202941‍–‍4027‍–‍54
Seattle Pilots 6498.3953334‍–‍4730‍–‍51

Record vs. opponents

1969 American League records

Sources:
TeamBALBOSCALCWSCLEDETKCMINNYYOAKSEPWSH
Baltimore —10–86–69–313–511–711–18–411–78–49–313–5
Boston 8–10—8–45–712–610–810–27–511–74–86–66–12
California 6–64–8—9–98–45–79–97–113–96–129–9–15–7
Chicago 3–97–59–9—8–43–98–105–133–98–1010–84–8
Cleveland 5–136–124–84–8—7–117–55–79–85–77–53–15
Detroit 7–118–107–59–311–7—8–46–610–87–510–27–11
Kansas City 1–112–109–910–85–74–8—8–105–7–18–1010–87–5
Minnesota 4–85–711–713–57–56–610–8—10–213–512–66–6
New York 7–117–119–39–38–98–107–5–12–10—6–67–510–8
Oakland 4–88–412–610–87–55–710–85–136–6—13–58–4
Seattle 3–96–69–9–18–105–72–108–106–125–75–13—7–5
Washington 5–1312–67–58–415–311–75–76–68–104–85–7—

Notable transactions

The first game

Starting lineup

  9 Lou Piniella CF
14 Jerry Adair 2B
  8 Ed Kirkpatrick   LF
  1 Joe Foy 3B
  7 Chuck Harrison 1B
33 Bob Oliver RF
11 Ellie Rodríguez C
24 Jackie Hernández   SS
27 Wally Bunker   P

Scorecard

April 8, Municipal Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri

Team123456789101112RHE
Minnesota0100020000003121
Kansas City1000020000014140
W: Drabowsky (1–0)  L: Grzenda (0–1)  
HRs: Nettles (1)

Roster

1969 Kansas City Royals
Roster
PitchersCatchers

Infielders

OutfieldersManager

Coaches

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

PosPlayerGABHAvg.HRRBI
C Ellie Rodríguez 9526763.236220
1B Mike Fiore 10733993.2741235
2B Jerry Adair 126432108.250548
3B Joe Foy 145519136.2621171
SS Jackie Hernández 145504112.222440
LF Lou Piniella 135493139.2821168
CF Bob Oliver 118394100.2541343
RF Pat Kelly 112417110.264832

Other batters

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

PlayerGABHAvg.HRRBI
Ed Kirkpatrick 12031581.2571449
Chuck Harrison 7521347.221318
Buck Martinez 7220547.229423
Paul Schaal 6120554.263113
Juan Ríos 8719644.22415
Joe Keough 7016631.18707
Hawk Taylor 648924.270321
Jim Campanis 308313.15705
Luis Alcaraz 227920.25317
Scott Northey 206116.26217
George Spriggs 23294.13800
Dennis Paepke 12273.11100
Fred Rico 12266.23102
Fran Healy 6104.40000
Billy Harris 572.28600

Pitching

Starting pitchers

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

PlayerGIPWLERASO
Wally Bunker 35222.212113.23130
Bill Butler 34193.29103.90156
Roger Nelson 29193.17133.3182
Jim Rooker 28158.14163.75108

Other pitchers

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

PlayerGIPWLERASO
Dick Drago 41200.211133.77108
Mike Hedlund 34125.0363.2474
Steve Jones 2044.2234.2331
Chris Zachary 818.1017.856
Jerry Cram 516.2013.2410

Relief pitchers

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

PlayerGWLSVERASO
Moe Drabowsky 52119112.9476
Dave Wickersham 342353.9627
Tom Burgmeier 313104.1723
Dave Morehead 212305.7332
Don O'Riley 181116.9410
Galen Cisco 151113.6318
Al Fitzmorris 71124.223

Farm system

LevelTeamLeagueManager
AAA Omaha Royals American Association Jack McKeon
AA Elmira Pioneers Eastern League Harry Bright
A High Point-Thomasville Royals Carolina League Harry Malmberg
A Waterloo Hawks Midwest League Rollie Hemsley
A-Short Season Corning Royals New York–Penn League Buddy Peterson
A-Short Season Winnipeg Goldeyes Northern League Spider Jorgensen
Rookie Kingsport Royals Appalachian League Red Norwood

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Omaha

Elmira affiliation shared with San Diego Padres

Awards and honors

1969 Major League Baseball All-Star Game

1969 AL Rookie of the Year

Notes

  1. ↑ "New York Yankees vs Kansas City Royals Box Score: May 31, 1969". Baseball-Reference. May 31, 1969. Retrieved February 28, 2024.
  2. ↑ 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, 1968, pp. 175–181
  3. ↑ Roger Nelson page at Baseball Reference
  4. ↑ Wally Bunker page at Baseball Reference
  5. ↑ Paul Schaal page at Baseball Reference
  6. ↑ Dick Drago page at Baseball Reference
  7. 1 2 Hoyt Wilhelm page at Baseball Reference
  8. ↑ Dane Iorg page at Baseball Reference
  9. ↑ Galen Cisco page at Baseball Reference
  10. 1 2 Dennis Ribant page at Baseball Reference
  11. ↑ Information at Baseball Reference
  12. ↑ "The Ballplayers - Bob Oliver | baseballbiography.com" . Retrieved July 9, 2008.
  13. ↑ "Royals, Pilots Swap Players". St. Petersburg Times. April 1, 1969. Retrieved August 28, 2009.
  14. ↑ Keith Marshall page at Baseball Reference
  15. ↑ Frank Ortenzio page at Baseball Reference

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References

  1. ↑ "New York Yankees vs Kansas City Royals Box Score: May 31, 1969". Baseball-Reference. May 31, 1969. Retrieved February 28, 2024.
  2. ↑ "1969 Kansas City Royals Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 28, 2024.
  3. ↑ "1969 Kansas City Royals Roster | Baseball Almanac". www.baseball-almanac.com. Retrieved February 28, 2024.
  4. ↑ Reichler, Joseph L. (January 1, 1985). The Baseball Encyclopedia: The Complete and Official Record of Major League Baseball (Sixth ed.). Macmillan Publishers. ISBN   9780026019309.
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