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 expansion franchise in 1969, and have made four World Series trips, winning in 1985 and 2015, and losing in 1980 and 2014. Outside of a dominant 10-year stretch between 1976 and 1985, and a brief, albeit dominant, resurgence from 2013 to 2015, the Royals have combined for a bottom-ten all time winning percentage in MLB history.
George Howard Brett is an American former professional baseball third baseman who played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Kansas City Royals.
Richard Dalton Howser was an American Major League Baseball shortstop, coach, and manager who was best known as the manager of the Kansas City Royals during the 1980s and for guiding them to the franchise's first World Series title in 1985.
Octavio Víctor "Cookie" Rojas Rivas, is a Cuban-American former professional baseball player, coach, manager and current television sports presenter. He played in Major League Baseball as a second baseman and outfielder from 1962 to 1977, most prominently for the Philadelphia Phillies where he first became an All-Star player, and later with the Kansas City Royals where his veteran experience and leadership played an integral role in helping the young Royals franchise develop into a championship team.
The Kansas City Monarchs were the longest-running franchise in the history of baseball's Negro leagues. Operating in Kansas City, Missouri, and owned by J. L. Wilkinson, they were charter members of the Negro National League from 1920 to 1930. Wilkinson was the first white owner at the time of the establishment of the team. In 1930, the Monarchs became the first professional baseball team to use a portable lighting system which was transported from game to game in trucks to play games at night, five years before any Major League Baseball team did. The Monarchs won ten league championships before integration, and triumphed in the first Negro World Series in 1924. The Monarchs had only one season in which they did not have a winning record and produced more major league players than any other Negro league franchise. It was disbanded in 1965.
Jeffrey Thomas Montgomery is an American former Major League Baseball relief pitcher. During a 13-year baseball career, he pitched from 1987 to 1999, primarily for the Kansas City Royals.
Edgar Frederick “Ned” Yost III is an American 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.
Frank White Jr. is an American politician and former professional baseball player, coach, and television sports commentator who is currently the first base coach for the Kansas City Monarchs of the American Association of Professional Baseball. He played his entire eighteen-year career in Major League Baseball as a second baseman for the Kansas City Royals from 1973 to 1990 and was an integral member of the 1985 World Series winning team.
Steve Physioc is a retired American sportscaster who has called play-by-play for various baseball, basketball, and football teams. He retired while working with the Kansas City Royals, whom he had worked with since February 2012.
Alexander Jonathan Gordon is an American former professional baseball left fielder who played his entire career for the Kansas City Royals of Major League Baseball (MLB) from 2007 to 2020. Prior to playing professionally, Gordon attended the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, where he played college baseball for the Nebraska Cornhuskers.
The 1994 Kansas City Royals season was a season in American baseball. It involved the Royals finishing third in the American League Central with a record of 64 wins and 51 losses. The season was cut short by the 1994 player's strike. The season marked the Royals' alignment into the new American League Central division.
The 1989 Kansas City Royals season was a season in American baseball. It involved the Royals finishing second in the American League West with a record of 92 wins and 70 losses. The Royals' record was tied for the third best in baseball, but in the pre-wild card era, the team did not qualify for the post-season.
The 1986 Kansas City Royals season the 18th season in Royals franchise history, and they entered the season as the defending World Series champions. It involved the Royals finishing third in the American League West with a record of 76 wins and 86 losses.
Below is a partial list of minor league baseball players in the Kansas City Royals system.
Dave Armstrong is a former American television sports announcer for professional and college sports. He spent nine years as the play-by-play announcer for two Major League Baseball teams, in the NFL he has worked with both the Seattle Seahawks and the Kansas City Chiefs broadcasting regular and pre-season games and also announced several games for the NBA’s Denver Nuggets. He also broadcast Big 12 college basketball games for ESPN Regional Television and Big 12 Now and called games in this conference from 1988 up until his retirement in 2022. His signature “Wow!” is known as the exclamation mark on exceptional plays.
Salvador Johan Pérez Díaz, nicknamed "El Nino" and "Salvy", is a Venezuelan-American professional baseball catcher for the Kansas City Royals of Major League Baseball (MLB). He is a nine-time MLB All-Star, five-time Gold Glove Award winner, and received the World Series Most Valuable Player Award when the Royals won the 2015 World Series over the New York Mets. He represents the Venezuelan national team on the international level.
Raúl Adalberto Mondesí is a Dominican American professional baseball shortstop who is a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Kansas City Royals. Mondesí is the first player in modern MLB history to make his debut in the World Series, doing so with the Royals in Game 3 on October 30, 2015, against the New York Mets.
Whitley David Merrifield is an American professional baseball second baseman and outfielder for the Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Kansas City Royals and Toronto Blue Jays. Merrifield is a three-time All-Star and has led the American League in stolen bases three times.
Robert Andrew Witt Jr. is an American professional baseball shortstop for the Kansas City Royals of Major League Baseball (MLB). He was selected second overall by the Royals in the 2019 MLB draft and made his MLB debut in 2022. Witt was named to his first All-Star Game in 2024.
