Glory Days B aseball in Kansas City Missouri has changed quite a bit over the years Back in the 1880s real cowboys rode into town to watch a National League NL team called the Cowboys In the early 1900s fans in the city rooted for teams in the minor leagues and the Negro Leagues From 1955 to 1967 Kansas City was the hometown of the A’s They now play in Oakland The story of the Royals began in 1969 That year they were one of two new teams in the American League AL The Royals won 69 games their first year and put some good players on the field including Lou Piniella Pat Kelly and Bob Oliver Over the next few seasons the Royals made smart trades for Amos Otis Freddie Patek Hal McRae and John Mayberry They also developed several good players on their own including Paul Splittorff Steve Busby Frank White and George Brett After a 6
LEFT Freddie Patek RIGHT Dan Quisenberry coach named Charlie Lau taught the Royals a new way of hitting their batting averages soared By 1976 Kansas City had one of the best teams in baseball The Royals reminded many people of old-time clubs The players were tough and were always thinking of new ways to win games They could beat you with their bats their gloves their arms or their feet If an opponent lost focus for even an inning the Royals were likely to win the game From 1973 to 1985 Kansas City finished first or second in the AL West 12 times The Royal advanced to the American League Championship Series ALCS three years in a row from 1976 to 1978 Each time they lost to the New York Yankees They finally beat the Bronx Bombers in 1980 to win their first pennant Joining Brett White and McRae on that team were relief pitcher Dan Quisenberry and speedy outfielder Willie Wilson 7
Kansas City’s first championship came in 1985 That team featured the same hitting stars but a new group of starters led the pitching staff Bret Saberhagen Mark Gubicza Danny Jackson and Charlie Leibrandt gave the Royals the boost they needed to defeat the St Louis Cardinals in a thrilling World Series seasons during As new players replaced old ones in the Kansas City lineup victories were harder and harder to come by The Royals had only three winning the 1990s At the same time some fans stopped coming to the park With ticket sales down Kansas City did not have as much money to spend as many other teams did It became more difficult for the Royals to compete The team LEFT George Brett ABOVE Bret Saberhagen 9
