1969 Kansas City Royals season

1969 Kansas City Royals
Major League affiliations
American League (since 1969)
West Division (since 1969)
Location
Municipal Stadium (since 1969)
Kansas City, Missouri (since 1969)
Other information
Owner(s)	Ewing Kauffman
General manager(s)	Cedric Tallis
Manager(s)	Joe Gordon
Local television	KMBC-TV
Local radio	KMBZ (Buddy Blattner, Denny Matthews)
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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 and 93 losses.

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, Missouri 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.

Expansion draft

Main article: 1968 Major League Baseball expansion draft

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

Player	Former Team	Pick
Roger Nelson^[1]	Baltimore Orioles	1st
Joe Foy	Boston Red Sox	4th
Jim Rooker	New York Yankees	6th
Joe Keough	Oakland A's	8th
Steve Jones	Washington Senators	10th
Jon Warden	Detroit Tigers	12th
Ellie Rodríguez	New York Yankees	13th
Dave Morehead	Boston Red Sox	15th
Mike Fiore	Baltimore Orioles	17th
Bob Oliver	Minnesota Twins	19th
Bill Butler	Detroit Tigers	22nd
Steve Whitaker	New York Yankees	23rd
Wally Bunker^[2]	Baltimore Orioles	25th
Paul Schaal^[3]	California Angels	27th
Dan Haynes	Chicago White Sox	29th
Dick Drago^[4]	Detroit Tigers	31st
Pat Kelly	Minnesota Twins	34th
Billy Harris	Cleveland Indians	36th
Don O'Riley	Oakland A's	38th
Al Fitzmorris	Chicago White Sox	40th
Moe Drabowsky	Baltimore Orioles	42nd
Jackie Hernández	Minnesota Twins	43rd
Mike Hedlund	Cleveland Indians	45th
Tom Burgmeier	California Angels	47th
Hoyt Wilhelm^[5]	Chicago White Sox	49th
Jerry Adair	Boston Red Sox	51st
Jerry Cram	Minnesota Twins	54th
Fran Healy	Cleveland Indians	56th
Scott Northey	Chicago White Sox	58th
Ike Brookens	Washington Senators	60th

Other offseason transactions

June 7, 1968: Dane Iorg was drafted by the Royals in the 16th round of the 1968 Major League Baseball Draft, but did not sign.^[6]
August 14, 1968: Galen Cisco was purchased by the Royals from the Boston Red Sox.^[7]
December 12, 1968: Hoyt Wilhelm was traded by the Royals to the California Angels for Ed Kirkpatrick and Dennis Paepke.^[5]
December 15, 1968: Dennis Ribant was purchased by the Royals from the Detroit Tigers.^[8]
March 29, 1969: Dennis Ribant was purchased from the Royals by the St. Louis Cardinals.^[8]

Regular season

May 4, 1969: Bob Oliver became the first Royal to collect six hits in a nine-inning game.^[9]

Season standings

AL West	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Minnesota Twins	97	65	0.599	—	57–24	40–41
Oakland Athletics	88	74	0.543	9	49–32	39–42
California Angels	71	91	0.438	26	43–38	28–53
Kansas City Royals	69	93	0.426	28	36–45	33–48
Chicago White Sox	68	94	0.420	29	41–40	27–54
Seattle Pilots	64	98	0.395	33	34–47	30–51

Record vs. opponents

1969 American League Records Sources:
Team	BAL	BOS	CAL	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	MIN	NYY	OAK	SEA	WSH
Baltimore	—	10–8	6–6	9–3	13–5	11–7	11–1	8–4	11–7	8–4	9–3	13–5
Boston	8–10	—	8–4	5–7	12–6	10–8	10–2	7–5	11–7	4–8	6–6	6–12
California	6–6	4–8	—	9–9	8–4	5–7	9–9	7–11	3–9	6–12	9–9–1	5–7
Chicago	3–9	7–5	9–9	—	8–4	3–9	8–10	5–13	3–9	8–10	10–8	4–8
Cleveland	5–13	6–12	4–8	4–8	—	7–11	7–5	5–7	9–8	5–7	7–5	3–15
Detroit	7–11	8–10	7–5	9–3	11–7	—	8–4	6–6	10–8	7–5	10–2	7–11
Kansas City	1–11	2–10	9–9	10–8	5–7	4–8	—	8–10	5–7–1	8–10	10–8	7–5
Minnesota	4–8	5–7	11–7	13–5	7–5	6–6	10–8	—	10–2	13–5	12–6	6–6
New York	7–11	7–11	9–3	9–3	8–9	8–10	7–5–1	2–10	—	6–6	7–5	10–8
Oakland	4–8	8–4	12–6	10–8	7–5	5–7	10–8	5–13	6–6	—	13–5	8–4
Seattle	3–9	6–6	9–9–1	8–10	5–7	2–10	8–10	6–12	5–7	5–13	—	7–5
Washington	5–13	12–6	7–5	8–4	15–3	11–7	5–7	6–6	8–10	4–8	5–7	—

Notable transactions

April 1, 1969: Steve Whitaker and John Gelnar were traded by the Royals to the Seattle Pilots for Lou Piniella.^[10]
June 5, 1969: 1969 Major League Baseball Draft
- Keith Marshall was drafted by the Royals in the 5th round.^[11]
- Frank Ortenzio was drafted by the Royals in the 47th round.^[12]

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

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	R	H	E
Minnesota	0	1	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	3	12	1
Kansas City	1	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	14	0
W: Drabowsky (1–0) L: Grzenda (0–1)
HRs: Nettles (1)

Roster

1969 Kansas City Royals

Roster

Pitchers

27 Wally Bunker

34 Tom Burgmeier

29 Bill Butler

26 Galen Cisco

38 Jerry Cram

25 Moe Drabowsky

41 Dick Drago

42 Al Fitzmorris

32 Mike Hedlund

37 Steve Jones

17 Dave Morehead

35 Roger Nelson

23 Don O'Riley

13,22 Jim Rooker

40 Dave Wickersham

40 Chris Zachary

Catchers

20 Jim Campanis

16 Fran Healy

21 Buck Martinez

28 Dennis Paepke

11 Ellie Rodríguez

Infielders

14 Jerry Adair

39 Luis Alcaraz

19 Mike Fiore

1 Joe Foy

15 Billy Harris

7 Chuck Harrison

24 Jackie Hernández

12 Juan Ríos

10 Paul Schaal

Outfielders

18 Pat Kelly

16 Joe Keough

8 Ed Kirkpatrick

44 Scott Northey

33 Bob Oliver

9 Lou Piniella

46 Fred Rico

30 George Spriggs

31 Hawk Taylor

Manager

6 Joe Gordon

Coaches

4 Harry Dunlop (3rd Base)

5 Owen Friend

3 Mel Harder (Pitching)

36 Charlie Metro

2 Jo-Jo White

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

Pos	Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
C	Rodríguez, EllieEllie Rodríguez	95	267	63	.236	2	20
1B	Fiore, MikeMike Fiore	107	339	93	.274	12	35
3B	Foy, JoeJoe Foy	145	519	136	.262	11	71
SS	Hernández, JackieJackie Hernández	145	504	112	.222	4	40
CF	Oliver, BobBob Oliver	118	394	100	.254	13	43
RF	Kelly, PatPat Kelly	112	417	110	.264	8	32

Other batters

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

Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
Kirkpatrick, EdEd Kirkpatrick	120	315	81	.257	14	49
Harrison, ChuckChuck Harrison	75	213	47	.221	3	18
Schaal, PaulPaul Schaal	61	205	54	.263	1	13
Keough, JoeJoe Keough	70	166	31	.187	0	7
Paepke, DennisDennis Paepke	12	27	3	.111	0	0
Harris, BillyBilly Harris	5	7	2	.286	0	0

Pitching

Starting pitchers

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

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Bunker, WallyWally Bunker	35	222.2	12	11	3.23	130
Butler, BillBill Butler	34	193.2	9	10	3.90	156
Nelson, RogerRoger Nelson	29	193.1	7	13	3.31	82
Rooker, JimJim Rooker	28	158.1	4	16	3.75	108

Other pitchers

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

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Drago, DickDick Drago	41	200.2	11	13	3.77	108
Hedlund, MikeMike Hedlund	34	125	3	6	3.24	74
Jones, SteveSteve Jones	20	44.2	2	3	4.23	31
Cram, JerryJerry Cram	5	16.2	0	1	3.24	10

Relief pitchers

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

Player	G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO
Drabowsky, MoeMoe Drabowsky	52	11	9	11	2.94	76
Burgmeier, TomTom Burgmeier	31	3	1	0	4.17	23
Morehead, DaveDave Morehead	21	2	3	0	5.73	32
O'Riley, DonDon O'Riley	18	1	1	1	6.94	10
Cisco, GalenGalen Cisco	15	1	1	1	3.63	18
Fitzmorris, AlAl Fitzmorris	7	1	1	2	4.22	3

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
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

Notes

References

1969 Kansas City Royals team page at Baseball Reference
1969 Kansas City Royals team page at www.baseball-almanac.com
Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (1997). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. ISBN 978-0-9637189-8-3.

1969 MLB season by team

AL East	Baltimore Boston Cleveland Detroit New York Washington

AL West	California Chicago Kansas City Minnesota Oakland Seattle

NL East	Chicago Montréal New York Philadelphia Pittsburgh St. Louis

NL West	Atlanta Cincinnati Houston Los Angeles San Diego San Francisco

1969 MLB draft 1969 All-Star Game 1969 World Series

Kansas City Royals

Based in Kansas City, Missouri

Franchise

Ballparks

Municipal Stadium; Kauffman Stadium
Spring training: Terry Park; Baseball City Stadium; Surprise Stadium

Culture

Lore

Rivalries

St. Louis Cardinals

Team Hall of Fame

Minors

AAA: Omaha Storm Chasers
AA: Northwest Arkansas Naturals
A Adv.: Wilmington Blue Rocks
A: Lexington Legends
Rookie Adv.: Idaho Falls Chukars; Burlington Royals
Rookie: AZL Royals; DSL Royals

Key personnel

Owner: David Glass
General Manager: Dayton Moore
Manager: Ned Yost

World Series
championships (2)

1985
2015

American League
pennants (4)

Division titles

West: 1976; 1977; 1978; 1980; 1981 (second half); 1984; 1985
Central: 2015
Wild Card: 2014

Seasons (49)

1960s	1969

1970s	1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979

1980s	1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989

1990s	1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999

2000s	2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

2010s	2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

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