1969 Kansas City Royals season

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1969 Kansas City Royals
Major League affiliations
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 televisionKMBC-TV
Local radioKMBZ
(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 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.[1] 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[]

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[2] 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[3] Baltimore Orioles 25th
Paul Schaal[4] California Angels 27th
Chicago White Sox 29th
Dick Drago[5] 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[6] 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.[7]
  • August 14, 1968: Galen Cisco was purchased by the Royals from the Boston Red Sox.[8]
  • December 12, 1968: Hoyt Wilhelm was traded by the Royals to the California Angels for Ed Kirkpatrick and Dennis Paepke.[6]
  • December 15, 1968: Dennis Ribant was purchased by the Royals from the Detroit Tigers.[9]
  • March 29, 1969: Dennis Ribant was purchased from the Royals by the St. Louis Cardinals.[9]

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).[10] 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[]

Level Team League Manager
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[]

  • May 4, 1969: Bob Oliver became the first Royal to collect six hits in a nine-inning game.[11]

Season standings[]

  • v
  • t
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
  • v
  • t

Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]
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.[12]
  • June 5, 1969: 1969 Major League Baseball Draft
    • Keith Marshall was drafted by the Royals in the 5th round.[13]
    • Frank Ortenzio was drafted by the Royals in the 47th round.[14]

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 0 3 12 1
Kansas City 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 4 14 0
W: Drabowsky (1–0)  L: Grzenda (0–1)  
HRs: Nettles (1)

Roster[]

1969 Kansas City Royals
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders Manager
  •  6 Joe Gordon

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

Pos Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI
C Ellie Rodríguez 95 267 63 .236 2 20
1B Mike Fiore 107 339 93 .274 12 35
2B Jerry Adair 126 432 108 .250 5 48
3B Joe Foy 145 519 136 .262 11 71
SS Jackie Hernández 145 504 112 .222 4 40
LF Lou Piniella 135 493 139 .282 11 68
CF Bob Oliver 118 394 100 .254 13 43
RF Pat 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
Ed Kirkpatrick 120 315 81 .257 14 49
Chuck Harrison 75 213 47 .221 3 18
Buck Martinez 72 205 47 .229 4 23
Paul Schaal 61 205 54 .263 1 13
Juan Ríos 87 196 44 .224 1 5
Joe Keough 70 166 31 .187 0 7
Hawk Taylor 64 89 24 .270 3 21
Jim Campanis 30 83 13 .157 0 5
Luis Alcaraz 22 79 20 .253 1 7
Scott Northey 20 61 16 .262 1 7
George Spriggs 23 29 4 .138 0 0
Dennis Paepke 12 27 3 .111 0 0
Fred Rico 12 26 6 .231 0 2
Fran Healy 6 10 4 .400 0 0
Billy 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
Wally Bunker 35 222.2 12 11 3.23 130
Bill Butler 34 193.2 9 10 3.90 156
Roger Nelson 29 193.1 7 13 3.31 82
Jim 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
Dick Drago 41 200.2 11 13 3.77 108
Mike Hedlund 34 125 3 6 3.24 74
Steve Jones 20 44.2 2 3 4.23 31
Chris Zachary 8 18.1 0 1 7.85 6
Jerry 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
Moe Drabowsky 52 11 9 11 2.94 76
Dave Wickersham 34 2 3 5 3.96 27
Tom Burgmeier 31 3 1 0 4.17 23
Dave Morehead 21 2 3 0 5.73 32
Don O'Riley 18 1 1 1 6.94 10
Galen Cisco 15 1 1 1 3.63 18
Al Fitzmorris 7 1 1 2 4.22 3

Farm system[]

See also: Minor League Baseball
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

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

  • Lou Piniella

Notes[]

  1. ^ 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
  2. ^ Roger Nelson page at Baseball Reference
  3. ^ Wally Bunker page at Baseball Reference
  4. ^ Paul Schaal page at Baseball Reference
  5. ^ Dick Drago page at Baseball Reference
  6. ^ a b Hoyt Wilhelm page at Baseball Reference
  7. ^ Dane Iorg page at Baseball Reference
  8. ^ Galen Cisco page at Baseball Reference
  9. ^ a b Dennis Ribant page at Baseball Reference
  10. ^ Information at Baseball Reference
  11. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on May 26, 2007. Retrieved July 9, 2008.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  12. ^ "Royals, Pilots Swap Players". St. Petersburg Times. April 1, 1969. Retrieved August 28, 2009.
  13. ^ Keith Marshall page at Baseball Reference
  14. ^ Frank Ortenzio page at Baseball Reference

References[]

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