2009 Kansas City Royals

Though the Kansas City Royals finished the 2008 season in 4th place in the AL Central, their win average jumped from .426 to .463, so in a way, the ’08 season was quite an improvement. The Royals made some key acquisitions in the offseason that should put them in much better form for the 2009 season including Mike Jacobs, Coco Crisp, Kyle Farnsworth, Doug Waechter, Zack Greinke and Willie Bloomquist. Now all the Royals need is for promising young players like Billy Butler, Luke Hochevar and Alex Gordon to hit their stride and the team will be a force to be reckoned with in the AL Central. Get your tickets to Kauffman Stadium and see how it all plays out for the Kansas City Royals 2009 season!

Creation

Despite their recent struggles, the Kansas City Royals have a proud and successful history. As part of baseball’s expansion in 1969, the Royals were awarded to Kansas City to replace the A’s who departed a year earlier. Placed in the newly created American League West the team quickly became competitive finishing second three times in their first 7 seasons.

Success at Last

Then, in 1976 the most successful 10 years of baseball in Kansas City began. Led by future Hall of Famer and batting leader George Brett, the Royals finally made the playoffs. Once there they faced the better and more experienced New York Yankees. Those Yankee teams would go on to defeat the Royals in the playoffs three straight years. Finally, in 1980 the team broke through and reached the World Series. Once there, they were defeated and would have to wait 5 more years for their next appearance and first World Series title. In 1985 the Royals faced cross-state rival the St. Louis Cardinals in what the press dubbed the “Interstate 70 World Series”. The Royals went on to defeat the Cardinals in 7 games to bring the first and so far only World Series title to Kansas City.

Hard Times

Brett, the greatest player in Royals history, retired following the 1993 season and the team went into a steady decline that they hope to emerge from soon. Making a return to .500 more difficult is the fact that the Royals play in baseball’s toughest division, the AL Central. Playing against the Tigers, White Sox, Twins, and Indians does not make winning games easy. For their entire history the Royals have played in beautiful Kaufman Stadium (formerly Royals Stadium). Some of the stadium’s unique features include a 12 story high scoreboard and 322 foot wide water spectacular beyond the outfield walls.