10 Things You May Not Have Known About The Kansas City Royals

The famed Kansas City MLB franchise is extremely distinct in many ways both on and off the field.

by Darren Paltrowitz
Kansas City Royals Jersey
Amineshaker [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)]

As Major League Baseball's Kansas City Royals joined the league as an expansion team in 1969, 2019 marks the 50th season for the team. But not everyone realizes that Kansas City had a professional baseball team prior to the Royals: the Kansas City Athletics. This team would move to Oakland in 1968, where it continues to be "the Oakland A's" all these years later.

The Royals - a team named following a 1968 name-the-team local contest - has two World Series titles and four American League pennants to its credit. Among the Baseball Hall Of Famers that have played for the team are George Brett, Harmon Killebrew and Gaylord Perry, while Bo Jackson and Jackie Robinson also donned Royals uniforms.

The team has been playing at Kauffman Stadium since 1973, and owned by David Glass - a former Walmart executive - since 2000. Its most recent World Series victory was in 2015, over the New York Mets, while 2018 marked a period that fans have been known to call "A New Rebuild."

I had the pleasure of visiting Kauffman Stadium in August 2018 and received a private tour of the Kansas City institution, courtesy of the Royals staff. Special thanks go out to Pam Woodworth, Morrie Carlson and Toby Cook for making these on-site accommodations happen and for also teaching me some of these little-known facts about the Kansas City Royals.

10. Kauffman Stadium Has A Holding Cell

Tailgating is synonymous with live sporting events in the United States. While fun to imbibe and enjoy yourself both before and during a game, you also need to be mindful of what you are doing.

Kauffman Stadium is one of those ballparks that has a holding cell. This means that you can not only be arrested at a game, but also kept on-site until you're released or it's time to see a judge.

Kauffman has fountains running as part of its outfield decor, and more than one fan has jumped into them during a game. This can lead to a trespassing charge. As an aside, since police officers at Kauffman are uniformed, this means that officers have had to go into said fountains in full uniform to retrieve said trespassers.

Contributor
Contributor

Darren Paltrowitz is a New York resident with over 20 years of entertainment industry experience. He began working around the music business as a teenager, interning for the manager of his then-favorite band Superdrag. In the years following, he has worked with a wide array of artists including OK Go, They Might Be Giants, Mike Viola, Tracy Bonham, Loudness, Rachael Yamagata, and Amanda Palmer. Darren's writing has appeared in dozens of outlets including the New York Daily News, Inquisitr, The Daily Meal, The Hype Magazine, All Music Guide, Guitar World, TheStreet.com, Format Magazine, Businessweek, The Improper, Chicago Tribune, the L.A. Times, and the Jewish Journal. Darren is also the host of the "Paltrocast With Darren Paltrowitz" podcast, as co-produced with PureGrainAudio. He is also the author of two published books, including 2018's "Pocket Change: Your Happy Money" (Book Web Publishing) and 2019's "Good Advice From Professional Wrestling" (6623 Press).