1969 Kansas City Royals season

Did You Know?

• Bob Oliver became the first Royal to collect six hits in a nine-inning game on May 4, 1969.
• On April 1, 1969, Steve Whitaker and John Gelnar were traded to the Seattle Pilots for Lou Piniella.
• The 1969 Major League Baseball draft included Keith Marshall in the 5th round and Frank Ortenzio in the 47th round.

Offseason

The Royals exist because the Athletics left. On October 18, 1967, American League owners finally let Charles O. Finley move his Athletics to Oakland for 1968. Some say Joe Cronin promised Finley he could leave after 1967 to get him to sign a new lease at Municipal Stadium. This happened even though Jackson County voters had approved bonds for a new stadium, which would become Kauffman Stadium and open in 1973. Senator Stuart Symington then threatened to take away baseball’s antitrust exemption, so the owners quickly expanded. Kansas City got an American League team, the Royals, first scheduled to start in 1971. Symington would not wait that long and repeated his threat unless the teams played in 1969. The owners gave in, but that forced the Seattle Pilots to start early without a proper stadium, causing financial problems and a move to Milwaukee in April 1970. The Royals were officially given to Ewing Kauffman on January 11, 1968. He made Los Angeles Angels vice president Cedric Tallis the first general manager. The expansion draft for the Royals and Pilots happened on October 15, 1968. On June 7, 1968, the Royals drafted Dane Iorg in the 16th round, but he did not sign. On August 14, 1968, they bought Galen Cisco from the Boston Red Sox. On October 16, 1968, they bought John Gelnar from the Pittsburgh Pirates. On December 12, 1968, they traded Hoyt Wilhelm to the California Angels for Ed Kirkpatrick and Dennis Paepke. On December 15, 1968, they bought Dennis Ribant from the Detroit Tigers, then sold him to the St. Louis Cardinals on March 29, 1969.