Kauffman Stadium – Home to the Kansas City Royals in Kansas City, MO

As an Anaheim Angels fan I had wanted to see my Angels at an away game. Therefore, in September of 2010 I decided to fly from Colorado to Kansas City to check out a 3 game series. I wasn’t able to do a tour, but did attend all three games. It was my first game outside of California and I had the most amazing time! Found out where the Angels  were staying and had a drink with a few of them in the hotel bar. It was a blast. With that said, I would like to share the Kansas City Royals stadium called Kauffman Stadium.

It was originally opened as Royal Stadium on April 10, 1973, but renamed to honor owner Ewing M. Kauffman on July 2, 1993, for his role in Royal’s success. There have been many exciting games at Kauffman Stadium including the 1973 and 2012 All-Star Games, three no-hitters, playoff games in 1976, ’77, ’78, ’80, ’81, ’84, ’85, and 2014 and World Series appearances in 1980, 1985, 2014, and 2015. The first thing that I noticed about  Kauffman Stadium is that their parking lot is shared with Arrowhead Stadium, the home of the Kansas City Chiefs. Pretty genius use of space. Probably causes a logistical nightmare for scheduling games, but a great idea.

Kauffman Stadium has seats for 37,903 fans, a spectacular 84′ x 104′ Crown Vision HD scoreboard with an interactive crown rising about 40 feet above Crown Vision (with strobe lights atop the scoreboard that flash after every Royals home run),  and 322-foot wide water spectacular in the right-center field which offers a “standing room only” area between the outfield wall and the fountains, called the Pepsi Party Porch. This area has become among the most popular on hot summer days and nights since, at times, they are in the “splash zone” of the fountains. The left-field area is home to the 7,000-square-foot Hall of Fame which features numerous exciting and interactive exhibits as well as memorabilia.

The Kansas City Royals were one of four expansion teams that would begin play in 1969. They played their inaugural game, on April 8, 1969, and defeated the Minnesota Twins 4–3 in 12 innings. The club finished with a 69-93 record in its initial season. The mark was the best of the four expansion teams debuting in 1969. A young and fiery outfielder named Lou Piniella was selected as the Rookie of the Year.

In just their third year of existence, the Royals post their first winning season and finish in second place in the Western Division. At the time, it was the quickest an expansion team had achieved such success. Throughout the 70’s they begin to make strides towards becoming one of the top teams in all of baseball.

After missing the Worlds Series 3 times in the late ’70s to the New York Yankees, they finally made it in 1980 but lost to the Philadelphia Phillies. Then in 1985 all of their hard work paid off. They beat the St. Louis Cardinals 4 games to 3. It was the second Missouri-only World Series: the first was the 1944 World Series between two St. Louis teams, the St. Louis Cardinals vs. the St. Louis Browns (now the Baltimore Orioles). Bret Saberhagen’s was named the MVP.

The 1990s were bittersweet for the Royals and their fans. Kansas City saw the end of the careers of three of the club’s legends, Frank White, Willie Wilson, and George Brett who ended up winning his third batting title and broke the 3,000-hit barrier before retiring in 1993.  Here is a list of the retired Royal #’s:

• George Brett, 3B – #5
• Dick Howser, Manager – #10
• Frank White, 2B – #20
• Jackie Robinson – #42

During the 2000s there was a lot of building and tweaking of the team and the stadium. Many players were traded to try to get back to winning baseball. Sadly for Royal fans, they posted nine consecutive losing records.  However, in 2013 and 2014 they had a lot of success. They posted a winning record in 2013 of 86-76 and went back to the World Series for the first time in 29 years. However, they were not able to find out the San Francisco Giants and lost in Game 7. However, they made it back to the World Series in 2015 against the New York Mets. We will see how this series plays out. Hope you enjoyed learning a little more about the Royals and their home park. Here is some information below as well as a link to their website if you plan to go to a game or tour in the future.

Kauffman Stadium Visitor Information

Address:

One Royal Way Kansas City, MO 64129

Phone:

816-921-8000

Directions:

COMING FROM THE EAST

1. Head into Kansas City on Interstate 70
2. Take Exit #9 – Blue Ridge Cutoff/Sports Complex

COMING FROM THE WEST

1. Head into Kansas City on Interstate 70
2. Take Exit 7A at U.S. 40 Highway and continue east until intersecting with Stadium Drive or Blue Ridge Cutoff.

COMING FROM THE SOUTH

1. Head into Kansas City on Interstate 435
2. Take Exit #63 C – Raytown Road/Stadium Drive, Sports Complex exit

COMING FROM THE NORTH

1. Head into Kansas City on Interstate 435
2. Take Exit 63A at U.S. 40 Highway and proceed eastbound to either Stadium Drive or Blue Ridge Cutoff.

Parking:

Parking spaces are available for vehicles and buses. The Truman Sports Complex provides spaces reserved for vehicles displaying disabled permits or tags. The complex exceeds the number of disabled parking spaces required by the ADA. An oversized vehicle is any vehicle that takes up more than one parking space. In case of a rainout, parking is refundable and season ticket holders receive a new parking pass.

Tours:

The Legends Tour (10 a.m. – 11 a.m. – 12 p.m.)