In 1972, the first permanent baseball club from Kansas City made their debut under the management of Jack McKeon. Unlike many expansion teams, the Royals did surprisingly well, and in the squads first 14 years, finished either first or second. In 1973 the Royals moved into Royals Stadium close to where they moved from.

In 1976, the squad came fresh off a first place finish but fell in the LCS. In the next two years, the same exact thing happened. Jim Frey their new manager brought the team to a second place finish. In 1980 George Brett chased .400 but finished at .390. In that year, rookie reliever, Dan Quinsenberry, finished with 12 wins and 33 saves, and Dennis Leonard had his third 20 win season in four years. To close out the season the team made it to the World Series only to lose in six games.

Again in 1981, they had a second place finish. Detroit defeated them in the pennant in 1984. In 1985, Charlie Leibrandt (17-9) and Bret Saberhagen (20-6) led the Royals to the World Series and they beat the St. Louis Cardinals. Now the team is sweeping the basement of the American League, but surely with rising stars like Jermaine Dye and Joe Randa, the team is sure to win another pennant.