Ewing M. Kauffman Stadium (icon; and also formerly known as
Royals Stadium nicknamed
The K.) is a
Major League BaseballMajor League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
stadiumA baseball park, also known as a baseball stadium, ball park, or ballpark is a venue where baseball is played. It consists of the playing field and the surrounding spectator seating...
located in
Kansas City, MissouriKansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
, and home to the
Kansas City RoyalsThe Kansas City Royals are a Major League Baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals are a member of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. From 1973 to the present, the Royals have played in Kauffman Stadium...
of the
American LeagueThe American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, or simply the American League , is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league based in the Great Lakes states, which eventually aspired to major...
. Together with
Arrowhead StadiumArrowhead Stadium is a stadium located in Kansas City, Missouri and home to the NFL's Kansas City Chiefs....
, home of the
National Football LeagueThe National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
's
Kansas City ChiefsThe Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. They are a member of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Originally named the Dallas Texans, the club was founded by Lamar Hunt in 1960 as a...
, it is a part of the
Truman Sports ComplexThe Harry S. Truman Sports Complex is a sports and entertainment facility located in Kansas City, Missouri, U.S.. It is home to two major sports venues- Arrowhead Stadium, home of the National Football League's Kansas City Chiefs, and Kauffman Stadium, home of Major League Baseball's Kansas City...
. Since July 2, 1993, the venue had been known as Kauffman Stadium in honor of the Royals' founding owner,
Ewing KauffmanEwing Marion Kauffman was an American pharmaceutical magnate, philanthropist, and Major League Baseball owner....
.
Kauffman Stadium was built specifically for baseball during an era where building
multisport "cookie-cutter" stadiumsMulti-purpose stadiums are a type of stadium designed in such a way as to be easily used by multiple sports. While any stadium could potentially host more than one sport, this concept usually refers to a specific design philosophy that stresses multi-functionality over specificity...
were commonplace. It is often held up along with
Dodger StadiumDodger Stadium, also sometimes called Chavez Ravine, is a stadium in Los Angeles. Located adjacent to Downtown Los Angeles, Dodger Stadium has been the home ballpark of Major League Baseball's Los Angeles Dodgers team since 1962...
in Los Angeles as one of the best examples of modernist stadium design.
It is the only ballpark in the American League to currently be named after a person (
Ewing KauffmanEwing Marion Kauffman was an American pharmaceutical magnate, philanthropist, and Major League Baseball owner....
). The stadium is years old, making it the
sixth-oldest stadium in major-league baseball. Kauffman stadium recently underwent a $250 million renovation, which began after the 2007 season and was completed in July 2009.
The
2012 Major League Baseball All-Star GameThe 2012 Major League Baseball All-Star Game will be the 83rd edition of the Major League Baseball All-Star Game. It will be held on July 10, 2012, during the 2012 Major League Baseball season at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri, home of the Kansas City Royals...
will be held at Kauffman Stadium.
History
In 1967, voters in
Jackson County, MissouriJackson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Missouri. With a population of 674,158 in the 2010 census, Jackson County is the second most populous of Missouri's counties, after St. Louis County. Kansas City, the state's most populous city and focus city of the Kansas City Metropolitan...
, approved the bonds for
Truman Sports ComplexThe Harry S. Truman Sports Complex is a sports and entertainment facility located in Kansas City, Missouri, U.S.. It is home to two major sports venues- Arrowhead Stadium, home of the National Football League's Kansas City Chiefs, and Kauffman Stadium, home of Major League Baseball's Kansas City...
, which featured a football stadium for the
Kansas City ChiefsThe Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. They are a member of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Originally named the Dallas Texans, the club was founded by Lamar Hunt in 1960 as a...
and a baseball stadium for the
Kansas City AthleticsThe Oakland Athletics are a Major League Baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League. From to the present, the Athletics have played in the O.co Coliseum....
, whose owner,
Charles O. FinleyCharles Oscar Finley , nicknamed Charlie O or Charley O, was an American businessman who is best remembered for his tenure as the owner of the Oakland Athletics Major League Baseball team. Finley purchased the franchise while it was located in Kansas City, moving it to Oakland in 1968...
, had just signed a new lease to remain in Kansas City. This was unusual for the time; it was long considered conventional wisdom that separate football and baseball stadiums were not commercially viable. Before the
1968 seasonThe Athletics played their first season in Oakland this year, following the team's relocation from Kansas City. It was also the last season of play before each of the two leagues were split into divisions for the following season.-The Year of the Pitcher:...
, however, Finley moved the A's to
Oakland, CaliforniaOakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
, and their brand-new multi-purpose stadium.
After the move, Missouri
SenatorThe United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
Stuart SymingtonWilliam Stuart Symington was a businessman and political figure from Missouri. He served as the first Secretary of the Air Force from 1947 to 1950 and was a Democratic United States Senator from Missouri from 1953 to 1976.-Education and business career:...
threatened to revoke baseball's anti-trust exemption if they did not give Kansas City a new team. Baseball responded by hastily granting expansion franchises to four cities, including a Kansas City team owned by local pharmaceutical magnate
Ewing KauffmanEwing Marion Kauffman was an American pharmaceutical magnate, philanthropist, and Major League Baseball owner....
. The new teams were due to start play in , but pressure from Symington forced them to move up the start date to . Jackson County continued its plans to build a new ballpark. After playing four seasons in Kansas City Municipal Stadium, on April 10, 1973, the
RoyalsThe 1973 Kansas City Royals season was a season in American baseball. It involved the Royals finishing second in the American League West with a record of 88 wins and 74 losses.- Offseason :...
inaugurated Royals Stadium with a win over the
Texas RangersThe Texas Rangers season involved the Rangers finishing sixth in the American League West with a record of 57 wins and 105 losses.- Offseason :* October 27, 1972: Jim Panther was traded by the Rangers to the Atlanta Braves for Rico Carty....
.
On May 15, 1973, the stadium, barely a month into its existence, saw
Nolan RyanLynn Nolan Ryan, Jr. , nicknamed "The Ryan Express", is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. He is currently principal owner, president and CEO of the Texas Rangers....
, pitching for the
California AngelsThe California Angels season involved the Angels finishing fourth in the American League West with a record of 79 wins and 83 losses.- Offseason :...
, throw the first of his seven
no-hitterA no-hitter is a baseball game in which one team has no hits. In Major League Baseball, the team must be without hits during the entire game, and the game must be at least nine innings. A pitcher who prevents the opposing team from achieving a hit is said to have "thrown a no-hitter"...
s, blanking the Royals 3–0.
On July 24, 1973, Royals Stadium hosted its
firstThe 1973 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was the 44th midseason exhibition between the all-stars of the American League and the National League , the two leagues comprising Major League Baseball. The game was played on July 24, 1973 at Royals Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri, home of the...
of
twoThe 2012 Major League Baseball All-Star Game will be the 83rd edition of the Major League Baseball All-Star Game. It will be held on July 10, 2012, during the 2012 Major League Baseball season at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri, home of the Kansas City Royals...
Major League Baseball All-Star GameThe Major League Baseball All-Star Game, also known as the "Midsummer Classic", is an annual baseball game between players from the National League and the American League, currently selected by a combination of fans, players, coaches, and managers...
s.
On October 9, 1976, the
RoyalsThe 1976 Kansas City Royals season was a season in American baseball. It involved the Royals finishing first in the American League West with a record of 90 wins and 72 losses...
competed in their first post-season game in franchise history, losing 4–1 to the
New York YankeesThe 1976 New York Yankees season was the 74th season for the Yankees in New York, and the 76th season overall for the franchise. The team finished with a record of 97-62, finishing 10½ games ahead of the Baltimore Orioles to win their first American League East title.In the ALCS, the Yankees...
at Royals Stadium in the
American League Championship Series-Game 1:Saturday, October 9, 1976 at Royals Stadium in Kansas City, MissouriThe opener was played on a bright Saturday afternoon at Royals Stadium and pitted Yankee ace Jim “Catfish” Hunter against left-hander and ex-Yankee Larry Gura. The Yankees got off to a quick start scoring two in the first...
. The Royals came back to win the next game on October 10, 6–3, for their first post-season win in Royals Stadium.
On October 17, 1980, the
first-Game 1:Tuesday, October 14, 1980 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaThe Royals jumped on Philly rookie starter Bob Walk early with a pair of two run bombs—one by Amos Otis in the second and another by Willie Aikens in the third...
World SeriesThe World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball, played between the American League and National League champions since 1903. The winner of the World Series championship is determined through a best-of-seven playoff and awarded the Commissioner's Trophy...
game held in Kansas City featured the hometown
RoyalsThe 1980 Kansas City Royals season was a season in American baseball. The Royals finished first in the American League West with a record of 97 wins and 65 losses...
against the
Philadelphia PhilliesThe 1980 Philadelphia Phillies season was a season in American baseball. The team finished with a regular-season record of 91 wins and 71 losses, which was good enough to regain the National League East title by just one game over the Montreal Expos...
. In his first at-bat,
George BrettGeorge Howard Brett , nicknamed "Mullet", is a former Major League Baseball third baseman, designated hitter, and first baseman. He played his entire 21-year baseball career for the Kansas City Royals. Brett's 3,154 career hits are the most by any third baseman in major league history, and 15th...
hit a home run down the right field line. The Royals would go on to record their first-ever World Series win, 4–3 in 10 innings. However, the Royals would lose the World Series that year in six games.
On October 11, 1985, in Game 3 of the
American League Championship Series-Game 1:Tuesday, October 8, 1985 at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto, OntarioThe Toronto Blue Jays entered the series as the favorite to win the series. The first game featured Toronto pitcher Dave Stieb and Kansas City pitcher Charlie Leibrandt at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto...
, George Brett hit two home runs off
Toronto Blue JaysThe Toronto Blue Jays season saw the Blue Jays finishing first in the American League East with a record of 99 wins and 62 losses. The win total of 99 is a franchise record, and the division title was the franchise's first....
pitcher
Doyle AlexanderDoyle Lafayette Alexander is a former pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Baltimore Orioles, New York Yankees, Texas Rangers, Atlanta Braves, San Francisco Giants, Toronto Blue Jays, and Detroit Tigers...
, made a back-handed stop at third base to throw out a runner at home, and recorded the final out to give the
RoyalsThe 1985 Kansas City Royals season ended with the Royals' first world championship win over their intrastate rivals, the St. Louis Cardinals. The Royals won the Western Division of the American League for the second consecutive season and the sixth time in ten years...
a much-needed 6–5 win. The Royals went on to win the American League pennant in seven games.
On October 27 of that same year, the Royals clinched their first
World Series-Game 1:Saturday, October 19, 1985 at Royals Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri-Game 2:Sunday, October 20, 1985 at Royals Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri...
title in franchise history, winning Game 7 in Royals Stadium. Led by the pitching of
Bret SaberhagenBret William Saberhagen is a former Major League Baseball right-handed starting pitcher.-Early years:Bret Saberhagen attended Grover Cleveland High School, located in Reseda, California. Saberhagen starred in both basketball and baseball...
,
Darryl MotleyDarryl DeWayne Motley is a former Major League Baseball outfielder who played six seasons for the Kansas City Royals and Atlanta Braves between and . In his MLB career, Motley played in 413 games, hit 44 home runs, 324 hits, 159 RBIs, and batted .243...
's two-run home run, and George Brett's four hits, the Royals beat the
St. Louis CardinalsThe St. Louis Cardinals' 1985 season was the team's 104th season in St. Louis, Missouri and the 94th season in the National League. The Cardinals went 101-61 during the season and finished in first place in the National League East division by three games over the New York Mets...
11–0. The Royals were the first team in the history of the World Series to lose the first two games of the series at home and come back to win.
On June 16, 2010, MLB Commissioner
Bud SeligAllan Huber "Bud" Selig is the ninth and current Commissioner of Major League Baseball, having served in that capacity since 1992 as the acting commissioner, and as the official commissioner since 1998...
announced that Kauffman Stadium has been awarded the 2012 MLB All-Star game.
Features
Kauffman Stadium was the last baseball-only park built in the majors (not counting temporary facilities) from 1966 to 1991. It was one of the few baseball-only facilities built in the majors during the heyday of the
cookie-cutter stadiumMulti-purpose stadiums are a type of stadium designed in such a way as to be easily used by multiple sports. While any stadium could potentially host more than one sport, this concept usually refers to a specific design philosophy that stresses multi-functionality over specificity...
era, and is one of two such facilities (
Dodger StadiumDodger Stadium, also sometimes called Chavez Ravine, is a stadium in Los Angeles. Located adjacent to Downtown Los Angeles, Dodger Stadium has been the home ballpark of Major League Baseball's Los Angeles Dodgers team since 1962...
is the other) that are still active and were never converted for use as multi-purpose stadiums.
Although it is a baseball-only facility, its design took several stylistic cues from the multi-purpose stadiums of the day. The main stadium itself is primarily concrete, with a smooth, uncovered concrete facade. The stands wrap around the infield and end at the foul poles, with smaller bleacher sections (or "outfield plazas," as the Royals call them) in the outfield. In their book,
The Ultimate Baseball Road Trip, Josh Pahigaian and Kevin O'Connell described it as one-third of a cookie-cutter stadium. The upper deck is quite steep, though not as high as other parks built during this time. Many minor-league stadiums built in the 1980s and early 1990s, as well as
U.S. Cellular FieldU.S. Cellular Field is a baseball ballpark in Chicago, Illinois. Owned by the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority, it is the home of the Chicago White Sox of Major League Baseball's American League. The park opened for the 1991 season, after the White Sox had spent 81 years at old Comiskey Park...
in
ChicagoThe Chicago White Sox are a Major League Baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois.The White Sox play in the American League's Central Division. Since , the White Sox have played in U.S. Cellular Field, which was originally called New Comiskey Park and nicknamed The Cell by local fans...
, employ a similar design.
The sight lines are generally very good; the only seriously obstructed views are in the outfield plazas, where some seats are directly behind the foul poles. Many of the seats in the two view levels are almost as high as comparable seats in cookie-cutter stadiums, especially in the back rows. Most of the seats are on the first level, putting most of the fans very close to the action.
By
2000The 2000 Major League Baseball season ended with the New York Yankees defeating the New York Mets in Game 5 of the World Series, known as the Subway Series because fans could take the Subway to and from every game of the Series. An all-time record 5,693 home runs were hit during the regular season...
, all of the seats were replaced by blue seats, the lower section seating also getting cupholders.
The park's best-known feature is the fountain and waterfall display (known as the Water Spectacular) behind the right-field fence. At 322 feet, it is the largest privately-funded fountain in the world. The fountains are on display before and after the game and in-between innings, while the waterfalls are constantly flowing.
When the stadium was originally built, Kansas City was the westernmost major league city other than those along the Pacific Coast (1,600 miles away), which was a major reason why the Royals initially decided to use a faster-draining
AstroTurfAstroTurf is a brand of artificial turf. Although the term is a registered trademark, it is sometimes used as a generic description of any kind of artificial turf. The original AstroTurf product was a short pile synthetic turf while the current products incorporate modern features such as...
surface. The Royals' home territory included a large swath of the
Great PlainsThe Great Plains are a broad expanse of flat land, much of it covered in prairie, steppe and grassland, which lies west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains in the United States and Canada. This area covers parts of the U.S...
and
RockiesThe Rocky Mountains are a major mountain range in western North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch more than from the northernmost part of British Columbia, in western Canada, to New Mexico, in the southwestern United States...
, and Kauffman didn't want fans who drove many hundreds of miles to go home without seeing the game completed. The Truman Sports Complex's legendary groundskeeper, George Toma, best known as the head groundskeeper for every
Super BowlThe Super Bowl is the championship game of the National Football League , the highest level of professional American football in the United States, culminating a season that begins in the late summer of the previous calendar year. The Super Bowl uses Roman numerals to identify each game, rather...
, thus had the ironic job of maintaining two carpets for most of his career, along with the surface of
Arrowhead StadiumArrowhead Stadium is a stadium located in Kansas City, Missouri and home to the NFL's Kansas City Chiefs....
, which had AstroTurf from 1972 through 1993.
The arrival of the
Colorado RockiesThe Colorado Rockies are a Major League Baseball team based in Denver, Colorado. Established in 1991, they started play in 1993 and are in the West Division of the National League. The team is named after the Rocky Mountains...
, however, removed virtually all of the western portion of the Royals' once-vast home territory. Also in 1995, the stadium's turf was replaced by grass for the
season-Major League Baseball:*World Series: Atlanta Braves over Cleveland Indians ; Tom Glavine, MVP*All-Star Game, July 11 at The Ballpark in Arlington: National League, 3-2; Jeff Conine, MVP-Other champions:...
. When the Royals ripped out the turf, 4 inch perforated tile was installed at 12.5-foot centers across the entire field. As a result, the current grass field drains very well. Many newer facilities (and some older facilities through retrofitting) have similar drainage systems to minimize downtime after rain delays.
Renovations
On April 4, 2006,
Jackson County, MissouriJackson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Missouri. With a population of 674,158 in the 2010 census, Jackson County is the second most populous of Missouri's counties, after St. Louis County. Kansas City, the state's most populous city and focus city of the Kansas City Metropolitan...
voters approved a 0.375-percentage point
sales taxA sales tax is a tax, usually paid by the consumer at the point of purchase, itemized separately from the base price, for certain goods and services. The tax amount is usually calculated by applying a percentage rate to the taxable price of a sale....
increase to fund plans to renovate the Truman Sports Complex. The construction began with a ceremonial groundbreaking inside Kauffman Stadium on October 3, 2007, with completion of Kauffman Stadium in time for
Opening DayOpening Day is the day on which professional baseball leagues begin their regular season. For Major League Baseball and most of the minor leagues, this day falls during the first week of April. For baseball fans, Opening Day serves as a symbol of rebirth; writer Thomas Boswell once penned a book...
in
2009The 2009 Major League Baseball season began on Sunday, April 5, 2009 with the Atlanta Braves defeating the 2008 World Series champion Philadelphia Phillies 4–1. The regular season ended on October 6, extended two days for a one-game playoff between the Detroit Tigers and the Minnesota Twins to...
, and full renovation of the complex (including nearby
Arrowhead StadiumArrowhead Stadium is a stadium located in Kansas City, Missouri and home to the NFL's Kansas City Chiefs....
) by 2010, depending upon cost overruns. The team committed to a lease that will keep them in Kansas City until 2030, an extension of their current lease expiration of 2015.
The improvements to Kauffman Stadium included the following:
- Reducing capacity to 37,903
- New high definition scoreboard, dubbed "Crown Vision" and control room
- Fountain view terraces
- Outfield concourse
- Kids' area
- Taste of KC
- Right field sports bar-themed restaurant
- Left field hall of fame and conference center
- New group sales areas
- Wider concourses
- New and upgraded concession and toilet amenities on all concourses
- Enhanced vertical circulation to all levels
- Four new entry ticket gates
- New press facilities
The new high-definition scoreboard from
DaktronicsDaktronics is an American company based in Brookings, South Dakota that designs, manufactures, sells, and services video board, scoreboards, digital billboards and related products. The company is best known for its electronic LED displays...
of
Brookings, South DakotaBrookings is a city in Brookings County, South Dakota, United States. Brookings is the fourth largest city in South Dakota, with a population of 22,056 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Brookings County, and home to South Dakota State University, the largest institution of higher...
was one of the first features to be installed. It replaced both the old matrix board in the shape of the Royals logo that had been in the park since its opening, along with the video board that had been installed in 1989. The new scoreboard was ready for Opening Day
2008The 2008 Major League Baseball season began on March 25, 2008 in Tokyo, Japan with the 2007 World Series champion Boston Red Sox defeating the Oakland Athletics at the Tokyo Dome 6–5 in the first game of a two-game series, and ended on September 30 with the host Chicago White Sox defeating the...
. It is 84 ft. wide and 105 ft. tall, and was, at the time it entered service, the
largest high-definition LED display in the world. The display was assembled in 55 separate segments, including an active bottom taper to resemble the shield in the Royals logo. The video scoreboard alone cost $8.3 million, and the control room that operates it is staffed with 17 people on game days. It was adorned with a crown during the 2008 offseason. Strobe lights atop the scoreboard flash after every Royals home run.
Also, since this measure passed, MLB has announced that Kauffman Stadium will host the MLB All-Star Game in 2012. As part of this measure, every
Jackson CountyJackson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Missouri. With a population of 674,158 in the 2010 census, Jackson County is the second most populous of Missouri's counties, after St. Louis County. Kansas City, the state's most populous city and focus city of the Kansas City Metropolitan...
residential address will receive vouchers good for 50% off two tickets at Royals games on certain nights.
A second proposal on the April 2006 ballot would have installed a rolling roof at the
Truman Sports ComplexThe Harry S. Truman Sports Complex is a sports and entertainment facility located in Kansas City, Missouri, U.S.. It is home to two major sports venues- Arrowhead Stadium, home of the National Football League's Kansas City Chiefs, and Kauffman Stadium, home of Major League Baseball's Kansas City...
. The roof could have been moved to cover either Kauffman Stadium or Arrowhead Stadium when needed. The measure failed at the polls.
Buck O'Neil legacy seat
Beginning with the
2007 seasonThe 2007 Major League Baseball season, began on April 1 with a rematch of the 2006 National League Championship Series; the St. Louis Cardinals and New York Mets played the first game of the season at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri, which was won by the Mets, 6–1...
, the Royals had a red seat placed in the stadium amongst the all-blue seats behind home plate to honor
Buck O'NeilJohn Jordan "Buck" O'Neil was a first baseman and manager in the Negro American League, mostly with the Kansas City Monarchs. After his playing days, he worked as a scout, and became the first African American coach in Major League Baseball...
. There will be a person selected every game from community nominees to sit in that seat, formerly occupied by O'Neil behind home plate in what was Section 101, Row C, Seat 1, until 2008 who embodies the spirit of Buck O'Neil. Due to the renovations and section renumbering in 2009 the seat number is now Section 127, Seat 9, Row C and the seat bottom is now padded.
External links