Gulf Coast League Royals

Gulf Coast League Royals
(1971-1983, 1985-2002)

Class-level
Previous Rookie
Minor league affiliations
Previous leagues
 Gulf Coast League
Major league affiliations
Previous Kansas City Royals
Minor league titles
League titles (6)
  • 1971
  • 1972
  • 1980*
  • 1981**
  • 1992
  • 1995

*GCL Royals Blue title; **GCL Royals Gold title

Division titles (7)
  • 1987
  • 1988
  • 1992
  • 1994
  • 1995
  • 1997
  • 1999
Team data
Nickname
  • GCL Royals (1971-1978, 1982-2002)
  • GCL Royals Blue (1979-1981)
  • GCL Royals Gold (1979-1981)
  • GCL Royals Academy (1974)
Previous parks

The Gulf Coast League (GCL) Royals were a minor league baseball franchise in the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League from 1971–1978, 1982-1983 and 1985–2002. The club was owned and operated by the Kansas City Royals of Major League Baseball. The GCL Royals played games at Florida-based minor league and spring training facilities located in Sarasota (through 1987), Baseball City Stadium in Davenport (1988–1992; 1999–2002) and Fort Myers (1993–1998).

From 1979–1981, the Royals operated two GCL teams, the Gulf Coast League (GCL) Royals Blue and Gulf Coast League (GCL) Royals Gold, to accommodate a surplus of teenaged players. In 1974, Kansas City also fielded a separate Gulf Coast League (GCL) Royals Academy team for members of its experimental Baseball Academy. The Academy team played alongside the GCL Royals; finishing 35–16 in the GCL standings that season, 4½ games ahead of the 29–19 GCL Royals, but the Royals Academy lost the league pennant by percentage points to the GCL Cubs.

In 2003, when the Royals moved their spring training operations to Surprise, Arizona, they simultaneously transferred their Rookie-level affiliate to the Arizona League.

Notable alumni

See also

External links


This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Friday, May 06, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.