Here They
Are in All Their Glory!
The
Uniforms of the Kansas City Royals
Bask in the Tradition. Bask
in the Memories.
Titled “A Way Of Life” and Licensed by Major League Baseball,
the Artwork is available in two framed
presentations:
An eye-catching framed-and-matted print
measuring 12” x 21” that sells for only $52 each—which is an exceptional
value for a fully assembled Artpiece of this size. And a dramatic 19” x 39” triple-matted high-quality print (a
Letter of Authenticity is included) that is limited to an edition size of only
299 and sells for the discounted cost of $399.
Please note your Artwork will arrive at your
door in 7 to 10 days when you place your order. And needless to say, there is a 30-day full moneyback
guarantee. In addition, The
Greatest-Scapes pays all shipping costs and any required sales tax!
The Greatest-Scapes also offers the option of
an interest-free Extended Payment Plan for credit card orders. For the $52 framed print, you can pay $26.00
upfront and the balance of $26.00 thirty days later. While the $399 framed Limited Edition can be purchased with an
initial $133, and payments of $133 billed thirty and sixty days later.
To phone in your credit
card order, please call us at 1-800-786-3022 anytime between 10am and 6pm
(Eastern) Monday through Friday. You
can also mail in your order, payable to The Greatest-Scapes, to: The Greatest-Scapes/P.O. Box
5548/Pittsburgh, PA 15206. Please
include your shipping address and specify which Artwork(s) you’re ordering and
how many. And please don’t hesitate to
call us toll-free if you ever have any questions or would like any additional
information.
For your convenience, you can print out our
Order Form.
Click Here for
Order Form
And this Artwork evokes an unmistakably
Classic quality. Indeed, it will look
at home next to a diploma or a work of fine art. Whether you hang it on a wall or lean it on a shelf or mantle,
the Artwork will make a striking impression.
Please keep in mind, though, the visuals
depicted here on the website simply can not do justice to the detail and
quality of the actual Artwork.
Please note the uniform images shown are
produced from hand-painted watercolor paintings. The publisher chose this route, rather than photographs, because
in many cases original jerseys no longer exist, even at the various halls of
fame. In addition, a more consistent
look and feel for the uniforms is achieved by painting them, and allows for a
higher level of detail than a photograph in some cases.
Here, then, is a detailed description of the
12” x 21” Artpiece that sells for only $52 each. It consists of a 5” x 15” paper print that is housed in a black
frame with a textured black mat. The
black mat has a white groove cut into it, thus adding depth and beauty to the
piece. Weighing approximately four
pounds, the Artwork is protected by unbreakable Plexiglas and includes a
“hanger” on the back to allow for easy hanging. The black frame—and especially the textured black mat with
white groove—makes this a truly stunning Artpiece.
The above is an example of
the 12” x 21” Artpiece, which depicts the Washington Redskins.
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As for the 19” x 39” Limited Edition Artwork,
please note each Artwork is printed on 115-lb Garda Gloss stock and then
mounted to avoid any rippling effects.
As for its matting and framing, the Limited Edition is triple-matted in
an acid-free framing style. The outer
mat is a rich, black textured mat with white core. The middle and inner mat colors have been selected to complement
the team’s colors and the overall framed piece. The matting is framed to create a shadow box effect, giving the
entire framed piece a unique three-dimensional look. The frame is an exquisite solid wood frame finished with a rich
black matte texture, chosen to complement all three mats and the print
itself. Finally, the Artpiece is
protected by high-quality framing glass; the total weight of the Artpiece being
approximately 10 pounds.
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The above is
an example of the 19” x 39” Limited Edition Artpiece,
which depicts
the New York Yankees.
Here then is the history of the Royals’ Uniforms …
#1.
1969 The
Kansas City Royals joined the American League as an expansion team in 1969
along with the Seattle Pilots, thus increasing the AL from 10 to 12 teams. The
Royals began playing at Municipal Stadium, the former home of the Kansas City
Athletics, who moved to Oakland for the 1968 season after being in KC since
1955. Thus with the introduction of the Royals in 1969, Kansas City went only
one year without a major league team since 1955.
1969 was a first for MLB – it marked the introduction
of “Divisions” and an extra round of playoffs that saw the AL and NL Division
winners square off for the right to advance to the World Series – prior to 1969
there was simply an AL and NL Champ, and they would meet each other in the
World Series.
The Royals’ first season saw them go 69-93 to
finish fourth in the brand new six-team AL West – ahead of the White Sox and
the lowly Seattle Pilots.
The Royals’ road uniform shown here is gray
in color with the word “Kansas City” spelled out in blue letters across the
chest. “Kansas City” also has a “swoosh” underlining it. The “swoosh” was introduced to
baseball by the 1932 Cubs, and has been worn by many teams since then. Note also the blue piping around the collar, sleeves and down
the pants.
The commemorative
patch on the left sleeve is in honor of the 100th year of
professional baseball, and was worn by all major league teams in 1969. The
patch has the Major League Baseball logo and “100” on it, and celebrates the
Cincinnati Red Stockings 1869 team that was the first openly professional team
and went 65-0 in a nationwide barnstorming season.
#2.
1971 Note
how similar this 1971 home uniform is to the 2001 home uniform. For 1971 the
Royals added a new logo to the left sleeve, a logo that is still the same
today. The patch, circular in shape, feature a blue home plate with a white ”R”
in the middle of it and “KC” in top right corner in gold. Above the plate is a
gold crown indicating “royalty”.
The 1971 Royals finish second in the AL West with a record of 85-76, a
remarkable achievement for a team in only their third season of existence.
Building the team on speed, they led the league in stolen bases with 130, 47
more than the 2nd place Chicago White Sox. Center fielder Amos Otis
finished atop the league with 52 steals, while teammate shortstop Freddie Patek
was right behind him with 49.
Two years after this (in 1973) the Royals would move into a brand new home,
Royals Stadium. From left center to right center there are no seats, giving the
Stadium a tremendous open feeling. In its place would be grassy areas, a crown
shaped scoreboard and a 322-foot-wide waterfall and fountain. Royals Stadium
was also host to the 1973 All Star game.
#3.
1976 As
we see on this 1976 road uniform, the Royals have adopted a new, all-blue look.
This design actually started in ’73. The letters on the front have also changed
to block capital letters as opposed to the earlier flowing script. This road jersey is of a double-knit
style that most major league teams succumbed to during the 70’s and early 80’s.
It was a pullover style, made of stretchy, synthetic material. The pants were
called “Sans-a-Belt”’s because the elasticized waistline eliminated the need
for a belt. The 1970 Pirates were the first double-knit - sans-a-belt team, and
the Cards and Astros joined them in 1971. By 1975 two thirds of major league
teams had joined the double-knit parade.
1976 was a banner year for the Royals and
they finished atop the AL West in manager Whitey Herzog’s first full season.
The team’s record was a tidy 90-72. George Brett led the team on the field with
a league leading .333 batting average.
In their first post-season appearance, the
Royals faced the Yankees and promptly fell behind two games to one in the
best-of-five affair. The Royals came back to win game 4 to force a fifth and
deciding game, to be played in New York. Down 6-3 going into the 8th,
the Royals scored three runs to tie it at six. Unfortunately for the Royals,
Yankee first baseman Chris Chambliss clobbered a home run in the bottom of the
9th to lead the Yanks to the World Series. Picking up where he left
off, George Brett had a great series - batting .444 with a homer, a double, a
triple and 5 RBI. But it wasn’t enough and the Royals had to watch the Yankees
advance to the World Series for the 30th? Time.
And worse yet, the Royals would face the
Yankees in the post-season again in 1977 and 1978, and they lost both of those
series as well (in ’77 they lost 3 games to 2, while in 1978 they fell 3-1).
#4.
1980 This 1980 home jersey is of a
double-knit style that most major league teams succumbed to during the 70’s and
early 80’s. It was a pullover style, made of stretchy, synthetic material. The
pants were called “Sans-a-Belt”’s because the elasticized waistline eliminated
the need for a belt. The 1970 Pirates were the first double-knit - sans-a-belt
team, and the Cards and Astros joined them in 1971. By 1975 two thirds of major
league teams had joined the double-knit parade.
After losing the AL Championship Series three
years in a row from ’76 to ’78 to the Yankees, (in ’76 and ’77 they lost 3-2
and in ’78 lost 3-1) they took a year off from the post season but were back at
in 1980.
Once again they faced the Yanks, but this
time the Royals prevailed. The Royals claimed their first pennant in three
straight games, outscoring the Yanks 14-6 in the three games.
In their first fall classic, they took on the
Philadelphia Phillies who were also in the hunt for their first championship in
their 100 year+ existence – someone was going to win the World Series for the
first time in franchise history.
Philly took the first two games at home, but
it was a different story when the Royals came home. Game 3 ended in the 10th
inning with the Royals winning 4-3, and they evened the series the next day
winning 5-3.
Game 5 was also in Kansas City, and the
Royals led 3-2 going into the top of the ninth, but for the second time in the
series the Phillies got to Royals stopped Dan Quisenberry, scoring 2 runs in
the process for a 4-3 win. Game 6 was in Philly and the Royals loaded the bases
twice, but Phillies’ reliever Tug McGraw shut them down both times. The game
ended 4-1 for the Phils, and the Phillies won their first World Series ever.
But we can’t leave the 1980 season without tipping our cap to the Royals’
George Brett. During the regular season Brett flirted with the coveted .400
mark, but by season’s end he had to settle for a .390 average, the batting
title and the league MVP award. Brett dropped below .400 on September 6th,
but gave baseball fans across America a wild ride right up to the last week of
the season. Then in the ALCS against the Yankees, Brett hit .273 with 2 homers
and 4 RBI. In the World Series he hit .375 with 1 home run and 3 RBI. A
remarkable year for a remarkable player.
#5A. & #5B.
1985 Both
these home and road uniforms show the team has thankfully left the double-knit
jersey and “Sans-a-Belt” pants behind (this was abandoned in 1983).
Buttons-down-the-front are back and note also the fact that numbers are on the
front of the jersey (this was introduced by the Royals for the 1st
time in ’83). Uniform numbers
first made their appearance on the front of a uniform in 1952 - the Brooklyn
Dodgers were the first team to wear uniform numbers on the front of their
jersey. The Braves followed suit in 1953, and the Reds joined in beginning in
1956. The 1916 Cleveland Indians actually wore a uniform number on their
sleeve, but it wasn’t until the ’52 Dodgers that the number made it to the
front.
The Royals finished the 1985 season with a 91-71 record to claim their second
straight AL West division title (the Royals lost to the Tigers in three
straight games in the 1984 ALCS). In the ALCS Royals faced the upstart Toronto
Blue Jays for the pennant in a best-of-seven affair.
The Royals lost the first two games in
Toronto then came back in KC to win game three with George Brett going
four-for-four at the plate, with four runs and 3 RBI. They would fall the next
day to go down 3 games to 1, almost an insurmountable lead for the Jays. The key
word here is “Almost”! The Royals shut out the Blue Birds 2-0 in game five in
Kansas City, and then had to travel back to Toronto for games 6 and 7. The
Royals tied the series with a win in game six, thus forcing a seventh and
deciding game in Toronto. In game 7 the Royals left no doubt - the Royals led
all the way and beat the Jays 6-2 for their second pennant (the first being in
1980).
In the “All-Missouri” World Series, the Royals took on the speedy St. Louis
Cardinals, who led the Major Leagues in stolen bases this season with 314,
compared to the Royals’ 128.
The Cards jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the
series winning both games in Kansas City. The Royals won game three 6-1 behind
the strong pitching of Brett Saberhagen. The next day they would find themselves
in a hole once again as they lost game four 3-0 to fall behind 3 games to 1.
Could lightning strike twice in the same post season?
Sure enough, the Royals took game five 6-1 in
St. Louis and headed home to try to finish the job. Game Six provided a lot of
drama that Cardinals fans can never forget. With the Cards leading 1-0 going
into the bottom of the ninth, there is a disputed play at first, followed by a
passed by and an intentional walk. That set the stage for Dane Iorg’s dramatic
two run pinch single in the bottom of the ninth and the series was tied 3-3.
On to Game 7 – potentially the most dramatic
game in all of baseball.
Saberhagen once again took the mound for the
deciding game and this time pitched a five hit gem. But forget the drama –
Saberhagen and the Royals left no doubt in anyone’s mind as they took their
first World Series Championship on the strength of an 11-0 blowout. Saberhagen
was named the Series MVP with his two wins and miniscule 0.50 ERA. He capped
off a remarkable year by being named the team’s first Cy Young award winner.
The hitting stars were George Brett, who went 10 for 27 for a .370 average,
Willie Wilson who hit .367 and Lonnie Smith who hit .333.
#6.
1992 As
we see on this road uniform the Royals have made some slight alterations to
their jersey since 1985. The team name and the numbers on the front of the
jersey now have a white border. The trim around the sleeves is much thinner and
there is no trim/piping at all around the collar. They have also gone back to the
gray road jersey as opposed to the all-blue style that began in 1973. The patch
on the right sleeve with the initials “JRB” are in memory of the Royals’
President and General Manager Joe Burke, who passed away this year.
Although this season was a sub-par year for the team – they finished sixth in
the AL West with a 72-90 record - Kansas City fans did have something to cheer
about. On September 30th 1992 George Brett collected his 3000th
hit to join the elite 3000 hit club. He would go on to play one more season,
eventually finishing with a remarkable 3154 hits.
#7.
1993 On
this home uniform the team made an addition to their logo on the left sleeve
patch. The addition of the letters “EMK” above the crown paid respects to the
Royals’ owner Ewing Marion Kauffman who passed away this season. The next
season the team would rename Royals Stadium “Kauffman Stadium” in his honor. On
the right sleeve is a patch celebrating the team’s 25th anniversary
(1969-1993).
The Royals finished a respectable third in the AL West this season with a
record of 84-78, but more importantly they said goodbye to future Hall of Famer
George Brett. Brett played 21 years in the majors, all with the Royals,
finishing with a career batting average of .305 and 3154 hits, placing him14th
on the all time hit list. Always a fan favorite known for his modest ways and
competitive spirit, The people of Kansas City and George Brett enjoyed a 21
year affair.
#8A. & #8B.
1995 This
wonderful and unique red jersey is a throwback jersey that the Royals wore
several times in1995 in honor of the Kansas City Monarchs who played in the
Negro League in the 30’s, 40’s and 50’s. This jersey is one of the most unique
ones we’ve seen. The base color is white with red and blue trim. The patch on
the left sleeve is a blue heart with a white and red “KC” in it. The patch on
the right sleeve commemorates the 75th anniversary of the founding
of Negro League.
This throwback
jersey is also referred to as a “3rd jersey”. The 3rd
jersey is a concept that became commonplace by the mid 90’s. Most 3rd
jerseys are worn occasionally at home as well as on the road, giving a team a
third option as to what uniform to wear. And of course, the addition of a third
jersey adds to the options fans can buy, thereby increasing apparel revenues
and ultimately benefiting the team. More recently, teams have begun adding 4th
and even 5th jerseys to their roster of uniform possibilities.
The second uniform shown in the Royals’ 1995 road jersey. They have gone back
to the traditional “KANSAS CITY” on the front, a style they haven’t worn since
1982. The letters “MIK” on the right sleeve are in memory of owner Muriel Irene
Kauffman who passed away this season. In 1993 the Royals wore the letters “EMK”
on the left sleeve to pay respect to her husband and then Royals owner Ewing
Marion Kauffman. As noted earlier, in 1993 the team renamed Royals Stadium
“Kauffman Stadium” in his honor.
The 1995 Royals finished in second place in the 4 team AL Central with a record
of 70-74, 30 games behind the remarkable and un-catchable Cleveland Indians.
The standout players for the 1995 Royals were Wally Joyner who hit .310 with 83 RBI, and Gary Gaetti who hit .261 with
35 homers and 96 RBI.
#9.
1998 This
is a 3rd uniform. Note that this jersey is now a darker blue than
what we have seen in the past – it’s now more of a royal blue. The 3rd jersey is a
concept that became commonplace by the mid 90’s. Most 3rd jerseys
are worn occasionally at home as well as on the road, giving a team a third
option as to what uniform to wear. And of course, the addition of a third
jersey adds to the options fans can buy, thereby increasing apparel revenues
and ultimately benefiting the team. More recently, teams have begun adding 4th
and even 5th jerseys to their roster of uniform possibilities.
Although the Royals were a below .500 team in ’98 (they finished with a 72-89
record for third place in the 5 team AL Central), they welcomed three young
stars who gave fans a taste of things to come - Mike Sweeney, Jermaine Dye and
Carlos Beltran.
#10.
1999 This
is a very simple blue jersey with a white “KC” on the front. This is a
“throwback” style jersey, but unlike most throwbacks worn by other teams, it
doesn’t actually represent a jersey previously worn by the Royals, rather it is
patterned after what the Major League Royals might have worn had the team been
in existence in the 20’s or 30’s. This is an elegant jersey and a wonderful
addition to the Royals’ uniform.
Former Royal George Brett was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame
this season, but on the field the team didn’t fair too well. The ’99 Royals
finished with a 64-97 record, ending up fourth in the AL Central, 32˝ games out
of first. At seasons’ end Royals outfielder Carlos Beltran was named the AL
Rookie of the Year, finishing the season with 22 homer runs, 108 RBI and a .293
batting average.
Two other young Royals came into their own as
well – how are these for numbers: Mike Sweeney - 22 home runs; 102 RBI; .322
BA, and Jermaine Dye - 27 home runs; 119 RBI; .294 BA.
#11.
2001 The
home uniform we show here is the traditional Royals look that has stayed
remarkably consistent since the team began – see the 1971 uniform pictured
earlier. The patch on the right sleeve is for the celebration of the American
League’s 100th Season Anniversary. Every AL team wore this patch,
with the 4 “charter members” of the AL wearing a slight variation that
acknowledged their being Charter Members of the American League in 1901 (these
four were the Red Sox, the White Sox, the Indians and the Tiger).
The Royals finished the 2001 season in the AL Central basement with a 65-97
record, 26 games behind the Cleveland Indians. Mike Sweeney and Carlos Beltran
led the Royals at the plate, with Sweeney hitting .304, 29 homers and 99 RBI,
and Beltran hitting .306 with 24 homers and 101 RBI.
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The Kansas City Royals: “A Way Of Life”
TRADITION…
MEMORIES… CLASSY…
Order Yours Today … and Revel in it!
800-786-3022
412-781-3022
E-mail:
greatestscapes@hotmail.com