The Kansas City Royals can reach a quirky milestone with a victory on Saturday
As the Royals continue to investigate the possibility of moving to a new ballpark in downtown Kansas City, they can reach an unusual milestone at their current home with a victory Saturday.
Only five teams in Major League Baseball history have won 2,000 regular-season games at their current ballpark, but the Royals can become No. 6 by beating the Twins at Kauffman Stadium.
Some of the other franchises to reach the 2K mark may be evident. The Red Sox have 4,857 wins at Fenway Park, which opened in 1912. The Chicago Cubs’ 4,432 victories have come at Wrigley Field, which has housed the North Siders since 1916.
A side note: Wrigley Field, which was originally named Weegham Park, opened in 1914 and was home to the Chicago Whales of the Federal League. When that league folded, the Cubs moved in at the start of the 1916 season. In 1920, the name was changed to Wrigley Field.
The other ballparks on the 2K list: LA’s Dodger Stadium (2,772 wins), Oakland’s RingCentral Coliseum (2,405 victories) and LA’s Angel Stadium (2,364 wins).
On a shortlist
Research from Curt Nelson, director of the Royals Hall of Fame, found another quirky statistic about Kauffman Stadium.
Nelson found more than 150 stadiums have housed a Major League Baseball team, and just 16 teams have played in one ballpark for 50 consecutive seasons. The Royals, who began play at Kauffman Stadium in 1973, are among those franchises.
One other note of interest from Nelson: only four current stadiums have been home to multiple All-Star Games and World Series games in more than one year. They are: Kauffman Stadium, Wrigley Field, Fenway Park and Progressive Field in Cleveland.
Dodger Stadium will join that shortlist when it is host to the 2022 All-Star Game.
