The Baseball City Royals were a

farm team In sports, a farm team (also referred to as farm system, developmental system, feeder team, or nursery club) is generally a Team sport, team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any s ...

for the

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team ...

from 1988 to 1992, after moving from Fort Myers, Florida, where they were known as the Fort Myers Royals. The Baseball City Royals (based in Davenport, FL) were members of the

Florida State League The Florida State League (FSL) is a Minor League Baseball league based in the state of Florida. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A following ...

in 1988. Managed by

Luis Silverio Luis Pascual Silverio Delmonte (born October 23, 1956) is a Dominican former professional baseball player and coach, currently serving as the Senior Advisor to Latin American Operations for the Pittsburgh Pirates of Major League Baseball (MLB). ...

, they had the FSL's second-best record that year at 79-60 but lost the first-half central division to the

Osceola Astros Osceola (1804 – January 30, 1838, Vsse Yvholv in Creek, also spelled Asi-yahola), named Billy Powell at birth, was an influential leader of the Seminole people in Florida. His mother was Muscogee, and his great-grandfather was a Scotsma ...

by two games and the second-half race to the

Lakeland Tigers Lakeland is primarily a toponym. It may refer to: Places Australia *Lakeland, Queensland Canada *Lakeland (electoral district), a federal electoral district in Alberta *Lakeland County, a former municipal district in Alberta * District of La ...

by half a game. They were sixth in the 14-team league in attendance (63,746). Outscoring opponents just 557-545, the team had two All-Stars - catcher

Carlos Escalera Carlos Escalera (born June 26, 1979 in Mayagüez) is a Puerto Rican professional basketball player. Escalera has played in the American Basketball Association (ABA) and the National Superior Basketball League of Puerto Rico ( BSN) with Mets de ...

(.253/~.293/.345) and pitcher Aguedo Vasquez (3-2, 33 Sv, 1.67, 54 H in 80 IP). Vasquez led the FSL in saves and games pitched (62) and won the league's MVP award. Going on to fairly long and productive big league careers would be a sizeable contingent of

Kevin Appier Robert Kevin Appier (; born December 6, 1967) is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played 16 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), primarily for the Kansas City Royals. Appier's solid pitching during his first full season i ...

(10-9, 2.75), 1B-DH

Jeff Conine Jeffrey Guy Conine (; born June 27, 1966) is an American former professional baseball left fielder / first baseman and current front office assistant for the Miami Marlins, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for 17 seasons, with six teams ...

(.272/~.345/.443), 3B

Sean Berry Sean Robert Berry (born March 22, 1966) is an American former professional baseball third baseman and current Coach (baseball), coach. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for several teams from to . Early life Berry was born in Santa Mon ...

(.234/~.309/.319, 24 SB) and 2B

Brian McRae Brian Wesley McRae (; born August 27, 1967) is an American former center fielder in Major League Baseball who played for the Kansas City Royals, Chicago Cubs, New York Mets, Colorado Rockies and Toronto Blue Jays from to . McRae is the son of fo ...

(.308/~.378/.355). In 1989, the Royals had a worse overall record by one game (78-61) but won the first half in the central division (42-27). In the playoffs, they fell 2 games to 0 to the

St. Petersburg Cardinals The St. Petersburg Saints were a minor league baseball team that operated out of St. Petersburg, Florida. The team began as a semi-pro team and as early as October 1908, the semi-pro Saints played the Cincinnati Reds in a post-season exhibition ...

. The attendance plummeted to 39,220 (12th). Silverio's club led the FSL in offense (698 runs) while they allowed 615. They had no All-Stars that season. OF Pete Alborano (.337/~.385/.411) and C Jorge Pedre (.327/~.367/.500) provided excellent contact, while Escalera improved to .294/~.344/.417. Also returning were Berry (.266/~.339/.378, 37 SB) and Conine (.273/~.335/.433, 32 SB, a team-high 14 HR and 91 K). Dazzling on the hill were Carlos Maldonado (11-3, 9 Sv, 1.17, 47 H in 77 IP) and Dennis Moeller (9-0, 1.77).

Brian Poldberg Brian John Poldberg (born May 16, 1957) is a retired American professional baseball coach and manager. From 2014 to 2021, he managed the Omaha Storm Chasers, the Triple-A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals. Biography Poldberg was born in Omaha, ...

became manager in 1990 and the team fell to 60-78 while they drew a league-low 18,884. Outscored 675-542, the club had few bright spots. A few bright spots were

Mark Parnell Mark Charles Parnell (born 9 September 1959) is an Australian former politician and parliamentary leader of the SA Greens in the South Australian Legislative Council. He was the first SA Greens representative to be elected to the Parliament o ...

(2-2, 17 Sv, 1.86, 24 H, 40 K in 39 IP) and Greg Harvey (5-1, 2.04, 27 H in 40 IP) on the mound. OF

Jacob Brumfield Jacob Donnell Brumfield (born May 27, 1965) is an American former professional baseball outfielder who played in Major League Baseball for the Cincinnati Reds, Pittsburgh Pirates, Toronto Blue Jays, and Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles ...

overcame a release in spring training and won the batting title at .366/.429/.417. He also paced the FSL in OBP and stole 47 bases in 57 attempts. He made the league's All-Star team. The 1991 Baseball City team had a 446-461 run margin and the

Carlos Tosca Carlos Tosca (born September 29, 1953) is a Cuban former Major League Baseball (MLB) manager and coach. He was the manager of the Toronto Blue Jays from 2002 to 2004. He succeeded Buck Martinez on June 3, 2002, served the entire season, then ...

-managed nine went 62-69. At 35-30 in the second half, they were one game behind Lakeland in the Central. Doug Harris (10-6, 2.47) finished ninth in ERA for the All-Star-less team. OF

Kerwin Moore Kerwin Lamar Moore (born October 29, 1970) is an American former professional baseball outfielder. He played for the Oakland Athletics of the Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 3 ...

(.210/~.319/.322) led the FSL in steals (61) and strikeouts (141) while the top offensive threat was 3B Phil Hiatt (.298/~.344/.451, 28 SB). Brian Ahern (7-2, 2.00) was effective in 13 starts, while the bullpen boasted fine production from

Matt Karchner Matthew Dean Karchner (born June 28, 1967) is an American former professional baseball player who was a pitcher in the Major Leagues from 1995 to 2000. Playing career Karchner graduated from Berwick High School in Berwick, Pennsylvania in 1985. ...

(6-3, 5 Sv, 1.97, 49 H in 73 IP), Tony Long (7-3, 10 Sv, 1.96) and Skip Wiley (4-2, 17 Sv, 1.68). They drew 21,174 fans, next-to-last in the FSL. In 1992, the Royals were 71-60 and finished sixth under the guidance of

Ron Johnson Ronald Harold Johnson (born April 8, 1955) is an American businessman and politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from Wisconsin, a seat he has held since 2011. A Rep ...

. Their attendance of 17,406 was second-lowest, but almost 40,000 less than the next team. Making the playoffs as a wild card, they stunned the favorite

Sarasota White Sox Sarasota () is a city in and the county seat of Sarasota County, Florida, United States. It is located in Southwest Florida, the southern end of the Tampa Bay area, and north of Fort Myers and Punta Gorda. Its official limits include Sarasota Ba ...

2 games to 0 then beat the

2 games to 1, before falling to Lakeland 2 games to 0 in the finals. They had a 532-464 edge in runs. FSL managers selected C Lance Jennings (.259/~.317/.420) as the 8th-best prospect in the loop and he was their only All-Star, sharing FSL All-Star honors with Dunedin's

Carlos Delgado Carlos Juan Delgado Hernández (born June 25, 1972) is a Puerto Rican former professional baseball player and coach. He played in Major League Baseball primarily as a first baseman, from 1993 to 2009, most prominently as a member of the Toront ...

. 1B

Joe Vitiello Joseph David Vitiello (; born April 11, 1970) is an American former professional baseball player who was a designated hitter from –. He played for the Kansas City Royals, San Diego Padres, and Montreal Expos of Major League Baseball (MLB). He a ...

(.283/~.357/.388) made the league's top 10 in average, while 3B

Joe Randa Joseph Gregory Randa (; born December 18, 1969) is an American former Major League Baseball player. He was primarily a third baseman during his career. His nickname is " the Joker" due to his resemblance to the comic book character in ''Batman'' ...

hit .275/~.318/.328 in 51 contests. Long (3-3, Sv, 1.83) again pitched well, as did Kevin Kobetitsch (3-0, 4 Sv, 1.26, .78 WHIP).

Jon Lieber Jonathan Ray Lieber (born April 2, 1970) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He stands tall and weighs . He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Pittsburgh Pirates (1994–1998), Chicago Cubs (1999–2002 and 2008), N ...

(3-3, 4.65) made seven appearances en route to a fine MLB career. In 1993, Kansas City moved their high class- A affiliate to the

Wilmington Blue Rocks The Wilmington Blue Rocks are a Minor League Baseball team of the South Atlantic League and the High-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals. They are located in Wilmington, Delaware, and play their home games at Daniel S. Frawley Stadium. Fra ...

. The Baseball City FSL franchise was then shifted to Daytona Beach, where it became the

Daytona Cubs Daytona may refer to: Locations * Daytona Beach, Florida * Daytona Beach Shores, Florida * South Daytona, Florida * The Daytona Beach metropolitan area * Halifax area, also known as Daytona, the region around Daytona Beach Motor racing * Day ...

Year-by-year record

References

External links

{{Florida State League Baseball teams established in 1988 Defunct Florida State League teams Sports in Polk County, Florida Kansas City Royals minor league affiliates Defunct baseball teams in Florida 1988 establishments in Florida 1992 disestablishments in Florida Baseball teams disestablished in 1992

Year-by-year record

See also

References

External links