The Fort Myers Royals were a

minor league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nort ...

affiliate of 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 1978 to 1987. In 1978 the Royals were brought to

Fort Myers, Florida Fort Myers (or Ft. Myers) is a city in and the county seat of Lee County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 86,395; it was estimated to have grown to 95,949 in 2022, making it the List o ...

by the Kansas City franchise. This was because Fort Myers served as the

spring training Spring training, also called spring camp, is the preseason of the Summer Professional Baseball Leagues, such as Major League Baseball (MLB), and it is a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spri ...

home of the Kansas City Royals. The Royals were a Single A

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 ...

franchise. The team played at Terry Park Ballfield from 1978 until 1987. In 1985 the Royals won the

Championship.

Kevin Seitzer Kevin Lee Seitzer (; born March 26, 1962) is an American former professional baseball third baseman who is currently the hitting coach for the Seattle Mariners of Major League Baseball (MLB). He played in MLB for the Kansas City Royals, Milwaukee ...

was a member of that Fort Myers Royals team. The

Minor League Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nort ...

franchise left Fort Myers in 1988 when the

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

franchise moved Spring Training to

Haines City, Florida Haines City is a city in Polk County, Florida, Polk County, Florida, United States. Its population was 26,669 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Lakeland, Florida, Lakeland–Winter Haven, Florida, Winter Haven Lakeland-Winter Haven, Florida ...

and

Baseball City Stadium Baseball City Stadium was a stadium located in Davenport, Florida (near Haines City) that was in use from 1988 to 2002. It was a portion of the Boardwalk and Baseball theme park. The two facilities adjoined at the interchange of Interstate 4 ...

Season-by-season

Ballpark

The Fort Myers Royals played at Terry Park, located at 3410 Palm Beach Boulevard. Built in 1955, the historic ballpark was placed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1995. It sustained hurricane damage in 2004, that resulted in the grandstands being rebuilt. The ballpark still exists today as part of the Terry Park Sports Complex.

Notable alumni

Numerous Fort Myers Royals alumni reached the major leagues; some of note include: *

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 ...

(1987) *

Mike Butcher Mike Butcher may refer to: * Mike Butcher (baseball), American baseball pitcher and coach * Mike Butcher (footballer), Australian rules footballer * Mike Butcher (journalist), journalist and editor {{hndis, Butcher, Mike ...

(1987) *

Tom Gordon Thomas Gordon (born November 18, 1967), nicknamed "Flash", is an American former professional baseball right-handed pitcher and current radio color commentator for the Boston Red Sox. Gordon played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Kan ...

(1987), MLB All-Star * Greg Hibbard (1987) *

Ken Kravec Kenneth Peter Kravec (born July 29, 1951) is an American professional baseball scout and a former Major League pitcher and front office official. The , left-hander appeared in 160 games pitched, 128 as a starter, exclusively for the White Sox ...

(1987) *

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 ...

(1987) * Melido Perez (1987) *

Jerry Terrell Jerry Wayne Terrell (born July 13, 1946) is an American former professional baseball player. The former infielder from Elysian, Minnesota, attended Minnesota State University, Mankato and played in the Major Leagues for the Minnesota Twins (1973 ...

(1987, MGR) *

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 ...

(1986) * Luis de los Santos (1985) *

(1985), 2 x MLB All-Star; 1987 AL hits leader *

Gary Thurman Gary Montez Thurman (born November 12, 1964) is an American former professional baseball outfielder. He played for nine seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Kansas City Royals, Detroit Tigers, Seattle Mariners, and New York Mets. He was ...

(1985) *

Bret Saberhagen Bret William Saberhagen (; born April 11, 1964) is an American former professional baseball right-handed starting pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Kansas City Royals, New York Mets, Colorado Rockies, and Boston Red Sox fr ...

(1983 3× MLB All-Star; 1985 World Series MVP; 1989 AL ERA leader; 2 × AL

Cy Young Award The Cy Young Award is given annually to the best pitchers in Major League Baseball (MLB), one each for the American League (AL) and National League (baseball), National League (NL). The award was introduced in 1956 by Commissioner of Baseball ( ...

(1985, 1989) *

David Cone David Brian Cone (born January 2, 1963) is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher, and current color commentator for the New York Yankees on the YES Network and Amazon Prime as well as for ESPN on Sunday Night Baseball.

(1982), 5 x MLB All-Star; Perfect Game 7/18/1999; 1994 AL

Mark Gubicza Mark Steven Gubicza (; born August 14, 1962), nicknamed "Gubie", is an American former professional baseball pitcher and sportscaster. Gubicza played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Kansas City Royals (1984–96) and Anaheim Angels (1997 ...

(1982), 2 x MLB All-Star * Dennis Leonard (1982, 1985), 1977 AL wins leader *

Bill Pecota William Joseph Pecota (born February 16, 1960) is an American former Major League Baseball infielder. He is the namesake of PECOTA, a sabermetric created by Nate Silver and owned by Baseball Prospectus. Early years Pecota attended Peterson High ...

(1982–83) *

Butch Davis Paul Hilton "Butch" Davis Jr. (born November 17, 1951) is an American football coach. He was most recently the head football coach at Florida International University. After graduating from the University of Arkansas, he became an assistant coll ...

(1981) *

Tom Candiotti Thomas Caesar Candiotti (born August 31, 1956) is an American former knuckleball pitcher in Major League Baseball. He played for the Milwaukee Brewers, Cleveland Indians, Toronto Blue Jays, Oakland Athletics and Los Angeles Dodgers. Since the 200 ...

(1980) * Don Slaught (1980) *

Atlee Hammaker Charlton Atlee Hammaker (born January 24, 1958) is an American former Major League Baseball left-handed pitcher who played the majority of his career for the San Francisco Giants (1982–1990). He also played for the Kansas City Royals, San Diego ...

(1979), MLB All-Star; 1983 NL ERA leader * Pat Sheridan (1979–80) * Gene Lamont (1978–80, MGR) 1993 AL Manager of the Year *

Renie Martin Donald Renie Martin (born August 30, 1955) is an American former Major League Pitcher, Baseball pitcher. Early career Born in Dover, Delaware, Martin played for Dover High School (Delaware), Dover High School and later attended the University o ...

(1978) * Darryl Motley (1978–80)

References

Baseball teams established in 1978 Defunct baseball teams in Florida Defunct Florida State League teams Baseball in Fort Myers, Florida Kansas City Royals minor league affiliates Sports clubs and teams disestablished in 1987 1978 establishments in Florida 1987 disestablishments in Florida Baseball teams disestablished in 1987 {{Florida-baseball-team-stub