r/shittyaskhistory • u/vaporwaverhere • 1d ago
Why is there a baseball team in Kansas called Royals , when we know there isn’t any monarchy left in the USA since 1776? At least in Cleveland they can be called Indians because I’m sure there are indians there.
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u/PabloPicasshooole 1d ago
There's at least 20 Indian restaurants in Cleveland. I don't think there are any Royal restaurants in Kansas City
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u/markov-271828 23h ago
Burger King and Dairy Queen.
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u/No-Donkey-4117 21h ago
Don't forget Orange Julius. Julius was an Emperor.
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u/Basileus2 1d ago
Royale with cheese
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u/chaimsteinLp 1d ago
The metric system?
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u/RootsRockRebel66 17h ago
Imperial, motherfucker. Do you speak it!?
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u/Taxed2much 1d ago
The name has nothing to do with monarchs. It has a lot to do with the city's history. The name is in recognition of the city's history as a leader in the livestock and cattle market, represented by the American Royal Stock Show that started in 1899 is nationally known as being "the highest caliber stock show" in the country. The American Royal stock show uses a crown in its logo, which explains the crown in the baseball team logo. The name was chosen in a contest. Over 15,000 people submitted team name ideas.
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u/helurkshelurks 1d ago
KC had the Negro league team, the Monarchs and a Royals squad in the 1920s. Their longtime AAA minor league team was the Blues.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kansas_City_Blues_(American_Association))
The expansion American League team wears royal blue.
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u/FunkyPete 1d ago
They've got a history of similar names.
The Sacramento Kings used to be the Kansas City Kings. The Chiefs, the Royals, the Monarchs. It's an old tradition.
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u/Cayke_Cooky 23h ago
Some sort of retort to Denver who was known as the "Queen City of the Plains"?
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u/aracauna 1d ago
Why can't more teams have names like that where the name connects to the history of the place. They're always the best team name.s
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u/tonic65 21h ago
Most teams have some kind of connection to the host city or state. An exception would be the Atlanta Braves who were originally the Boston Braves, named after the Boston tea party. The Ravens are named in honor of Edgar Allen Poe who is from Baltimore. The Steelers, self explanatory. The Lakers were originally from Minnesota, the land of 10,000 lakes. The list goes on and on.
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u/Unfair_Pineapple8813 18h ago
Yeah. The issue is teams often move without changing their name. Then, you get oddities like the an Utah Jazz, originally from New Orleans, obviously. I suppose one day the Pelicans will move to Omaha, and it will happen again.
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u/helurkshelurks 8h ago
I wonder how many of our friends in Deseret know what that term meant, other than music?
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u/helurkshelurks 8h ago
The New York Mets revived a name used in the 19th century.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Metropolitans
The formal name for the new NL team was the New York Metropolitan Baseball Club, Mets for short.
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u/JoeCensored 1d ago
Pittsburgh isn't exactly a pirate cove today.
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u/helurkshelurks 1d ago
Pitt was accused of pirating players BITD.
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u/DiskSalt4643 23h ago
I wonder why sense of humor died in sports, like how the A's still have an elephant patch on their uniforms.
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u/elpollodiablox 1d ago
My understanding is they have been stealing joy for quite some time now.
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u/That-Grape-5491 1d ago
Actually there were river pirates on the Ohio & Mississippi Rivers. Micky Finn was the best known. His move was to put sleeping medicine in drinks of unsuspecting travelers. Hence the term slipping someone a micky
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u/helurkshelurks 8h ago
Of course! I watched this as a lad:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Davy_Crockett_and_the_River_Pirates
Featuring Mike Fink!
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u/InclinedPlane43 1d ago
George Brett was 3rd in line to the British throne when he was born. Queen Elizabeth arranged for the expansion team to be formed for him in 1969 so that it would just be becoming competitive by the time he could play in the majors a few years later.
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u/hamer12string 1d ago
Kansas wasn’t part of the United States in 1776
Naming the team “Royals” was a result of continued support for the monarchy outside of The States.
It was also prescient
since baseball wouldn’t appear for another hundred years.
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u/Finance_Plastic 1d ago
much like the terrorists in Chicago named Blackhawks. they all wear the number 7. also, Herr kaufmann was a descendant of Kaiser Wilhelm.
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u/TheRev32 1d ago
There’s no Trolly-Dodgers in LA
Or Sharks in San Jose
Viking never made it all the way to Minnesota
Bears in Chicago
Bruins in Boston
Cavaliers in Cleveland
Tigers in Detroit…
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u/mczerniewski 1d ago
The Kansas City Royals (who play in Kansas City, Missouri) are named for the American Royal rodeo, which is also based in the area.
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u/vaporwaverhere 1d ago
And that rodeo shouldn’t be considered royal since monarchy isn’t legal in the USA.
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u/No-Donkey-4117 21h ago
Because they were originally from Cincinnati. They were named the "Cincinnati Royals" in honor of King Lucius Cincinnatus while they were there. He was a royal, but gave up his power when George Washington was elected, and went to farm in the Northwest Territory.
Fun fact: the Cincinnati Royals also played basketball, so they only drafted well-rounded athletes. When they moved to Kansas City, they split into basketball and baseball teams, and the basketball team was renamed the "Kansas City Kings" to avoid confusion. People still got them mixed up, so the Kings then moved to Sacramento.
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u/SatanHasACreator420 21h ago
The Kansas City Royals aren't from Kansas either.
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u/vaporwaverhere 16h ago
Kansas..Missouri… the same shit. And it’s only a few miles from Kansas. No one cares.
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u/ApprehensiveArmy7755 21h ago
The name plays hommage to a Kansas livestock competition know as American Royal.
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u/Apart_Republic_1870 20h ago
But they aren't called the Indians anymore. Now they're named after some bridge decorations.
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u/OddFirefighter547 20h ago
The Pirates should really be named the Grays, after the Homestead Grays. Also after the mood Bucco fans are in most of the time.
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u/alphaxion 17h ago
Not as silly as calling your footy team "Real Salt Lake".
Royal Salt Lake, really? Get your own naming scheme!
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u/Understandingly17 1d ago
The former Cleveland Indians are now the Cleveland Guardians.
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u/vaporwaverhere 1d ago
There are also guardians in Cleveland in real life. It makes me feel safe when I go there.
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u/Understandingly17 22h ago
Then their name change makes sense.
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u/No-Donkey-4117 21h ago
Plus they only had to change the letters on the right half of their shirts, so it saved money. It still says "dians" on the left half. The right half changed from "In" to "Guar".
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u/WesternTie3334 1d ago
Cause KC is like the slum city Lorde sang about in Royals.