Monday, June 08, 2009

the one year kansas city was a 4-team city

I was born November 22, 1983 in Kansas City. During my childhood the only teams were the Chiefs and the Royals.

The Royals even won the World Series. I was almost 2 years old. In the last 23 seasons the Royals have never won their division, and have only finished 2nd three times. But that's not the point.

When I was born, Kansas City was actual a 3-team city. The Kansas City Kings played their last NBA game before moving to Sacramento in 1985. But that's not the point.

The point is that in Kansas City's sports history there was one magical year where they had a team in each of the four major sports. This is a look at the 1975-76 sports year. 1975 was the first season for the NBA Kings. It was also the last season for the NHL Scouts, who eventually became the New Jersey Devils.

- - -

The Royals played their first game on April 7, 1975. They spent 11 days in first and finished 2nd in the AL West with a record of 91-71. The A's won the division.

The Chiefs opened their season on September 21, 1975 with a 33-37 loss to the Broncos. They lost their first three and last four, finishing 5-9, good for 3rd in the AFC West.

On October 8, 1975, the Scouts started their last season in Kansas City. They went 12-56-12 which placed them last in the Smythe Division. The only worse team in the league that year was the Washington Capitals.

The Kings started their first Kansas City season with a loss to the Bullets on October 23, 1975. They finished 31-51, 5 games out of the playoffs. They wrapped up the sports year by losing to the Buffalo Braves by a point on April 11, 1976.

So in 1975, Kansas City had a weighted winning percentage of: 36.83%

Royals: 56.17%
Chiefs: 35.71%
Scouts: 17.65%
Kings: 37.80%

What a year it was.

1 comment:

  1. I think KC is a lot like STL. Their heyday has passed.

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