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Royals Baseball: 50 Years Strong

This story was featured in the Opening Day Issue of Royals Baseball Insider and is available for free to all fans who attend any game during the homestand from March 29-April 1, 2018.

Fifty years ago this month, on April 8, 1969, the Kansas City Royals played their inaugural game vs. the Minnesota Twins at Municipal Stadium. The boys in blue won, 4–3, in 12 innings on a pinch-hit, walk-off RBI single by Joe Keough in front of 17,688 fans.

Senator Stuart Symington — whose influence was instrumental in returning an American League expansion franchise to Kansas City — threw out the ceremonial first pitch from his front-row seat next to Mr.