Top Five Kansas City Royals Managers Of All-Time
By Mike Norris
Hall of Famer Whitey Herzog – Mandatory Credit: Gregory J. Fisher-USA TODAY Sports
Record: 410-304
Division titles: 3
Playoff appearances: 3
Playoff record: 5-9
World Series appearances/wins: 0/0
Until Friday, Herzog was the Royals all-time winningest manager, and is still the only skipper to lead the team to a 100-win season.
He won three division titles in a row in the 70’s, and is a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame.
However, most of his success, including leading the St. Louis Cardinals to the 1982 World Series, came after he left the Royals.
Herzog developed a managerial style called “Whitey Ball,” which relied on pitching, speed and defense (hello, 2014 Royals), to win games. That could be perhaps why he had more success in the National League.
However, he found plenty of it in the AL as well.
He got to 410 wins, in 123 less games than Yost, and won back-to-back-to-back AL Central titles in the 70’s, losing to the Yankees in the postseason all three years.
Although he never reached the pinnacle with the Royals, he always will go down as the first manager in team history to have sustained success, and possibly the best winning percentage.
Next: No. 1 -- Dick Howser