The Kansas City Royals have announced that Manager Ned Yost has been voted into the Royals Hall of Fame. He will become the elite group’s 27th inductee during on-field ceremonies prior to the Royals Sept. 2, 2023 game at Kauffman Stadium vs. the Boston Red Sox.
Yost was elected in his first ballot appearance in a vote of living Royals Hall of Fame Members, and members of the Royals Hall of Fame Executive Board, select members of the Kansas City Chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America, Kansas City media representatives, current Royals front office staff with 15 years of service or more, and Royals fans via an on-line vote. To be eligible for the ballot, Royals Alumni must have been active with the ballclub for at least three (3) seasons and accumulated a minimum of 1,500 plate appearances or 300 innings pitched or managed the equivalent of three full seasons. Eligible alumni shall have ceased to be an active on-field member of the Royals (or for any other Major League organization) in the role for which they are being considered for at least three (3) calendar years preceding the election. Eligible alumni must be named on at least seventy-five percent (75%) of all ballots cast to be elected. Yost received (88.2%) support.
The 16th full-time manager in team history, Yost was named to the post on May 13, 2010, and five years later became the winningest skipper in franchise history by defeating the only other club he managed, the Milwaukee Brewers, 3-2 on June 18, 2015, for his 411th win, surpassing the mark previously held by fellow Royals Hall of Famer Whitey Herzog.
Yost, 68, led the Royals to a 22-9 postseason record for a .710 winning percentage, which set an MLB mark for managers who have managed at least 20 postseason games. His 2014 club was the first in Major League history to begin the postseason with eight consecutive victories, winning the Wild Card Game at home over Oakland, followed by sweeps of the Los Angeles Angels (3-0) in the Division Series and the Baltimore Orioles (4-0) in the Championship Series.
The following season, he managed the Royals to their second World Series title, defeating Houston in the Division Series (3-2) and Toronto (4-2) in the Championship Series, followed by a 4-1 series win over the New York Mets to bring Kansas City its second World Series Championship and first since 1985.
Yost is the Royals all-time leader in managerial wins (746) and was the first skipper to lead the Royals to consecutive World Series appearances. He finished his career 32nd all-time in games managed in MLB history, with 2,544, three more than National Baseball Hall of Fame manager Earl Weaver. Yost also finished 45th all-time in MLB history with 1,203 managerial wins.
Previous Royals Hall of Fame inductees include:
1986: Pitcher Steve Busby and Outfielder Amos Otis
1987: Manager Dick Howser, Second Baseman Cookie Rojas and Pitcher Paul Splittorff
1989: Pitcher Dennis Leonard and Designated Hitter Hal McRae
1992: Club President Joe Burke, Pitcher Larry Gura and Shortstop Fred Patek
1993: Owner Ewing Kauffman
1994: Third Baseman George Brett
1995: Second Baseman Frank White
1996: Royals First Lady Muriel Kauffman and first baseman John Mayberry
1998: Relief pitcher Dan Quisenberry
2000: Manager Whitey Herzog and outfielder Willie Wilson
2003: Pitcher Jeff Montgomery
2004: Radio Announcer Denny Matthews
2005: Pitcher Bret Saberhagen
2006: Pitcher Mark Gubicza
2008: Scout Art Stewart
2011: Pitcher Kevin Appier
2012: Groundskeeper George Toma
2015: First Baseman/DH Mike Sweeney
