Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. (left) and first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino against the Seattle Mariners during a spring training game at Surprise Stadium.
Mark J. Rebilas
IMAGN IMAGES
The Royals’ 3-2 win Sunday over the American League Central champion Cleveland Guardians gave KC a winning record at Kauffman Stadium this season.
Every team in the American League Central had a winning home record this season, the only division in which all five teams were above .500 on their field. Remarkably, the Royals still finished 24 games below .500 in finishing last in the Central at 69-93.
Kurtis Seabolt of WHB-AM (810) said the Royals are only the 15th team since 1969 (the Divisional Era) to win fewer than 70 games while having a winning record at home. They’re just the second AL team in the last 40 years to do it.
The Royals players appreciated the support of fans, a point first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino made during Sunday’s postgame interview with Bridget Howard. And Vinnie gave a special mention to one fan in particular.
“We played a nice game, able to finish the season with a win,” Pasquantino said. “Shoutout to the fans for being here on the last day of the season here. We know this season didn’t go the way we wanted to, but we appreciate you guys for always supporting us and being out there every night through the boos, the cheers, everything. We appreciate the support. That guy would leave his wife for Bobby up there. But, yeah, thank you everybody for being here.”
That odd note about Bobby Witt Jr. was in regard to a fan behind the Royals dugout who had a sign that said he’d trade his wife for the shortstop. Is that taking fandom too far? Pasquantino didn’t think so.
This story was originally published September 28, 2026 at 10:46 AM.
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