To many fans, especially younger ones, the names of the 1971 KC Royals may be unrecognizable, lost in over a half-century of Royals’ rosters and memories. But the ’71 team made history on September 18 of that year, winning a game with no bearing on anything other than the combatants’ records.
Although they’d finish second in the AL West, the Royals at 80-70 were already eliminated from postseason eligibility and would ultimately finish 15 games behind the Oakland Athletics, who would win their first title of any type since Charlie Finley moved them from Kansas City after the 1967 season.