Kauffman Stadium

The Water

A 322-foot wide fountain system stretches along the outfield — the largest privately funded fountain in the world when it debuted on July 21, 1973, three months after the park opened. That fountain has been part of the place from the start, in a park built specifically for baseball during an era when multisport cookie-cutter stadiums were common.

Royals Stadium opened on April 10, 1973, a 12-1 Royals win over the Texas Rangers before 39,464 fans. Ground was broken on July 11, 1968. The design was by Kivett and Myers, the construction by the joint venture of Sharp, Kidde, and Webb. The park sits next door to Arrowhead Stadium, home of the Chiefs, as part of the Truman Sports Complex.

What the Field Held

The park was five weeks old when Nolan Ryan threw the first of his seven career no-hitters there, blanking the Royals 3-0 on May 15, 1973, three batters shy of a perfect game.

On October 27, 1985, the Royals clinched their first World Series title on this field — an 11-0 Game 7 over the St. Louis Cardinals. Bret Saberhagen pitched the shutout. Darryl Motley hit a two-run homer. The Royals had lost the first two games of that Series at home and came back to win, the first team to do it.

In 2014, Kansas City trailed Oakland 7-3 in the eighth inning of the AL Wild Card Game and rallied to win 9-8 in extras, ending a nearly 29-year playoff drought. That October the park hosted Games 1, 2, 6, and 7 of the World Series.

The park was renamed Kauffman Stadium on July 2, 1993, for Ewing M. Kauffman, the Royals' founder and first owner. A $250 million renovation between 2007 and 2009 added a new Royals Hall of Fame area and facility updates. The All-Star Game came in 1973 and again in 2012.

The Royals have played here since the park opened. The fountain still runs.

Reporting: MLB.com, Wikipedia. Park data: MLB StatsAPI and Retrosheet, via the Fever engine.