Former manager Ned Yost elected to Royals Hall of Fame

The Royals announced today that former manager Ned Yost has been elected to the Royals Hall of Fame. The former manager has 746 wins with Kansas City, the most by any skipper in club history, and he led the team to pennants in 2014 and 2015, culminating in a title in 2015. He will be inducted before the September 2 game against the Boston Red Sox.

Yost was hired to run the Royals in the middle of the 2010 season, after spending six years leading the Milwaukee Brewers. His winning percentage improved in each of his first six seasons with the club, and in 2014 the team defeated the Oakland Athletics in one of the most memorable Wild Card games ever. The team would go on to a surprising run, sweeping the Angels and Orioles and capturing the first pennant in club history in 29 years. They took the San Francisco Giants to the last inning of Game 7 before falling just short that year, but returned the next year to finish with 95 wins, most in the American League. After defeating the Houston Astros and Toronto Blue Jays in the playoffs, the beat the New York Mets in five games to win the second championship in club history.

Yost’s 22-9 post-season record is the best in baseball history for anyone with at least 20 games managed. He retired after the 2019 season, having gone 746-839 (.471) with the Royals.

Yost will be the first inductee into the Royals Hall of Fame since 2015, when Mike Sweeney was inducted. Other candidates on this year’s ballot included Carlos Beltrán, Billy Butler, Johnny Damon, Jason Vargas, and Yordano Ventura.

Candidates must receive 75 percent of the vote from a combination of living Royals Hall of Fame members, members of the Royals Hall of Fame Executive Board, select baseball writers and media representatives, Royals front office staff, and an online vote from fans. Alumni must have been active with the ballclub for at least three seasons and accumulated a minimum of 1,500 plate appearances or 300 innings pitched or managed the equivalent of three full seasons.