In honor of the 203rd birthday of the great state of Missouri and the Royals and Cardinals play each other this weekend, I thought it was a good time to rank all the 8 active pro sports franchises who have left the state of Missouri. Now yes I know that seems like a weird time to want to rank those that are traitors to this state however it is also a good idea to show they may not be as well off without us than if they were still here so without further ado let us begin.
8. Atlanta Hawks.
The Hawks spent 13 seasons in Saint Louis during that time the Hawks won their only NBA championship in 1958. This was the most successful the Hawks would ever be as they would only miss the playoffs once and would be first in the west six out of 13 seasons including a five-year stretch where they were first every year. In those 13 years, the Hawks would post a winning percentage of .550 in the regular season and a .513 post-season win percentage—the highest of any time in the franchise’s history.
7. Sacramento Kings
This is the part of the list where the success is about equal as the Kings haven’t done any better since leaving KC in 1985 and since leaving the Kings have only gotten as far as the Western Conference Finals. The Kings did this same thing in 1981 as a five-seed. Kings made five playoff appearances in KC obviously since the Kings have been in Sacramento longer than 10 years they have been to more playoffs than in KC. However, the KC Kings never went more than 3 years without a playoff berth.
6. Sporting KC
Now to an outsider, this may seem a bit confusing to you. A bit of back story the then Kansas City Wiz began their time playing at Arrowhead Stadium in KCMO in 1995. In 2008 the Kansas City Wizards moved to CommunityAmerica Ballpark in KCK and then in 2011 moved to Sporting Park also in KCK. So the Wiz, Wizards, Sporting whatever you want to call them left Missouri. They have had the same amount of success since leaving the state. 1 MLS Cup in 2000 for Missouri 1 MLS Cup in 2013 for Kansas. Perfectly balanced as all things should be.
5. LA Rams
The team was owned by the most hated man in the state of Missouri. I’ll make this one quick as I’d rather not be drowned out by “Kroenke Sucks” chants. 1 Super Bowl each and two appearances each a dead even tie. The Rams should have never moved.
4. Arizona Cardinals
It must have been very confusing to tune into a local radio station in Saint Louis from 1960 to 1987 for an update on the Cardinals. More so because they shared a stadium. However, the football Cardinals did not share in the success. They made the playoffs only three times granted it was the top two teams in the NFL that played in the championship, however, they did win the Playoff Bowl in 1964 to decide the third-place team. The Cards went 186 202 and 14 in Saint Louis. Since leaving the Cards are 234 343 and 2 but they have been to a superbowl something the STL version can not say. But the lack of success beyond that is why they are not higher.
3. New Jersey Devils
Let me start this off quickly here. There is no comparison between the Kansas City Scouts and New Jersey Devils. The Scouts played two seasons in KC before moving to Colorado. Who had the team for six seasons before they became the Devils in 1982? The Devils have three Stanley Cups in five appearances there were no heartbroken hockey fans in KC made from this move. The Devils are much better off after leaving. Now however wouldn’t be a bad idea for them to come home.
2. Baltimore Orioles
Yes, the Baltimore Orioles were in Missouri, Saint Louis to be more specific. Where they were known as the Saint Louis Browns from 1902 until 1954. They faced off against cross-town rivals the Saint Louis Cardinals in 1944 in the World Series where they lost. The Orioles have won three World Series and been to six. A complete and total beatdown on the achievements. Let’s take it a step further the STL Browns had a winning percentage of .433. Since coming to Baltimore the O’s have a .505 winning percentage. However, there is one more that is a complete 180 in the direction of the franchise and one that is much more startling.
1. Oakland A’s
12 seasons, 0 winning records, a glorified minor team. The Kansas City Athletics could be the basis for a bad 80’s movie. .404 winning percentage. No playoff appearances for KC. Oakland needed 4 years to outdo the KC A’s. The Oakland Athletics went to the ALCS in their fourth season in Oakland. Six World Series appearances four World Series titles. There may not ever be a move that has shown as quick of an improvement as the A’s to Oakland and it ripped a team away from Missouri so hard that it caused quite a stir in the state. So much so that one congressman would file an anti-trust lawsuit against the MLB. This would lead to the birth of the Kansas City Royals and down the line the passion for baseball that a kid in south Kansas City would need to become an insane madman who writes articles about them.
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