Minor league baseball returned to Omaha in 1969 with the new look of the American Association. The Omaha franchise was owned by the Kansas City Royals. Jack McKeon was the first manager of the Omaha Royals.

Pitchers:

Paul Splittorff was a 22 year old lefty from Evansville Indiana. He had a 12-10 record for Omaha and led the Royals in six pitching categories. He was selected for the American Association All Star Team. He was called up to the parent Royals in 1970 and pitched in the majors for fifteen seasons.

Jack McKeon was named as the 25th anniversary team manager in 1983. He was the original Omaha manager in 1969 and led the expansion club's "AAA" franchise to the American Association title. He repeated with a division championship in 1970. He managed the Omaha Royals in 1971 and 1972 then went on to manage at Kansas City, San Diego, the Reds and in 2003 managed the Florida Marlins to a World Series Championship.

Dennis Paepke started his professional career wtih Idaho Falls in 1964. The first baseman averaged .295 for Omaha in 1969 and played in 12 games for the parent Kansas City Royals that year. The 24 year old from Long Beach California returned to Omaha in 1970 and was promoted to Kansas City for the 1971 season. He split time between Omaha and Kansas City in 1972 and played in Omaha through the 1974 season.

Louis Alcaraz was originally from Humacao PR. He started his professional career in Nebraska as an 18 year old, playing for McCook in the Nebraska State League in 1959. After that one game appearance he moved from the Braves organization to the Dodgers. He played for Keokuk, Salem, Santa Barbara, Albuquerque and Spokane before returning to Nebraska in 1969 with the Royals. The second sacker had a cup of coffee with the Dodgers in 1967 and 1968. He also played in 22 games for the parent Royals in 1969 and in 35 games in 1970. He averaged .301 in 131 games for Omaha in 1969.

Rich Severson was a Artesa California short stop who started his professional career with Clinton Iowa in 1963. He moved from the White Sox organization to the Royals in 1969. He averaged .263 with Omaha in 134 games. He was promoted to the parent club in 1970 and played in 77 games with the Kansas City team in 1970 and 16 in 1971. He played in Omaha for 69 games in 1971 and 71 games in 1972.

One of the catchers for the Royals in 1969 was Fran Healy The 22 year old caught 64 games and averaged .282. He was brought up to the parent club in September and played in 6 major league games. He played in the majors from 1969-1978 with Kansas City and the Yankees.

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