Best Record: 96-66 (1978)
Worst Record: 51-103 (1956)
Playoff Appearances: 3
Championships: 0
One year after the Seals and Captains moved to California, the league made an effort to put more teams out west by putting two expansion teams out west: the Houston Railmen and the Oklahoma City Twisters. The Twisters began play in 1956 and lost 103 games, a loss total that they have never matched since. However, they still were not very good and also were not all that popular with the fans. It quickly became apparent that they were not going to make it as they were a dull team that, aside from slugging first baseman George O'Farrell, did not produce much excitement--and even O'Farrell did not have his best seasons in Oklahoma City. After nine losing seasons in Oklahoma City, the team packed it up and moved north to Kansas City, Missouri, renaming themselves as the Kansas City Cyclones. They continued to struggle early on and did not finish over .500 until an 82-80 finish in 1970. With O'Farrell leading the way on offense, the team began to improve and finally were able to get into the playoffs in 1978. In their first ever playoff series, they took down the Captains in a 5-game division series before running into the buzz saw that was the Lions' dynasty. A return trip to the playoffs in 1979 saw them face those Lions in the Division Series, and the Lions promptly swept them.
After collapsing to 90 losses in 1980, they fought their way back up and finally made the playoffs again in 1982 as a wild card that narrowly denied the Lions a playoff berth (by a single game) in their search for a fifth championship in a row. However, the Cyclones got swept in the Division Series again, this time by the eventual champion San Francisco Seals. They came back in 1983, promptly lost 98 games and have not been a factor in the playoff race ever since.
Outlook for 1990:
The Cyclones have been twisting in the wind for a while, and do not look very likely to be a factor in the playoff race in 1990.
Current Manager:
The Cyclones just hired Franklin Kennedy as their manager for 1990. Kennedy pitched for the Panthers in the 1940s (including the last few years that they were known as the Blues), and has managed two other Major league teams. He managed the Baltimore Blackbirds from 1979 to 1981, and then was named the Arizona Wolves' original manager for the 1984 season. Kennedy managed the Wolves for four seasons but was fired in the same offseason that the Wolves relocated to Denver. His son, Franklin Kennedy Jr, has pitched for numerous teams in the Majors since 1972 and just signed with the Wolves as a free agent this offseason.
Hall of Famers:
None