#619 Royals Rookie Stars - Bill Butler / Pat Kelly / Juan Rios

William Franklin Butler
Kansas City Royals
Pitcher

Bats:  Left  Throws:  Left  Height:  6'2"  Weight:  210
Born:  March 12, 1947, Hyattsville, MD
Drafted:  Drafted by the Detroit Tigers in the 37th round of the 1965 amateur draft, June 8, 1965
Major League Teams:  Kansas City Royals 1969-71; Cleveland Indians 1972; Minnesota Twins 1974-75, 1977

Harold Patrick Kelly
Kansas City Royals
Outfield

Bats:  Left  Throws:  Left  Height:  6'1"  Weight:  185
Born:  July 30, 1944, Philadelphia, PA
Signed:  Signed by the Minnesota Twins as an amateur free agent, September 11, 1962
Major League Teams:  Minnesota Twins 1967-68; Kansas City Royals 1969-70; Chicago White Sox 1971-76; Baltimore Orioles 1977-80; Cleveland Indians 1981

World Series Appearances:  Baltimore Orioles 1979
Died:  October 2, 2005, Chambersburg, PA (age 61)

Juan Onofre Velez Rios
Kansas City Royals
Infield

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'3"  Weight:  185
Born:  July 14, 1942, Mayaguez, Puerto Rico
Signed:  Signed by the New York Mets as an amateur free agent before 1965 season
Major League Teams:  Kansas City Royals 1969

Died:  August 28, 1995, Mayaguez, Puerto Rico (age 53)

Bill Butler was a mainstay in the Royals' starting pitching rotation over the first two years of the franchise's existence.  Drafted from the Tigers as the 22nd pick in the 1968 expansion draft, Butler spent the entire 1969 season with the Royals, making 29 starts and 34 appearances overall.  He tied with Roger Nelson (#279) for the second most starts on the club, with only Wally Bunker (#137) and his 31 starts eclipsing Butler and Nelson.  Butler returned to the rotation in 1970, slotted as the number three starter behind Bunker and Dick Drago (#662).  He pitched in the minors for most of 1972 and 1973, joining the Twins following the 1973 season.  Butler appeared in 55 games for the Twins over parts of three seasons, last pitching in the majors in 1977.  In 134 big league games, he was 23-35 with a 4.21 ERA.

Pat Kelly was a 15-year big leaguer, finding the most success over six seasons as the regular right fielder for the White Sox.  Kelly appeared in 20 games for the Twins in 1967 and 1968, before becoming a regular with the expansion Royals.  He had one of the best seasons of his career in the Royals' inaugural year of 1969, batting .264 with 20 doubles, eight home runs and 32 RBIs.  He'd join the White Sox in 1971, earning an All-Star Game nod in 1973.  Kelly moved on to the Orioles in 1977, hitting career highs for RBIs in 1977 with 49 and for home runs in 1978 with 11.  Now a bench player, he helped the Orioles reach the World Series in 1979, and he was 1 for 4, with a walk, in pinch-hitting appearances in the Fall Classic against the Pirates.  Kelly retired following the 1981 season, having appeared in 1,385 games and batting .264 with 76 home runs, 418 RBIs and 250 stolen bases.  A born again Christian, Kelly became an ordained minister following his playing days.

1970 Topps #89

Juan Rios' sole season in the majors came in 1969 as a back-up middle infielder for the Royals.  Originally signed by the Mets, he played in three minor league seasons in their organization before the Expos selected him in the annual rule 5 draft.  On March 15, 1969, the Expos sold his contract to the Royals, and he was required to remain on their big league roster all season or be returned to the Mets.  Rios made 43 starts throughout the year - 30 at second base, 10 at shortstop and three at third base.  In 87 games overall, he batted .224 with five doubles, a home run and five RBIs.  Rios played for six more seasons after his stint with the Royals, last playing professionally in 1975 for the Bravos de Reynosa in the Mexican League

Building the Set / Card #587
September 21, 2025 from The Philly Show (America's Pastime)

On Sunday morning, September 21st, I made the hour-long drive to the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pennsylvania for the latest installment of the Philadelphia Sports Card & Memorabilia Show, known to its friends as The Philly Show.  The show has a legitimate official sponsor (eBay) and the advertisement for the event notes the show is in its 50th year.  I hadn't attended a baseball card show since the last Philly Show in December, and I was flying solo to this one as our oldest son is in his first month of college at Villanova.  I posted a full summary of the show over at The Phillies Room.

I made stops at six tables at the show, all yielding needed cards for our 1969 Topps set, and I left the show with just 16 more cards to go for my version of a complete set.  The first place I stopped was a table with well-organized and well-marked binders of commons and semi-stars with 20% Off notes across the front of each binder.  

I took my time and found 32 commons and semi-stars needed before asking to see the dealer's star cards from the set.  It turned out this first purchase was also my biggest, as I spent over half my allotted budget here, America's Pastime from Fair Lawn, New Jersey, before moving on to my second stop.  This was the 28th of 36 total cards bought from America's Pastime, and the 28th of 91 cards for set added overall on the day, and it cost a little over $4 after the dealer discount.

The Card / Royals Team Set

Butler Accuracy Index -8 / Kelly Accuracy Index +10 / Rios Accuracy Index -8
This is the rookie card for all three players.  I'm guessing Butler is wearing a Tigers hat here, and I'll take a wild stab that Rios is actually wearing an Expos uniform.  Topps would have had time to get a picture of Rios in his Expos garb during spring training, and then pivoted to the logo less hat once he joined the Royals.

Accuracy Index:  It's interesting Topps had a perfectly good photo of Kelly for this card, but they went the blotched out logo route for the photo used on his 1970 Topps card.

1969 Season - Butler
Butler was a pleasant surprise for the expansion club, going 9-10 with a 3.90 ERA in 193 2/3 innings pitched, in what was by far his best season in the majors.  His 156 strikeouts were 10th best in the league, and his four shutouts were fourth best.  Butler's efforts landed him a spot on the Topps 1969 All-Star Rookie team as the squad's left-handed pitcher.

1970 Topps #377

1971 Topps #681

1975 Topps #549

1976 Topps #619

Other Notable Baseball Cards - Butler
First Mainstream Card:  1969 Topps #619
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (5):  1969-71, 1975-76
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1978 SSPC 270 #61
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards:  27 in the Beckett online database as of 10/25/25.

Sources - Butler:  
Baseball Reference / Wikipedia

Beckett Database / The Trading Card Database

1969 Season - Kelly
Kelly played his way into a regular outfield role for the Royals, starting more games in right field (60) than any other player while tying Bob Oliver (#662) with 44 starts in center field.  Kelly led the Royals with 40 stolen bases in 53 attempts.

1969 Season - Rios
Rios gave manager Joe Gordon (#484) a defensive and pinch-running option late in games, although he did commit nine errors in 221 chances for a .959 fielding percentage.

1970 Topps #57

1972 Topps #326

1975 Topps #82

1979 Topps #188

1982 Topps #417

Other Notable Baseball Cards - Kelly
First Mainstream Card:  1969 Topps #619
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (13):  1969-80, 1982
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1982 Topps #417
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards:  53 in the Beckett online database as of 10/25/25.

Sources - Kelly:  
Baseball Reference / Wikipedia

Beckett Database / The Trading Card Database

Other Notable Baseball Cards - Rios
First Mainstream Card:  1969 Topps #619
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (2):  1969-70
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1970 Topps #89
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards:  10 in the Beckett online database as of 10/25/25.

Sources - Rios:  
Baseball Reference / Wikipedia

Beckett Database / The Trading Card Database

#618 Ramon Webster - Oakland Athletics / #620 Dean Chance - Minnesota Twins