KANSAS CITY, Mo.—The Kansas City Royals announced today that Mike Jirschele (jursh-LEE) is retiring following a 38-year career with the Royals organization. Jirsch has served in many roles in the organization, first as a player in Kansas City’s minor league system from 1988-89.
He was selected by Texas in the 5th round of the 1977 Draft and spent the first 10 years of his playing career in the Rangers organization. In total, he spent 48 years in professional baseball, including 12 as a player and 36 as a coach.
“People who know me know I don’t love the attention that comes from an announcement like this,” Jirschele said. “All I’ve wanted is to do my job. I’m grateful for a career in baseball, all these years with the Royals, and the friendships that have come along the way. I hope the people I’ve worked with think I’ve done my job, worked hard for them, and helped.”
“It’s been an absolute honor to work alongside of Jirsch,” said J.J. Picollo, Royals Executive VP & General Manager. “He’s done just about everything in player development and was obviously a big part of our World Series championship. And he did all of it with class and dignity. Very few people can connect with players the way he has throughout his career. He’s truly a Royals legend and we will miss him dearly.”
His career featured a World Series championship while serving as Kansas City’s Third Base Coach in 2015 and 20 seasons as a minor league Manager, including 10 playoff seasons and five league championships. Jirsch was named Manager of the Year three times, including in the Gulf Coast League in 1992, the Carolina League in 1994 and International League in 2024.
Seventeen of his 20 seasons as Manager came with Triple-A Omaha, where he won 1,214 of 2,454 games and led the Storm Chasers to three league titles. He is Omaha’s all-time wins leader and has managed 30% of the 57 seasons that Omaha has been a Royals affiliate.
According to Omaha Storm Chasers Broadcast and Media Relations Manager, Nicholas Badders, 95 players were promoted from Omaha to Kansas City under Jirsch’s managerial tenure, including Joe Randa, Zack Greinke, Eric Hosmer, Danny Duffy, Mike Moustakas and Yordano Ventura, among many others.
Jirsch’s coaching career began in 1990 as the Hitting Coach of Kansas City’s Class-A Appleton affiliate, where he spent two seasons. He managed Royals affiliates in the Gulf Coast League (1992), Rockford (1993), Wilmington (1994) and Omaha (1995-97), before serving as the organization’s Minor League Infield Coordinator for five seasons from 1998-2002.
He returned to Omaha as Manager in 2003, beginning an 11-year reign as the leader of Kansas City’s Triple-A affiliate. Jirsch served as Kansas City’s Third Base Coach on Ned Yost’s staff from 2014-19 and won a World Series in 2015.
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