Royals' origin has a Toronto tie

The Royals and Toronto have a tie that dates back long before the Blue Jays were even thought of.

It was in the 1960s when Ewing Kauffman wanted to make an investment in the future of Kansas City to show his appreciation. He used a $5,000 investment in 1950 to create Marion Laboratories and built it into a company that had revenues of $930 million the year before it was sold Merrell Dow.

Kauffman considered various philanthropic endeavors. His wife, Muriel, a long-time baseball fan, suggested the best thing he could do for the Kansas City community was to buy a Major League Baseball expansion franchise to replace the Athletics, who moved to Oakland after the 1967 season.

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Kauffman stepped up and was awarded the Kansas City Royals, which began play in 1969.

Muriel was a native of Toronto, who graduated from Trafalgar Castle School in Whitby, Ontario, and McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario.