The Missouri Trifectas

In honor of the final weekend of the 2023 Major League Baseball season, I present the Missouri Trifectas. There have only been about 100 players who played for both the St. Louis Cardinals and the Kansas City Royals (or Kansas City Athletics). That is an impressive number over the course of decades of professional baseball in the Show Me State. But even more amazing, there have been only 5 players who also played their high school baseball in Missouri as well.

Cloyd Boyer—Alba High

Cloyd Boyer was a right handed pitcher who played for the Cardinals from 1949 – 1955 and the Kansas City Athletics in 1955. He grew up in the small town of Alba, which is near Neosho, and has produced a surprising number of professional baseball players for such a small population of around 500 residents. Of course, the reason for that high number of athletes all lies within his family because all of the seven boys in his family played professional baseball.

His brothers Ken and Clete both won Gold Gloves during their time in the big leagues. Ken also played for the Cardinals and is in the team’s Hall of Fame, while Clete played for Kansas City. After Cloyd retired from baseball, he worked as a coach for several organizations and even got a World Series ring as the pitching coach for the New York Yankees in 1977.

Scott Cooper – Pattonville High

Scott Cooper grew up in St. Louis County and attended Pattonville High School where he played on the state championship team in 1986 which defeated Winnetonka 2-1. He was drafted by the Red Sox where he was a two-time All Star. He later played for the Cardinals in 1995, then the Royals in 1997. After his playing days, he went back to St. Louis where he coached for Fontbonne College and was named conference coach of the year in 2003.

Mark Littell – Gideon High

Mark Littell grew up in the country. In fact, that became his nickname as he made his way through his professional career. He grew up on a massive farm near Wardell and pitched for Gideon High School. Littell was so dominant during his senior year that he threw three no-hitters in that season alone.

He was drafted by the Royals in 1971 after he had already committed to play at Mizzou. Mark decided to forego college and immediately went pro where it didn’t take him long to make it to the big leagues. He debuted in 1973, then pitched again for the team from 1975 – 1977. Keep in mind that these were the dominant years for the Royals, coming up only short to the Yankees in back to back years.

He was traded to the Cardinals in 1978 and stayed until 1982. Littell was with the team the year they won the 1982 World Series, although he didn’t spend much time with the club that year. He also had the “honor” of giving up hit number 3,631 to Pete Rose in 1981, which made Rose the National League’s all-time leader in hits.

Kerry Robinson – Hazelwood East

Kerry Robinson grew up in St. Louis County and attended Hazelwood East High School where he was a three sports athlete, playing baseball, football, and ice hocket! He later played baseball at Southeast Missouri State University.

Robinson was drafted by his hometown team, the Cardinals in 1995, but didn’t actually play for them until 2001-2003. He later played for the Royals in 2006. Many people remember him from the book, Three Nights in August. In that book, the author writes about a three-game seris through the eyes of manager Tony Larussa. In one of those games, Robinson the game-winning walk off home run off the Chicago Cubs.

Trevor Rosenthal—Lee’s Summit West

Trevor Rosenthal grew up in the suburbs of Kansas City and attended Lee’s Summit West High School. He played briefly for a community college in Kansas before he was drafted by the Cardinals in the 2009 MLB Draft.

After three years in the minors, he made his big league debut in the 2012 for the Cardinals, where he would stay for the next five years until 2017. He was highly successful for the Redbirds and was even named an All-Star in 2015. Rosenthal later pitched for the Royals briefly in 2019 before injuries began taking a toll on his body and he ultimately had to retire in 2023. He did set the saves record for the Cardinals in 2015, the same year he was named the St. Louis Baseball Man of the Year.

Can you imagine a greater thrill than to grow up watching your favorite Missouri teams play, then getting to play for both of them? These five players who played for the Cardinals and Royals certainly had their MLB dreams come true.