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The Winning Powerball Numbers Matched The Numbers Of Six Kansas City Royals Greats, May Be Royals’ Greatest Success In Years

The winner of the second largest Powerball jackpot in American history is a Missouri native and a fan of the Kansas City Royals. Except this story isn’t about Mark Hill, the man who bought one of two winning tickets at a gas station in Dearborn, Mo. It’s about the numbers he chose, which are as follows:

George Brett (5)
Mark Gubicza (23)
Bo Jackson (16)
Dennis Leonard (22)
Dan Quisenberry (29)
Willie Wilson (6)

While they might mean nothing to you, they probably mean something to the 17 rabid fans of the Kansas City Royals. Because they are the numbers of many Kansas City greats, all of whom are in the Royals’ Hall of Fame.

Here’s how much money Hill will take home:

“With another winning ticket sold in Arizona, Mr. Hill’s share would be $293.7 million — the largest prize ever won in Missouri. Mr. Hill can choose whether he wants to receive his share as an annuity of 30 payments over the course of 29 years, or if he would prefer a lump-sum payment worth $192.3 million before taxes.”

Unfortunately, it turns out that years of dedicated misery did not result in $192.3 million, because apparently this wall just one giant coincidence.

Cindy Hill, the winner’s wife, confirms that the Powerball ticket was not chosen using former Royals players. “Random,” she said.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) November 30, 2012

Which makes sense, as Big League Stew points out, because No. 20 Frank White and No. 31 Bret Saberhagen were better baseball players than almost everyone on the list.

Sadly, this is Kansas City’s greatest success in many years – the team has exactly one year above .500 since 1994.

[Fox 26, via Big League Stew]

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