Kansas City, Mo. ? Being a laughingstock, the Kansas City Royals naturally spawned plenty of jokes.

Some of the best ones even made the late-night comedy shows and brought a chuckle to Allard Baird, who found laughs hard to come by as general manager of the worst team in the majors.

“Losses bother me,” Baird said. “Jokes do not. The losses were tough.”

Tough, but abundant. The Royals of 2005 – grittily sticking to a no-pain, no-gain rebuilding campaign – finished 56-106, an all-time low in the 37-year history of a once-proud franchise. They suffered through a team-record 19-game losing streak while dropping at least 100 games for the third time in four years.

Jose Lima (5-16), the worst pitcher on the worst team, had an earned-run average of 6.99. No one in baseball history with at least 30 starts ever had one higher. Runelvys Hernandez (8-14) led in victories despite going 0-5 with a 9.15 ERA in his final nine starts. It’s the lowest club-leading total the Royals ever had.

And what about that unbelievable rally by Cleveland? Only two other visiting teams in baseball history ever scored 11 runs in the ninth inning.

Baird insists, however, that things are finally turning around. Phase I of his long-term reclamation project is complete, he said, with the arrival of young players such as catcher John Buck, third baseman Mark Teahen, shortstop Angel Berroa and pitchers like Zack Greinke, Mike MacDougal, Mike Wood and Hernandez.

Kansas City's Justin Huber (16) reacts after striking out during a game with Cleveland in September. The Royals finished the season with 106 losses, a franchise record.

Promising but inconsistent, they all struggled at times. Most were hurried through the minors and sometimes foundered while learning on the fly.

“People ask who our best prospects are. They’re here. They’re right here,” Baird said. “Now we have a core group we feel are ready to move into the big leagues next season that were already here.”

Next comes Phase II – adding some veterans and free-agent finds to complement the developing youngsters.

“That’s when we start looking for more results,” Baird said. “We had this year to go full steam ahead. Next year we’re in that next phase where we’re looking for more results.”

And Phase III?

“I’d like to compete in 2007,” Baird said. “That’s what I’ve said all along.”

There’ll be more money. Owner David Glass has said the payroll is going up from around $36.9 million to more than $50 million – papacy to large-market powers but an upgrade for budget-conscious Kansas City.

There’s also hope for more talent. Three months after making Nebraska third baseman Alex Gordon the No. 2 overall draft pick, the Royals finally signed him last week. Next year, courtesy of having the worst record in the major leagues, they’ll exercise the overall No. 1 pick.

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Still, the comedy of errors that was 2005 will be hard to erase.

There was the time they began a game by batting out of turn, costing themselves a leadoff hit.

And what about the night the Royals committed two errors in the ninth and turned a one-run lead into a one-run loss? Frustrated fans sat back for the consolation of the weekly Friday night fireworks display but were sent home after a couple of paltry rockets were fired off.

The problem was the flatbed truck carrying most of the explosives. During the game, it was stolen.

Then there was the night two outfielders closed in on a lazy fly ball with two out and a runner on second. After glancing at one another, they both began jogging toward the dugout as the ball floated to earth for an RBI double.

“I’ve never seen that,” manager Buddy Bell snorted in disgust.

But perhaps most symbolic of hard times was the long-planned 20-year celebration of the 1985 World Series championship.

It stormed the entire weekend.

When the Saturday night game was finally postponed, officials tried to salvage at least part of the festivities by bringing out the 1985 players for brief introductions.

Only a few thousand bedraggled fans remained. As the honorees jogged onto the infield to wave at the sparse crowd, a cold, steady rain pelted them.

On and on it went.