Kansas City, Mo. ? Mark Gubicza looked out of place in his suit and tie, but the 1985 World Series ring on his right hand helped him feel at home.

Gubicza became the 22nd person inducted into the Royals Hall of Fame in a pregame ceremony Friday night. He is the third winningest pitcher in Kansas City history with 132 victories and is second on the club’s career strikeouts list with 1,366.

Gubicza said he wasn’t nervous as the day approached, but as he was driven into the infield from the bullpen, he realized that the event really was happening.

“I thought it was going to be relatively easy when I first got here last night,” he said. “As I was getting closer (to the infield), I was like, ‘Uh-oh.’ As the fans started going nuts, I knew it was going to be something special.”

Gubicza was part of a rookie threesome in 1984 – with Bret Saberhagen and Danny Jackson – that helped the Royals win their only World Series title one year later. He pitched with the Royals until 1996 and appeared in two games with the then-Anaheim Angels in 1997 before retiring.

It took his sixth time on the ballot for Gubicza to be elected to the Royals Hall of Fame, but he says he’s glad it finally happened.

“It shouldn’t just be about numbers; it should be about what you meant to a team,” he said. “If you want pure numbers, that’s the Major League Hall of Fame. When you look at what people mean to an organization, I thought I meant a lot to this organization.”

Former Royals pitcher Mark Gubicza throws out the first pitch.

Gubicza completed his major league career with a 132-135 record and a 3.91 ERA. He had 42 complete games and 16 shutouts. He was 14-10 in 1985 and had a key Game 6 win against Toronto in the American League Championship Series.

He had a much-publicized falling out with the Royals after the trade and in the subsequent years, but he said Friday that all is forgiven.

“To take a period of time, it hurt,” he said. “When people would ask why I wasn’t in there, I didn’t have an answer. I began to wonder if the organization didn’t like me. I don’t think that’s the case.

“It’s over with. It’s so exciting to see some fans still wearing my jersey.”

Now he says he feels like he’s home. “I feel like this is my family,” he said. “I may not deserve to have my name up there with George (Brett), Hal (McRae) and the other guys. But they can’t take it away now.”

Gubicza says he doesn’t often wear the World Series ring, but brings it out on special occasions.

“I used to wear it religiously when I was here,” he said. “But when I was done playing, it was weird walking around with it. I pull it out on special occasions when I want to dig myself. This is one of those times.”