There are youth movements, and then there are youth movements. Sometimes they are half-hearted, sometimes they are wholesale. What the Royals did between 1995 and 1996 qualifies as a wholesale one to me. Consider this: of the 17 Royals with more than 100 plate appearances in 1995, only six did so in 1996. The turnover was a little less noticeable on the pitching side: eight Royals pitched more than 50 innin ...

2008: Brian Bannister pitched superbly and two late home runs turned a 2-1 deficit into a 3-1 win for the Royals over the Cardinals at Busch Stadium in St. Louis. Bannister picked up the win by pitching seven innings and allowing only two runs on nine hits, while not walking anyone. The Cardinals did get to Bannister for one run in the first inning, as Skip Schumaker and Aaron Miles started the inning with ...

1983: Larry Gura outdueled Seattle’s Gaylord Perry in a matchup of veteran pitchers, and the Royals took a 3-1 victory over the Mariners at Royals Stadium. The 35-year-old Gura scattered 10 hits (seven singles) over 6 1/3 innings, surviving all those hits and three walks while only recording one strikeout, thanks in large part to the Mariners grounding into four double plays. Seattle’s only run came when Ri ...

1995: The Royals took advantage of an Oakland error in the 13th inning to score two unearned runs, leading to a 3-1 victory in a pitchers’ duel at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. With runners at second and third and one out in that 13th inning, Brent Mayne hit a grounder to A’s first baseman Mark McGwire. But McGwire’s throw home was wild, and Les Norman and Jon Nunnally were both able to score on the play ...

2001: The Royals and Milwaukee Brewers got one inning played, but when a bank of lights at Milwaukee’s Miller Park would not come on, the game was suspended until the next day. When play resumed, the Royals captured a 4-2 victory behind home runs from Carlos Beltran and Luis Alicea, and five terrific innings from Paul Byrd. Brewers starter Jamey Wright and Royals starter Blake Stein each worked a perfect fi ...

2005: Shane Costa’s first major-league home run broke a 2-2 tie and lifted the Royals to a 3-2 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers at Kauffman Stadium. Costa led off the fifth with his homer to right-center off Dodgers starter Jeff Weaver. Costa also had three of the Royals’ seven hits in this game. The Dodgers had a lead two batters into the game, after Hee-Seop Choi homered off Royals starter Runelvys Hernan ...

1980: Luck was on the Royals’ side on this Friday the 13th, as Larry Gura scattered nine hits and Willie Aikens homered twice in a 4-3 win over the Brewers at Milwaukee’s County Stadium. Gura allowed one unearned run on two hits and an error on third baseman Dave Chalk in the first inning. But after that, he would pitch six scoreless innings. The Brewers would have one more good scoring chance against him, ...

2004: After losing a 3-2 lead in the top of the ninth, the Royals rallied for a walkoff win, 4-3 over the New York Mets at Kauffman Stadium. Kansas City had already rallied from a 2-0 deficit, then took the lead in the bottom of the eighth. With two outs, Carlos Beltran drew a walk, then stole second. Mike Sweeney singled to center, and the Royals had the 3-2 lead. The Mets promptly tied the game in the nin ...

I know this will come off as a “Get off my lawn” rant, but I’m actually OK with that. Why? Because it needs to be said, and also because I do tend to be…well, maybe not a cranky old man, but certainly a traditionalist. Anyway, it is high time for the recent “Retro Night” promotion by the Royals to become an every-night occurrence. If you weren’t  there or don’t know what Retro Night is, it’s essentially a n ...

1974: In many ways, it was the ultimate Al Fitzmorris game. The Royals starter allowed eight hits and only recorded one strikeout, but still pitched a complete-game shutout in the Royals’ 1-0 win over Milwaukee at Royals Stadium. Fitzmorris, who had a fairly successful 10-year career, mostly with Kansas City, struck out only 3.2 hitters per nine innings as a major leaguer. But he rarely allowed walks (3.1 p ...

1992: After blowing a 5-0 lead, the Royals rebounded with two runs for a 7-6 victory over Minnesota at Royals Stadium. The Royals battered Twins starter Willie Banks for five runs in the first four innings. Kansas City started scoring in the first with a Wally Joyner double and Kevin McReynolds single. They added two more in the third, with a Brian McRae single, Rico Rossy triple, and Keith Miller sacrifice ...

1969: A strong outing from starter Roger Nelson and a big day from an unlikely offensive source sparked the Royals to a 7-1 win over New York at Yankee Stadium. Nelson pitched a complete game, allowing only five hits and two walks despite collecting only two strikeouts. His lone mistake was allowing a home run to Joe Pepitone in the second. And Nelson would retire 15 of the final 16 batters he faced. Meanwh ...

1999: It took the offenses a couple of innings to get going, but eventually they did. The Royals and St. Louis Cardinals had a wild game, but a four-run sixth and two big insurance runs in the eighth gave the Royals an 11-10 win at Kauffman Stadium. After two scoreless innings, St. Louis scored one run in the third. The Royals immediately answered in the bottom of the inning with a Joe Randa triple and Rey ...

1990: One bad inning was all it took for the California Angels to capture a 2-1 win over the Royals at Royals Stadium. Kansas City starter Bret Saberhagen threw a complete game six-hitter, but the Angels got four of them and both of their runs in the third inning. Max Venable singled in one run, and Lance Parrish drove in the other with a single of his own. The Angels would not have a runner reach second ba ...

1977: Dennis Leonard made only one mistake. But it cost him and the Royals a 1-0 loss to Boston in a classic pitcher’s duel at Royals Stadium. With Leonard and Red Sox starter Luis Tiant locked in a scoreless tie through six innings, Boston’s Carl Yastrzemski led off the seventh with a home run to right field. That run would stand up for two more innings as reliever Bill Campbell worked the eighth and ninth ...

1984: The Royals used a pair of two-run innings and held on for a 4-3 win over Seattle at Royals Stadium. The Royals found themselves in a 2-0 hole after three innings. Starter Mark Gubicza allowed single runs in the second and third innings, but settled down to work through seven innings. But after walking Phil Bradley to start the eighth, he was lifted for Dan Quisenberry, who induced three ground balls t ...

The act of throwing a baseball is so simple. Small children do it without a thought. Ever notice that when you pick up a baseball, it seems to beg to be thrown? It fits right in your hand. And yet, every throw, especially at the professional level (where the force exerted on the shoulder is greatest), can be The One. The one that pitchers (and position players) dread. The one that can alter or even derail a ...

2000: The Royals overcame a blown save in the ninth inning by scoring three times in the 11th, then held on for a 7-5 win over Pittsburgh at Three Rivers Stadium. With the Royals clinging to a 4-3 lead, Jerry Spradlin, who had relieved Jeff Suppan after seven solid innings, struck out the first two batters he faced in the ninth. But pinch-hitter Wil Cordero launched a home run to left, and the game was tied ...

1976: The Royals scored once in the ninth and pushed across the winning run in the 12th to defeat Oakland 4-3 at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. Facing a 3-2 deficit and A’s relief ace Rollie Fingers in the ninth, the Royals manufactured the tying run thanks largely to Freddie Patek. The shortstop started the inning by working a walk, then moved to second on a Frank White sacrifice bunt. Pinch-hitter T ...

1996: The Blue Jays scored the tying run in the ninth and then Joe Carter’s two-run home run gave Toronto a 5-3 win over the Royals at SkyDome. Normally reliable closer Jeff Montgomery did not have one of his better days, allowing the game-tying home run to John Olerud with two outs in the ninth. He then worked around a double, intentional walk, and passed ball to keep the game going. Montgomery’s two-out p ...