It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen. No, wait, that’s the wrong 1984. This is the story of the 1984 Royals. Rather than the classic Orwell novel, this particular Royals team had more in common with a slightly different work of literature: The Little Engine That Could. In a season where nearly every key offensive player missed time with injuries, and the rotation featured ...

The 1987 season was truly a season of transition for the Royals franchise. Of course, just like life, the nature of baseball is transitory—nothing stays the same for long. But even with that caveat, this season really was a season of changes. Two years removed from a World Series title, some of the key players on that championship team would put on Royal blue for the last time, while future stars and recogn ...

A common baseball archetype is (or used to be, before contact lenses and LASIK surgery became prevalent) the player who wore glasses getting a nickname like “Specs” or “Professor” or some variation thereof. I always felt like those nicknames had a small bit of derision behind them, since baseball has a long history of looking down on players who seem to possess above-average intelligence. The quote from Bul ...

Sometimes it seems like every team in baseball wants big pitchers. One thing I appreciate about the Royals is that they have long shown a willingness to employ pitchers who don’t fit the mold of a 6’5”, 225-lb. hulk. Going against that grain has given the franchise a pretty good history with guys who are under six feet tall—from current bullpen stars Tim Collins, Kelvin Herrera, and Greg Holland, back to Je ...

There’s no particular reason why they should be, but the 1993 Royals are one of my favorite teams in franchise history. They weren’t particularly good (despite their winning record, they were outscored on the season). They weren’t particularly noteworthy in Royals history (except for it being George Brett’s last season. And Ewing Kauffman’s as well). Perhaps it’s because I graduated from high school and sta ...

If you’re a Royals fan under 30, you might remember the last couple of years before the 1994 players’ strike changed everything. If you’re a Royals fan under 25, you really only have one winning season in your memory. And if you’re a Royals fan, no matter what your age, due to the nine seasons of nearly unrelenting failure since, that 2003 season has become a touchstone. There is nothing in sports like a ba ...

It seems to me like the Royals have a long history of being obsessed with center fielder types who possess one main tool: speed. The current incarnation is Jarrod Dyson, but before him it was Joey Gathright, Tom Goodwin, and Gary Thurman. On one level, this makes sense: the center fielder at Kauffman Stadium has to cover an immense amount of ground. However, like any major leaguer, eventually those guys hav ...

If you missed it, the Royals are giving fans a chance to vote on nominees for the Royals Hall of Fame. Although the fan vote only counts for six of the 40 ballots (three for the top vote-getter, two for the second-highest, one for the third-highest) that will be cast (other voters include all living members of the Royals Hall of Fame, selected media members, selected Royals board members, and selected front ...

Mark Gubicza might be the most underrated pitcher in Royals’ history. Sure, he has a World Series ring and is in the Royals’ Hall of Fame, but it seems to me like he was overshadowed by Bret Saberhagen at the beginning of his career and by Kevin Appier and David Cone at the end. Royals fans might remember how good he was, but I imagine the national perception was always more favorable for those other guys. ...

From time to time, I will take a look back at a specific season in Royals history. This week, a look at the 1974 Royals. Setting The Stage The 1973 Royals were the franchise’s most successful team in KC’s five years of existence, going 88-74 and spending 42 days in first place. Unfortunately, the Oakland A’s were too good and pulled away from KC in September, ultimately winning the division by 6 games. Stil ...

It makes sense that a hitter has a better chance to get a hit when he comes up with the bases loaded. Unless the hitter is 2002 Barry Bonds or something, most pitchers are loath to walk in a run and prefer to throw strikes and hope the line drive is hit at someone. Major leaguers combined for a .416 slugging percentage with the bases loaded last year, which is actually lower than I expected. But it was stil ...

Baseball is a funny game. Every kid dreams of being a star and driving in the World Series-winning run, but of course so few players ever get that chance. And then many times, it’s not a star batting in the key situation. Instead, it often comes down to a journeyman, a guy who battled in the minors for years, got traded, filled a role as a pinch-hitter, rarely held a starting job for any length of time, and ...

It’s no secret to anyone reading this that the Royals have had problems developing pitching over the last 25 years. You can pretty much count the useful pitchers who’ve been drafted by the Royals, made their major league debut with the Royals, and had a successful career. There’s Kevin Appier, Zack Greinke, and… um… Jose Rosado? He had a couple of good years before his arm exploded. Which brings us to David ...