Kansas City Royals:

Pushing the rest of the AL Central

The Kansas City Royals are a relatively young franchise only being around since 1969. The team enjoyed great success in the ‘70s and ‘80s. The Royals won 6 American League titles in the two decades. Two of the reasons for all this success were pitcher Larry Gura and Hall of Fame third baseman George Brett. Brett played his entire 21 season career in Kansas City and picked up an MVP award in 1980 and a Gold Glove award in 1985. During this span the Royals made it to the World Series twice, once in 1980 and another time in 1985. The 1980 World Series pinned the Royals against the National League’s Philadelphia Philles. The Phillies jumped out to a 2-0 lead and the Royals took the next two games to even the series up. The Royals then lost the last two games of the series to fall to the Phillies 4-2. In 1985 the Royals had their hands full with the powerhouse called the St. Louis Cardinals. The Cardinals busted the series wide open by winning the first two games. The Royals answered back by winning game three but fell into a 3-1 series deficit after dropping game four. The Royals went on to win the next three games including a game 7 massacre of the Cardinals 11-0. That was their first and only crown and coincidentally the last time the Royals made the postseason. In 2003 the Royals were the surprise of Major League Baseball. The team led the AL Central for a large part of the season only to see the divisional crown and the postseason slip away. The team finished with an 83-79 record only seven games out of first place.

Kansas City doesn’t exactly possess the same resources that some of the bigger market teams, like New York and Boston, do. The Royals are definitely handicapped in off-season talks. Despite that the Royals were still able to land two good free agents in catcher Benito Santiago and outfielder Juan Gonzalez.
The first thing one thinks of when they think of the Kansas City Royals is Carlos Beltran. Beltran is one of the few “five tool” players that can do everything. If the Royals aren’t in the hunt for the playoffs he will also become the most coveted player during the trade deadline since Beltran is in the final year of his contract and Kansas City won’t be able to pay him what he will ask for. The other pillar in the final year of his contract is first baseman/ designated hitter Mike Sweeney.

The Royals pitching staff is lead by ace pitcher Darrell May. He is joined by other starters Jimmy Gobble, Brian Anderson, and Zack Greinke. In the bullpen the man that will close out the late innings is Jeremy Affeldt.
Kaufman Stadium is what the Kansas City Royals call home during the season. This 40,793 seat stadium has been around since 1973 and showcases the largest privately run fountain in the world measuring out at 322 feet.

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