Kansas City Royals placemats; left to right; Al Cowens, Jim Colborn, Marty Pattin, Steve Mingori, Jerry Terrell, Clint Hurdle, Paul Splittorff
Royals Placemats; left to right; Amos Otis, Dennis Leonard, Tom Poquette, Doug Bird, Willie Wilson, Joe Zdeb, Andy Hassler
Kansas City Royals placemat: left to right: Steve Busby, UL Washington, Joe LaHoud, Larry Gura, John Wathan, Pete LaCock, George Brett
There are a couple things I failed to mention on my first post. First of all the measurements of these placemats are 17″ x 10 7/8″. They are coated with a nice thick matte laminate, this has really helped the condition of these to last over 30 years. The first mat I posted had 6 players but the other 7, including this one will have 7 players on each. This first set is all action shots, the next set is a little different which I will be posting in a couple days.
So as a huge Kansas City Royals fan and an enormous nerd I collect most Royals memorabilia. This includes the obvious, baseball cards but goes far beyond to magazines, programs, bats, autographs, posters and so on. One of the absolute coolest things I have stumbled across are dinner placemats from the late 1970’s.
These were the golden years of the Royals franchise, yeah there was 1985 but the late 70’s were the golden age. They featured usually 7 Royals players per placemat and they were given away once a week at Pizza Hut restaurants in 1978 and 1979. They had a plain ornate design on the back like you would normally see on a dinner placemat and the Royals players on the other side. Each year featured a set of 4 placemats, making a total of 8 placemats. The pictures of the Royals were drawings. They were done by acclaimed portrait artist John Boyd Martin. Martin has also done all of the Royals hall of fame plaques I believe. The hall of fame plaques are oil paintings, these Royals are more line drawings in full color and they are simply striking. They are extremely good. You can view Martin’s other artwork at his website here.
I have labored through garage sales, auctions and the halls of countless antique malls to put together a collection of these placemats. I am happy to say on October 14th I completed a full set of 8 of them for my brother. Now to work on my own set… but that is another subject. These were released before I was even born, so any information on them has been passed on to me. I have dug into the history of the Royals to seek these out and provide information on them.
The bottom line is that there is barely a sniff of these things on the entire internet. No pictures, no mentions, none available on ebay auctions, they are just damn hard to find. My goal is to rectify this. I am attempting to write a thorough article on them to provide a background on these endlessly cool pieces. I will post a good picture of each of the eight here on my site, the first of which is below. I will detail them providing any information that I can. I strongly encourage anybody with additional information to provide it to me so it will be publicly available.
Here is the first of the eight:
Kansas City Royals placemat: left to right: Frank White, Darrell Porter, Hal McRae, Al Hrabosky, Fred Patek, Whitey Herzog. All drawings by John Boyd Martin.
Royals rookie Tim Collins was very good for the Kansas City bullpen in his rookie season. He posted a sub 4.00 ERA easily was left handed, two very valuable attributes. He was key part of the Royals sending two very disposable pieces of their team to the Braves in 2010 and showed his worth already. Rick Ankiel and Kyle Farnsworth were sent to the Braves and Collins was the most valuable player the Royals got in return.
I will say he hasn’t shown the ability to be a lefty specialist thought. It seemed like he failed in that role and was timid to challenge hitters. He is likely a lock for the bullpen next year and if he can cut down on his walks he could be huge for the Royals in 2012.
A walk-off grand slam in the ALCS is worth of a custom card.
I don’t really like the Cardinals being a Royals fan. I would have to hate baseball to have not enjoyed the game Chris Carpenter pitched to knock the Phillies out of the playoffs though. It was an ALL-TIME great baseball performance. I actually wanted the Phillies to move on but when one performance is so good, like this one, it is hard not to be happy about it.
I found this tasty picture of Carpenter and had to use it here. I really like pictures from this perspective a lot. It is just not an angle you see a ton for some reason. The 1976 Topps design is a very nice one and it makes this card look super sharp. The lime green was actually the color Topps used for the St. Louis Cardinals that year. I kept it the same to retain the “vintage” look. Really Topps? Lime Green?
As the baseball season clock runs out there is sure to be fewer and fewer posts on this site but I plan to try to keep it rolling with projects like these. The History of Joakim Soria has now covered about 30 years so I am over halfway done posting. Today’s victim is 1978 Topps. Like 1971 Topps it is one of the very first cards I ever re-created.
I like the design. It is simple and appealing. It has likely one of the largest areas for uninterrupted picture of any year of Topps. It seems plain in many ways but still looks good. I really like the position in the baseball too, it is a nice touch.
Mike Sweeney is a very beloved guy in Royals history. He was one of the “nice guys” in the game and the Kansas City fans embraced him during his years in Kansas City. His career is really one of those “What could’ve been…” stories however. Injuries plagued much of his career keeping him from becoming the superstar he was capable of being.
Sweeney put up what you could argue was the greatest season ever by a Royal at the plate. He batted .333 with 29 home runs and an amazing 144 RBI. He was one of the few players in recent history to were a “C” on his jersey every game representing “Captain.”
He bounced around a couple places after the Royals but never had any more great seasons for anyone else. One of his many injuries relegated him to strictly being a DH, determinately diminishing his value. In spring of 2011 he came back to the Royals to retire in a very cool act. He will always be a rare bright spot in a very dark era for the Kansas City Royals.
It turns out that Longoria’s extra innings home run was just fair so this seems appropriate. What a great moment. It was the perfect end to probably the best night of baseball I will ever see in my life.
Here is the second half of my 2011 Royals report card (aka the pitchers) If you missed Part 1 here is the link. I will reiterate that these are my options I have drawn from watching games and following the team from the outside. I have the same or less access to the team than anyone reading this.
Luke Hochevar – Grade C+
The Royals “Ace” progressed this year. He is still not pitching like a #1 guy, probably more like a 3-4 in the rotation guy. He was finally more consistent. He stayed healthy all year but the Royals still need more out of him.
Jeff Francis – Grade D+
He was coming off a major injury but the expectations were still higher than what he gave. He led the team with 16! losses and opponents hit .301 against him.
Bruce Chen – Grade B
He led the team in wins again and was a solid arm every fifth day. He isn’t going to impose the other team much on the mound but remained solid all year.
Sean O’Sullivan – Grade D-
O’Sullivan showed that he is likely a 5th starter at best. It appears he might just be another Kyle Davies; if that is possible. His 7.25 ERA was not major league worthy.
Kyle Davies – Grade F-
I know F- doesn’t exist but the Royals may have employed one of the worst pitchers of all-time. Luckily the Harim Davies days are officially over.
Vin Mazzaro – Grade F
His ERA is inflated from being thrown to the wolves in Cleveland one game but he still was inconsistent and unimpressive. You can’t shake the feeling that if he wasn’t “who we got for Dejesus” he would be gone and a non-factor.
Felipe Paulino – Grade B
His numbers weren’t great but a 4.11 ERA on this staff is actually pretty good. Considering he was a gift from the Rockies; he was great. He showed signs of being a solid starting pitcher and has a good shot at the rotation in 2012.
Danny Duffy – Grade C
Duffy’s 5.64 ERA was high for how he pitched. He had a standard rookie start but showed progression in many games. His curveball is great and when he learns how to pitch a little more he should be a front of the rotation guy.
Everett Teaford – Grade B-
Teaford had a very good rookie year. Because he is left handed he should be a Royal in the future. He pitched strong in 2/3 starts he made in September but really looks to be more a bullpen guy to me where he was very solid in 2011.
Luis Mendoza – A-
Fantastic in 2 big league starts and was AAA Omaha pitcher of the year. Short look in Kansas City but has a good shot at the rotation next year.
Nate Adcock – Grade C-
Long relief guy made a couple starts. Never impressed too much and wouldn’t have remained with the club if he wasn’t a rule 5 guy. He has a sinker good enough to get ground balls and be a Jamey Wright type of pitcher.
Joakim Soria – Grade C+
Despite horrible early season struggles he managed to put together an average year for a reliever, not great for a closer though. He ended up 27/35 saves/opportunities and with a 4.03 ERA. Those aren’t great numbers but indicate it may have been just a down season.
Aaron Crow – Grade C
Crow was the Royals All-Star in 2011. You would never know it by his second half performance. He had a great first half and was dominant. He lost a “baulk off” in Chicago and wasn’t the same pitcher after that. He should get a shot at the rotation next year but is where he belongs in my opinion.
Tim Collins – Grade C
Collins was the lefty specialist for much of the year despite not being very good against lefties. He had a 3.68 ERA and .211 batting average against but walked way, way too many. If he cuts down on the walks he could be a big part of the 2012 bullpen.
Jeremy Jeffress – Grade C-
Jeffress is a fireballer. He showed spots in KC of being dominant but ultimately walked 11 batters in 14 appearances. He will get a rotation shot next year but once again I think he is better suited to be a setup man getting groomed for a closer spot.
Jesse Chavez – Grade F
The fact that Chavez wasn’t released after 2010 angers me still. He isn’t effective and needs released.
Blake Wood – Grade B
Wood was surprisingly good in his 54 games. He was a rare guy out of the pen the Royals could count on. If the Royals got the same season out of him next year they should be happy.
Greg Holland – Grade A-
The most surprising Royals pitcher of 2011. A sub 1.00 WHIP and under 2.00 ERA over 46 games was fantastic. He has potential to be a centerpiece of the middle relief for the team next year.
Robinson Tejada – Grade F
Tejada had big expectations after showing real flashes the last couple seasons. He and Soria were the only locks for the bullpen coming into 2011 and Tejada only pitched 9 games for the team. The Royals wanted to deal him at the deadline for somebody but he diminished his value so bad nobody wanted him.
Kanekoa Teixeira – Grade C+
Just another middle relief guy the team parted with. His ERA was under 3.00 but opponents hit over .400 against him.
Louis Coleman – Grade A-
Coleman pitched great out of the bullpen all year. In 48 games he limited teams from getting a big inning and posted a sub 3.00 ERA. He showed great poise in his rookie season and should be a valued member of the bullpen in 2012.
Kelvin Herrera – Grade D+
Herrera didn’t have a fair shot to prove himself only pitching 2 innings but showed good stuff despite getting roughed up in his debut.
A Hair Off Square 