Archive for the ‘Greatest Royals’ Tag
Custom card of the day: Hal McRae – Royals greats card Leave a comment
36 Greatest Royals of All-Time: Hal McRae 1 comment
This is the list of the 36 Greatest Royals so far in no particular order:
- Hal McRae
- Zack Greinke
- Willie Wilson
- Paul Splittorff
- Jeff Montgomery
- Mike Sweeney
- Dennis Leonard
- David Dejesus
- Cookie Rojas
- Amos Otis
Several more are to come, stay tuned…
36 Greatest Royals: Jeff Montgomery Leave a comment
Jeff Montgomery was a constant for the Royals through the 1990s. Whatever problems the team had offensively or with starting pitching Monty was always at the back of the bullpen. He was a 3 time all-star with the Royals during his major league career. His greatest accomplishment would have to be his 304 career saves, a really huge number. To put it in perspective, Joakim Soria has accumulated a ton of saves but is still only half way to Jeff Montgomery’s number. His top save season came in 1993 when he co-led the league (with Duane Ward) with a co-Royals record (with Dan Quisenberry) 45 saves.
You can justify Montgomery’s status as one of the greatest Royals players all you want but he is one of the very first players for the team I ever endeared. This is a big reason he is getting this card. He and Mike MacFarlane were two of my favorites when I first found my blind dedication to the team. No matter which way you cut it, I think it is a given that Monty belongs in the top 36 Royals of all-time.
36 Greatest Royals: Dennis Leonard Leave a comment
Dennis Leonard was an absolute beast. He won 20 games 3 times in his 13 years pitching, all of which were in a Royals uniform. Those 3 20 win season came in a span of four years as well. He won 20 in 1977, 21 in 1978 and 20 in 1980. He averaged just under 19 wins per season over that span.
In what was likely his best season, 1977, he threw an astounding 21 complete games, one more than his amount of wins. He would register 9 or more complete games for 6 straight seasons. 9 is now a more common number for a team to throw complete games than an individual.
One more thing, look at those sideburns! Dennis Leonard is possibly the greatest Royals pitcher of all-time. The Late Paul Splittorff would give him a strong run for his money though.
36 Greatest Royals: David Dejesus 2 comments
Here is another of my greatest Royals series. This one is not as obvious as the first two. Paul Splittorff and Cookie Rojas were extremely likely to be on the list of the top 36 Royals of all-time but David Dejesus may raise some eyebrows.
For the Royals Dejesus was one of the most consistent players in an era where the Royals were a terrible team. He was never a big power hitter, he was never in the chase for the batting title, he was just a model of consistency.His numbers aren’t striking for his career, he usually didn’t crack double digit home runs and ended with 50-70 runs driven in and even though he spent a lot of time at the leadoff position, didn’t steal many bases either. He was always one of the best players on the team though.
He played in Kansas City for 8 season before being traded to the Oakland Athletics and I believe he will once again be a Royal. I think that there was so much mutual respect between Dejesus and the Royals that he will return to the team to be a forth outfielder in a few years. The Royals will be contending and Dejesus will be on the decline so the front office will bring back the fan favorite.
36 Greatest Royals: Cookie Rojas Leave a comment
Cookie Rojas wasn’t an original Royals but he joined them in their second season in 1970. He was a big part of those early teams too. He would go to four All-Star games as a Royals second baseman in the early 1970’s. He spent several years with the Phillies before going to Kansas City but played the best years of his career for the Royals. He would play second base right up until Frank White would take the position from him.
A Hair Off Square 