Archive for the ‘Willie Wilson’ Tag
I have compiled a list of all of the Kansas City Royals bobblehead stadium giveaways. I have listed them from the first one given away. I have looked and can’t find good documentation of a list and dates anywhere on the internet so I have compiled one. As of the end of the 2012 season there have been 23 Kansas City Royals bobbleheads and 6 statues. If you have any changes or additions please let me know.
- Carlos Beltran 5/11/02
- Sluggerrr 6/30/02
- Mike Sweeney 4/5/03
- Denny Matthews 8/7/04
- Bret Saberhagen statue 8/13/05
- Frank White 6/24/06
- Mark Gubicza statue 7/21/06
- Dick Howser 7/22/06
- George Brett 8/19/06
- Paul Splittorff 5/26/07
- Dennis Leonard 6/9/07
- Steve Busby 7/28/07
- Cookie Rojas 8/11/07
- Fred Patek 9/8/07
- John Mayberry 5/31/08
- Alex Gordon 6/21/08
- Dan Quisenberry 7/26/08
- Larry Gura 8/9/08
- Tony Pena Jr. 9/6/08
- Stadium replica statue 5/16/09
- Dick Howser statue 7/18/09
- Frank White statue 8/8/09
- George Brett statue 9/26/09
- Zack Greinke 4/24/10
- Bret Saberhagen 6/5/10
- Willie Wilson 6/4/11
- Joakim Soria 9/3/11
- Buck O’Neil 7/21/12
- Eric Hosmer 8/18/12
This is the jewel of my collection. As a Royals fan it is hard to image one single item being much more cool than this. I’m up to 17 autographs by the championship team on this cover from when they won it all in 1985. The most recent additions were Danny Jackson and Darryl Motley. Before that it was Frank White and Hal McRae that got added to the mix.
I struck gold when I picked this up at an estate sale a couple years ago already having several of the really hard to find Royals players on it… like George Brett, Bret Saberhagen and Steve Balboni. Sadly the one signature it will never have is Dan Quisenberry. The two most notable names missing now are Mark Gubicza and Jim Sundberg. I guess I really need the Angels and Rangers to come to KC to pick those up. Enjoy!
Autographed 1985 Royals championship Sports Illustrated: Here is a rough guide from left to right, top to bottom of signatures: Willie Wilson, Greg Pryor, Steve Balboni, George Brett, Jamie Quirk, John Wathan, Dick Howser, Buddy Biancalana, Darryl Motley, Charlie Leibrandt, Dennis Leonard, Bud Black, Bret Saberhagen, Hal McRae, Danny Jackson, Mike Jones, Frank White
Kansas City Star All-Time Royals team card set
Here is a nice little Royals collectable; it is a card set of the all-time Royals team presented by the Kansas City Star. This was compiled in 1993 on the 25th anniversary of the team. I don’t know where this was available but I’m guessing it was given away in the paper.
If you can’t tell here is the rollcall for the card set starting in the top left: Dick Howser, Hal McRae, Darrell Porter, Dan Quisenberry, Dennis Leonard, Bret Saberhagen, Paul Splittorff, Steve Busby, John Mayberry, Frank White, Fred Patek, George Brett, Amos Otis, Willie Wilson and Al Cowens.
The Royals have logged another 19 years since this time but I don’t think many of the slots would change. I know Whitey Herzog should be the manager instead of Dick Howser but that hasn’t changed in the last 19 years. I would say the most likely change would be Mike Sweeney edging out Big John Mayberry at first but I’m not sure. Johnny Damon and Carlos Beltran could make a run at pushing out Al Cowens as well.
This is a nice Royals item and is worth picking up if you can ever find one… they aren’t very common, plus it looks nice as an uncut sheet matted with powder blue in a picture frame on the wall.
Kansas City Royals placemats; left to right; Hal McRae, Paul Splittorff, Ed Rodriguez, Steve Braun, Darrell Porter, Pete LaCock, George Thorp
Kansas City Royals placemats; left to right; Steve Busby, George Brett, Jerry Terrell, Tom Poquette, Willie Wilson, Larry Gura, Marty Pattin
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
So Saturday was Willie Wilson bobblehead day at Kauffman Stadium. It was the 20th bobblehead give-away(I think.) Willie is a no-brainer for a list of the greatest Royals of all-time. If I were to make a ranked list I think he would likely fall 3rd only behind George Brett and Frank White. Wilson’s bobblhead was long deserving and I am glad that it is now out there.
I really don’t think there is much to say about Wilson’s credentials to be on this list. He was a Royals outfielder for a long time, he was really fast and a really good player. He played 15 seasons in Kansas City and 19 in his career. He was a .285 career hitter that included a 1982 American League batting title at .332. He had a staggering 668 stolen bases, 2 all-star game appearances and a gold glove. He was a big part of the Royals 2 World Series appearances as well.
A Hair Off Square 