Archive for October, 2010

To calm my nerves about the Royals second appearance in the World Series, I went and saw the new blockbuster hit Back to the Future and I really enjoyed it.  I can’t wait until we have flying cars like the one at the end of the film. First a reminder, due to the alternating DH rules, the Royals will be without a DH during the World Series.  I think this puts us at a disadvantage as it takes Hal McRae out of the lineup for the most part.  Sure, he only had a .259 batting average, but he drove in [...]

What better way to celebrate Halloween than to finally “unveil” prospect #1 on the 2010 Kings of Kauffman prospect list? Let’s disregard the fact that its just about time for our staff to work on the 2011 version of this list. Instead, let’s simply celebrate the wonder and excellence that is Wil Myers.

The Baseball Bloggers Alliance named its final award winners, presenting the MVP Award (Stan Musial Award) to Josh Hamilton of the Texas Rangers and Joey Votto of the Cincinnati Reds.  Kings of Kauffman, as a member of the Kansas City Chapter of the BBA voted on the award. Between you and me, I think it should have gone to Jason Kendall.  In both leagues.  Harumph.

As you all likely know, this week was the anniversary of the greatest time to be a Royals fan – the 1985 World Series. While that wasn’t the best Royals team that’s existed, they achieved the highest of honors and did so in remarkable fashion. It was a great time to be a baseball fan in Kansas City and the bright light of George Brett kept things aglow into the early ’90s. If only everyone had known what was about to come. The Royals haven’t reached the playoffs since. They’ve had 7 winning seasons from 1986-2010. Five of those happened [...]

So like many of you, I’m watching the World Series and trying to figure out how on earth this is the same Rangers team that steamrolled the Yankees, but I digress…  As Buster Posey sits behind the dish as the everyday catcher for the Giants, has there ever been a rookie catcher to play on the World Series winner as their primary receiver?

We haven’t checked in very often on the Arizona Fall League performances thus far, so now’s a good time to do just that. Last night, Royals first baseman prospect Eric Hosmer drove in four runs in a winning effort for the Surprise Rafters.

In 1985, Sports Illustrated published an astonishing story about a young man named Sidd Finch, a prospect in the Mets organization, whose fastball had been clocked during Spring training that year at 168 miles per hour.

This is an important offseason organizationally for the Royals.  The free agent market is fairly tame, and other than Zack Greinke and David DeJesus trade rumors, there aren’t many other deals out there for the team to make right now.  With contention in 2011 a pipe dream, the focus then turns to development. The first steps are already underway, as the Royals are looking ahead to their key prospects and their future role on the team.

We’re getting into the homestretch in announcing award winners for 2010 as determined by the Baseball Bloggers Alliance.  The newest release announces the Walter Johnson Award – most outstanding pitcher. Not surprisingly, Roy Halladay and Felix Hernandez ran away with both league’s voting. The full release and final votes are below:

Jeff Francoeur. If you just shuddered, you’re just like almost every Royals fan I know. It’s almost a guarantee at this point that “Frenchy” will be a Royal next year. It’s been rumored for a while, but the rumors have been amplified to an undeniable roar, especially after Ken Davidoff tweeted this over the summer: One NL club official, on Francoeur in ’11: “He’ll be a #Royal. Guaranteed.” Like it or not, the odds that Francoeur is signed this offseason are higher than ever, suggesting to most fans and baseball followers that Dayton has truly lost his mind. It’s been [...]

In an effort to bolster the depth and talent on Kings of Kauffman, I started asking for interested Royals fans to contact me about becoming regular contributors here on the site.  I lucked out by getting some quick responses and here’s a quick update on that process.

I felt left out after every other team’s blog lit up with odd offers for Zack Greinke.  I want in on the fun. While watching Derek Jeter hustle his way into an 0-4 game tonight in the final game of the ALCS, I got a goofy idea. What if the Yankees let Jeter walk this winter?  They’ll need a shortstop. Hmm…