Kansas City Royals back among baseball royalty

One of my favorite bands, The Casualties, started their excellent tune “Down and Out” (warning – loud, abrasive punk in the link) with the line of “I’ll tell you a little story A man roaming the streets The one with raggedy clothes The one you ignore to see.” Touchy grammar aside, the song is about a man who was once on top of the world, but everything came crashing down upon him as he lost everything he had. Someone who had been one of us, but is now considered to be nothing.

For years, that was the general story of the Kansas City Royals. For years, they were the model franchise in baseball, a perennial playoff contender that stood toe to toe with the excellent New York Yankees teams of that era. They were a team that, under Ewing Kauffman, did whatever it took to win, not being afraid to spend money and take chances. The Royals were innovative and ahead of their time, helping to transform the way people thought about how to construct a team. The days were very bright indeed.

Then came the downfall. Kauffman, understanding his impending mortality and desperately wanting to bring another playoff team to Kansas City, gutted the Royals farm system. The trust he set up to keep the Royals in Kansas City did nothing. Players like Johnny Damon, Jermaine Dye and Carlos Beltran left in free agency or were traded away, often times for prospects that did not pan out. Instead of getting top free agents and being a true destination for players to come to, the Royals signed the likes of Mark Redman, an aging Juan Gonzalez and Jose Lima.