Today, I’ll try to do the same thing, but with those players the Royals have acquired over the years at the deadline. In some ways, it’s a difficult thing to do, as the Royals didn’t execute many trades at the deadline when they were in their heyday, usually haven’t been buyers at the deadline and the players they’ve traded away weren’t always the kind to inspire a blockbuster.

So the disclaimer on this one is that things could get ugly.

Another reminder that the trade deadline was originally June 15 up until 1986 when it was moved to the end of July. That rule applies in a couple of these situations.

C – Lucas May (2010)

On July 28, 2010, the Royals turned Scott Podsednik into a couple of intriguing prospects. Podsednik was having a surprising resurgence at the top of the Royals batting order. The Dodgers were in the hunt and looking for outfield help.

May was joined with Elisaul Pimentel in the deal. A converted shortstop, May was one of the top catching prospects in the Dodgers system and was hitting well in Triple A at the time. May ended up playing in 12 games for the Royals at the big league level but was mostly in Omaha after the deal. He was sold to Arizona for cash after the season and is currently in the Mets system.

1B – Ryan Shealy (2006)

At the deadline in 2006, the Royals and Rockies met up on a classic “change of scenery” deal. Shealy came over with pitcher Scott Dohmann on July 31 that year in exchange for lefty Jeremy Affeldt and right-hander Denny Bautista. Affeldt had been bounced around in various roles as part of the Royals pitching staff and nothing seemed to click for him. He also battled a persistent blister problem on his throwing hand  that always resurfaced. Bautista looked like a pitcher with promise but never developed any command to realize it.

Similarly, Shealy had been a slugger in the Rockies minor leagues but was already 26 and closing in on 27 without a real spot on the Rockies (think of him as a 2006 Clint Robinson). In two months with the Royals that year, he hit seven homers and a .280/.338/.451 line. It looked good going into 2007 and the Royals figured he’d be the everyday first baseman. He struggled and was demoted to Omaha at the end of June. He didn’t resurface until September 2008 and was on his way out of the Royals organization.

2B – Cookie Rojas (1970)

After those first two, it’s nice to have the chance to highlight a very good pickup at the deadline. On June 13, 1970, the Royals sent Fred Rico to the Cardinals and got Rojas in return.

Rico played in 12 games for the inaugural Royals team in 1969. It was the only major league experience he ever had.

Rojas only made four All-Star teams as a Royal and was inducted into the Royals Hall of Fame in 1987.

SS – Neifi Perez (2001)

It’s bad enough that the Royals traded for Perez. That’s a big problem to start with – he was Yuniesky Betancourt before Yuni was Yuni. And he didn’t have any of the pop. He was positive defensively, but with an OPS+ of 64 for his career, his defensive ability only made him a replacement level player at best.

The Royals traded Jermaine Dye for him on July 25.

Ouch. (I wanted to put Jeff Keppinger here, but honestly, Neifi’s a better story.)

3B – Dean Palmer (1997)

We covered the other half of this deal, as the Royals sent the speedy Tom Goodwin to Texas for Palmer on July 25.

Palmer fit into the Royals lineup as a power hitter, and he hit nine  homers in the 49 games he spent with the Royals during the rest of the 1997 season. He was even better in 1998, hitting 34 homers in his only full season with the Royals. Palmer is one of very few Royals hitters who’ve hit 30 homers in a season and the third most in team history. He left for Detroit after becoming a free agent and played parts of five seasons with them.

OF – Gregor Blanco (2010)

When the Royals traded Kyle Farnsworth and Rick Ankiel on July 31, they got Tim Collins and Jesse Chavez as well as Blanco.

During the remainder of the 2010 season, Blanco hit 203 plate appearances and played mostly in center, adding good contact, defense and strike zone judgment to the team. There was some talk that he might end up the opening day center fielder in 2011, but the Royals signed Jeff Francoeur and Melky Cabrera while also having Mitch Maier and Jarrod Dyson in the mix. Then they acquired Lorenzo Cain. Blanco was traded to Washington for cash but didn’t get back to the majors until this season, where he’s been a solid reserve for the Giants.

Also, he did this:

OF – Chip Ambres (2005)

Ambres was acquired with Juan Cedeno from Boston on July 19, 2005 for infielder Tony Graffanino. He was almost a league average outfielder that season and had 12 extra base hits. He only played 80 career games in the big leagues, including 53 for the Royals.

OF – Abraham Nunez (2004)

The Royals haven’t acquired many good outfielders at the deadline, have they? Nunez was acquired on the last day of July in 2004 for Rudy Seanez. He didn’t play in the majors after 2004 as a Royal. He and Jeff D’Amico hold the distinction of not being THAT Abraham Nunez (former Pirate, Cardinal and Phillie from 1997-2008) and not being THAT Jeff D’Amico (former Brewer, Pirate, Met and Indian from 1996-2004; the other D’Amico was part of the Kevin Appier trade in 1999).

SP – Charlie Leibrandt (1983)

The Royals sent Bob Tufts to the Reds on June 7, 1983 and got Leibrandt back. Tufts had thrown 26.2 innings for the Royals when he was traded. He never pitched for the Reds.

Leibrandt only went on to finish fifth in Cy Young voting in 1985 and threw 1257 innings from 1984 to 1989 with Kansas City. He was the starting pitcher in Game 6 of the 1985 World Series, and held the Cardinals to one run in 7.2 innings to keep the Royals in position to make the historic comeback. He also had a solid start that fell apart in Game 2 but ate up 8.2 innings in that one.

RP – Stan Belinda (1993)

Belinda was an average arm in the Pirates bullpen and with the Royals in second place and four games behind on July 31, 1993, made a nice target at the deadline. In return the Pirates got Jon Lieber and Dan Miceli, both of whom went on to long careers in the big leagues. Miceli appeared in 631 games. Lieber fit the bill of a league average, middle of the rotation starter for years, making 327 starts, most with the Pirates and Cubs.

Belinda had an 8.2 K/9 and 2.0 BB/9 in 1993 for the Royals down the stretch, though they never made up the ground to take the division. He wasn’t nearly as good in 1994 for the Royals though, and bounced around until 2000.

Other Notable Royals Trade Deadline Acquisitions:

• Jeff Keppinger (2006)
• Odalis Perez (2006)
• Kyle Davies (2007)
• Justin Huber (2004)
• Graeme Lloyd (2003)
• Jorge De La Rosa (2006)
• Will Smith (2010)
• Tim Collins (2010)
• Curt Leskanic (2003)
• Jason Grimsley (1997)
• Luis Aquino (1987)

So I started looking back, year by year, at old All-Star games to see how the Royals have done in the past and I came up with ten notable performances. Five of those stand out as very good, but here, I want to glance at five that were solid, though maybe lacking in impact of the game or in Royals history. The All-Star Game is where some stars shine brighter and it’s always great to see your team’s representative(s) doing well on that stage.

1972 – Cookie Rojas

Rojas was coming off of an All-Star year in 1971 where he’d hit .300 and appeared in his first All-Star Game as a Royal. In 1972, he was a reserve and entered the game in the top of the eighth inning. Pinch-hitting for Rod Carew and with Carlton Fisk on first, Rojas homered to left to put the American League up 3-2.

He looked primed to be named the MVP of the game, but Wilbur Wood came in for the bottom of the ninth and gave up a tying run and the National League won in the bottom of the tenth.

Rojas went on to play in two more All-Star Games in 1973 and 1974 in the latter stages of his baseball career.

1990 – Bret Saberhagen

Bret Saberhagen.

Saberhagen was coming off of a Cy Young season in 1989 and made the All-Star team in 1990 with a 2.98 ERA in 121 innings.

He threw two perfect innings, facing Chris Sabo, Mike Scioscia and Barry Bonds in the first inning, striking out Scioscia. In his second inning of work, Saberhagen got flyouts from Shawon Dunston, Lenny Dykstra and Ryne Sandberg. In the following inning, Julio Franco drove in two to break a 0-0 tie and Saberhagen ended up being the pitcher of record and the first Royal to be named the winner of an All-Star Game.

The honor came with a price – Saberhagen made only three more starts in 1990 due to ligament damage in his right elbow. He made his first post-ASG start on July 15 but didn’t resurface until September.

1986 – Frank White

Frank White.

In 1986, the All-Star Game was in the Astrodome, and for the second time ever, featured a Royals manager as Dick Howser led the American League squad after winning the World Series in 1985.

George Brett was selected as a reserve, but due to injury didn’t play in the game.

That left White as the only Royal to represent the World Champion Royals. Earlier in the game, Lou Whitaker, the starting second baseman for the AL, had homered off of Dwight Gooden. White replaced him in the seventh inning and hit a homer of his own off of Mike Scott. White got another at bat in the ninth but flied out against Mike Krukow.

White was an All-Star five times, but 1986 was his final selection. The home run was his only hit as an All-Star in seven at bats.

2009 – Zack Greinke

Zack Greinke in the 2009 All-Star Game. Photo Credit: Kyle Terada-US PRESSWIRE

2009 was a special year. The Royals started out 18-11 and were three games up in the AL Central in early May. While that success eventually faded, Zack Greinke made every fifth day an event.

Greinke started the year by giving up just four earned runs in his first 60 innings pitched en route to one of the best pitching seasons in Royals history. As the All-Star Game approached, it looked like Greinke could be the game’s starter in St. Louis but Roy Halladay started instead.

Nonetheless, when Greinke’s turn came up, he flashed the same brilliance he’d shown in the regular season.

He only threw one inning, and it’s difficult to judge an All-Star Game performance on just one inning, but he started out by inducing a weak foul out from Raul Ibanez to third on the first pitch then striking out David Wright on a 1-2 pitch (looking) and finishing off a perfect inning by getting Shane Victorino on a 1-2 pitch on his own for a second strikeout.

Greinke of course went on to win the AL Cy Young Award after 229.1 innings with a 2.16 ERA.

1995 – Kevin Appier

Kevin Appier.

Despite being one of the best pitchers in the 1990s, this was Kevin Appier’s only All-Star selection. Despite surpassing a 100 ERA+ every year from 1990 to 1997, and being the best candidate for the 1993 Cy Young Award, Appier never got the recognition he deserved.

In 1995, he made his one shot count.

Appier had a 3.04 ERA in 121 innings going into the All-Star Game and came into the game after Randy Johnson started for the AL and dominated. In the third inning, he retired Barry Larkin, struck out Vinnie Castilla and finished off Craig Biggio, then continued into the fourth, mowing down Lenny Dykstra, Tony Gwynn and Barry Bonds. That’s four Hall of Famers (or deserving Hall of Famers) and two of the best of the early 90s in that group, and Appier cut them all down in order.

Every batter but Castilla grounded out, in Appier’s impressive showing.

Appier faded a bit as the season wore on, finishing with 201.1 innings and a 3.89 ERA, but he was still one of the best starters that year.

These are performances worth pointing out, but I’ve decided on five performances by Royals in the All-Star Game that stand out even better.

Sportslogos.net

The huge-scoreboard, multi-fountained stadium opened in 1973 and also hosted the All-Star Game. The new stadium and its baseball event inspired the fans to vote Amos Otis as a starter (and third leading AL vote-getter) and John Mayberry landed in the starting lineup after Dick Allen was injured. Cookie Rojas also made it into the game.

Otis had 20 homers by the All-Star Break that year and 111 hits overall. Mayberry had 20 as well but had also reached base 180 times with 97 hits and 83 walks by July 24th. Rojas was in his third consecutive All-Star Game and fourth of five in his career.

Other stars included Hall of Famers Brooks Robinson, Billy Williams, Johnny Bench, Willie Stargell, Tom Seaver, Don Sutton, Catfish Hunter, Reggie Jackson, Rod Carew, Bert Blyleven, Nolan Ryan, Rollie Fingers, Hank Aaron and Willie Mays (in his final All-Star Game). Ron Santo was in the game and will be inducted in 2012.

Others included Joe Torre, Thurman Munson, Ted Simmons, Bobby Bonds, Davey Johnson and some guy named Pete Rose.

Non-players Sparky Anderson, Dick Williams, Whitey Herzog, and Nestor Chylak were involved in the game as well, all of whom are now in the Hall of Fame.

Bobby Bonds hit a two run homer in the fifth inning and was named the game’s MVP but the big blast came off the bat of Johnny Bench, who drove a ball to deep left estimated at 480 feet and considered the longest homer in Royals/Kauffman Stadium history.

Those Royals All-Stars finished with respectable numbers – though Rojas was showing signs of aging. Mayberry and Otis were well on their way to becoming Royals Hall of Famers.

Royals 1973 All-Stars, rest of season:

Video has been posted online of a feature about the game:

Check out the threads on Ewing Kauffman.

The NL won 7-1 and it wasn’t really much of a contest after the middle innings. Rick Wise, the NL starter, got the win while Blyleven took the loss.

Only one team in major league history has lost as many as 23 consecutive baseball games – the 1961 Philadelphia Phillies.  The ’61 Phillies were a historically bad team that finished the season 47-107.  But what would you say if I told you the Royals also had an equally appalling streak of futility, unrivalled in the annals of Major League baseball?  It’s true, I wish it wasn’t, but it is.

The Royals 1969 inaugural season was a great success in almost every way.  Our Boys in Blue opened the year with four wins in their first five games, and finished the season winning five of their last six for a 69-93 record, good for 4^th place ahead of both the White Sox and Seattle Pilots (now the Milwaukee Brewers.)  Lou Piniella was voted the Rookie of the Year.  This rag tag group cobbled together mostly from expansion draft picks or purchased outright from other teams exceeded expectations and put the baseball world on notice that Kansas City’s baseball team was no pushover.

For all the excitement of the new season and the anticipation of future successes to come, there was one blemish that I still clearly remember 43 years later.  The story of THE losing streak began with a win on May 9, 1969 – 43 years ago today.  The Royals visited the Orioles for the very first time at old Memorial Stadium in Baltimore.

Frank Robinson used the Royals as a stepping stone on his path to the Hall of Fame (Image: Joy R. Absalon-US PRESSWIRE)

Royals rookie pitcher, Dick Drago started and finished the game, surrendering only 4 hits and 2 runs to the talented Orioles who featured future Hall of Famers Frank Robinson and Brooks Robinson, as well as Boog Powell, Mark Belanger and company.  The Orioles finished the 1969 season at 109-53 in first place in the East, but lost to the Miracle Mets in the 1969 World Series.  It was a big deal for an expansion baseball team to trot into Memorial stadium and hand the mighty Orioles a loss in their very first game.  Unfortunately, it would be the last loss the Orioles suffered at the hands of the Royals for a very, very long time.

For the remainder of the 1969 season, the Royals and Orioles played 11 more times.  Every single one of them was tallied as a win for the Orioles, including two shutouts.  The Royals came close a couple of times with two one run losses, but for the most part the contests were lopsided.

Déjà vu all over again, as Yogi Berra would say, occurred in 1970.  The Orioles tallied 12 more consecutive wins over the Royals.  It almost became a self-fulfilling prophecy – the Royals expected to lose when they played the Orioles, so they did exactly that.

The 1971 Royals finished above .500 for the first time and were becoming a well respected team.  Many players from the inaugural season had moved on and made way for a wave of talented athletes that would lead the Royals into their glory years.  On April 30, 1971, the first time the Orioles and Royals faced each other in the young season, Baltimore was confronted with a very different team than they had faced the previous two years.  Taking the field for the Royals that day were Amos Otis, Freddie Patek, Cookie Rojas, Lou Piniella, and Bob Oliver.  No longer were the Royals a rag tag group of castaways seeking respectability.  They were now a team on par with the best of Major League baseball.

The game was hard fought with the Royals taking a 4-3 lead into the top of the 9^th inning.  With Tom Burgmeier on the mound, Brooks Robinson singled and made his way around the diamond to score the tying run.  Many thought this game would end the same way the previous 23 meetings of the Royals vs Orioles had ended, with Baltimore finding a way to pull out the victory, as good teams always seem to do.

With two outs in the bottom of the 9^th, Paul Schaal singled past 3^rd base.  Gail Hopkins’ pinch hit single pushed Schaal to 3^rd.   The shortest man in professional baseball, 5’5” Freddie Patek and his .253 batting average came to the plate with the game tied, two outs, and the winning run on 3^rd base.  And then, just like David bravely facing Goliath, Patek promptly drove a single to the right centerfield gap.  And with that, the Royals longest ever streak of frustration and futility was over.

The following morning on May 1, 1971, the sports section of the Kansas City Star described the feelings of relieved Royals fans with the banner headline, “23 Skidoo.”  The streak was over and the Royals had pointed themselves in the right direction for a season that would set them on a path toward playoff and World Series success within a few years.

Character is built on the back of challenge and adversity.  No doubt these early Royals had become well versed in all aspects of patience and perseverance during their first few years.  In the end, Royals fans were rewarded with a team that rooted for each other and knew the meaning of teamwork, the benefits of common goals, and the payoff of hard work.

Fast forward to 2012, and as Yogi Berra would say, I believe it’s déjà vu all over again.

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Al Hrabosky – The Mad Hungarian (Sports Illustrated)

#2 on our Royals All-Time Name Team

The middle of Christmas / New Years week is no time for hard hitting news or brain strain caused by disagreements over year end organizational moves.   We’ve had several days now to dissect the Yuniesky Betancourt signing and consider what it means to the organization.  Half of Royal Nation has been calling for Dayton Moore’s head on a platter over this decision, and the other half have yawned and scoffed at all the silly fuss over a part-time utility player.

Just since last week, we signed Twins castoff Jose Mijares as a left handed reliever to take some pressure off Tim Collins, and we’ve pondered the merits of chasing after Roy Oswalt to bolster our rotation.  Whether you agree or disagree with these moves and potential moves, I’m glad they’re giving us a reason to talk baseball.  Not a bad week’s work for a small market team smack in the middle of the cold offseason.

Enough with the hard news.  Now that Christmas is over, you’ve opened your presents and drank the egg nog, it’s time to loosen your belt and join me in a light hearted look at the history of the Royals and some of the names that have made the games entertaining. (more…)