Billy Butler’s Greatest Hits

April 18 is Billy Butler‘s birthday. As of today, he’s 26 years old.

He’s hitting the ball all over the place and has been one of the rare bright spots in an otherwise dreary start to 2012.

To honor the birthday of “Country Breakfast” below are a selection of my favorite Billy Butler-themed articles on Kings of Kauffman. He’s an oddly polarizing figure for some fans, considering his consistency and success.

• June 10, 2010 – Bam Bam: Billy Butler and Power – comparing Butler’s early years to those of Paul Konerko, Mike Sweeney and the easiest comparable player to his skillset, Edgar Martinez.
• March 29, 2011 – Can Billy Butler Change? Should He? – taking a look at the balls Butler puts into play to determine if his spring training of 2011 led to more line drives.
• June 13, 2011 – Don’t Put Billy In a Corner – where Kevin Scobee compares Butler to other designated hitters in the league and asks Royals fans not to ask him to be something he isn’t.
• June 20, 2011 – We then talked to Kevin Scobee about the article on the Royalman Report.
• July 10, 2011 – 3,000: Derek Jeter, George Brett and … Billy Butler? – shortly after Jeter reached 3000 hits for his career, I took a look at what kind of pace it may take for Billy Butler to hit the milestone.
• July 21, 2011 – Choosing More Than Just Home Runs – a tale of two players, both of whom could be criticized for their lack of home run hitting.
• July 31, 2011 – The Royalman Report talked to Ross Martin (@PCBearcat), the originator of the Country Breakfast nickname.
• January 16, 2012 – Rumor Mill: Billy Butler to the Yankees – Scobee responds to a pretty absurd trade rumor that went all over the place that would have sent Butler to New York for Phil Hughes.

Butler hasn’t received nearly as much criticism as he did last year. At least to this point, that is. He’s got his faults – he’s not going to be solid defensively and he doesn’t have speed, but there’s no more prepared hitter on the team and watching him work at the plate is a positive in any game.

You can stay current on all the Kings of Kauffman content and news by following us on Twitter, Facebook, or by way of our RSS feed.