Kansas City Royals all-time top 50 players: No. 30 to No. 11

No. 16) Dennis Leonard, starting pitcher, 1974-86

A lifetime Royal, Dennis Leonard was among the best pitchers for Kansas City during the early years of the team. His 1977-78 stretch stands out as the best of his career. Leonard went a combined 41-29 with a 3.19 ERA, 1.16 WHIP and 124 ERA+ in that time. He also nearly pitched 300 innings each season, which is absolutely unfathomable today. Leonard was the true definition of a workhorse, and that was good enough to get him to 16th on this list.

No. 15) Mike Sweeney, catcher/first baseman/DH, 1995-2007

Mike Sweeney was the face of the franchise just before the dawn started to break. That is truly a shame, because he was such a dangerous hitter in his time. He was also a beloved figure on teams that were severely lacking such players. Between 2000-05 — while Sweeney was getting MVP votes each year for Royals teams in the back corner of the basement — he slashed .312/.383/.522/.904. Those are Hall of Fame caliber numbers.

While he may not have kept it up long enough to make it to Cooperstown, Sweeney will always be one of the most prominent hitters in the Kansas City Royals Hall of Fame.