All-time KC Royals starting lineup

If you were able to put together a starting lineup for all the KC Royals greats from 1-9, how would it look?  We tackle that question in this article.

Imagine you could combine the 50 plus years of KC Royals baseball and construct a lineup with all the potential players.  Our criteria is that you have to cover each position in the field and designated hitter.  The player also needed to play at least 400 games at that position while a member of the Kansas City franchise.

Some of the choices will be obvious.  Others will require making a tough decision as multiple players produced solid statistics at the same position.

We will not only look at the offensive output but consider their defensive prowess as well.  After all, if you are putting a lineup together to win a game the ability to keep the other team off base is important.

Many rankings are developed each year speculating the best at each position over time or best seasons produced regardless of where they played on the field.  That could be based on WAR, traditional batting statistics and usual some bias depending on what era you grew up in.  We want to put this lineup together as if we needed to win game 7 of the World Series.

One surprise in researching this article is the lack of true superstars at a couple of positions.  It could be due to a lack of team history compared to the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, or Cincinnati Reds for example. Also, the team looked for speedy, scrappy players during the years on the turf at then-Royals, now-Kauffman stadium.

Undoubtedly there will be tough decisions and arguments could be made for the inclusion of others.  Enjoy the trip down memory lane and the not-so distant past.

With KC Royals hitters 4-6 you want to have players with pop in their bats plus the ability to drive in runs.

4.

One of the easiest decision was choosing the right fielder.  Unfortunately, the KC Royals were only able to have his services for five seasons but Danny Tartabull scores high on many statistical fronts.

His glove work was not a thing of beauty but he more than makes up for it with his bat.  As a member of the Royals, Tartabull cranked 124 bombs, 141 doubles and had a heck of an eye with a .376 OBP.  His .518 career team slugging percentage is number one, besting Sweeney by 26 points.

The best year was in 1991 when he made the All-Star team and finished 12th in MVP voting.  He clubbed 31 homers and led the majors with a .593 SLG.  His overall slash that year was .316/.397/.990 which was third best in a Kansas City season behind Brett in 1980 and 1985.

Tartabull went on to have decent seasons with the New York Yankees and Chicago White Sox but he never matched the stretch he had while in Kansas City.  A perfect clean up hitter to protect Brett.

5.

We went from the easiest choice to the most difficult.  After much debate, John Mayberry is selected to man first base over Eric Hosmer.

Hosmer did collect Gold Gloves while Mayberry did not, but looking at fielding percentage stats they both are at .994 when playing first base.  Mayberry was a better hitter from an OPS+ view by 21 points which gives him the nod in the lineup.

While with Kansas City, Mayberry hit over 20 home runs in five of six seasons and twice led the American League in walks.  He also led the AL in OBP (.417) in 1973 and OPS+ (168) in 1975.  He finished in the top 12 in MVP voting three times with the Royals and was named to two All-Star games.

Overall in 897 games played wearing the KC uniform, Mayberry produced a .261/.374/.448 slash.  He drove in over 100 runs on three occasions and his 34 homers in 1975 held as the team single-season record until Steve Balboni bested him by two in 1985.

With his ability to mash and get on base, Mayberry is the perfect guy to drive in runs and “keep the line moving” in the middle of the Royals lineup.

6.

Another close battle was for the catching position.  Darrell Porter was an on-base machine during his brief four years with the Royals reaching at a .375 clip.  He even led the majors in walks in 1979 and finished in the top-10 MVP voting twice.  On the other hand, he went to the St. Louis Cardinals right after Kansas City and that is unacceptable.

To manage a pitching staff and be a rock behind the plate, we will go with Salvador Perez.  He is miles behind Porter on reaching base but hits for roughly the same average, slugs a bit better and reached six straight All-Star games and won Gold Gloves in five of those six years.  Perez also has collected two Silver Slugger awards for catchers.

Perez led the AL in caught stealing percentage in 2012 with 42%, the majors in 2016 with a 48% rate and duplicated that number in 2018.  His defensive WAR is already higher than Porter’s despite participating in nine less seasons to this point.

He can also provide pop in the sixth spot having clubbed more than 20 the last four seasons he has played (missed 2019 due to injury) and has been in double digits since 2012.  When it comes to pressure, Perez has slashed .348/.375/.478 in 12 World Series games.

There is the middle part of the order.  Plenty of ability to smash the ball and a sturdy presence for our pitching staff behind the dish.

The last three KC Royals batters are important to make sure you can turn over the lineup to the top of the order.

7.

Little surprise to see Alex Gordon manning left field for this all-time lineup.  We hope the Gordo we get at the plate is the one who entered the batters box from 2011-2015 when he made three All-Star games and was 12th in MVP voting in 2014.  Either way, we will take his glove at any point of his career.

The pressure was on Gordon from the beginning as he was selected second overall in the 2005 MLB draft from the nearby University of Nebraska.  He played third base at the time and was a left-handed hitter who threw with his right making the comparisons to Brett inevitable.  He struggled with the weight of expectations but once he came back as an outfielder, his performance rocketed.

Overall he has hit .258 and reached base at a respectable .339 clip.  His home run total is usually in the mid-teens and twice has hit 20 or more.  Of course, we are really here for the glove work and the cannon for an arm.

Gordon had ridiculous seasons of 20 and 17 assists in 2011 and 2012 respectively and has 98 overall from the outfield.  Of course, there are the seven Gold Gloves to contend with as well.  We feel very comfortable with him batting seventh and playing the seven position.

8.

We all have fond memories of Frank White manning second base.  Overall, his offensive statistics are not as glossy as I remember, a .255/.293/.383 slash can attest to that, but he still was a tough out.  He never struck out more than 88 times in a season despite often recording over 500 plate appearances.

He had some speed, 178 career stolen bases, and a bit of pop, 160 long balls, and went to five All-Star games.  Like Gordon, White was a defensive wizard earning eight Gold Gloves.

He was a staple at second base as 2,151 of his 2,324 games were played at that position.  White was a key member of the 1985 World Series championship team as he drove in six runs with three doubles and a homer against the Cardinals.

All 18 years of his baseball career were spent in Kansas City and he went on to do commentating on Royals broadcasts.  Sadly, he had a falling out with the KC Royals but has stayed in the metro area serving as a County Executive for Jackson County.

9.

With more ability to reach base, Freddie Patek would have been the perfect lead off man for this team.  He stole 336 bases with the Royals including 49 in 1971 and an AL best 53 in 1977.  He also led the majors in triples with 11 in ’71 and finished sixth in the MVP voting.

He was a serviceable shortstop, not spectacular and could be error-prone, but was typically around the league average in fielding.  He gave the Royals nine seasons of his career and went to the All-Star game three times.

What holds Patek back from leading off is the .309 OBP he produced for the Royals.  The most walks he recorded in a season was 77 in 1974 but typically was in the 40’s or low 50’s for totals.  He definitely fit the model of a slap hitter never slugging higher than .371 back in ’71.

Still, Patek was an important foundation for building Kansas City into a perennial playoff team from the mid ’70s to the mid ’80s.  He did not let his 5’5″ 148-lb frame keep him from being a major league player for 14 years total, a remarkable feat.

“I never let my size stop me from doing anything,” Freddie Patek was saying in his pleasantly firm voice before last night’s game. “I even remember how I got this way.” – NY Times

There you have it.  The ultimate starting lineup for all-time Kansas City Royals players.  A nice blend of batting prowess and glove work that would be fun to watch.  One thing to be grateful for is that even through the ups and downs of KC Royals’ baseball, there are players of every era that are special to watch.