KC Royals: The Top 5 Kansas City speedsters, Part 2

(Photo by Kyle Rivas/Getty Images)
(Photo by Kyle Rivas/Getty Images)
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(Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images)
(Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images) /

Welcome back to Kings of Kauffman’s two-part series ranking the KC Royals’ Top 5 speedsters of all time. Part 1 identified several Royals worthy of honorable mention, including Lorenzo Cain, Alcides Escobar, and Bo Jackson, and revealed Johnny Damon as the fifth fastest Royal.

Now, we reveal the rest of our selections, including the speediest player in club history.

To recap, the threshold for selection is a minimum of 1,000 plate appearances as a Royal. The amount of stolen bases that were attempted and successful are considered, and sprint speeds found at Baseball Savant (our source for all the speed measurements in Parts 1 and 2) will not dilute any past players’ accomplishments since it’s a measure of only recent vintage.

If you believe a player is missing from our rankings, or if you have a different ranking, let us know in the comment section at the end of this story.

We begin Part 2 with a great KC outfielder.

No. 4: Amos Otis (1970-83), the KC Royals’ first genuine speedster-defender.

Amos Otis is a name familiar to veteran KC Royals fans. He was drafted by the New York Mets before being traded to Kansas City in exchange for third baseman Joe Foy in a 1969 deal engineered by famed Kansas City General Manager Cedric Tallis.

Related Story. 3 best trades in KC history. light

During his tenure with the team, Otis was a five-time All-Star and three-time Gold Glove winner. He was in the American League MVP running five different times, and came close to winning in 1973 when he placed third behind Oakland’s Reggie Jackson and Baltimore’s Jim Palmer.

What Amos Otis also did was embody the Royals’ philosophy of speed and defensive prowess.

He was the stolen base leader in the American League in 1971, swiping 52 bags—12 less than St. Louis’ Lou Brock, who led all of baseball with 64 steals.

In his career with the KC Royals, Otis stole 340 bases, while being caught 89 times. He also had eight postseason steals. Otis’ speed helped him record 66 career triples and 374 doubles; he led the American League with 40 two-baggers in his All-Star 1976 season.

His position in center field also called for speed. His three Gold Gloves reflect his skill in covering ground, as Otis had a career fielding percentage of .991. This ranks 30th in MLB history, beating out other notables like Rajai Davis, David DeJesus, Adam Jones, and even former Royal Lorenzo Cain.

Owner of a remarkable career, Otis was one of the first KC Royals to really shine on the base paths and in the outfield.

(Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
(Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) /

No. 3: Jarrod Dyson (2010-2016/2021), the KC Royals’ own “Mr. Zoombiya.”

Of course, Jarrod Dyson, “Mr. Zoombiya” himself, makes our Top 5. It would be impossible to not even think of him as a prominent speedster in KC Royals’ history. Dyson’s trademark “That’s what speed do” epitomized his club’s exciting 2014-15 seasons.

Dyson has 179 stolen bases so far in his Royals career, which the club extended when it brought him back before this season started. Being caught only 31 times gives him an 82% success rate, a higher ranking than Amos Otis’ 73%.

Through his limited playing time this year, Dyson has registered a sprint speed of 28.9 feet per second. During his 2015 season, he recorded a 29.5 sprint speed, ranking behind only Paulo Orlando within the KC organization. In an interview with Fox Sports in 2014, Dyson mentioned that he ran a 4.2 40-yard dash in college.

Relying on Baseball Savant, Dyson’s 2021 speed metric alone ranks him in the 90th percentile. Considering he’s had only 49 plate appearance this year, that is quite a remarkable number. He placed in the 97th percentile in 2015.

Dyson’s season-high in stolen bases was 36 in 2014. He also swiped 34 bags in 2013 when he played only 87 games, and 30 in both 2012 and 2016. With a .679 OPS and a .984 fielding percentage, Dyson is a force to be reckoned with not only when he gets on base, but in the outfield as well—just like Amos Otis.

And who could forget Dyson’s steal of third base that helped set up the tying run in the bottom of the ninth inning of the 2014 Wild Card game against the Oakland A’s? Fox Sports: MLB sure didn’t:

https://twitter.com/mlbonfox/status/1277049073594445829?lang=en

But for all of Dyson’s speed, there are still two KC Royals who top him.

(Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images)
(Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images) /

No. 2: Freddie Patek (1971-79), the short but quick KC Royals shortstop.

Freddie Patek, known affectionately as “The Flea,” may have been the shortest major league player during his career (1968-1981), but he was another example of the KC Royals mantra of run, run, run.

Patek was dealt to Kansas City from the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1970, along with Bruce Del Canton and Jerry May, in exchange for Jim Campanis, Jackie Hernandez, and Bob Johnson. Patek was quick to make a splash in his first season with the Royals, when he hit for the cycle in July against future Royal and Hall of Famer Gaylord Perry’s brother Jim. The baseball feat is more proof of Patek’s speed—players generally have to be fast to rack up triples. He also stole 49 bases that year.

Related Story. Stars who spent their last season in KC. light

During his time with the Royals, Patek consistently stole bases whenever he got on. In fact, he had eight straight seasons of stealing 32 or more bases. In 1977, he led the American League with 53 steals, and nabbed 51 the season before.

He was a three-time All-Star during his KC days, and finished sixth in MVP voting in 1971. Overall, Patek stole 336 bases as a Royal and was caught 108 times, giving him a 68% success rate.

Patek also notched 182 doubles and 41 triples as a Royal; 11 of those triples tied him for the major league lead in 1971.

(Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images)
(Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images) /

No. 1: Willie Wilson (1976-1990), the epitome of KC Royals style baseball.

The outfield and speed seemed to be a trend while compiling this list of Kansas City’s top speedsters, so it’s fitting that the greatest center fielder in Kansas City history caps it all off. Willie Wilson is a legend and, while Dyson may claim the nickname, Wilson could well have been the original “Mr. Zoombiya”.

Wilson was the backup and eventual successor to Amos Otis in center field when he first came up to the big leagues. While Otis led the American League with 52 stolen bases in 1971, Wilson blew that out of the water when he led the majors with 83 stolen bases in 1979.

Those 83 steals were the most in the American League since Ty Cobb’s 96 in 1915 with the Tigers. (The “Man of Steal” himself, Oakland’s Ricky Henderson, surpassed Wilson the next year by swiping 100 bags).

Wilson gave baseball a taste of what was to come when he stole 46 bases in 1978, his first full season in the majors. He swiped 46—fifth highest in The Show—in 127 games

Wilson ranks 12th on the all-time big league stolen base leaderboard with 668. And it’s no surprise he’s the Royals’ career leader with 612, a total that far outdistances Otis’ 340. Wilson also led the team in triples five times, including 35 in 1985, the year the club won the first World Series in team history.

Top 5 KC Speedsters, Part 1. dark. Next

The Royals have a rich history of speed. Out of all their players, Willie Wilson ranks as the best Kansas City speedster.

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