Happy Holidays: Revisiting some top KC Royals stories

Happy Holidays! To celebrate the season and give our readers some baseball to ponder during the MLB lockout, we at Kings of Kauffman decided to post links to some of our favorite KC Royals stories from the past. We cover a lot of ground here, so click and enjoy!

Blasts from the past: George Brett and some other popular KC Royals.

No player did more to put the Royals on the map than Hall of Famer George Brett. He collected 3,154 hits, 317 home runs, 1,596 RBIs, and slashed .305/.369/.487 in his 21 years with Kansas City, the only team he ever played for. He also had a superb .337/.397/.627 postseason line, made the American League All-Star team 13 times, and won three AL batting titles, three Silver Sluggers, and the 1980 AL and 1985 World Series MVP awards.

Everyone knows about Brett’s complete body of work, but what happened when he announced he was retiring?

Here’s what his final games were like and how his career ended.

And just for good measure, here are Brett’s five greatest moments.

Jeff Francoeur wasn’t George Brett, but he was a fan favorite during the parts of three seasons he spent with the club. And he had some special times with fans at home and on the road.

Read about “Frenchy” and some of his Royal moments here.

And speaking of fan favorites, what do Lou Piniella, Carlos Beltran, Bob Hamelin and Ángel Berroa have in common? Find out right here.

The KC Royals will debut new uniforms in 2022. How do they compare to the old?

First the new unis, which our Batoul Hammoud wrote about recently. They’re different, but not drastically so.

How about the older jerseys? Here are the best and worst of the bunch.

Free agent deals and trades are frozen. What are the best and worst the Royals have made?

By no means big spenders, the Royals tend to build from within, or via trades and lower-tier free agent signings. They’ve consummated some excellent trades, some bad swaps, and a few regrettable free agent deals.

You can read about Kansas City’s best trades here, the franchise’s worst trades here, and the Royals’ worst free agent deals here.

Kansas City likes to build on speed. Who are the five speediest Royals ever?

The KC Royals love speed. They strive for it in the outfield and on the base paths. Remember our two-parter about the fastest players in club history? Part 1 is here and Part II is here.

Who stands out among Dayton Moore’s first round draft picks for the Royals?

The jury will be out for a long time on Kansas City’s 2021 draft picks, but here are former General Manager (now President of Baseball Operations) Dayton Moore’s three best first round selections from 2007 through 2020.

We hope you enjoy our Holiday Season look-back.