A KC Royals Opening Day scrapbook

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Opening Day occupies a unique place in baseball lore, and the KC Royals are no exception. Fans, media, and players alike tend to romanticize the postseason and too often recall regular season games in a blur. But Opening Days always seem to stand out.

Opening Day has provided many KC Royals memories

An old cliché says every game matters, and while it's true all games count, the result of one doesn't necessarily matter much in the big picture of a 162-contest big league season. Opening Day is no different, but it is unique — the outcome doesn't prove how a team will fare for the rest of the season, but the excitement of baseball's return and renewed optimism make for a special occasion.

With the first pitch of the 2024 season just days away, please indulge my passion for the occasion as I look back at some of the most memorable Royals' Opening Days of my lifetime. The journey is mostly positive, but necessarily includes some disappointments generated by a franchise that's failed more than it's succeeded over the last three decades.

The Royals have only reached the postseason three times in my life. Granted, they've cashed in and won two championships in those rare appearances, but perhaps the most interesting aspect of this collection of games is that none of them come from one of those championship seasons, and only one is even indirectly connected to them. Opening Day exists in a bubble, unaffected by what came before or what will follow.

That's the beauty of Opening Day. It stands alone. So, without further ado, let's get to the games.

1988: George Bell rocks Bret Saberhagen, makes history

The Royals locked me in as a fan for life when they made their run to the 1985 World Championship. I was only six, and as excited as I was for the return of baseball in 1986, nothing about Opening Day that season lodged in my memory; perhaps I scrubbed the disappointing '86 season from my consciousness. However, 1987 was far better — the Royals finished only two games out of first ... but I don't recall anything of that Opening Day, either.

The first Opening Day I vividly remember is 1988, but not for pleasant reasons. It was a gut shot.

Kansas City opened at then-Royals Stadium against Toronto. Much like the Twins and White Sox in recent years, the Blue Jays were regular Opening Day opponents for the Royals, and a minor rivalry had developed after the 1985 American League Championship Series.

Bret Saberhagen started for KC; unfortunately, 1988 was an even-numbered year and Saberhagen had a reputation for being dominant in odd years, and injury-prone and inconsistent in even years. He finished 14-16 with a 3.80 ERA in 1988, a performance today's Royals would welcome, but it was a down year by his standards and George Bell made sure he got off to a rough start.

Bell became the first player in major league history to hit three home runs on Opening Day, tagging Saberhagen with shots to the left field stands in the second, fourth, and eighth innings. Even so, Saberhagen put up a valiant effort, going eight innings and striking out seven, but Toronto won 5-3.

On the bright side, George Brett gave the Royals an early lead with a two-run homer in the first.

1995: Baseball returns to Kauffman Stadium

Following the strike that prematurely ended the 1994 season and wiped out the World Series, baseball was in a low place. Outside of Montreal, perhaps no team was more adversely affected by the strike than the Royals. Thirteen games over .500, they were in the thick of the Wild Card race when the work stoppage hit. That was the closest the Royals would come to contention for a long time.

To make matters worse, there was legitimate concern the strike could claim the 1995 season as well. Eventually, cooler heads prevailed and a shortened and delayed 144-game '95 season was agreed upon.

The details of the April 26 opener against Baltimore are less important than the fact that baseball was back. A crowd of 24,170 turned out to see the Royals win 5-1. Unfortunately, the victory wasn't a precursor to a successful season (Kansas City finished 70-74), or an indicator of the Royals' post-strike reality. They finished with a losing record in 17 of the next 18 seasons.

Kevin Appier was fantastic on the mound, outdueling future Hall of Famer Mike Mussina, and Wally Joyner and Bob Hamelin both doubled in runs for Kansas City. For one day at least, Royals fans got to enjoy baseball success again before the bottom dropped out.

2004: One last magical moment

The 2003 Royals were an anomaly. Of the aforementioned 18 seasons of misery, they were the lone winning team, finishing 83-79. That was good for third in the AL Central, but that doesn't do the team justice.

Led by young sensation Carlos Beltrán and a ragtag roster behind him (their best pitcher was Darrell May, co-holder of the club record for most losses in a season), the Royals got off to a hot start and didn't relinquish first place in their division until the last day of August. The team eventually ran out of steam, but for the first time in at least a decade, it captured positive attention and imagination and made fans care about KC baseball again.

So the club went into 2004 with high hopes, but the season dashed them. The Royals lost 104 games to kickstart an awful era in team history. But before the season went off the rails, the Royals gave fans one last dose of their 2003 magic on Opening Day.

The game against the White Sox didn't get off to a great start. Facing noted Royal-killer Mark Buehrle before a packed house, Royals starter Brian Anderson was tagged for four runs in the top of the second. And Kansas City trailed 7-3 entering the bottom of the ninth.

But the Royals came to life. Joe Randa led off with a walk and Ken Harvey followed suit. With two on, Benito Santiago doubled, scoring Randa and moving Harvey to third. After an Aaron Guiel strikeout, Mendy López came to the plate.

López promptly hit the last of his six career homers; the improbable blow tied the game, brought the crowd to life, and set the stage for even more heroics — Ángel Berroa singled, and Beltrán thrilled the fans with a two-run home run for an Opening Day walk-off.

2016: A World Series rematch

The last game on my list, the 2016 contest, also isn't from a championship season. But it's strongly connected to one and historic in its own right — pitting the Royals against the Mets, it was the majors' first Opening Day rematch of the previous season's World Series teams.

ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball featured the game. A full house at Kauffman Stadium and Royals fans watching across the country celebrated as the championship flag was raised and the Royals took the field against the Mets wearing uniforms with gold lettering and numbers.

The Royals had kept their championship core together in hopes of making another title run, but that didn't materialize — the club was in the Wild Card mix in the second halves of 2016 and 2017, but came up short. So in some ways, the 2016 opener can be viewed as the Royals' latest hurrah.

Edinson Vólquez returned to the Kauffman mound for the first time since his outstanding and memorable performance in Game 1 of the World Series. He was good, shutting the Mets out for 6.2 innings while the Royals built a 4-0 lead a run at a time.

But in the top of the eighth, KC reliever Joakim Soria gave up three runs to make it interesting. Luckily, Wade Davis was around to lock down the victory in the ninth, and the Royals put an exclamation point on their World Series victory from five months earlier with a 4-3 win.

Royals fans are more optimistic heading into 2024 than they have been in years. Only time will tell if that's warranted, but regardless of how the season turns out, Opening Day offers the opportunity to produce memories that will stand the test of time. But enough reminiscing ... It's time to play ball!

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