Honors overdue, but well-deserved, for 2 KC Royals architects

When the KC Royals announced recently that Bo Jackson had been selected for the club's Hall of Fame, one of the most common responses was, "How is he not already in?" Jackson's career was brief, cut short by injury, and he was still very much a work in progress when his famous hip injury forced him to hang it up, but his accomplishments over just a few seasons, combined with his legendary impact on the sports world, make him an obvious candidate for such an overdue honor.

But Jackson isn't the only important figure in Royals history who had to wait too long for the honor. Fortunately, two other figures who should have been inducted long ago will join Jackson in Kansas City's Hall this summer — although club executives Cedric Tallis and John Schuerholz never put on a uniform for the Royals, each played pivotal roles in building up the expansion franchise and eventually taking it to the top of the baseball world.

Cedric Tallis laid the groundwork for the most successful era in KC Royals history

Ewing Kauffman hired Tallis to be the initial general manager of his expansion franchise in 1968, giving Tallis his first opportunity to be a GM. But the job wasn't his first go-around with an expansion team: seven years earlier, he broke into major league baseball as the business manager for the newly established Los Angeles Angels.

The first thing Tallis did for Kauffman was assemble a top-notch front office staff, which early on included Schuerholz and Herk Robinson, both of whom later became Royals general managers. Clearly, Tallis knew how to put together talent and develop it.

Tallis' baseball acumen also extended to the playing field. He oversaw the initial operations of Kauffman's beloved Royals Baseball Academy, a groundbreaking endeavor that eventually produced Royals standouts Frank White and U.L. Washington. Tallis drafted franchise cornerstones George Brett, Paul Splittorff, and Dennis Leonard, and engineered trades for other stars including Amos Otis and Hal McRae. Such great players formed the backbone of one of the most successful teams of the late '70s and early '80s.

Unfortunately, Tallis didn't get to see his efforts through. He was replaced by Joe Burke in 1974, and after joining the front office of the New York Yankees, eventually became their general manager, putting him on the other side of the best rivalry of the era, competing directly against the team he'd built in Kansas City.

And Schuerholz?

John Schuerholz takes the Royals to the top

The Yankees stymied Kansas City in the playoffs for three straight seasons from 1976-78, but the Royals finally got the Yankee monkey off their backs in 1980 before coming up short against the Phillies in the World Series. The following year, Tallis protégé Schuerholz was promoted to the general manager position.

By that point, many members of the core Tallis built were aging out, but Brett and White were in their primes, having been joined by the likes of Willie Wilson and Dan Quisenberry. Still, the Royals were entering a transition period in the early 80s; moving on from older players, Schuerholz supplemented his still viable club by acquiring significant position players like slugger Steve Balboni and catcher Jim Sundberg.

His greatest feat, though, was overhauling the pitching staff. As mainstays Splittorf and Leonard faced the downside of their careers, Schuerholz's critical draft acquisitions included Bret Saberhagen, Mark Gubicza, and Danny Jackson, and he brought aboard Bud Black and Charlie Leibrandt. He also hired legendary skipper Dick Howser to be his manager.

After a three-year absence, the Royals returned to the postseason in 1984 but fell short of their second trip to the World Series when they lost the American League Championship Series to the Detroit Tigers. The following year, however, the Royals rode their young rotation to the franchise's first World Series championship. And Schuerholz deservedly took his place in the club's victory parade.

Shuerholz oversaw another revamp of the team in the late '80s by ushering in new stars Bo Jackson, Danny Tartabull, Kevin Seitzer, and Jeff Montgomery, among others. The Royals won 92 games in 1989, but had the misfortune of playing in the same division as the Oakland A's, who were in the midst of their run to three straight World Series championships, won the AL West by seven games, and added another Fall Classic title to their resume. The Royals ran out of steam in the years that followed.