Farewell from BPKC

Today is our final day with the keys to BP-Kansas City. As editor-in-chief of this little corner of the internet the last almost three years, it’s been my pleasure to oversee some of the best Royals content to be found on these interwebs. With time running short, I’d like to take a somewhat self-indulgent moment and highlight the crew that has been writing for you.

Nobody knows Royals prospects like Clint Scoles. Nobody. Seriously, I would put his knowledge of the system ahead of the guys who actually get paid to write about it for Baseball America. Fun fact: He also consistently wrote our most read articles on the site. I always took that to mean readers put a great deal of stock in what Clint writes. As it should be. Our number one post in 2018 was his re-ranking of the prospects in the system about a month after the conclusion of the draft. Another favorite of mine was this profile of Bryan Brickhouse and his attempted comeback.

I started reading Darin Watson way back when he had a Blogspot site called Tangled Up In Royals Blue. How could you skip past a name like that? He quickly became one of my favorite internet Royals writers, so it was truly a thrill to get this opportunity to work with him. If you dig the history of the franchise, don’t miss his article on the 1968 expansion draft. His series on the greatest moments in Royals history is also a must-read.

Our managing editor, David Lesky, already fired the confetti link cannon last week, so I’ll just point you in that direction. It was his final edition of Friday Notes which is appropriate because if you’ve visited this site at all, you know that was a mainstay in our rotation – our James Shields. (We’re talking the Royals version here.) The Notes were dependable and always brought the good stuff. And freed up my Thursday to where I didn’t have to sweat the content.

Joining us halfway through our existence, I thought Colby Wilson was at home at BPKC. In a small way, it feels like we saved him from the doom of blog networks and unending slideshows. He quickly became our lead recapper. (I’m not sure that’s a word. Whatever. We’re going out in style.) Remember the game where Hunter Dozier was the tying run in the ninth inning and got thrown out on a delayed steal to end the game? That probably triggered a flashback for Colby. He is also adept at writing some regular essays, including a look at how it felt when Eric Hosmer finally signed with the Padres. Big things are in store for Colby.

Hunter Samuels wrote one article for us this year, but it was one of the best. That’s the way Hunter rolls. Every time he submitted an article, I learned something new. There isn’t higher praise I can give. If you haven’t read his tribute to Yordano Ventura, do it now. If you have read it, it’s worth revisiting.

Doc Riddle joined the site this summer as our man in Lexington. Good place, good time. Doc loves the Legends and you could feel it in his writing about the prospects with the Royals Sally League club. His profile of Daniel Lynch is what you want from a minor league scouting report. I’m disappointed we didn’t get to read him more in this space.

Can’t forget the podcast guys. The KC Baseball Vault hosted by Mike Engel and Jeff Herr has been around for a long time and I was excited when they hopped on board here. The Kelly’s Bar sponsorship isn’t bad, either. They posted 120 podcasts since we opened up shop, which is a ton of Royals audio content. Mike and Jeff have great on-air chemistry and make podcasting seem easy. When you play the show, it’s as if you’re sitting at a table with a couple of friends listening to them gab about the Royals, which is exactly how a team-oriented podcast should be.

If you’re looking to blame someone for me still being around the Royals internet universe, Clark Fosler is your guy. Clark and I joined forces and created Royals Authority some 12 years ago at a now defunct network called MVN. We’ve been together every step of the way. Blogs are way different now than when we started, but I think a semi-successful formula still applies. Write everyday to build your individual audience and then find a reliable partner to shoulder some of the burden. We found a system that worked for us and kept at it from moves to ESPN and SB Nation and then to Baseball Prospectus. It was a blast writing with him. Clark is a busy guy these days; I was always happy when he found the time to write. His last piece at BPKC on hope for the future is appropriate given his tenure as the dean of Royals bloggers.

Before I go, I’ll point you to two of my favorite articles from this past year. The Royals started shifting more than ever in 2018 which was great for us because in a quickly lost season we could point to something they were doing that was clearly at the urging of their analytics department. The fact that the shift irritated Jason Hammel was just a bonus.

The first five months of the season was… let’s just not rehash that. But September was fun! And Adalberto Mondesi was a spark plug who ran with abandon, harkening back to the Keep The Line Moving Royals of the pennant winning years. 

And with that it’s time to turn off the lights and lock the doors. The corporate guys tell me they’ll keep the site alive just in case there’s an article you like so much you need to read it on the regular. There’s also the odds we show up in some random Google search, which is always nice. As always, I am humbled you chose to visit this site and make it a part of your routine of Royals fandom. I’ll still be kicking around at the main Baseball Prospectus site and have been keeping busy working on a nice project over there behind the scenes. 

What will be weird is not having a dedicated Royals site where I can submit random ramblings and then beg on Twitter for clicks. Meanwhile, free agency beckons. There are some things percolating, but at this point, who knows? If Scott Boras is reading this, I could use the representation.

Until we meet again. Farewell. And thanks.