As you probably know, recent Royals acquisition Jorge Soler is a native of Cuba. Of course, he is not the first Cuban in team history, joining a list that includes the good (Kendrys Morales), the bad (Yuniesky Betancourt), and the popular backup catcher (Brayan Peña), among others. But probably the most popular and best Cuban […]
Tag: U.L.’s Toothpick
U.L.’s Toothpick: The Year Of The Card–Jeff Montgomery, 1993
The Royals have had some really great closers in their history, but for the most part they have not been the prototypical hulking closer with a big beard and 98 mph fastball to match. Dan Quisenberry threw underhanded and might not have been able to break glass with his fastball. Joakim Soria threw hard in […]
U.L.’s Toothpick: Figuring Out Wade’s Place In Royals History
With Wade Davis on his way to the north side of Chicago, I began wondering if it was possible to assess accurately where he might fit in the history of Royals closers. This is a topic I’ve been thinking about for some time, but I could never quite figure out how to get an accurate […]
U.L.’s Toothpick: The Year Of The Card–Darryl Motley, 1985
Only 10 players in Royals history have managed to hit a home run on the sport’s biggest stage. I’m sure everyone reading this remembers half of those 10, as they happened in the 2014 and 2015 World Series (Omar Infante, Mike Moustakas, and Salvador Perez in 2014; Alcides Escobar and Alex Gordon in 2015). You […]
U.L.’s Toothpick: The Year Of The Card–Marty Pattin, 1976
Those of us who grew up with a little bit less money than our peers know: if you want to play ball, lots of things can become a good substitute for a baseball. A rolled-up pair of socks, a ball of tape, even an apple. Yes, an apple. There’s nothing wrong with being able to […]
U.L.’s Toothpick: Steve Balboni’s Record, And The Players Who Almost Broke It
If you’re reading this, you probably know that Steve Balboni still holds the Royals’ single-season home run mark with 36, set back in 1985. Even though we all know Kauffman Stadium isn’t a homer-friendly park, it’s still kind of funny that the record has stood for more than 30 years and yet is rather low. […]
U.L.’s Toothpick: The Year Of The Card–Bo Jackson, 1989
It’s entirely subjective, of course, but I would guess only twice in team history have the Royals had a player who would be considered the “coolest” player in baseball. Even after two World Series appearances and one championship, I don’t think the current squad has anyone really close. Sure, Salvador Perez is immensely popular, and […]
U.L.’s Toothpick: 25 Years Ago, Bret Saberhagen Made History With No-Hitter
Bret Saberhagen has a good case for the title of best pitcher in Royals history. Two Cy Young awards, a World Series MVP award, lowest WHIP in team history, and best ERA of any starter in team history is an impressive resume. And 25 years ago Friday, he capped that resume with the fourth, and still […]
U.L.’s Toothpick: The Year Of The Card–Mike Sweeney, 2002
As you might expect from a franchise that has spent 44 seasons in spacious Royals/Kauffman Stadium, the Royals don’t really have a lot of eye-popping offensive single seasons. Of course, George Brett has the most famous, and probably the best, with his .390/.454/.664 numbers in 1980. Brett did it again in 1985, going .335/.436/.585 to […]
U.L.’s Toothpick: The Year Of The Card–Bob Oliver, 1970
I’d be interested to know how many members of the 1969 Royals still hold team records. It has to be a small number, both because that was many years ago and because that team, being an expansion team and all, had a dearth of players good enough to set a franchise record that might survive. […]