Part of the African-American Royals Project series. As I have talked about before on this blog, there is no question there is a severe lack of representation of African-American athletes at the Major League level. Last year on Opening Day, only 68 of the 882 players on Major League rosters were African-American (7.7 percent), according… Read More Nick Heath: A voice and player the Royals may need the most in 2020
Part of the “African-American Royals Project” series. Hal McRae is one of the more special stories in Royals history. McRae is not just a former Royals outfielder and designated hitter who spent 15 years in Kansas City and is also a member of the Royals Hall of Fame. He is also the first and only… Read More Hal McRae: Royals player, manager, and an abrupt end in 1994
Part of the “African-American Royals Project” series. When it comes to cultural relevance, there are really two Royals who stick out most in the course of Royals history. The first is obviously George Brett, who is the most iconic Royals players in franchise history. And it makes sense. Brett’s list of accomplishments over his 21-year… Read More Bo Jackson: Man, Myth, Royal, and 1989
Part of the “African-American Royals Project” Series There are only three retired numbers in Kansas City Royals history: No. 5, George Brett; No. 10, manager Dick Howser; and No. 20, Frank White. White continues to be the most fascinating of the three to this day. In many ways, White is the “Kansas City Story” in… Read More Frank White: The “KC Story”, 1986, and the “Royals Divorce”
Part of the “African-American Royals Project” series. From 1976-1981, the Kansas City Royals were the class of the American League. They made the postseason five times during the six-season span (1979 being the lone playoff-less season), which included a Pennant in 1980 (they lost in their first World Series appearance to the Philadelphia Phillies). During… Read More Amos Otis: The age-31 “breakout,” and the ’78 Royals
Without a doubt, the current #BlackLivesMatter protests sweeping the nation have kept me from focusing on much else these past few days. Normally, my focus beyond teaching and grad school is pretty saturated on Royals baseball, and yet, I have not really cared much about the current state of baseball, even with negotiations moving a… Read More An introduction to the “African-American Royals” Project
As I perused Twitter on Sunday in the midst of a Twitter meltdown in regard to the Chiefs losing to the Texans (their second loss at home in a row…the Super Bowl hopes are not looking good now, unfortunately), I stumbled upon this idea: It will be interesting to see if the Royals and the… Read More Three reasons why #MonarchsMonday would be worthwhile at the K in 2020
The Royals Reporter 