Tom “Flash” Gordon’s long baseball career began with the Kansas City Royals where in 1989 he would be the runner-up for the American League Rookie of the Year Award.  Arguably this would be the best year he would have as a Starting Pitcher where he went 17 and 9 with 153 Strikeouts but he would have three more seasons with Kansas City where he whiffed 140 or more batters.  Gordon would go 79 and 71 for Kansas City but would achieve greater success in his career as a Relief Pitcher for the Boston Red Sox.

Early in his career, Steve Farr was a member of the 1985 Kansas City Royals though he did not have a whole lot to do with that title.  While that is true, Farr would carve himself a decent career as a Relief Pitcher and would secure 49 Saves for the team.

For three seasons, Bud Black was a successful Starting Pitcher for the Kansas City Royals.  In 1984, Black would go 17 and 12 with a WHIP of 1.128, which was good enough to lead the AL in that statistical category.  Bud Black would later assist the Royals in winning the World Series and afterward would be in the bullpen for two more seasons.

Black had a 56-57 record with a 3.73 ERA for Kansas City.

Kevin Seitzer’s best season of his Major League Baseball career was in his rookie season where in 1987 he was the runner-up for the Rookie of the Year and was the co-leader in Hits.  Seitzer put up what would be career highs in Home Runs (15) and bWAR (5.8) while also boasting a .323 Batting Average and a trip to the All Star Game.  Seitzer never duplicated that year, but he still would put up three more 165 Hit seasons and would have a .294 career Batting Average over his six years in Kansas City.

David Cone would become known (right or wrong) as a “gun for hire”, a Pitcher who could get you over the hump.  While he was often a Cy Young contender the only time he did win the award was in 1994…when he was a member of the Kansas City Royals.

A Rule 5 Draft choice from the San Diego Padres, Joakim Soria was brought in and immediately found a spot in the Royals’ bullpen.  Soria saved 17 Games in his rookie year and in the next three seasons he would save 30 or more games while going to two All-Star Games.  In those three years he would post an ERA of 1.84 with a 1.005 WHIP and in 2010 he finished second in Win Probability Added and Saves while also finishing tenth in Cy Young voting.

In 2004 David DeJesus finished 6th in American League Rookie of the Year voting and while that would be the closest he would come to winning an award in Major League Baseball he would have a productive run with Kansas City.  DeJesus would have three straight 155 Hits seasons (2007-09) and would lead the AL in being Hit by Pitches in 2006.  He would also have a .307 season (2008).

As a Royal, DeJesus batted .289 with 971 Hits.

Eric Hosmer was a highly touted rookie and the former third overall pick would finish third in Rookie of the Year voting in 2011.  Hosmer would show steady numbers and a gradually increased power game, as he would belt 25 Home Runs in his last two years in Kansas City (2016-17).  A member of the 2015 World Series Championship Team, he would be named an All Star in 2016 and in 2017 would earn his lone Silver Slugger as a Royal while putting up a career high .318 Batting Average.

Johnny Damon will always be best known for his run with the Boston Red Sox where he helped them win their first World Series in decades, but his star began as a member of the Kansas City Royals.

Carlos Beltran has an excellent chance of being a Hall of Famer and it all began in Kansas City.  In 1999, Beltran took over the starting Centerfield job and the third spot on the batting order.  Not surprisingly, Beltran would win the Rookie of the Year in the AL and he would belt 20 Home Runs and 100 RBIs in all of full seasons with Kansas City. 

A fixture in the Kansas City Royals infield throughout the 1970’s Freddie Patek brought a strong defensive presence to the lineup.  While Patek never won a Gold Glove, he was the American League leader in Defensive bWAR and Total Zone Runs in 1972.

Darrell Porter would play more seasons with Milwaukee and would win a World Series with St. Louis (where he was both the NLCS and World Series MVP) but in between those teams he played the best baseball of his career with the Kansas City Royals.

The meat of Charlie Leibrandt’s career took place in Kansas City where he would win 10 or more games five years in a row (1984-89).  1985 would be far and away the best season of his career where he would finish fifth in Cy Young voting by going 17 and 9 and a 2.69 ERA, which was good enough for second in the AL.  Most importantly, Leibrandt was a major factor in the Royals reaching and winning the 1985 World Series.  He would record 76 Wins for Kansas City overall.

If we were to this list based primarily on longevity and statistical accumulation then Paul Splittorff would be near the top, however, it is hard for us to rank someone higher when he never seriously challenged for any statistical win among hurlers in any season, nor was he really considered the ace of the staff by those in the know. 

A National Champion at Arizona State Larry Gura would have mediocre stints with the Chicago Cubs and New York Yankees before the latter traded him to Kansas City.  It would be in the Midwest where the southpaw would find himself as the Royals’ sometimes ace.

In Jeff Montgomery’s rookie year with Cincinnati, he made one start in fourteen games.  He would be traded to the Royals where he would never start again, and never play for anyone else.

In the mid-1970’s it was expected that Steve Busby would have an incredible career and for a couple of seasons that was certainly the case.  In his rookie year, Busby won 16 Games and was a 22 Game winner in his second season (1974) and would go to his first of two straight All-Star Games.   1975 would see Busby net 18 Wins and at this point, it was believed that Steve Busby was considered one of the top ten Pitchers in the American League. 

In the mid-1970’s it would be hard to dispute that John Mayberry was one of the biggest reasons to catch a Royals Game.  On a team that did not have a lot of power hitters, it was Mayberry who would be the one to most likely go deep. 

Dennis Leonard may never have been an All-Star but the mustachioed hurler had some campaigns where you thought he might have been considered for it…especially if the All-Star Game was voted on after the season!

Mike Sweeney is one of the all-time good guys of the Kansas City Royals in terms of dugout presence, community involvement and just being a quality human being.  More importantly (for this list anyway) he was a pretty solid player.