KC Royals: Five Worst Managers In Team History
By John Viril
Manager Buddy Bell of the Kansas City Royals (Photo by Michael Zagaris/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
Third Worst Royals Manager – Buddy Bell
Buddy Bell “won” the KC Royals manager job on May 31, 2005. He then earned the distinction of being the guy in charge of a Royals team that finished 56-106—which is the worst season in club history.
Bell would have plenty of time getting used to being in last place, because his other two Royals teams also finished in the cellar. Buddy Bell is the only manager in Royals history to finish in last place every year he spent at the helm.
That fact pretty much guaranteed him a place on this list.
Hey, at least Buddy Bell was consistent. He didn’t tease us with a season of hope like Tony Pena, or by coming to town with a Japanese Series title like his successor Trey Hillman.
No, with a Buddy Bell led team, Royals fans KNEW their team would finish in last place. I must confess, it was nice to completely ignore the team and be certain you weren’t missing anything you would want to remember later.
Of course, Buddy Bell wasn’t given much of roster to work with. He had Doug Mientkiewicz, Terrence Long, and Scott Elarton well past their major-league expiration dates. He had a struggling Alex Gordon and a Mark Teahen who was destined to never develop.
Most of all, he had a spectacularly gifted Zack Greinke, who broke down due to social anxiety disorder in 2006.
To Bell’s credit, he and general manager Dayton Moore, handled Greinke’s condition with dignity and class. Not only did they display compassion, they also enabled Greinke to realize most of his vast potential.
Buddy Bell is the only manager in Royals history to finish in last place every year he spent at the helm
Today, Greinke has $147 million in guaranteed money from the Dodgers and a Cy Young award that he won in Kansas City sitting on his mantle. Buddy Bell had no small part in making Greinke’s career possible.
At a certain point, however, you are what your record says you are—and three last place finishes in three years is going to wear on any manager.
Moore, however, did not fire Buddy Bell.
Bell announced he would resign at the end of the 2007 season on August 1, after fighting throat cancer since September of the previous year.
Bell finished his Royals tenure with a 174-262 record and a .399 winning percentage. Yet, Bell’s part in rescuing Greinke’s career, enabled Dayton Moore to flip the discouraged star for Lorenzo Cain and Alcides Escobar. Both players helped bring the 2014 pennant to Kansas City, with Cain taking the star turn.
I guess we should all remember that even a failed manager probably did some things right.
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