Kansas City Royals: 20 Best Royals During the Dark Years

Best Kansas City Royals during the dark years: 20. John Buck

ROYALS CATCHER FROM 2004-2009

John Buck just finished his Major League career in 2014, but he spent the first six years of his long career with the Kansas City Royals.

Buck, a seventh-round draft pick by the Astros in 1998, joined the Royals in 2004 when he was only 23 years old. Buck was young and had the intangibles to be a good catcher for the club down the stretch. He even came in eighth place for the American League Rookie of the Year in 2004.

Buck never had a whole lot of power, with 18 being the most amount of home runs he hit in a season while with the Royals, but he was a nice part of the lineup and one of the few bright spots.

A common knock on Buck was that his defense wasn’t the best, but a lot of people’s arguments to that could be that he never had great pitching during his days in Kansas City.

After six years with the Royals, Buck moved on to Toronto, where he ended up making the All-Star Game in 2010. He batted .281 that season in his lone season with the Blue Jays and then spent time with the Marlins, Mets, Pirates, Mariners, and the Angels.

STATS WHILE WITH THE ROYALS

Career Slash Line – 235/.298/.407

259 RBI

70 Home Runs

104 Doubles

218 Runs Scored