Kansas City Royals: End of the Forever Royal Era

The Kansas City Royals’ Road to Respectability

Kansas City suffered through 17 losing seasons for the Royals between 1995 and 2012 (Yay for 2003!). What made the continual failure so much worse was the revolving door of talent that left town during that time frame.

Johnny Damon, gone. Jermaine Dye, David DeJesus, gone. Carlos Beltran, Zack Greinke, gone. The list goes on and on.

What made the continual failure so much worse was the revolving door of talent that left town during that time frame.

The Royals didn’t get rid of everyone though. Remember, they  still had “All-Star” Ken Harvey on the roster for four years? In case you were wondering, yes, that statement was dripping with sarcasm.

Of course, a huge side effect of the constant losing by the Royals during those years was the loss of fans. An entire generation of fans instead rooted for the likes of the Yankees, Red Sox, and even the Cardinals (ouch, that one hurt to say). Can you honestly blame them, though? Why would any self-respecting person root for a team in which mediocrity would be a godsend?

Around 2011, that all began to change. The Royals’ minor league system was ranked number one in all of baseball primarily on the backs of Hosmer and Moustakas.

Don’t forget about those four prospects from the Milwaukee Brewers obtained in the Greinke trade, two of which would go on to be named ALCS Most Valuable Players. Seems like pretty good value if I do say so myself.

Hosmer, Moustakas, Cain, and Perez all ascended to the major league roster to stay during the course of 2011. That’s where the fate of the Kansas City Royals changed in a hurry.

The Royals won 72 games together in 2012, the ill-fated “Our Time” season. Following that, the team would increase their win total in 2013, 2014, and 2015 before finally taking the long-awaited crown in 2015.