The BEST Royals team, ever?

Phil Cobb

Is this the best Royals team ever?

That’s the question I keep asking myself.

And I keep coming up with the same answer — yes.

But, first let me qualify myself.

The Royals and I were born the same year, 1969.

One of my earliest memories (I don’t know how I remember this, but I do) is being at the final game of the 1972 season at KC’s Municipal Stadium, the final game before the Royals moved to Kauffman Stadium.

I was three. I can’t remember what clothes I wore yesterday, but somehow I remember that?

Go figure.

Anyway, the point is, I’ve been a Royals fan, literally, my entire life.

And, although I am going to argue that the 2015 edition of the team is the best, I assure you there is no bigger fan of the Kansas City Royals of the 1970s and 80s than me.

When I was little kid playing Pony League baseball in King City, my dad was the coach.

That’s probably why I played just about every position.

But I spent most of my time at second base.

For those who were Royals fans before 2014, you’ll recall that Kansas City had a not-too-bad second baseman at the time named Frank White.

Although Frank won eight Gold Gloves during his 17-year career, and was chosen to five All-Star games, I never felt like he was fully appreciated as a player.

I’m certain he feels the same.

For those who never saw Frank White play second base, I’d like to provide you with a comparison.

But I can’t.

Because there’s not one.

If you didn’t see Frank play, you probably didn’t see Ozzie Smith play.

The Hall-Of-Fame shortstop for the St. Louis Cardinals is the only player in my memory I would compare to Frank White — defensively.

Frank played second base like he was playing shortstop.

His nickname was Smooth.

And he was.

When you ask people today about the greatest players in Royals history, you always hear — George Brett.

And you can’t deny it.

George Brett is — hands down — the greatest player in Royals history.

But I can tell you from first-hand experience that Frank White was the fan-favorite during his time.

If George’s name was spoken over the PA, the crowd would cheer.

When Frank’s name came across, the crowd would roar, resoundingly.

Everyone loved Frank because he was so unassuming and so humble.

He just went about the game in a workmanlike fashion, always putting the team first.

Which, come to think of it, is probably one of the reasons why he’s not in the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame.

Frank never thought of himself as a big deal.

But if he would have been a Yankee, he would have been first-ballot.

That’s just the way it is.

Small market teams got even less exposure back in those days.

All of this to set up a story and then I’ll get to the real point of this discussion.

I was 11 years old in 1981 and the Royals were coming off their first-ever World Series appearance, having lost to Pete Rose and the Phillies.

My dad was thinking of buying me a new baseball glove, so he sought out the opinion of the best source he could think of — Frank White.

Dad spent a lot of time in the Royals clubhouse back then and became good friends with Frank.

Dad asked Frank, “What kind of glove would you recommend for my son?”

Dad said that Frank looked around and reached into a duffle bag, pulling out a glove he had used in the World Series the previous year and said, “How about this one?”

True story.

The only stipulations were that he wouldn’t sign it and I couldn’t put it up on a shelf. I had to use it.

And I did.

See, even though Frank had big hands, he used an extremely small glove.

It was too large for me at age 11, but I used that glove from then on.

Years later, Frank visited my office in King City and he finally autographed it.

I don’t have many prized possessions, but that’s one for sure.

So I think I’ve illustrated just how much I love the Royals of the 70s and 80s.

All that said, I still think this team’s better overall.

I’ll admit, I was probably too young at the time to adequately evaluate just how good the team was.

The starting pitching on the 1978 team was undoubtedly the best-ever.

Dennis Leonard, Paul Splittorff, Steve Busby, Jim Colborn, Larry Gura — all on the same team. Wow!

Still, Yordano Ventura and Danny Duffy have the potential — potential — to be better than any of those guys.

But they haven’t consistently shown it, yet.

It’s really hard to compare teams of that era with teams of today, especially pitching.

Leonard pitched 21 complete games in 1977.

You’ll never see that again.

But you’ll never see another bullpen like the Royals have today.

They might be the best in baseball history.

But bullpens today are so much different than they were then.

Dan Quisenberry saved 45 games in 1983.

He pitched 139 innings that year.

Greg Holland saved 47 in 2013, but only pitched 67 innings.

It’s a whole different ballgame.

I think the overall team defense is the best its ever been.

But I think White was the best defensive player we’ve ever had.

Alex Gordon is right up there, and Lorenzo Cain is, quite literally, closing fast.

We don’t have any hitters that rival George Brett, but it seems like someone different steps up in a clutch situation just about every game.

So … it’s really impossible to say definitively that this team is the best the Royals have ever had.

The Royals won 102 games in 1977.

They are on pace for 104 wins this season.

Kansas City won its division three years in a row from 1976-78.

This team has yet to win a division title.

But they have a better run differential (+58) through this point in the season than ever in any full season since 1982.

A lot of things can and will change by the end of the season.

I’ll stop short and say that the 2015 Royals have the potential to be the best ever.

I think, when it’s all said and done, they will be.