Of the glories of the Royals in the All-Star game, our praise can have no end.

Since 1990 our Royals have gone 0-8 at the plate and failed to appear in four games. Five times, the only Royal involvement was a single at-bat.

Here's the year-by-year breakdown:

2007: Gil Meche named, did not play.
2006: Mark Redman named, did not play.
2005: Mike Sweeney named, struck out as a pinch-hitter in the 7th.
2004: Ken Harvey named, struck out as a pinch-hitter in the 3rd.
2003: Mike MacDougal and Sweeney named, neither appeared.
2002: Mike Sweeney named, replaced Paul Konerko at 1B in the 7th inning, flied out to right in the 9th inning.
2001: Mike Sweeney named, replaced Jason Giambi at first in the 8th inning, flied out to right in the 8th inning.
2000: Jermaine Dye voted to start, Mike Sweeney named. Sweeney pinch-hit for James Baldwin in the 4th, reaching on an error. Sweeney did not appear in the field. Dye walked once and struck out.
1999: Jose Rosado named and pitched a scoreless 4th.
1998: Dean Palmer named, and pinch-hit for John Wetteland in the 8th, grounding into a double play.
1997: Jose Rosado named. Rosado allowed one run in the 7th inning, tying the game at 1-1. However, in the bottom of the 7th the AL re-took the lead on a Sandy Alomar HR. Thanks to the eternal genius of the pitcher wins rule, Rosado was then credited as the eventual "winner" of the game.
1996: Jeff Montgomery named, did not appear.
1995: Kevin Appier named, actually throwing two perfect innings (the 3rd and 4th).
1994: David Cone named, somewhat disastrously. Cone allowed three runs over two innings, contributing to a 8-7 AL loss.
1993: Jeff Montgomery named and appeared, pitching a scoreless 7th.
1992: Jeff Montgomery named and appeared, allowing two runs in two-thirds of an inning pitched.
1991: Danny Tartabull voted to start at DH, going 0-2 with a strikeout. Tartabull was replaced by Harold Baines in the 6th inning.
1990: Brett Saberhagen named, pitching two scoreless innings (5th and 6th), and was named the winning pitcher in a 2-0 AL victory.
1989: Bo Jackson voted a started and Mark Gubicza named to the squad. Bo famously led off the bottom of the first with a homer. Bo went 2-4 with a steal and was named the game's MVP. Gubes pitched a scoreless 4th inning.

The All-Star bullpen warm-up that defined a generation.

Beyond two pinch-hit Ks, a Royal has not appeared on the field during an All-Star game since the infamous tie game in 2002, when Mike Sweeney played three defensive innings at first. Despite some occasionally relevant pitching performances, the last Royal to record a hit in an All-Star game was Bo Jackson in 1989. To put that in perspective, Bo hasn't played a major league game since 1994. (For a full run-down of Royal pitching in the ASG, click here, courtesy of the KC Star.)

In sum:

-No Royal has appeared in an All-Star Game since 2005.
-No Royal has appeared in the field since 2002.
-No Royal pitcher has appeared in the Game since 1999.
-No Royal has recorded an ASG hit since 1989.