Former Royals on Opening Day

by Freneau on Apr 7, 2009 12:41 AM EDT in Kansas City Royals News

Royals fans may have had to wait an extra twenty four hours for the first pitch of the season, but that didn't mean a few of our old favorites weren't involved in the pageantry of Opening Day.

Carlos Beltran went 1-4 (single) and was charged with an error. It seems like he was never a Royal...
Glendon Rusch pitched two innings for the Rockies and played a large role in their loss to Arizona.
Billy Buckner pitched a scoreless 1.1 innings for Arizona. Why couldn't Dayton have realized he was from Georgia before it was too late?
Dougie had a pinch-hit strikeout for the Dodgers. Joe Torre's class and grace was unaffected.
Joey Gathright played some late game defense for the Cubs, although Pinella's handling of the move was a little weird.
Jason Smith -- love his pop off the bench -- grounded out to end the Cubs-Astros game, killing a minor rally.
Mike Sweeney went 0-4 for the Mariners in their Minnesotan triumph. He did give Ken Griffey one heckuva high-five though.
Mark Ellis (partial credit) went 0-3 against the Angels.
Information on Ken Harvey, Terrence Long, Michael Tucker, Calvin Pickering, David Howard and Joe Vitiello was not available at press time.

So, your pitching totals are 3.1 innings (2 runs allowed) and 1-13 at the plate, with a single and no walks.

The legacy continues.

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it's gonna be a fun year in houston

by Freneau on Apr 7, 2009 12:46 AM EDT reply actions

Don't forget

that Jermaine Dye didn’t do anything today, either!

by RoyalChief8569 on Apr 7, 2009 12:47 AM EDT reply actions

Thankfully most liked the trade at the time, but some bemoaned how the Royals gave up a good #4 SP with potential to be better than that. Then he was unimpressive last year and now he’s about the 6th man in their bullpen. Just another middle reliever. Given the fact that he’s essentially a two-pitch pitcher (including a no better than average fastball), it really looks like he’ll never be more than a middle reliever. But trading him did force the Royals to break the bank and spend $640K on Doug Waechter. Ouch, that hurts.

The immoderate moderator

by Scott McKinney on Apr 7, 2009 12:50 AM EDT reply actions

when I saw that he was a diamondback last year, I edited out the Waechter comment

I thought he was a december casualty this year, but apparently not

by Freneau on Apr 7, 2009 12:52 AM EDT up reply actions

The Royals traded him for Callaspo last offseason

The immoderate moderator

by Scott McKinney on Apr 7, 2009 12:53 AM EDT up reply actions

ahh, now I remember it

by Freneau on Apr 7, 2009 1:03 AM EDT up reply actions

He is certainly no JP Howell

Relive Royals History at royalsretro.blogspot.com

by RoyalsRetro on Apr 7, 2009 12:32 PM EDT up reply actions

Indeed he is not

Some trades work out. Some don’t. Moore gets the credit and blame for both.

The immoderate moderator

by Scott McKinney on Apr 8, 2009 4:06 AM EDT up reply actions

Don't forget Greggggggg Zaun, Endy Chavez, Mark Ellis, Miguel Batista, and Kiko Calero

Zaun and Chavez both 1-4 with a run scored in their team’s wins.
Ellis went 0-3 off of All-Star Joe Saunders and co.

Batista threw a scoreless ninth for Seattle, and although Calero didn’t ever pitch for the Royals, he did spent seven seasons toiling in the KC minor league system.

by Fernando Vina School of Linguistics on Apr 7, 2009 1:09 AM EDT reply actions