The Best of Royals Review in 2017

The 2017 season was an emotional roller coaster, from the tragic death of Yordano Ventura to a terrible start to the season, to a hot summer that caused the Royals to be buyers rather than sellers at the deadline, to a disappointing finish and a possible goodbye to some homegrown stars.

With the future of the Royals unclear, we may be headed back to the losing days that gave rise to this quirky blog in the first place. Misery loves company, and make no mistake, you’ve got plenty of friends here. Let’s look at the best of what this site had to offer in 2017.

Best Opinion Pieces

J.K. Ward said goodbye to Jarrod Dyson.

Josh Duggan gave a touching tribute to Yordano Ventura.

Matthew LaMar had enough of pitchers intentionally hitting batters, calling the practice “infantile.”

He also felt the Royals needed to make a better move at the trade deadline, like picking up Zack Cozart.

Minda Haas Kuhlmann talked about why she became a Royals fan.

With layoffs all over sports media, Max Rieper wondered what was in the future for the industry.

He also considered if the Royals should have moved to the National League when given the chance.

Hokius said goodbye to the Royals’ core.

Best Analysis Pieces

David Rand felt WAR was being misused.

Shaun Newkirk looked at how Whit Merrifield was taking advantage of the juiced ball.

He also pointed to the changing of Royals scouting directors as a pivotal and negative turning point for the franchise.

Tim Webber found that participating in a Home Run Derby, as Mike Moustakas did, shouldn’t hurt second-half performance.

Matthew LaMar figured the Royals might have been better off doing nothing last off-season.

Matthew also explained how the Royals could bring back Eric Hosmer AND Mike Moustakas.

Ryan Heffernon considered Salvador Perez’s potential future at first base.

Patrick Brennan looked back at why the Trevor Cahill deal didn’t work out.

Max Rieper found the Zack Greinke trade for the Royals was one of the best in baseball over the last 15 years.

Shaun and Max explained why claims the Royals are “losing money” may be dubious BUT 1040X had a solid rebuttal.

Best History Articles

Tim Webber looked back at the worst School Day at the K ever.

Ryan Heffernon celebrated Jarrod Dyson’s stolen base in the 2014 Wild Card game.

We tragically lost Roy Hallday this year, but Ryan remembered a team the great Halladay was outdueled by none other than Runelvys Hernandez.

Ryan also honored the career of David DeJesus, who retired in 2017.

sterlingice remembered the 2004 Opening Day walk-off win fondly.

Max Rieper looked at the guys you completely forgot played for the Royals.

He also gnashed his teeth at the Carlos Beltran trade that almost happened.

And he remembered the dumb moments in club history, like the Eduardo Villacis start.

Best Game Recaps

The Royals were getting clobbered so badly against the White Sox, Josh Duggan put the game recap out by the sixth inning.

The Royals stumbled out of the gate in 2017, and Matthew LaMar summed it all up with a wet fart noise.

A win over the Soviets in St. Petersburg is always worthy of recognition.

sterlingice summed up the season finale with all the feels.

Best Humor Pieces

Matthew LaMar discovered that Dayton Moore completely forgot he was GM.

Tom Fehr provided his annual list of “things Rex Hudler actually said.”

J.K. Ward wrote about the death of baseball from the future.

Cobra Cy has his annual Royals merchandise guide.

Hokius considered all the alternative universes the Royals’ off-season could end up in.

He also provided some rejected Royals-themed Christmas carols to sing.

Best Fanposts

Gross(est) gave us her review of Royals FanFest.

IMissKauffman gave us sound medical advice when we all freaked out about Salvy’s pre-season knee injury.

artzfreak serenaded us with Hey Now, You’re a Royal.

JL KC gave us “The Wreck of the Nedmund Fitzgerald.”

RoyalsFanGirl gave us tips on how to survive a three-hour rain delay at the K.

cmkeller took a look back at Steve Balboni’s home record and the chase to break it - Part One, Part Two, Part Three, and Part Four.

Stephen Suffron compared the Astros rebuild to what is facing the Royals.

MrAndersonmm gave us six things the Royals need to do to contend next year.

Best GIFs/Videos/Photoshops/Social Media

There were few dry eyes after this video of Danny Duffy and Christian Colón receiving condolences from fans at Kauffman Stadium following the death of Yordano Ventura.

The worst Ned Yost tattoo ever.

Danny Duffy was an April Fool’s Day prankster.

Sportscaster Zaldy Doyungan perfectly illustrated the ups and downs of the early part of the season.

Nate Karns crammed 51 pieces of gum into his mouth.

Brayan Pena was great in Omaha this year, giving us an epic pitching performance and the worst successful stolen base ever.

Best Comments

Paulo Orlando and his wife celebrated the birth of a new child.

cmkeller perfectly illustrated this Jason Sudeikis/Jose Bautista story.

Our readers continue to be up on the latest transactions.

Other

Matthew LaMar talked to Kansas City Star columnist Sam Mellinger before the season.

Max Rieper found the swag from the monthly Royals-themed subscription service Sports Crate to be very underwhelming.

Hokius had a good guide on how you can sing the national anthem for the Royals.

J.K. Ward gave an elegy for the Royals’ season.

The 2017 Off-season simulation produced a lot of rebuilding projects with Old Man Duggan leading the way with the Royals.

Thanks for a great year!