The Best of Royals Review 2020

2020 is probably a year you’d like to forget, but it wasn’t all bad. There were certainly some reasons to look back, especially on the baseball field as the Royals slowly improved and appear to be headed on the right track.

Hey, at least we had each other. Let’s look back on the best of what Royals Review had to offer in this crazy year.

Best opinion articles

Max Rieper thought Mike Matheny just might be the analytics-minded manager fans have been asking for.

Seth Jarman is fed up with TV blackout restrictions.

Josh Keiser is ready for a universal designated hitter rule.

Matthew LaMar dissected the sports apology.

He also gave his thoughts on the beginning of the end for Alex Gordon.

Can’t Fox Sports Kansas City just give him some meaningful stats on television broadcasts?

Matthew thinks the MLB draft might get more attention if they allow picks to be traded.

Craig Brown liked the Royals being fiscally aggressive.

Between the Cleveland Indians logo and its history of discimination, Hokius thinks MLB has an image problem.

Best analytical articles

Seth Jarman wrote that Trevor Rosenthal was a good bounceback candidate, and he was right!

Alex Duvall looked at the best pitches from Royals prospects.

Shaun Newkirk thought the Royals were a tale of two age groups.

Matthew LaMar wrote that the Royals are no longer a good defensive team.

He also looked at whether Nicky Lopez could stick around despite an absence of power.

Max Rieper wrote about what the Royals need to do to become sustainable winners.

He also looked at what lessons the Royals could take from post-season teams.

David Lesky looked at why Mike Minor regressed this year.

Craig Brown held some optimism for Michael Taylor’s revamped swing.

Best history articles

Bradford Lee did a profile of George Spriggs, the only Royals player to ever play in the Negro Leagues. He later wrote a touching memorial when Spriggs passed away in December.

He also did a terrific five-part series on the history of the Negro Leagues. Here is Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four, and Part Five.

Bradford also looked back at the 1967 Kansas City Athletics, the last year they would play here.

Minda Haas-Kuhlmann looked back on Salvador Perez’s climb through the minors.

Ryan Heffernon ranked the jerseys in Royals history.

He also looked at some of the flithiest pitches in recent club history.

Max Rieper looked back at the 2006 draft and wondered what if the Royals never chose Luke Hochevar?

Best humor articles

What are we, if not a site that explores anagrams of ballplayer names? Matthew LaMar jumbled the letters for Royals prospects.

He also enjoys team photo days, here are the best from this spring.

Owners didn’t seem to want to play players actual money, so Matthew thought maybe they could offer unlimited bananas?

Josh Keiser discovered some of the secret unwritten rules of baseball.

He also discovered a way to get Whit Merrifield to send you a message for $100.

A tradition unlike any other, it’s the Royals Holiday Gift Guide.

Best game recaps

sterlingice did a recap of CPBL action from Taiwan, because that’s all we had to watch at the time!

Josh Keiser put together a simulation of Opening Day on MLB: The Show.

sterlingice had you choose your own Royals recap!

Ryan Heffernon recapped Brady Singer’s near no-hitter.

Best fanposts

schmenkman looked at the value generated by Royals international free agents.

KHAZAD wrote about going to a Royals game in 1977, only to get caught in the great Kansas City flood.

Stephen Suffron had a “Most Beloved Obscure Royals” bracket.

cmkeller wrote about the time Royals Stadium hosted a game in The Avengers comic book series!

someone_else looked back at the Zack Greinke trade that never happened.

royalscannabis uh....gave us this.

Bests GIFs/videos/photoshops/social media

Royals players celebrated a Chiefs Super Bowl victory back in February.

Bobby Witt, Jr. got bored during quarantine and made a cool trick shot.

Former teammates Mark Teahen and Billy Butler share a quarantine catch.

Mike Moustakas breaks down his home run in the 2014 ALDS.

This is cheating.

Best comments

After the Chiefs won the Super Bowl, Max Rieper pointed out a true fact.

Padres outfielder Tommy Pham got smacked in the groin by a baseball, and AnusOtis made a joke that works on so many levels.

UNIPanther turned a Chiefs transaction into a Royals Review meme.

ElusiveRobertDenby welcomed Michael Taylor to Kansas City.

Other

Max Rieper lamented the absence of an Opening Day for fans.

He also looked at the times the Kansas City Royals infiltrated pop culture.

Hokius reviews Steve Physioc’s book, The Walls of Lucca.

One local architecture firm gave their idea of what a new downtown stadium would look like.

Here is the 2020 Off-season Simulation summary, and Matthew LaMar’s explanation of his moves as Royals GM.

Craig Brown said goodbye to Alex Gordon.

In a year in which it was difficult for friends to get together in person, it made it even more important to have our online community of weird baseball fans. Thanks so much for surviving this year with us, and here’s to better days in 2021!