When the most-beloved bracket came out, the first thing that many thought of is that many of our favorites were never good enough to get into that bracket. I looked through Royals rosters over the years, and I tried to pick out some guys who were less prominent but were nonetheless loved by various people for a variety of reasons. I divided them into four "regions": broad categories of reasons these players were beloved. Today, we're going to vote on some "play-in" match-ups for the first two regions.
Before we get to the brackets, Here is who is not included:
Current Royals
In the first draft of my bracket, I included Hunter Dozier and Brad Keller, two of my favorites from the current roster. But after I got input from the "obscure player" thread of all the players I missed, I decided that it was unfair to include them here, both for reasons of recency bias and that these guys might (and we hope will) develop into long-term prominent Royals. So no Keller, Dozier, Mondesi, O'Hearn, Maverick, or any other current guys you really root for.
Imported short-term regulars
This was hard to categorize, but I didn't think imported guys who didn't fit the postseason heroes categories belonged. They weren't "obscure" or really "Royals." So no Gary Gaetti or Greg Gagne, no Gregg Jefferies, Jeff King, or Jay Bell, no Dean Palmer, Chili Davis, Matt Stairs, or Ervin Santana. I really liked some of these guys, but I decided not to include them.
Random Relievers
I think one type of player that we develop an irrational love for is a reliever that catches your eye for one reason or another, but often that love is very individualized. There are a few relievers and swing men in the bracket, but they had longer careers or bigger moments than some favorites that were nominated like Leo Nunez, Nate Adcock, Steve Shifflett, Peter Moylan, Tim Collins, or whoever else comes to mind.
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The Fleeting Glory Region
Fleeting Glory consists of players whose success was short-lived or mostly confined to a certain big moment. Each region consists of two sub-regional brackets, which would then match up in the Elite Eight. The two sub-regions are "Flash in the Pan" (guys with short-lived success with the Royals) and "Postseason Heroes" (contributors in championship runs). In general (but not strictly) seeds are determined by length of tenure with the team.
"Play-In" Match-ups
8-seed (Flash-in-the-Pan): Luis Aquino vs. Paul Byrd
Maybe it's just me, but I really loved Luis Aquino, an underrated swingman for the Royals in the late '80s and early '90s. From 1988-1991, Aquino logged about 400 innings with an ERA+ of 119. He had a peculiar pause at the top of his motion that made him unique. After a down year in 1992, he signed as a free agent with the expansion Marlins , where he was their most reliable pitcher in their first year.
13-seed (Flash-in-the-Pan): Cheslor Cuthbert vs. Paulo Orlando
These two guys go together. During the Royals failed title defense in 2016, there were times in that season when it seemed that Orlando and/or Cuthbert were the best hitters in the lineup. Orlando had a torrid May and good September, and Cuthbert was very productive in June and July. Orlando finished with a 2.4 WAR.
14-seed (Postseason Heroes): Jorge Orta vs. Dane Iorg
Jorge Orta's place in Royals' history is sort of dubious (although overblown), being called safe in the infamous play that led off the inning in which his opponent in this match-up became the hero. Orta was a former All-Star second baseman and rightfielder with the White Sox and Indians who came to the Royals in 1984 at the age of 33, after bouncing around for a couple of terrible seasons. He had a nice year for the Royals' division-winning 1984 team (120 OPS+) sharing time at DH with Hal McRae as well as playing some outfield. From 1985 on, he was strictly a DH (with a 92 OPS+), which meant that, with McRae also on the roster, the Royals carried two exclusive DHs (plus Steve Balboni) on the roster until his release in June 1987.
15-seed (Postseason Heroes): Brandon Finnegan vs. Johnny Cueto
These are another couple of guys who go together, with one traded for the other. Finnegan was the Royals' first-round draft pick out of TCU, where had pitched in the College World Series. The Royals promoted him quickly through the system, and he pitched key innings in the Royals epic Wild Card game that year and later became the first to pitch in both the CWS and the World Series in the same year. The next year, the Royals couldn't decide whether they needed him in the big-league bullpen or their future rotation, and he was sort of jerked around all year, pitching at different levels and in different roles, until he headlined the Johnny Cueto deal. He was just OK for the Reds until he injured his shoulder, and he hasn't been able to regain his command since the injury.
The Personalities Region
"Personalities" consists of players who made their mark on a personal level. The "#AlwaysRoyal" sub-region consists of favorites that were hard to categorize in other places. These are guys who are linked to the Royals through their longevity with the team or unique story. The "Character/Clown" sub-region consists of people with big personalities, who let fans into knowing who they were as men or who are the subject of many fan-favorite stories.
8-seed (#AlwaysRoyal): Marty Pattin vs. Doug Bird
Marty Pattin (the "Duck") had a seven-year career with the Royals as a swing-man and reliever. His best seasons were 1975-77, when he posted a 28-27 record with a 3.11 ERA (123 ERA+) over 119 games (40 GS) and nearly 450 innings. He was solid in his remaining years as a Royal, though with a decreased workload. He later coached at the University of Kansas.
13-seed (#AlwaysRoyal): Mike Magnante vs. Rusty Meacham
Mike Magnante pitched for the Royals for six seasons. After an impressive rookie season (2.45 ERA) as a reliever, the Royals tried him as a starter for a couple of years with little success. He settled in as a moderately effective lefty out of the pen for several years after that. His best season was with the Astros the year after he left the Royals and later found some success with the A's, too. He is perhaps most famous now for being the sad-sack lefty reliever with two knee braces that Brad Pitt/Billy Beane had to cut in Moneyball.
15-seed (Characters & Clowns): Kurt Bevacqua vs. Rey Palacios
This match-up is a couple of "deep cuts" for people who are probably complete unknowns to people who weren't fans when they were on the team. "Dirty Kurt" Bevacqua was a hard-nosed, get-dirty, utility player for the Royals in 1973, when he posted a career-high 40 RBI, mostly backing up 3B Paul Schaal the year before George Brett's rookie year. He was traded before the '74 season but was re-acquired before the end of the year, pulling a brief second tour with the Royals. He is beloved in San Diego for his 1984 World Series performance with the Padres as their DH, hitting over .400 with a HR in the Padres' only World Series game they have won in their history.
16-seed (#AlwaysRoyal): Brent Mayne vs. Jeff Conine
Brent Mayne and Jeff Conine came up together in 1990. Mayne was a defense-first catcher, with the upside of becoming a lefty-swinging version of the Royals current veteran catcher, Bob Boone. He never hit as well as Boone--in fact, in his 42-year-old swan song season, Boone posted a 72 OPS+ in 117 at-bats. Mayne's career Royals OPS+ was 65 in 2200 plate appearances. He backed up Mike Macfarlane from 1990-94, then was the lefty side of a platoon in 1995, pulling most of the playing time at catcher. The Royals traded him after the season for a non-prospect, and he hit close to league average over the next few years, before returning to the Royals as their #1 catcher in 2002-03, when he hit .241/.308/.328.