Please welcome new writer Sean Laughlin

We have eyes on the ground in Arkansas.

The Royals went against the grain this off-season and added talent as other teams sat on their hands. Accordingly, we have added some talent as well, bringing on new writer Sean Laughlin. Sean will be writing the Sunday gamethreads and recaps and will provide his own perspective as a formerly player and current coach.

I’ll let him talk about his background.

Just like past season slogans, I am Raised Royal, Always Royal, and back in 2003 I definitely ‘Believed’. Growing up in Overland Park in the late ’90s and 2000s there was nothing better than going to the K, getting a drink and a hot dog after the second inning, and watching my idols play. I wanted to hit like Carlos Beltran, pitch like Jeff Suppan, and grow sideburns like Johnny Damon. I, like a lot of KC kids, was a loyal Blue Crew member who couldn’t wait to run around the bases after a game. I experienced the electricity in Kauffman when Mike Sweeney stole home off Andy Pettitte and the misery of the fans when the Royals lost 21-3 to the A’s in 2000.

All those moments, like I assume all of the readers feel the same way, were worth it when the Royals climbed back to the top of the baseball world in 2014 and 2015. Wearing a lucky sweatshirt, rally bathroom breaks and all of the other crazy superstitions filled my college apartment in the fall of those years. The joy of Salvador Perez’s walk-off against the A’s, the agony of Pablo Sandoval laying on his back after catching Perez’s foul out, to the rollercoaster of emotions of Game 5 in November of ‘15. Royals fans have truly seen it all and that is why I (unbiased of course) believe they are the best fans in the league.

My Royals story would be incomplete if I did not mention that my dog is named Gordon, middle name Moose, in honor a couple of all time favorite Royals for my wife and I.

Away from Kauffman Stadium, I was a collegiate pitcher at Coffeyville Community College for two years then moved on to the University of Nebraska-Kearney (UNK) where I finished my baseball career. At both Coffeyville and UNK I was a broadcast journalism student covering the baseball and volleyball teams. Post-graduation, I shortly was a writer at the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette in Fayetteville, AR. I then left the journalism world for the classroom where I am currently a special education teacher at Fayetteville High School where I also am an assistant coach for the Bulldog baseball team.

I am excited to join the Royals Review staff writing Sunday pre- and post-game analysis and checking in on the Northwest Arkansas Naturals covering all of the exciting future Royals.

Thanks Sean, there should be a pretty talented team in Northwest Arkansas this year, and it will be great to have a set of eyes on them, as well as the #1 Arkansas Razorbacks (who have a star player with a certain dad that runs a certain baseball team). You can follow him on Twitter at @SeanLaughlinKC. Welcome aboard!