The Best of Royals Review 2024

It was a great year!

The 2024 season was a surprisingly fun season with a 30-game improvement in the standings for the Royals and an unexpected post-season berth. We saw the emergence of Bobby Witt Jr. as a star and the pitching rotation emerge into one of the best in baseball. That gave us plenty of things to write about, so here’s the best of what Royals Review produced in 2024.

Best opinion articles

Bradford Lee wrote about the death of “slow news.”

Matthew LaMar thought the new Fanatics uniforms were awful.

And he thought concerns over downtown parking for a potential new ballpark were misplaced.

But he felt like the Royals and Chiefs were asking for trust that had not been earned.

Max Rieper opined that the Bobby Witt Jr. contract marked an end to poverty status for the Royals.

He also gave his thoughts on what he liked, loved, and hated about early downtown ballpark renderings.

He approved of trade deadline deals, but felt they should have acquired a leadoff hitter.

He also began to believe the Royals were for real in August, and asked “why not us?”

And he had thoughts about the direction of the team after the season ended.

Matthew LaMar also wrote about how the Vinnie Pasquantino injury exposed the Royals.

And he loved the return of winning baseball.

Hokius wrote that the Royals may be on the verge of being a juggernaut.

Best analytical articles

Hokius dissected the Community Benefits Agreement the Royals touted with their stadium proposal.

Max Rieper explained the analytics behind why the Royals run the “contact play.”

And he found that the 2019 Royals draft class may be the best in club history

RoyalTreatment evaluated whether Bobby Witt Jr. was having the best season in club history.

And whether Kauffman Stadium would cost him the MVP trophy.

He also talked about the rise of the Cole Ragans as an ace.

Jacob Milham dissected what made a good leadoff batter in 2024.

Best history articles

Upon Eric Hosmer’s retirement, Greg Walker reflected on his career - prompting a response from Hos himself.

After the ballpark proposal was rejected, Max Rieper wrote about the history of voters in other cities rejecting stadium ballot measures.

When Bo Jackson was inducted into the Royals Hall of Fame, Max looked back at his unique career.

He also looked back at the best Royals-related Sports Illustrated covers.

Bradford Lee wrote about the location of old Municipal Stadium in Kansas City.

And he wrote about Amos Otis’ heroics during the Plaza flood of 1977.

Ten years later, Matthew LaMar recounted the amazing 2014 Wild Card game.

Best humor articles

RoyalsTreatment relied on AI to provide analysis of the Royals.

Greg Walker wrote about Royals players as alcoholic beverages.

Matthew LaMar had the best images from Royals photo day.

He also had a Royals-related holiday gift guide, but fear not, CobraCy had his annual guide as well.

Best game recaps

Matt Quatraro’s inexplicable decisions in a May game against the Angels rendered Hokius unable to come up with a game recap headline.

Hokius also came up with 12 points after a win over the Dodgers.

The Royals overcame a seven-run deficit to defeat the Mariners in June.

Greg Walker took his alliterative recap headlines into the post-season with a win over the Orioles in the Wild Card round.

Best fanposts

Max Wasson wrote how a new ballpark in Wyandotte County could help save downtown KCK.

BHWick broke down how the stadium vote might go.

ToddBonzalez wondered if Bobby Witt Jr. was having the best season at shortstop of all time.

Thane had a good piece on situational hitting.

ItsJustBusiness noticed that Salvy grounds into double plays as well as any Hall of Famer.

Best GIFs/videos/photoshops/social media

We had some fun with the Royals’ new QuikTrip advertising patch on their uniforms.

After an Adam Frazier go-ahead home run, we celebrated with tossed salad and scrambled eggs.

Ryan Lefebvre had to explain Dairon Blanco’s bat to Rex Hudler.

Jared Koller at KCTV 5 compiled clips of all the times Rex Hudler uttered a noise upon a Royals home run.

Best comments

David Howards Legacy pointed out that former Royals pitcher James Shields didn’t get any Hall of Fame votes.

When the stadium vote failed, ItsJustBusiness just wanted to see through the process.

When a report surfaced that the Marlins had inquired at one point about acquiring Bobby Witt Jr., Suff76 illustrated those talks.

kevinf noticed how literary the Orioles had become.

When the Dodgers offered swag to a fan that had caught Shohei Ohtani’s 50th home run ball, cmkeller had a creative offer.

soonerlawyer437 found poetic justice in the end of the Josh Taylor era.

Other

Preston Farr thought the Royals’ farm system was better than evaluators were giving it credit for.

Bradford Lee wrote about his affinity for the Royals sing-along-song Friends in Low Places.

Greg Walker gave his scouting report of the Royals draft class.

Most of Max’s 2024 predictions were of course, wrong.

Thanks again to all our readers for another terrific season, and here’s hoping the Royals can capitalize on their success in 2025! Have a Happy New Year!