Okay, so today I want to talk about something I’ve been digging into, a little side project of mine. I was messing around with some baseball stats, specifically players who’ve done time with both the Kansas City Royals and the Baltimore Orioles. Yeah, it’s kinda niche, but I found it pretty interesting.
So, I started by pulling up a list of players who’ve worn both uniforms. Turns out, there are 95 of them! I dove into the names, and some really stood out. Like Miguel Tejada, the guy was a beast for the Orioles for five seasons and then did a stint with the Royals. We’re talking some serious WAR numbers there. I also found Jonathan Heasley, he was with the Royals for a few years, then the Orioles.
Then I got curious, wanted to see how many guys exclusively batted for these two teams. Turns out it’s just five. Not a huge number, but still cool to note. While I was at it, I recalled that story from a while back about the Royals absolutely crushing the Orioles in the 2014 ALCS. Man, that was a wild series. It reminded me of how much I love the underdog story, you know?
I also started thinking about the whole atmosphere at the games. Remembered reading about someone who went to a Royals batting practice early, just to soak it all in. I did some more research and read something interesting that can’t be ignored about what the Royals did at Camden Yards. There had been a lot of talk around Tarik Scuba and the Detroit Tigers because the Orioles had faced them six times in September.
And then there’s the history. They first played it in the mid-1970s when it was a Billboard hit. It was catchy, popular, and it ear-wormed its way into the hearts of those both in the stands and on the field. And do you know the Bowie Baysox? They were established as the Baltimore Orioles’ Double-A affiliate in 1993. They changed their name to the Chesapeake Baysox!
- Cal Ripken, Jr.
- Brooks Robinson
- Frank Robinson
- Jim Palmer, Earl Weaver
- Eddie Murray
- Roberto Alomar
- Harold Baines
- Brady Anderson
- Mike Mussina.
And when talking about the Orioles, I definitely have to mention those famous players above.
But this deep dive also got me thinking about the future of the Royals. They’ve got a potential superstar in Bobby Witt Jr., a solid rotation, and some good role players. And how can we forget about the Milkman – Colton Cowser? I stumbled upon a quote from him saying it’s been a lot of fun and they have a really good clubhouse.
I ended up spending way more time on this than I planned, but it was a blast. Just goes to show, you never know what you’ll find when you start poking around. Baseball’s full of these cool little stories and connections, and it’s fun to piece them together. Anyways, just wanted to share my little adventure. Maybe it’ll spark something for you guys too!
