Considering their 60-84 record, a lot of things have gone well for the Kansas City Royals this season.
Royals Have Dangerous Arms (And We’re Not Talking About Pitchers)
For the first time in a long time, they’ve had five legitimate major-league hitters in the lineup for most of the season
Their bullpen, stocked largely with cheap young arms, has been pretty good.
And there’s more good news, which you might not have heard unless you live in the Heart of America.
First, though, this related bit of trivia:
Royals RF Jeff Francoeur with two outfield assists at Oakland, including a 9-3 on what should have been a single by Michael Taylor.
Bob Dutton
Royals_Report
That makes 15 assists this season for Frenchy, who now leads American League right fielders in that category
He's not the only one, though. With 12 assists, Melky Cabrera ranks second among center fielders, just one behind league leader Adam Jones.
And then there's ex-third baseman Alex Gordon, who is blowing the league away with 20 assists in left field (Brett Outfielder is second, with seven).
Obviously, the odds are stacked against all three Royals leading the league at their respective positions. They’re going to come close, though, which led a friend to ask me if any three outfielders have done that before?
Which led me to ask Tom Ruane, who checked.
I can’t vouch for the completeness of this list, simply because fielding stats going back more than a few decades are somewhat sketchy. But Tom found four cases since 1918:
1956 Tigers - Charlie Maxwell (LF) / Bill Tuttle (CF) / Al Kaline (RF)
1974 Yankees - Lou PIniella / Elliott Maddox / Bobby Murcer
1978 Expos - Warren Cromartie / Andre Dawson / Ellis Valentine
1995 Twins - Marty Cordova / Rich Becker / Kirby Puckett
So there you have it. The Royals are bidding to become the fifth outfield since the Great War to accomplish this pretty impressive feat. Just something else to watch before the playoffs.
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