Bargain Basement Beltrán

For nearly 30 years, the Kansas City Royals were the Walmart of the major leagues. Yes, they had everything. They had a manager, and a pitching coach, and a first baseman, and a closer, and a stadium, and a grounds crew, and a radio broadcast partner, all the stuff other stores, I mean big league, oops, I mean professional baseball teams had. But, like at Walmart, most of those things might as well have had “Great Value” stamped across them.

For instance, they weren’t putting a real All-Star first baseman on the field. They were putting Ken Harvey out there and hoping he didn’t hurt himself or others. They didn’t hire someone whose skills were in demand to manage the club. Instead they brought in guys like Buddy Bell who had already failed elsewhere, or inexperienced guys named Tony who had never managed before and would never manage anywhere else again. One time they got their manager from Japan, sort of like Walmart offers a selection of artificial bonsai trees.

The Royals were cut-rate, in other words. Cheap. So cheap that at a couple of different points they stopped wearing replica Negro Leagues uniforms on Negro Leagues Appreciation Night because they didn’t want to spend the money.* So cheap that they went from having the highest payroll in the American League in 1990 to having the lowest just six years later.