Royals All-Star Power Rankings: First Base and The Fan Favorites

Welcome to a new series that will rank all the All-Stars in Royals history. This series will take each position and power rank All-Star seasons for players in a 1-5 (adjustments to this determined by position) ranking with honorable mentions. This will be done through the player’s first half stats and their impact overall on the year, which also means players with multiple All-Star appearances might show up multiple times. The first installment of this series will be where some of the favorites in Royals history have landed, at first base.

1. 1973 John Mayberry

One of the Royals greats from the 70s, John Mayberry had a dominate first half of 1973. He slashed .297/.436/.532 for an OPS of .968. What makes this first half so dominant is his counting stats. Mayberry hit 20 home runs, had 80 RBI’s, and 83 BB’s with only 53 K’s in the first half alone. He was on track to be a potential MVP that season, but cooled off after the All-Star break. That first half however, was just dominant. He would finish the season with a wRC+ of 149, a 19.1 BB% with 122 BB’s to lead the league, 100 RBI’s, and 5.0 fWAR.

2. 2001 Mike Sweeney

The “Sween Dog’s” 2001 one season was on pace to become a special one. He was building off a 2000 season that saw him have 200+ hits, 100+ RBI’s, .900+ OPS, and a 129 wRC+. In the first half of 2001, he was on pace to shatter a lot of those numbers. He slashed .333/.391/.620 for an OPS of 1.011. Sweeney also had 21 home runs with 65 RBI’s to go along with 35 2B’s in that first half. He was a one man wrecking crew in the first half of 2001, specifically in June where he had a 1.243 OPS with 11 HR and 23 RBI’s. He wasn’t able to continue that into the second half, but he was the heartbeat of those early 2000s Royals.

3. 2000 Mike Sweeney

Long time no see Sweeney. His 2001 first half might have just edged out his 2000 first half, but Sweeney had a great first half of 2000. He slashed .360/.415/.563 for an OPS of .978. His counting stats are just slightly lower than in 2001, but they are impressive nonetheless. Sweeney had 15 HR, 78 RBI’s, 122 hits, and 24 doubles in that first half. He would have a similar second half, but pitchers were a lot more cautious as Sweeney had 44 walks in the second half compared to 27 in the first. His 2000 season would be the closest he would get to the MVP finishing eleventh in voting.

4. 2002 Mike Sweeney

If Mike Sweeney wasn’t playing his peak in the Steroid Era he would’ve had more accolades. One of the more underappreciated bats of that era and in 2002 he continued his hot first halves. He slashed .362/.436/.608 for an OPS of 1.044 in the first half of 2002. The reason this season falls behind the other two is solely because the counting numbers aren’t as eye opening. He would have 16 HR’s, 46 RBI’s, 25 2B’s, and 107 hits in the first half of 2002. While impressive it is hard to beat years in which he had 78 RBI’s and 30+ 2B’s and 21 HR’s. Now to move on from the reign of Mike Sweeney.

5.1974 John Mayberry

Yeah, this list will be Sweeney and Mayberry at the top. Why wouldn’t it be like that? Mayberry played some of his best ball in a stretch of three seasons from 1973-1975. In the first half of 1974 he slashed .260/.399/.505 for an OPS of .904. He tacked on 19 HR’s, 53 RBI’s, 62 BB’s, and 13 2B’s. It wasn’t as dominant as 1973 or 1975 for that matter, but he was still a feared hitter in the AL. Also, he wasn’t an All-Star in 1975. A season in which he was second in MVP voting with 7.2 bWAR, behind Fred Lynn. This finishes off Mayberry’s All-Star seasons, do we get to the modern era Royals yet?

6. 2003 Mike Sweeney

To answer the last question, no. As stated earlier, Mike Sweeney dominated in the early 2000s. Sweeney slashed .321/.440/.540 in the first half of 2003. This might not have been his most dominate first half, but he was still hitting 12 HR’s, 11 2B’s, and driving in 50 runs. 2003 marked the signs of Sweeney becoming injury prone while being productive as he posted a .850+ OPS but only played in 106-122 games in the next three seasons.

7. 2005 Mike Sweeney

All right this is the last ranking of Sweeney or Mayberry, or is it? It is, but 2005 started off great for Sweeney coming off a year where he got hurt but was productive. He slashed .318/.355/.547 for an OPS of .902. He had 11 HR’s, 44 RBI’s, 23 2B’s, and 78 hits in the first half of 2005. As is the story with Sweeney, he dominated the early 2000s with little national appreciation and with injuries plaguing him heading into the mid 2000s. Now, we head into the modern era of Royals first basemen.

8. 2012 Billy Butler

Now, this might cause a ruckus as “Country Breakfast” was the DH in 2012 with Eric Hosmer manning first, but the Royals don’t have a ton of DH All-Stars. In his best season overall, Country Breakfast slashed .290/.361/.487 for an OPS of .848. He had similar counting stats to Mike Sweeney’s 2005 first half, but with a touch more power. Country Breakfast hit 16 HR’s, 13 2B’s, drove in 52 runs, and had 2 stolen bases. The best part about 2012 for Billy Butler is that he got better in the second half of the season having an OPS above .900 with 100+ hits leading to his only Silver Slugger award. This one goes out to BayouBillyButler on Twitter.

9. 2016 Eric Hosmer

One of the fan favorites of the 2010s and a World Series Champ in 2015, “Hoz” only had one All-Star appearance in his career. In the first half of 2016, Hoz was solid slashing .299/.355/.476 for an OPS of .831. He had 100 hits, 13 were HR’s, 18 were 2B’s, and he drove in 49 runs in the first half of 2016. Hoz started the year hot with an OPS of .874 in March/April and in May he had an OPS of .974. Those were his best months that season as he cooled off immensely after those months, but he lands above the next fan favorite on this list.

10. 2004 Ken Harvey

Yes, Ken Harvey made the All-Star team in 2004 and yes he is one of the memes of these early 2000s Royals. As the last All-Star first basemen on this list, Harvey slashed .305/.353/.452 for an OPS of .805 in the first half of 2004. He hit 10 HR’s, 13 2B’s, had 89 hits, and drove in 34 runs in his best season as a big leaguer. Too bad this season coincided with an incident that became his legacy, along with some other incidents in his short big league career.

That does it for the All-Stars at first base in Royals history. The Royals have had a solid history of first basemen while being a little top-heavy regarding All-Star selections. Sweeney and Mayberry are the cream of the crop while Hoz and Country Breakfast had good seasons for their All-Star selections. Then Ken Harvey got a selection, somehow, when Mike Sweeney had a better first half. Either way this covered the first basemen, and don’t worry this series will get weird so come back when the second basemen All-Stars are covered.

Photo Credit: John Williamson