Tuesday, July 11, 2017

#315 Paul Splittorff  


At the time, still a youngster....the first significant pitcher in the Royals franchise...held the mound for one team for parts of 15 years....Holds team mark for career wins with 166, although Dennis Leonard was probably the more dominant pitcher....was not expansion selection but taken in 25th round of 1968 amateur draft...was the first Royal signed to a professional contract...was able to take a reasonable jump from low A to AAA ball in 197\68 to 1969...brought up gradually, to full effect....First taste of the Show was in 1971 and held his own....kept taking on more work and subsequently paid dividends by being KC’s first 20 game winner 1973....injuries hampered effectiveness in subsequent years....staged comeback with 16-6 and 19-8 records in 1978 and 1979...continued on hovering  with .500 record in four subsequent seasons....last effective year was 1983 when Paul went 13-8....last game was June 26th 1984....Was the Royal’s best weapon against the NYY in their 3 playoff showdown...won two games and had 2.68 ERA in 6 games....donned glasses later into his career giving him a scholarly appearance....passed away as of 2011.


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