Royals 2004 Stars Series: Ken Harvey


Kansas City in 2004 was looking to put a winning team together but couldn't find the exact pieces to do it. Former Royals General Manager Herk Robinson drafted first baseman Ken Harvey in the fifth round of the 1999 MLB Draft out of Nebraska. Harvey's time in the Royals minor league system wasn't a great amount of time before reaching the big leagues. Kansas City called up the fifth round selection to the big leagues on September 18, 2001. Harvey's career didn't last as long as he or the Royals had hoped due to multiple injuries. However, the 2004 season for Harvey was one he and the team will never forget. Entering the season at 26 years old, Harvey was coming off an impressive 2003 season with Kansas City. During his 2003 season, he posted a batting average of .266 with 13 home runs and 64 runs batted in. Although Harvey had a fantastic season in 2003, it wasn't good enough to give him a nod for the All-Star game. The following season for the first baseman was another great year; in fact, it was better than his past season. Kansas City had many big names on their 2004 roster that included Matt Stairs, Carlos Beltran, Jose Bautista, Kevin Appier and Zack Greinke. Although the 2004 had these well known names on their roster, none of these players represented Kansas City in the All-Star game in Houston. The boys in blue however did see first baseman Ken Harvey be selected to the All-Star game. During an interview with FutureStarsSeries.com in 2019  he said: "It was probably one of my darkest times as far as not really loving the game, it was the first time it really turned into a business for me,” Harvey said. “But, who wouldn’t be excited to reach the pinnacle of baseball? I’d been playing since I was five, and have some good memories, but that ended on kind of a sour note.” The former Kansas City draft selection wrapped up his Royals career the following season due to recurring injuries (back). The former Royals first baseman went on to play for the Twins, Kansas City T-Bones and the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs. Despite his short playing career, Harvey was able to put together a great showing in 2004 despite the Royals struggles that season.

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