Why 2003 KC Royals team returned to the news this week: Thank the Tampa Bay Rays

It’s an anniversary season, but it’s doubtful the 2003 Royals will receive any special attention. Ceremonies don’t often happen for baseball teams that finish a mere four games over .500.

But those Royals returned to the news cycle this week. That team started 9-0 before fading late, and since then no other major league club had won its first nine games... until this year’s Tampa Bay Rays. They won their ninth straight to open the season on Sunday.

The Rays made it a 10-0 start with Monday’s 1-0 victory over the Boston Red Sox. They improved to 11-0 on Tuesday.

For a couple of days, the 2003 Royals returned to the baseball conversation and provided some fun memories.

Not much was expected from Tony Pena’s first full season as manager. The previous year, the Royals had painfully lost 100 games for the first time in franchise history. They would lose at least 100 for three straight season starting in 2004.

But in 2003, magic happened. This was a team of top-notch players like Carlos Beltran and Mike Sweeney. Shortstop Angel Berroa won AL Rookie of the Year. Journeyman pitcher Jose Lima (“Lima Time”) regained his form for a few months, and hard-throwing closer Mike MacDougal’s first full season was his best with 27 saves.

Ryan Lefebvre, then in his fifth season in the broadcast booth, recalled an early season is-this-really-happening highlight: A Friday night April game drew a near sellout crowd that was rewarded with Ken Harvey’s walk-off home run in the 11th.

“That’s when people started to think, they’re not only winning but they’re finding ways to win,” Lefebvre said.

Pena was the clubhouse eternal optimist. Leave it to former Star columnist Joe Posnanski to draw the connection between the animated Pena and soccer coach Ted Lasso, the Jason Sudeikis character on the popular streaming show. From his blog, JoeBlogs:

Why do I say this? Because Peña, like Ted, was pure optimism. Peña, like Ted, was kind of fuzzy on the whole strategy part of the game — he literally flipped a coin to determine who the Opening Day starter would be. He came up with bizarro games for the team to play during spring training, he would have them run in circles, chase after baseballs like kids running after butterflies, bunt for points.

Tony Peña was Ted Lasso.

The Royals not only got off to a fast start, they showed fight that season.

“After that great start, they fell below .500, and people were saying, ‘Well, they had a nice run,’” Lefebvre said. “But they got back over .500.”

And led the AL Central by seven games at the All-Star break and were in first place as late at Aug. 29 before settling for an 83-79 record.

Things fell apart quickly after 2003. Attempting to capitalize on momentum, the Royals added a couple of veterans — Juan Gonzalez and Benito Santiago — who were at the end of their careers. They lost promising Raul Ibanez to free agency.

“And we know how 2004 turned out,” Lefebvre said.

The Royals bottomed out to a club record 104 losses, later matched in 2018.

That’s what makes the 2003 start, and the season, seem like an oasis in a desert. The Rays came into 2023 having reached the playoffs in four straight years, winning two division championships and playing in a World Series.

Those Royals? That 2003 burst of sunshine was the only winning season between 1995 and 2013. The dark clouds immediately returned.

“Turned out,” Lefebvre said, “it was not a precursor of things to come.”