Paul Splittorff has passed from this world, but there is no reason for him to ever pass from Royals lore. Splittorff was drafted in the 25th round of the 1968 draft. At the time he joined an organization that had never played a game at the highest level of competition. He was a tall lefty that wore thick glasses on his face, but he went to the New York Penn League after signing and 3.45 era in 120 innings of work.
The next year was 1969 and Splitt was sent to triple A Omaha for the season. He faired well, but it wasn't until September 23, 1970 that he made his debut. The next season he would join the Royals rotation for good and finished the year with a 2.68 era, which in 1971 was good for only fifth in the Jackie Robinson Award voting.
Splittorff would pitch for the Royals for fifteen seasons and would retire the year before the Royals acheived their ultimate goal. He would never don the uniform of another city, and he was Royal blue until the day he died.
Splittorff finished his career with 166 wins and a 3.81 era. He pitched 2554.2 innings for Kansas City and he was a critical reason for the Royals finding success in such a quick fashion. The man dedicated his life to the organization.
Even after he retired from baseball he returned to the organiation as a play by play guy. By all accounts he was a hard worker in this department just as he had been during his career. Splittorff was never content with getting by on his name. He always wanting to be better because that is what the fans deserved.
I am not the first to propose this, and I am not going to be the first to demand it. But there is a statue missing from monument park and it should be a tall lefty wearing thick glasses on his face.
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