Best Royal
Ambiorix Burgos
Royals relief pitcher Ambiorix Burgos made a hell of a first impression. On May 8, not three weeks after he was called up from the Royals' AA farm team in Wichita, the 21-year-old was brought in to face the Baltimore Orioles with the bases loaded and only one out in the seventh inning. The Royals had pissed away a seven-run lead, leaving the score tied at 8-8. Burgos didn't just stop the bleeding. The scowling pitcher struck out the next two batters to end the inning. He then shut out the Orioles for two more innings, tallying another two strikeouts in the process. The rest of the season had its disappointments for the whole team. But the Dominican pitcher is young, and he's shown he can dominate a game with attitude, a blazing fastball that nears 100 miles an hour, and a physical presence more often seen at Arrowhead Stadium than at the K. (He's just one inch shorter and 12 pounds lighter than the Chiefs' Tony Gonzalez.) Burgos is one of the reasons we still love watching our home team play ball.
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