Where’s Bo? Fox Sports’ all-time Kansas City lineup is missing this former Royal | Opinion
What’s an all-time Kansas City Royals starting lineup without Bo Jackson among the top players on the list? An incomplete one.
Ahead of the Major League Baseball All-Star game on Tuesday, Fox Sports recently released its all-time lineup for all 30 teams. Its local selection featured a who’s who of Kansas City baseball greats — National Baseball Hall of Fame player George Brett, homegrown legend Frank White, the incomparable Willie Wilson and others.
But there was one glaring omission too obvious to not point out: How did Jackson make only the honorable mention list? Keep in mind, Fox Sports is the preeminent broadcasting network of the MLB World Series and the upcoming midsummer classic. These folks should know baseball.
But no Bo in the starting lineup? C’mon, man. (Keep reading to see how to voice your opinion on this.)
Jackson played five of his eight MLB seasons in Kansas City. He was a two-sport phenomenon — a hip injury prematurely ended his NFL career — who mesmerized Royals fans with a rare combination of speed and strength unlike anything we’d seen from an athlete here.
According to ESPN, he is the first and only person to make the MLB All-Star game and the NFL Pro Bowl.
Jackson had a rifle for an arm — remember when he threw a laser from near the warning track in left field to home plate to record an out on Seattle’s Harold Reynolds in 1989? I do.
And so does the speedy Reynolds, an analyst for MLB Network, who told sportscaster Rich Eisen earlier this year that he was dumbfounded by Jackson’s throw.
“I thought I was safe for probably 20 years,” Reynolds said. “It’s still the most amazing and shocking play ever.”
George Brett’s biggest ‘wow’ moment
Jackson also ran the bases like a gazelle and dazzled many with other circus-like plays. There is an notorious clip of the man catching a fly ball on the run and scaling the outfield wall at Baltimore’s Memorial Stadium in 1993.
The catch and what Jackson did after he made it is what legends are made of.
Last summer, during an interview with FanDuel Sports Network, Brett described Jackson’s catch as the “the biggest ‘wow’ moment for me.”
“The next day … I went out to center field and I was going to try it,” Brett said. “And I didn’t have the courage to try it because I figured I would’ve broke my leg, broke my neck, broke my shoulder or something.”
I can also recall this gifted athlete snapping wooden bats in half over his knee and walking away as if he had just broken a toothpick into two pieces. As a Royal, Jackson once broke a bat over his helmet.
“I never missed one of his at-bats,” Brett told ESPN baseball analyst Tim Kurkjian, according to an article that appeared on the network’s website in 2020. “I never went to the bathroom when he came up because I might miss something I’d never seen.”
Minus Jackson, Fox Sports’ all-time Royals lineup is stacked with transcendent talent. Besides Brett at third base, White at second and Wilson in right field, the list includes Bobby Witt, Jr. at shortstop and Eric Hosmer at first.
Bret Saberhagen, a personal favorite, was listed as starting pitcher, Salvador Perez was catcher and Hal McRae was the top designated hitter. Another guy I liked a lot — Dan Quisenberry, was the top relief pitcher, and the all-time manager was Ned Yost.
Although I am a fan of former Royals manager Whitey Herzog, I have no qualms with Ned Yo (as the locals playfully called him) leading the all-time team.
Herzog, affectionately known in my hometown of St. Louis as the White Rat because of his light-colored hair, never won a world championship in Kansas City. Yost did in 2015, after losing the World Series in 2014.
Alex Gordon a nonsensical choice
In the outfield is where I have my biggest beef. Fox Sports named Alex Gordon and Carlos Beltran alongside Wilson as its top three at the position. Wilson’s selection in right field was a no-brainer. He won a batting title in 1982 and is the Royals all-time leader in steals, according to Fox Sports.
And Beltran as the all-time center fielder is a reasonable choice. The former Royals second-round draft pick was the American League Rookie of the Year in 1999.
But Gordon over Jackson in left field makes little sense to me.
While Gordon was a tremendous baseball player — the man won eight Gold Gloves as a top defensive player — he started his career at third base. His exploits here as an outfielder were no match for what Jackson did as a Royal.
And offensively, not much separates the two. Yes, Jackson’s career batting average was only .250 but he hit 141 home runs over the course of his career, according to Baseball Reference.
By contrast, Gordon batted .257 with 190 home runs over 14 seasons, according to Baseball Reference.
If I had to choose between Gordon and Jackson for my all-time Royals lineup, I’m taking Jackson.
Royals fans, do you agree?
Send me your top three Royals outfielders of all time at tporter@kcstar.com
This story was originally published July 15, 2025 at 5:09 AM.
