The Royals lost game 20 years ago because they hit the cutoff man ... in the back

The Royals entered the 2004 season with high hopes but things went south quickly.

After losing 100 games for the first time in franchise history in 2002, the Royals bounced back and were in playoff contention into September of 2003. Tony Peña won the AL Manager of the Year award and fans dreamed of a return to the postseason the following year.

Opening Day in 2004 was a thriller as the Royals scored six times in the ninth inning and beat the White Sox 9-7 at Kauffman Stadium. Mendy López hit a three-run homer to tie it, Ángel Berroa singled and Carlos Beltrán followed with a walk-off two-run shot.

The future seemed bright.

Alas, things went south quickly. The Royals had a 7-14 record by the end of April and slumped to 29-48 when they faced the Padres at Petco Park on July 3, 2004.

Despite falling behind 4-0, the Royals showed some fight by scoring four times in the top of the eighth inning. Rubén Mateo had a run-scoring double, José Bautista (who would later become a villain to Royals fans) added an RBI groundout and Tony Graffanino jacked a two-run homer to tie the game.

The good times didn’t last long.

Kerry Robinson (who would later play for the Royals) opened the bottom of the eighth with a double against Scott Sullivan. Robinson took third on Jay Payton’s fly to center, and Khalil Greene followed with a fly to right field.

What happened next was quite possibly a first in MLB history.

The Royals’ Matt Stairs had time to get in position to try and throw out Robinson. First baseman Ken Harvey was the cutoff man but he inexplicably took a knee with his back to the outfield.

Stairs’ throw drilled Harvey square in the back and he went down as if struck by lightning. Robinson scored easily. The Royals had many unintentionally comical moments in that era, but this was perhaps the funniest of all.

Former Star beat writer Bob Dutton’s lead in the next day’s paper: “At least the Royals are starting to heighten the entertainment value in their losses.”

I recall Dutton saying a Royals player had told him, “Dude, you have to write that we lost the game because we hit the cutoff man.”

Peña, who played 18 seasons in the majors, told the Associated Press: “I’ve never seen that happen before. I don’t know that the throw would have gotten him, but it was on line.”

It was on line but Harvey’s back got in the way.

“Has that ever happened?” Harvey asked after the game. “(That play will) be on TV tonight and DVD tomorrow.”

It wasn’t a totally painful weekend for Harvey, who also once fell behind the tarp while chasing a foul ball. The next day, he was chosen as the Royals’ representative for the American League All-Star game.

The Royals lost 104 games that season and finished last in the AL Central.