The 2004 baseball season gets underway for the Royals with a home series with the White Sox. Expectations are running high for the Royals who finished third in the A.L. Central in 2003 and posted their first winning season since 1994, when the season was cut short by a strike. In the off season they were able to hold on to many of their key players—with the exception of left fielder Raul Ibanez—and added seasoned veterans like Juan Gonzalez and Benito Santiago. They also held on starting pitcher Brian Anderson who came over in a trade from the Indians and went 5-1 with the team. Anderson is the starter on Monday. He’ll be opposed by St. Charles native Mark Buehrle, who was 14-14 on the 2003 season.
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