"I probably understand more about what it takes to hit because I wasn't very good at it." - Buddy Biancalana in Crowning the Kansas City Royals: Remembering the 1985 World Series Champs (Jeffrey Spivak, Sports Publishing LLC, March 1, 2005, Page 166)

Roland Americo "Buddy" Biancalana Jr. (born February 2, 1960 in Larkspur, CA) is a retired Major League Baseball (MLB) shortstop. He played for two teams in his career: the Kansas City Royals (1982–1987) and Houston Astros (1987).

In 1977, Buddy was named to the Mythical National Champion Team, a squad composed of the best high school baseball players in the United States. He was drafted by the Royals in the first round (25th overall pick) of the 1978 June Regular Phase draft. He made his MLB debut on September 12, 1982, and played his final game on October 4, 1987.

Biancalana was a member of the Royals team that won the World Series in 1985. Although he had only started 35 games all season, manager Dick Howser benched regular shortstop Onix Concepcion in favor of Biancalana on September 20. Buddy started 13 of the next 15 games as the Royals won the American League West division by one game over the California Angels.

Biancalana was the starting shortstop for the Royals in all 14 post-season games, playing error-free defense in every game, and was an integral part in several run-scoring innings for the Royals in the World Series. He batted .278 in the series with an on-base percentage of .435, both well above his career numbers.

Biancalana is a former field manager for the Amarillo Dillas of independent United League Baseball, the infield coordinator of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and the manager of two South Atlantic League (Class Low A) teams, the Lakewood BlueClaws (affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies) and the Charleston Riverdogs (affiliate of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays). He is also the co-author of "The 7 Secrets of the World Class Athlete".

(excerpted from Baseball Almanac, BR Bullpen, and Wikipedia)