Ken Harvey (born March 1, 1978 in Los Angeles, California) is a first baseman and designated hitter in Major League Baseball with the Kansas City Royals. Harvey played his rookie season in Kansas City in 2003. After an impressive first half of the 2004 season, featuring an early battle with Baltimore Oriole Melvin Mora for the AL lead in batting average, Harvey was selected as the Royals' lone representative in the All-Star Game. In interleague play, the Royals played Harvey in left field in order to keep both Harvey and 1B/DH Mike Sweeney, their two most productive bats, in the lineup.
After struggling the second half of the 2004 season, Harvey found himself battling Calvin Pickering for his roster spot the following spring. After hitting .238 in spring training, the Royals sent Harvey to their Class AAA Omaha affiliate on March 29, 2005. In 18 games at Omaha, Harvey hit .375 with three home runs and 14 RBI and was recalled less than a month later on April 28.
