FanPost

2008 Crystal Ball

Last night I looked into my 3" diameter crystal ball and here is what I saw. Now granted, this may seem overly optimistic, but not out of the realm of possibility. I think it's very possible that at least a couple of these predictions may come true. I would rather go through the offseason with this glimmer of hope than have the attitude that maybe we can finish fourth next year, with still lots of work to do. It will make my winter much more tolerable.

  1. Billy Butler and Alex Gordon will have breakout years and fulfill the hope we all have for them. Butler also surprises The Royals Nation by playing slightly above average defense.
  2. Sparked by the competition between Butler and Gordon, the rest of the offense comes out of it's coma.
  3. With the weight off his shoulders to be "the star", Teahen will relax and have fun, reverting to his 2006 form, and then some. DDJ will also regain his stroke.
  4. John Buck will reward his manager for playing him every day by putting up monster power numbers.
  5. Pena shows a little improvement at the plate, but plays Gold Glove caliber defense.
  6. Grudz remains Grudz (Mr. Consistant)
  7. Zack Greinke will shock the world, posting a record of 20-9/2.73 era, and win the Cy Young
  8. Bannister and Meche will continue their success of 2007, only this time with run support, with respective lines of 15-11/3.89 ERA, and 17-11/3.73 ERA.
  9. The Royals make the playoffs for the first time since 1985, and are heralded by the media as "the Rockies of 2008".
Offensive numbers:
Butler: .327 BA, 29HR, 116 RBI
Gordon: .312 BA, 31 HR, 127 RBI, 27 SB
Teahen: .302 BA, 21 HR, 93 RBI, 22 SB
DDJ:    .298 BA, 12 HR, 83 RBI, 115 runs
Buck:   .273 BA, 36 HR, 131 RBI
Grudz:  .299 BA, 8 HR, 76 RBI
Pena Jr.:.273 BA, 12 walks

Whatever happened to...?

Mike Sweeney
Mike was eating lunch one day and saw Mother Mary in a bowl of macaroni & cheese, who convinced him to retire from baseball and embark on a career as a televangelist. His first day on the air, he sprianed his wrist in an attempt to heal a crippled man ("DEMON BE GONE", smack, "ouch, that hurt"). Three days later he was hospitalized with back spasms incurred while attempting to heal himself.

Jason LaRue
Jason could not find a job in professional baseball. He still loved the game so he played amatuer baseball on a seniors team in Mishawaka Indiana. He was cut after one season after hitting only .079.

Emil Brown
After being let go by the Royals, Emil tried to hire Scott Boras as his agent. Boras' laughter could be heard for three miles. Emil did, however,  succeed in convincing a Hollywood producer to make a movie about him titled   "Mr. 62", starring Bernie Mac. The movie was a box office flop. He used the meager proceeds of the movie to open a chain of restaurants called "Nationwide's Ribbies". That aslo failed.

There you have it. As I said, my crystal ball is only 3" in diameter, so it's accuracy is suspect.

This FanPost was written by a member of the Royals Review community. It does not necessarily reflect the views of the editors and writers of this site.