The Worst Game of the Year

by Freneau on Sep 19, 2007 10:37 PM EDT in Kansas City Royals News

7-0 Chicago.

Jose Contreras pitched a COMPLETE, GAME, SHUTOUT. Dude only made 100 pitches.

As Buddy says, "stay aggressive".

The Royals grounded into three double plays and struck out six times against a fifty year old.

And through it all, Buddy sat idly by giving Gload, LaRue and all the rest all the plate appearances they could stand. No pinch runners, no pinch hitters, no defensive replacements. Buddy even stuck with old reliables out of the bullpen: because we have no idea what JDLR and Ducky can bring to the team.

End the season now, we don't need to watch this ship slowly sink while Jason LaRue and Ross Gload serenade the ole Skipper.

And saying so to some
Means nothing; others it leaves
Nothing to be said.

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UGH

I have no words.

-- Royals Delegate to the land of the Salmon and Moose (Seattle)

by RoyalsFanInMarinerTown on Sep 19, 2007 10:45 PM EDT reply actions

I guess he saw that diary

where we voted him the Anti-Cy Young.

He must have been pretty mad.

by mazoboom on Sep 19, 2007 10:46 PM EDT reply actions

in-freaking-credible

I haven't been able to watch a game for about a week. It sounds and reads like the guys are just swinging at everything, hastening the end of the season. Or am I being overwraught?

Success is counted sweetest by those who ne'er succeed. - Emily Dickinson

by buddyball on Sep 19, 2007 10:47 PM EDT reply actions

LaRue was 2-for-2 with a walk

He is the last player in the starting lineup who should be scapegoated for this fiasco.

by jbrocato on Sep 19, 2007 11:09 PM EDT reply actions

He Also Was The

Last person who should have been in the starting lineup; I think we know what we have in LaRue, and I think he's done in KC.

Being a fan is irrational, but what is the alternative?

by philofthenorth on Sep 19, 2007 11:11 PM EDT up reply actions

The only good thing about LaRue

is when he is playing, Buck is sitting.

I've been a Royals fan for 24 years, lived through some bad catchers, and I'd rank Buck with the worst of them.

by jbrocato on Sep 19, 2007 11:17 PM EDT up reply actions

Is this a joke?

I'm not trying to pick on you personally, but come on. Look at Buck's statistics. Compared to the average big-leaguer, he hasn't been a world beater by any means. But he's actually an above-average overall catcher.

.226/.314/.446, 18 HR, 48 RBI, 323 AB, 92 OPS+

Not great, true. But he's not exactly the problem. Look at that near-90 point spread between batting average and OBP. And judging by his years past, his batting average could probably increase a little. Also, he would be at 30 HR if Buddy had the mental capacity to use him as he should.

Again, Buck is not the glaring problem. Jason LaRue, on the contrary, has been.

http://royalsnation.proboards62.com/

by Royals Nation on Sep 19, 2007 11:30 PM EDT up reply actions

And from the message, I interpret...

That you imply you would rather have Jason LaRue catching than John Buck. Good luck with that.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/KCR/2007.shtml

And I learned baseball statistics in middle school. :)

http://royalsnation.proboards62.com/

by Royals Nation on Sep 19, 2007 11:33 PM EDT up reply actions

I have not kept my disapproval of Buck secret

I don't have a problem with trying Phillips at catcher. The only argument I have for LaRue is that he isn't Buck.

LaRue used to be good (and tends to play well when I attend). Buck has stunk for 3 1/2 seasons and should have been banished to Wichita after he publicly blamed Bell for him not being an All-Star.

by jbrocato on Sep 20, 2007 7:38 AM EDT up reply actions

Oh, good.

Since LaRue "tends to play well when you attend" we should definitely start and his vortex-of-suck bat next year. He's awful. He's amassed an amazing amount of negative value for his PAs.

John Buck is nothing special, but he absolutely has not stunk this year. He's fallen off, but he's an above average hitter for a catcher and his defense is average. That's a good player, low BA or no. You know what OBP is, right?

"True friends stab you in the front."-Oscar Wilde.

by NHZ on Sep 20, 2007 5:03 PM EDT up reply actions

When did I say LaRue deserves to be a starter?

I have called for a complete housecleaning at catcher for 2008. That means no LaRue, in addition to no Buck!

Believe me, I wish LaRue was playing at his peak and had won the full-time job. Unfortunately, he did not. The only case I made for LaRue was that he was not Buck. That was the only case I had for Bako last year. The Royals have not had a good catcher since Santiago in 2004.

I am willing to support giving Phillips a chance.

by jbrocato on Sep 20, 2007 10:45 PM EDT up reply actions

Buck has been an above average catcher this year

The numbers speak for themselves. If you are evaluating a hitter based on batting average, then the analysis is pretty weak. If you look at his OPS, he's been an above average catcher. He's at least an average catcher overall. So that isn't a position of need for the Royals. And it would make absolutely no sense to "clean house" at the catching position.

Jbrocato, please tell me your basis for thinking that Buck stinks. You keep saying that, but you don't back it up with anything.

I probably disagree with you.

by Scott McKinney on Sep 21, 2007 12:52 AM EDT up reply actions

don't you think Phillips deserves a start

by Freneau on Sep 19, 2007 11:36 PM EDT up reply actions

Buck the Worst

You. Are. Ignorant.

by BlueEyesAustin on Sep 20, 2007 10:44 AM EDT up reply actions

Are you even a real Royals fan?

I attended 11 games this year, despite living over 200 miles from the K.

Perhaps the reason the Royals are bad year in and year out is because we fans don't hold anyone (except, regrettably, Buddy Bell) accountable for poor performance. Buck has had more than enough time to show he is worthy of a roster spot; instead he hits sub-.230, blasts Bell in the media, and doesn't throw out baserunners.

Buck is not the sole problem with the 2007 Royals, but he is definitely part of the problem.

by jbrocato on Sep 20, 2007 12:50 PM EDT up reply actions

So even if we buy the argument

that Buck's batting average alone (which, admittedly, is below average) makes him unvaluable, I think we'd all love to hear you explain why LaRue is a more viable option. Again, using batting average, that most telling and all-encompassing measure of a baseball player's worth at the plate. Or his success rate throwing out runners, if you have any numbers to back that up.

Although I might have missed it, I don't think he blasted Bell in media. If I remember correctly, he suggested that it would be difficult for him to get serious All-Star consideration based on his rather limited playing time. But was he wrong? Prior to the season, Buddy claimed that whichever catcher was performing better would win the lion's share of the playing time, then he continued to split it pretty evenly in spite of Buck's excellent start. Should Buck have taken his complaints public? Probably not, but the next time Buddy disrespects a player to the media won't be the first.

Then again, I live nearly 300 miles away from the K and haven't been able to make it to very many games this year, so I may or may not be a real fan.

Royals, NBA, Golden Hurricane, Hawkeyes, Chiefs, and KU basketball, in that order.

by Rowyal on Sep 20, 2007 3:50 PM EDT up reply actions

I didn't even watch the game tonight

And for the purpose of my own personal patience, I couldn't be happier.

10 days until Fuddo The Clown is history. I can't wait.

http://royalsnation.proboards62.com/

by Royals Nation on Sep 19, 2007 11:26 PM EDT reply actions

ohh...

and the K was infested with flies and gnats

by Freneau on Sep 19, 2007 11:36 PM EDT reply actions

Harrelson Whined

About the bugs incessantly.

Being a fan is irrational, but what is the alternative?

by philofthenorth on Sep 19, 2007 11:42 PM EDT up reply actions

but also praised KC's golf opportunities :)

by Freneau on Sep 20, 2007 12:21 AM EDT up reply actions

If he wouldn't open his "can of corn"

the bugs may not be there. Or, maybe Fuddo is finally drawing his fan club into the park.

by grudz69 on Sep 20, 2007 12:53 AM EDT up reply actions

yeah

those were bad

by teahen24 on Sep 20, 2007 12:59 AM EDT up reply actions

After Tomorrow Afternoon

He gone.

Being a fan is irrational, but what is the alternative?

by philofthenorth on Sep 20, 2007 1:36 AM EDT reply actions

I wouldn't exactly call this the worst game....

...of the year. Maybe that was the 17 run blowout in April (was it against the Angels?) I cursed out loud many, many times after that debacle.

http://royalsnation.proboards62.com/

by Royals Nation on Sep 20, 2007 1:40 AM EDT reply actions

I know y'alls been waiting for this...

http://www.fathead.com/mlb/chicago-white-sox/aj-pierzynski/

Buy the ticket, take the ride.

by PhattStairs on Sep 20, 2007 8:32 AM EDT reply actions

pure unadulterated madness

Buy the ticket, take the ride.

by PhattStairs on Sep 20, 2007 8:33 AM EDT up reply actions

Good riddance to bad tickets

I attended last night's game with exchanged tickets from July 4 -- the Royals let everyone who attended that night return for free because the fireworks show was a dud. On 7/4, Brian Bannister gave up four runs in the first. His ERA for the two games I saw with that jinxed ticket lineage: 7.50. Also, the Royals were outscored 10-0. I ran those tickets through the shredder when I got home.

by andrewmiller on Sep 20, 2007 9:38 AM EDT reply actions

Bug infestation

That happens at least once nearly every year. Always after a good rain, almost always in September. I'm guessing perhaps the rain stimulates a hatch of some kind - but who knows? I'm not an entimoligist!

by loyal2s dad on Sep 20, 2007 11:11 AM EDT reply actions

Worst game of year?

I'm not so sure that is an exageration at all!

Considering it was Bannister against a washed-up Contreras, and the feeble effort put up by our hitters, yeah, that game is certainly in the discussion for worst game of the year.

by loyal2s dad on Sep 20, 2007 11:13 AM EDT reply actions