It Gets Even Better
Where do you begin?
A lot of good things happened tonight, but somewhere in the last hour everything went haywire. Forget the beginning of the inning, just zoom ahead to after Ramirez had already recorded two outs, from that point the Twins went single, single, single, homer. Live by the single (the Royals had 14 on the night) , die by the single and the well-timed homer. Whats the old saying, fortune and misfortune are two threads of the same rope. Or something like that.
Thank God Dayton Moore and Trey Hillman changed the culture of the organization, because you can really see how it's paying off. Go back to Posnanski's 50,000 word interwoven vignettes story from Spring Training. Remember what Hillman did with those chairs! Pitching is the currency of baseball, and this team is not going to lose games on fundamentals!
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first!
i should have posted under the name chip ambres.
by blue bandwagon on May 28, 2008 11:21 PM EDT 0 recs
Same shit, different year
Screw it. Rip me if you want. I don’t give a shit. Right now this team is awful and the definition of insanity is doing the same shit over and over and expecting different results (or running the same sorry ass team out night after night). You hear that Dayton? Time to plug the holes in your rapidly sinking ship buddy!
by royaldaddy on May 28, 2008 11:25 PM EDT 0 recs
bad news folks
we don’t play detroit again until august.
by blue bandwagon on May 28, 2008 11:30 PM EDT 0 recs
On the other hand
We DO get to play the Giants in June.
Sarcasm™. It's the new gravy.
by jonfmorse on
May 28, 2008 11:32 PM EDT
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An embarrassment once again
Posted this in game thread before I saw this one. More embarrassing: No hitter or this run of suckitude. A 10 game losing streak like this one is far worse than a no – hitter.
Here’s the thing for me – KC pulls this kind of stuff every year. Change manager, pitchers, hitters, coaches and it’s the same. Have the starter pitch well – bullpen screws it up, have the hitters score runs – starters are awful, good pitching – poor hitting. KC’s normal routine of making average to below average starters look like Cy Young – insert the most recent name here. Continue to play terrible ML players – looks like TPJ is this year’s Jason LaRue whipping boy although Teahen is closing ground. Butler hasn’t improved. Buck and DDJ are just good enough to get you beat. Can’t take a walk even though plate discipline is emphasized in ST. KC leads the league in getting runners thrown out in various ways. The guys who need to bunt as part of their offense can’t get it done.
The culture of losing is alive and well. They’ll say all the right things, gritty and brave as ever, but it won’t change. I am more disappointed with this losing streak than I can remember. Perhaps the fast start gave me false hope. I’ll have my annual retreat into the minor leagues and hope that we can contend two – three years down the road. The ghost of Chip Ambres continues to haunt the organization. Somewhere Allard Baird is smiling . .
by daveyork on May 28, 2008 11:38 PM EDT 0 recs
Management can take some blame on this one
I don’t think the manager is always to blame when the hitters don’t hit or pitchers don’t execute but Wednesday night’s game can point some of blame on Hillman and/or GMDM.
Nunez on the DL should have been covered with a pitcher from Omaha so the bullpen would have at least one fresh arm. Omaha is 2 hours from KC. Would have liked to had Musser on mound for Morneau instead of Peralta. I know he’s not that great but Musser has closed in AAA and LH/LH match up couldn’t have hurt.
Having Gload in RF and Teahen at 1B in the 9th inning was a strategic mistake that might have cost KC an out. Not sure why DDJ was out but it must have been serious.
I’m usually not a finger pointer but just have to bring up the questions. Don’t know if I can listen to game tomorrow. I am glad I have a meeting so I have an excuse.
by daveyork on May 29, 2008 12:01 AM EDT 0 recs
So no mention of Greinke's 117 pitches?
I thought we were suppose to overreact during the losing streak.
by Gopherballs on May 29, 2008 12:17 AM EDT 0 recs
i don't think it's overreacting
At this point in the year, there’s very little reason to have a pitcher go much higher than 100.
Winning individual games is now much less important than keeping your pitchers healthy for next season.
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by marbotty on
May 29, 2008 1:13 AM EDT
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how many did he throw last outing?
"So whattya say, should we clean this place up?" - Tom Cruise
by DyeFan187 on
May 29, 2008 1:18 AM EDT
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He’s gone, from most recent to oldest
99
107
107
100
93
105
107
So, he’s probably okay, but he’s cleared 105 a bunch of times now in the last few games. May not be a big deal, but no reason to do it.
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by marbotty on
May 29, 2008 1:21 AM EDT
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just imagine if the streak is still alive during next game
desperation+ hillman+ a good starter= dusty baker
"So whattya say, should we clean this place up?" - Tom Cruise
by DyeFan187 on
May 29, 2008 1:26 AM EDT
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I wish
they had ran him out there for another 20 more. Maybe we had won the damn game
sign Greinke a Evan Longoria type deal now.
by kcscoliny on
May 29, 2008 9:28 AM EDT
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I have the next 10 days off
and was considering bringing the family up to the K to watch a couple of games, but decided against it based on this teams piss poor play of late. Instead we are going to OKC to watch the Redhawks battle the O Royals. I believe Rosa and Wright are scheduled to pitch the games we will be attending. This team is just a complete nightmare. It’s the same shit that has been going on for the last 10+ years. What is it going to take to get this team turned around? Patience will be a typical answer I imagine, but one can only be patient for so long. I never expected to win anymore than 75 games this year, but even that is starting to look like a reach. I am just glad that their games are blacked out here in Tulsa because I just don’t know how I would’ve reacted seeing this shit happen live.
by gordonrules on May 29, 2008 12:24 AM EDT 0 recs
Wow
I literally flipped to the game to check the score, saw it was 8-3 in the 9th with two outs, chuckled to myself that with “the old Royals” this lead wasn’t safe, but things are different now. So I turned it off to attend to my son.
Oops.
Checking rotoworld tonight, it said Olivo did well “in a Royals loss.” Obvious typo, right? Nope. Royals really blew it. Same old Royals.
I still do feel like this is a different team. The pitching is hugely improved, and its easier to correct offensive than pitching in my view. Still, they need to vastly improve this offense by next year. This will probably be a long season…but it will get better. This is probably a 74-76 win team that will get hot at some point , and probably have another bad losing streak like this.
But its tough right now. Less than two weeks ago we were a game below .500. It seems like five years ago.
Relive Royals History at royalsretro.blogspot.com
by RoyalsRetro on May 29, 2008 12:29 AM EDT 0 recs
According to Bob Dutton
Hillman didn’t trot out Soria tonight because of concern about Soria’s 31-pitch outing last night.
My uncensored and immediate reaction to reading this was, “What the fuck, since when did Hillman start caring about pitch counts?”
Bringing in Ramirez to start the ninth made sense, but I’m not sure why he was yanked for, of all people, Peralta. If Soria was truly unavailable, and Ramirez HAD to be yanked (which I’m not sure was the case or not), Mahay only threw 17 pitches last night and presumably should’ve been available.
And leaving Peralta in to face Morneau in the 10th, even before the homer was hit, was a bad idea. Morneau went into that AB being 5-6 against Peralta in the past. I realize that having to go into extra innings the night after a 12-inning game puts a strain on the bullpen, but only Gobble and Soria really threw an excess of pitches last night (Nunez came close, but he probably could’ve pitched tonight), and Hillman should never have alloewd Peralta to face Morneau.
by DarthYoshi on May 29, 2008 12:50 AM EDT 0 recs
never mind about nunez
I didn’t know he got put on the DL. But I agree with daveyork—I’m not sure why an Omaha pitcher wasnt called up in time for the game, especially in light of the seven innings of work the bullpen had to do last night.
by DarthYoshi on
May 29, 2008 12:53 AM EDT
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Because we have to carry Ross Gload!!!!
First base defense is like, SO important!
Relive Royals History at royalsretro.blogspot.com
by RoyalsRetro on
May 29, 2008 12:57 AM EDT
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First base defense is important
Just ask Bill Buckner.
by DarthYoshi on
May 29, 2008 12:59 AM EDT
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the roster is so poorly arranged
German/Callaspo= the same player
Gathright/DDJ/Teahen= the same player
and top if off with butler being unable to play anywhere and TPJ being terrible
"So whattya say, should we clean this place up?" - Tom Cruise
by DyeFan187 on
May 29, 2008 1:20 AM EDT
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That is an overly simplistic evaluation of five different players
by DarthYoshi on
May 29, 2008 1:22 AM EDT
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but its not far from the truth
5 players not doing too much for this team.
Accidentally not thedude925 anymore. I do hate this new name.
by wildthang on
May 29, 2008 1:42 AM EDT
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Too many roster clogs
Too many guys without options. It lends itself to not much roster flexibility.
Relive Royals History at royalsretro.blogspot.com
by RoyalsRetro on
May 29, 2008 9:57 AM EDT
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the royals had 13 hits through 6 innings...
only 3 the rest of the
and of course no walks drawn
by royalsreview on May 29, 2008 12:57 AM EDT 0 recs
In fairness
No one walks against the Twins.
Relive Royals History at royalsretro.blogspot.com
by RoyalsRetro on
May 29, 2008 12:57 AM EDT
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here's what blew my mind
Bottom 8th: Kansas City
- A. Callaspo singled to shortstop
- T. Pena Jr. grounded into fielder’s choice, A. Callaspo out at second
- R. Gload hit for D. DeJesus
I know we had a 5 run lead at the time, but Ross Gload?
Gload is a worse hitter and defender. And they’re both lefties. And DDJ had already logged two hits in the game.
And even worse, for the second game in a row, somebody pinch hits for a player in an inning and it is not for Tony Pena.
I understand the value of infield defense, but if the Royals were going to lose at that point, it wasn’t going to be because their shortstop let a bunch of singles past him. It was going to be because they give up a homer or two. How do I know this? It happens every game.
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by marbotty on May 29, 2008 1:10 AM EDT 0 recs
oh, wait, did DDJ get hurt?
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by marbotty on
May 29, 2008 1:18 AM EDT
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no one seems to know
by DyeFan187 on
May 29, 2008 1:21 AM EDT
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wouldnt stun me if hillman got cute
"So whattya say, should we clean this place up?" - Tom Cruise
by DyeFan187 on
May 29, 2008 1:21 AM EDT
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Jose Audio
Just caught some audio of Jose after the game. Didn’t hear all of it but it sounded like he was cussing out a reporter who implied this was Hillman’s fault.
by Shooter on May 29, 2008 1:18 AM EDT 0 recs
It was pretty awesome audio.
Pretty much said this team was a bunch of “fucking babies”, said he now knew why “this organization loses so many fucking games”, fuckity fuck fuck fuck etc. He was heated.
winning records follow good bullpens
by slayor on
May 29, 2008 1:20 AM EDT
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Oh, he also said Hillman was the hardest working manager he'd ever seen
And that to blame him at all for these losses was “fucking stupid” etc
winning records follow good bullpens
by slayor on
May 29, 2008 1:22 AM EDT
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he's a team player
If Elarton was Self-Appointed Team Effort Inspector, perhaps Manwich is the Self-Appointed Team Maturity Level Inspector.
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by marbotty on
May 29, 2008 1:23 AM EDT
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Elarton blew a game for the indians three days ago
"So whattya say, should we clean this place up?" - Tom Cruise
by DyeFan187 on
May 29, 2008 1:25 AM EDT
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Why anyone wants to give him a major league job
Is beyond me.
Relive Royals History at royalsretro.blogspot.com
by RoyalsRetro on
May 29, 2008 9:58 AM EDT
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It is about time
that this team had a guy who actually realizes losing sucks. I don’t think it is a good way to act all of the time so it worries me that he will lose it at the wrong time, but I will take some fire from a player for the first time in a while. Not counting Emil’s decision that fire meant shoot a reporter in the eye.
As an aside could you let the SB Nation IT guys know that the site locks up my cell phone’s browser. It is a samsung glyde with full html support.
Proud father of a budding Royals fan.
by Skirra on
May 29, 2008 2:19 AM EDT
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honestly... we should give some credit to Monroe
the singles were what they were
but a 2-out 3-run bomb is pretty clutch
"So whattya say, should we clean this place up?" - Tom Cruise
by DyeFan187 on May 29, 2008 1:22 AM EDT 0 recs
Peralta threw him a thigh high innner half fastball
He might as well of written “PULL ME INTO THE LEFT FIELD SEATS” on the ball. Absolutely brutal pitch, it’s the exact pitch Monroe is looking for and he knew it was coming. It was batting practice.
winning records follow good bullpens
by slayor on
May 29, 2008 1:23 AM EDT
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wasn't the problem
the three straight balls he threw to open up against him? That meant he had
to throw strikes.
Success is counted sweetest by those who ne'er succeed. - Emily Dickinson
by buddyball on
May 29, 2008 11:45 AM EDT
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100 losses?
i posted about this in a pessimistic tone last week…but oh God have we gotten to new (or old) levels of suck. this is ridiculous…the fans that are left from this 10 year pile of garbage built by Herk, Allard, and Dayton deserve better for their loyalty….. and to think, i was even a Peralta fan. i was no longer a fan when he came out to start the 10th. i knew exactly where that was headed (Morneau is on my fantasy team).
Never giving up on your team is what makes you a good fan.
by kcisbetterthanstlateverything on May 29, 2008 1:43 AM EDT 0 recs
I just hope that was the curtain call for Peralta
dude has been totally worthless
Accidentally not thedude925 anymore. I do hate this new name.
by wildthang on May 29, 2008 1:44 AM EDT 0 recs
it may be time for Tsao
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by marbotty on
May 29, 2008 3:09 AM EDT
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Tsao
You’re kidding right?
sign Greinke a Evan Longoria type deal now.
by kcscoliny on
May 29, 2008 9:33 AM EDT
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he's got a great K/9 and BB/9 right now
but he may have a problem with the gopherball. I still like Peralta, too, but I wouldn’t be upset with that change. But Peralta’s hardly the biggest problem with the team.
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by marbotty on
May 29, 2008 10:50 AM EDT
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Yeah
what happened with Peralta? He was never dominant but he had a pretty good year last year.
by I need more Esteban on
May 29, 2008 10:53 AM EDT
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Tsao
I would rather see Davies come up and work him or Tomko at of the pen.
sign Greinke a Evan Longoria type deal now.
by kcscoliny on
May 29, 2008 11:00 AM EDT
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Tsao
is on the DL in Omaha
Relive Royals History at royalsretro.blogspot.com
by RoyalsRetro on
May 29, 2008 11:05 AM EDT
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haha
I thought that said Tsao is on the DL in China for a second.
Accidentally not thedude925 anymore. I do hate this new name.
by wildthang on
May 29, 2008 4:40 PM EDT
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Not that he’s the greatest analyst, but Posnanski thinks that the situation was particularly bad because Peralta’s a flyball pitcher (Ramireiz, by contrast, hasn’t given up a homer all year. Way to stay in the game, Trey!), and coupled with Monroe’s all-or-nothing swing, well…
OMG Banny. FWIW I am only crdtng u w/3 runs allwd bc of DDJ OMFG
by devil_fingers on
May 29, 2008 11:21 AM EDT
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I also don't get why
He faced Morneau. Peralta is great against righties – not so great against lefties.
Relive Royals History at royalsretro.blogspot.com
by RoyalsRetro on
May 29, 2008 11:46 AM EDT
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He isn't great against righties
also Morneau was either 4 of 5 or 5 of 6 off Peralta prior to that.
Billy at worst will be Sean Casey jr.
by kcscoliny on
May 29, 2008 1:49 PM EDT
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He's been solid for three seasons
Not sure what his problem is this year. I guess reliever performance do tend to fluctuate quite a bit from year to year.
Relive Royals History at royalsretro.blogspot.com
by RoyalsRetro on
May 29, 2008 9:59 AM EDT
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Buddy rode him like a wet mule last year
Peralta threw 87 innings last year. Previous career high was 73 the year before, only 34 innings for Angels year before that. Dude is 32 years old. What is it they say, more than 15% innings increase a year increases injury risk. I think we may just be seeing fatigue.
Also, Peralta’s ERA+ was 124 last year, so he’s hardly been worthless.
Royals Win!
by gordonfan on
May 29, 2008 11:34 AM EDT
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Just in case it hasn't been put up

Accidentally not thedude925 anymore. I do hate this new name.
by wildthang on May 29, 2008 1:50 AM EDT 0 recs
it could very well be a depiction of the season as a whole
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by marbotty on
May 29, 2008 3:08 AM EDT
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About a year ago I wrote a blog post called "Culture of Losing" as Royalsbalto
I no longer use that name and I can’t find that post but in it I wrote about how the Royals have engendered a culture of losing. I compared it to USC pre Pete Carroll. I still think that the culture exists but believe it or not I’m actually going to write a positive response here rather than a negative one.
The point I tried to make in that blog post way back when was that it took Carroll at least one year to get the team and the program to shake off that menality of losing that permeated the program. He’s talked openly about it being the hardest challenge in his first year. He knew there was talent and the young guys could fill the gaps but there was this aura of losing that when things went bad the team would implode. It culminated in a game at the University of Washington where they worked their butts off to be in a position to win only to watch the Huskies march down the field and kick a field goal to win it. After that Carroll made a conscious decision that they were going to reign in things and keep it close and make winning no matter how ugly a priority. Things began to turn around and the next season they made the Orange Bowl and had a Heisman QB in Carson Palmer.
The bottom line is this. I don’t know yet if Hillman has what it takes to turn it all around but I do know that these are the growing pains the team will have to go through to break through this mentality/culture/aura of losing. There’s talent. There’s pitching but none of that matters when the shoulders are hunched and the feeling is that no matter what things are going to go bad and they’re going to lose. When that mentality changes and I hope Hillman has what it takes to do it, they will begin to win. It will be that sudden.
Here’s to hoping it comes sooner than later.
by MKforKC on May 29, 2008 2:27 AM EDT 0 recs
the only difference
its legal to pay the royals.
Accidentally not thedude925 anymore. I do hate this new name.
by wildthang on
May 29, 2008 2:51 AM EDT
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Oh, give me a break.
Every time the Royals go into a tailspin like this someone trots out this type of thing. It’s all bull, if you ask me. The team will start winning when they start hitting and pitching and fielding better, not when Hillman casts some magic spell to break up an “aura.”
A mind without purpose will walk in dark places.
by NHZ on
May 29, 2008 1:10 PM EDT
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THIS
was apparently one hell of a game to miss.
A mind without purpose will walk in dark places.
by NHZ on May 29, 2008 1:10 PM EDT 0 recs
You didn't see it
I threw my remote. It was utterly ridiculous yet still predictable when Peralta was coming into the game.
Billy at worst will be Sean Casey jr.
by kcscoliny on
May 29, 2008 1:52 PM EDT
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Joel
had the same rough stretch at the beginning of last year, though. I expect he’ll come around long term, it was just a terrible outing for him though…I watched the highlights with the mlb.com video and that 0-2 pitch to Monroe was baaaaaaad.
A mind without purpose will walk in dark places.
by NHZ on
May 29, 2008 3:24 PM EDT
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