FanPost

Fear and loathing in Kansas City

Ed Zurga/Getty Images

In case you missed it, tempers were far from maintained during this weekend's Royals-A's three-game set at the K. It began with a "routine" breakup of a double play where Brett Lawrie used the spikes of his cleats in much the same manner as an extra thrusts his shiv in an episode of HBO's Oz; it would have been a fairly innocuous event if Lawrie was tossed from the game. He wasn't, so it wasn't. Instead, reprisals ensued and two hit batsmen, a 100-mile-per-hour fastball behind a back, and six Royals' ejections rippled behind this one event. Lawrie's subsequent apology was not accepted, if it was sent at all, and this oddity has just added more waste to the festering compost that will be re-stirred and used to fertilize the field in June.

Many are citing this as the start of a great, new inter-divisional rivalry, one that (apparently) began with a classic Royals comeback in the 2014 A.L. Wild Card game. Those that think this is a Kansas City—Oakland thing haven't been paying attention to the Royals this season.

Here is a recap:

2015 KC Royals' HBP Breakdown

Date

Game

Opponent

Pitcher

Batter

6-Apr

1

White Sox

Samardzija

Gordon

Samardzija

Cain

8-Apr

2

White Sox

Quintana

Cain

Quintana

Moustakas

10-Apr

4

Angels

Santiago

Moustakas

Santiago

Moustakas

Alvarez

Gordon

11-Apr

5

Angels

Ramos

Gordon

Alvarez

Hosmer

12-Apr

6

Angels

Wilson

Moustakas

13-Apr

7

Twins

Duensing

Gordon

Graham

Rios

15-Apr

8

Twins

Gibson

Morales

19-Apr

12

Athletics

Kasmir

Cain

In the first twelve games played this season, the Royals have had a player hit by the opposing pitcher fourteen times. Mike Moustakas has already been hit more times than he was all last season (3). Alex Gordon has felt the baseball's leather the same number of times; all this despite the fact that he has only played in nine games. Royals fans are up in arms about who is getting hit, too. Where are the Infantes or Colons? The Gordons, Cains, and Moustakases took the lion's share at the beginning of the year, and then the Rioses and Moraleses (fresh off of hot streaks) found their way onto the list. (And, unfortunately, Rios found his way onto another list: the Disabled one.)

We can rest well with the fact that at least Lorenzo Cain and Danny Duffy are speaking their minds: Both, according to Matthew DeFranks' FSKC article, think that there's a bit of headhunting going on, that there's a bit of "payback" for our run through the American League playoffs last year.

"It's definitely going too far, I think, personally, with all the hitting and stuff like that," Cain said. "That's the way the game is played. We just have to get back to playing baseball. It's a grind already."

"I feel like we've worn a lot of pitches this year," Duffy said. "I'm not saying that that's not part of the game. But when you take as many in the ribs or in the leg as we have, it raises eyebrows."

Lorenzo Cain and Danny Duffy tried to approach the topic diplomatically, but one does not need a PhD in Psychology to hear what they're really saying: "With fear and loathing toward us Royals, it's us against the league."

Can we blame the Royals for a bit of outrage? Can we blame Ned Yost for his bring-back-the-'70s, Earl Weaver-esque behavior this weekend? Perhaps. It is certain that a player appreciates a teammate (and a manager) standing up for him, but if it comes at a cost of ejections and suspensions, is the posturing really worth it? If losses are stacked up in the wake of these temper tantrums, will they be worth it? By not-so-subtly insinuating that the opponents are -- indeed -- trying to hurt the Royals, Duffy and Cain are doing nothing more than perpetuating the perception.

Granted, if Brett Lawrie were ejected on Friday, cooler heads would have prevailed; however, I argue that cooler heads should always prevail. As it turned out, Ventura was only fined. Herrera, however, is facing a five-game suspension, pending appeal. The collective psyche surrounding a baseball team and a baseball season has been scrambled by less ... losing a team's Band-Aid-Closer in a critical series could be an impetus into a widening gyre. Prior to the cauldron overflowing, the Royals were only defeated once in a game where they were beaned, and that is the appropriate response: win.

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.