Royals Review: FanPosts

OT: Memorial Day memories

2013-05-25T13:49:01Z

Since the Royals aren't giving us much to remember lately, I thought perhaps the community would be interested in observing Memorial Day weekend by sharing stories of veterans we've known but are no longer with us. Seems to me that keeping their stories and memories alive is one of the best ways to thank them, along with enjoying the freedoms they helped ensure.

Memories of veterans can extend beyond soldiers themselves, to others affected by war. My father's family survived the Japanese occupation of the Philippines in WWII, one of relatively few to make it through the internment camps with no losses. As ethnic/cultural caucasian-Americans, they'd been there since the Spanish-American war and so weren't about to leave. My paternal grandfather was off at college in the US when war broke out, and I still have in my possession a packet of the letters his mother sent him as war came ever nearer the country. They're a mix of apprehension at the growing Japanese threat, (misguided) optimism that US reinforcements would come in time, and a growing sense of foreboding as bombs begin to fall on Manila and they lose neighbors and friends to direct hits. Finally the letters stop, and he spent the war on a submarine in the Pacific hearing nothing of his family's fate. But they all made it, and my father was born & raised in post-war Manila.

My maternal grandfather was almost a caricature of the WWII experience. From far northern Minnesota, he enlisted rather than be drafted, made it through North Africa and Sicily before a serious leg wound from German artillery sent him home from Italy. A devout Christian, his letters home reveal some of the emotional and philosophical tension he felt in an environment & duty so hostile to his beliefs. Recovering in New Orleans, he fell in love with a pretty Mississippi nurse and won her over. He always walked with a limp from the large divot in his calf where shrapnel passed through. As a kid, I sopped up the carefully sanitized war stories he told me, not realizing until much later how much he was holding back. Like a lot of families, we watched Saving Private Ryan together and walked out in tears. He still wouldn't talk about a lot of things to me, though he knew I was fascinated by the history, but we were especially close after that. He passed away a few years ago after a long and fulfilling life.

Throughout high school I played Taps for as many veterans' funerals as I could manage. There weren't many good trumpet players in our rural area, and too often vets got tape recorders instead or poorly warbled renditions. I really enjoyed doing this, though I haven't done it in a long time now and my lips are no good anymore. The notes still give me chills.

So I'm appreciative of the memories, not only of my grandfathers who directly served, but of my grandmother who healed so many wounded soldiers, of my family in the Philippines who held out under brutal occupation conditions, and so many more people who contributed to our freedom in ways large and small. I hope some of you will want to share stories as well from any era, to keep those memories and that gratitude alive. Thanks for reading.

OT Friday: Shake It Up Edition

2013-05-24T20:47:12Z

1. Pets. Do you have any? Names, species, character flaws.

2. Favorite board game?

3. Memorial Day: If you could have any dead person brought back to life, so that you could fight them, who would it be?

4. What are you reading?

5. What kind of shorts are you going to be wearing this summer?

Boner: Charcoal or Gas?

Our human compassion binds us the one to the other - not in pity or patronizingly, but as human beings who have learnt how to turn our common suffering into hope for the future.
-Nelson Mandela

1. Pets. Do you have any? Names, species, character flaws.

2. Favorite board game?

3. Memorial Day: If you could have any dead person brought back to life, so that you could fight them, who would it be?

4. What are you reading?

5. What kind of shorts are you going to be wearing this summer?

Boner: Charcoal or Gas?

Our human compassion binds us the one to the other - not in pity or patronizingly, but as human beings who have learnt how to turn our common suffering into hope for the future.
-Nelson Mandela

Ned Yost Calls for Players-Only Meeting to Discuss Ineffectiveness of Players-Only Meetings

2013-05-24T20:26:07Z

In an effort to stymie the recent freefall of the struggling Kansas City Royals, manager Ned Yost has called on the team to conduct a players-only meeting to identify and correct the reasons behind the ineffectiveness of recent players-only meetings.

"This is where and how this losing trend needs to stop - behind closed doors" the Royals skipper asserted. "This is how hard-nosed baseball is done. Problems on the field are solved by being accountable in that locker room, and the way to attain that accountability is by locking those doors and not coming out until those issues are resolved. I assure you the team has already had some of these meetings, but still we are not getting the results that are expected. The problem clearly stems from having the wrong kind of players-only meeting. At this point I'm encouraging the team to have a new meeting, and I'll nail those doors shut if I have to this time until this team can decide what sort of players-only meeting is going to get results."

Team leader Jeff Francouer can see where Yost is coming from.

"Look, something needs to change in [the locker room}. We've identified certain problems that these guys seem to take to heart, but the real problem seems to lie in being accountable for what they've said. For instance, last team meeting we told Moose [third baseman Mike Moustakas] that he needs to stop sitting with his head down and blaring that damn AWOLnation song on repeat every time he goes 0-4. The very next night, he's sitting in his locker with his headphones on sobbing something that sounded like 'blame it on my ADD'". It doesn't take a genius to figure out what he's listening to, and while he's technically following through on the letter of the law we laid down, he's not following the spirit of it. As a team, we need to figure out what sort of players-only meeting is going to get through to him."

Other Royals' players seem to differ on what exactly might make for more effective players-only meetings. Part-time second baseman Chris Getz proferred that maybe technology could help identify and illustrate the issues that need to be worked on.

"We play baseball the old school way - the right way - but we're still a 21st century team. We have iPhones and internet and iPads, all sorts of ways to show video and presentations on how to improve this team, and we really need to utilize them. Well, I take that back. Elliott [Johnson] only has a black and white Kindle, so he's not really going to be able to help out much there, or at second base, or at the top of the lineup, and definitely shouldn't play ever. But the rest of us are open to using technology. I've heard Bruce Chen is really good at Powerpoints, that could be a key launching point for better players-only meetings."

First baseman Eric Hosmer took a more candid approach in his assessment of the locker room situation.

"We're not the Red Sox, OK? We're not in there eating chicken and drinking beer while lamenting our problems, alright? We have great, motivated guys in there. If anything we might be too focused during our players-only meetings. Gordo [left-fielder Alex Gordon] is so determined to lead this team by example that he's usually just outside the circle adding to the conversation while doing burpees and body-weight exercises to motivate us. It sometimes just works too well, as Frenchy [Francouer] usually joins in for five minutes or so until he needs to go to the mirror and see the progress being made in his triceps. True leaders for sure, but I guess sometimes it's a little distracting."

Some Royals players seem to think that even when a consensus is reached on actions that need to happen on the field, even one dissenter can undo a productive players-only meeting.

"Best and worst decision we made all year in a players-only meeting was to use the John Cena 'Can't See Me' motion after a hit", says slugger Billy Butler. "It's fun, helps keep most of us loose, just lets us enjoy the game a little bit after a minor personal victory. There is one guy though - and I won't say who - who really wanted our post-hit celebration to be the Gangnam Style horsey-ride dance. We tried telling him that it was no longer funny but when he aggressively disagreed, we just had to out and out tell him that it really puts a bad mental image in our heads since he's constantly doing the horsey dance naked in the showers anyway. Well, he got pouty after that and I think it's really affected his production this year at the plate. In retrospect we probably should have taken a gentler approach with the guy and showed him that all opinions matter in players-only meetings. We really were counting on some production out of right field this year."

General Manager Dayton Moore echoed the sentiments of Francouer that in the end, it all comes down to finding an approach that ensures that what is said in players-only meetings makes it to the field. "I'm not going to throw anyone under the bus here, but when we make a big trade for a guy in the offseason and he identifies his problem as making a mistake pitch every game and swears that he won't do that anymore, you expect him to hold true to that. Next game, here comes the mistake pitch again and all of a sudden we're down 2-0 to the Astros. How can you expect your team to come back from a 2 run deficit when your ace is not holding up his end of the bargain? You can't. These young kids on our team look to the leaders as examples, the losing has nothing to do with the talent level on this team - and I would know, because I hold myself accountable for that."

Time will tell if these Royals can find the right combination of words and actions in today's scheduled players-only meeting to right the ship, but Royals fans everywhere will not have to wait long to find out as the Royals play game 2 of a 4 game series with the Angels tonight at 7:10 pm.

Team leader Jeff Francouer can see where Yost is coming from.

First baseman Eric Hosmer took a more candid approach in his assessment of the locker room situation.

Some Royals players seem to think that even when a consensus is reached on actions that need to happen on the field, even one dissenter can undo a productive players-only meeting.

Extension time!

2013-05-24T18:57:06Z

via binaryapi.ap.org

Yes, the sky is falling. 17-10 is the new 18-11. Olympus has fallen. Release the Kraken. Etc, etc, etc.

That being said, it is the perfect time for the small market, underspending Kansas City Royals to start negotiating some contract extensions. The Royals are sitting at the "brink of relevance" table in the casino for the first time in almost 30 years. It's time to pick up the chips and head back to the penny slots, or push all in.

Most fans are calling for the head of Mike Moustakas right now, and are less than pleased with one Eric Hosmer's "power" numbers. This is completely justified. Both are high picks that the organization has planned as cornerstones of the new Kansas City Royals. We expect more from them, and we should. But this could be just the opportunity that the team needs to extend the potential window of contention from a few years into a decade - if management is bold enough to double down on the (so-far) less than dynamic duo.

The reality is the Royals have acted as a farm club for big-spending MLB teams for the past 20 years. Just as soon as the Johnny Damons and the Carlos Beltrans developed into legitimate players, we were outbid by serious contenders. The best they could hope for was to find some Raul Ibanez types from the scrap heap and hope to catch lightning in a bottle to keep fans interested - hopefully at least until the All-Star Break. While the economic environment has improved some versus the darkest years, the Royals are still in a position where they have to take chances that large-market clubs don't. That's where extensions come into play...

If the Royals believe in the process, if they believe in their ability to evaluate and develop talent, if they believe that they got to this place at the brink of relevance legitimately - it is time to move boldly. While their leverage is at its greatest, sign Eric Hosmer and Mike Moustakas to long-term contracts. Push all in. This is as cheap as they will come and the Yankees and Dodgers can't currently snatch them away.

If Moose continues to hit little league pop ups, and Hosmer continues to be the singles king, the organization will have failed miserably. But if the pair fulfill their potential, it could be the greatest move the franchise has ever made.

via binaryapi.ap.org

Yes, the sky is falling. 17-10 is the new 18-11. Olympus has fallen. Release the Kraken. Etc, etc, etc.

Royal Card of the Day 5/24/13: AWFUL Friday Original Gangster Edition

2013-05-24T18:02:50Z

1996 Pinnacle Foil #289 Bob Hamelin - Beckett Value: $.40

How many bloggers out there know just what I'm gettin' at
Who thinks it's wrong cuz I'm spittin' and co-hittin' at
Well if you do, that's OBP and you're not down with it
But if you don't, here's your membership...
You down with OBP?
(Bob Hamelin's Reply): NO YOU KNOW ME.
You down with OBP?
(Bob Hamelin's Reply): HERE COMES STRIKE THREE.

Photo: 1.5/10

The thug above is 1994 AL RoY Bob Hamelin, aka Bobizzle Hamizzle. Unlike most hoodlums growing up on the rough streets of Elizabeth, NJ, Bob made it out of the ghetto. His OG spirit never left him, which lead to this mugshot. The Pinnacle photographers showed up for picture day but found out from manager Bob Boone that Hamizzle was down at the JC Correctional Facility serving time for robbing a Hostess Truck. They hurried down there to get a picture of this phenom, leading to the awfulness above. Bob, being quite shy compared to most gangsters, grabbed his name placard and casually held it up to cover his double chin. THUGLIFE

Design: 1.5/10

Seriously, what the HELL were they thinking? Most players were subject to the normal run-of-the-mill embarrassing shots like this:

What did Pinnacle have against Bob Hamelin? I know I should be focusing on the card design, but that amounts to that stupid gold foil triangle in the bottom. Awful.

Card Back: 7/10

For such an awful front, the back really is pretty good. It would be nice if they had shown his '94 statistics instead of '95, because they were way better. Bob actually looks pretty badass on the photo in the back, coolly watching his latest 500 foot bomb.

Overall Score: 3/10

Hamelin's 1996 Season:

If Barry Bonds gets an asterisk next to *762, Hamelin needs one next to *1994 RoY. Bob played in 101 games before that dirty players union and corrupt league office ruined baseball's innocence by stopping the season. He put up some stellar numbers but he was total crap in 1995. My version of Naughty By Nature's hit song above really isn't fair. Bob was remarkably good in every year but 1995 at getting on base. Through 89 games in 1996 Bob posted .255/.391/.435. Since the only stat that mattered in 1995 was that first number, he was granted free agency following the season. Bob retired in 1997 but continues to scout, most recently for the Red Sox. I haven't seen Hamelin in a long time, but I'm betting that right now he's in the stands of some college baseball game flashing his grill, bling-bling chains and bifocals while looking for the next OG prodigy.

1996 Pinnacle Foil #289 Bob Hamelin - Beckett Value: $.40

Photo: 1.5/10

Design: 1.5/10

Seriously, what the HELL were they thinking? Most players were subject to the normal run-of-the-mill embarrassing shots like this:

What did Pinnacle have against Bob Hamelin? I know I should be focusing on the card design, but that amounts to that stupid gold foil triangle in the bottom. Awful.

Card Back: 7/10

Overall Score: 3/10

Hamelin's 1996 Season:

A Manifesto for a freefalling 21-23 team

2013-05-24T08:46:41Z

Just thought doing something productive after the crystallization of the annual May Royals slide would be a good idea. Or failing that, something where I could just vent a bit on the current situation.

Don't act as if this is new territory. Don't act as if 21-23 after 44 is some sort of accomplishment. Don't act as if 21-23 after 44 is some sort of great thing.

KC started 21-23 in 2008, with loss 23 being a Jon Lester no-hitter. They lost 11 more games in a row. Dropping to 21-34.

KC started 22-22 in 2009, then they lost 9 of 11 to drop to 24-31.

KC started 22-22 in 2011. Then they lost 5 in a row and were 26-36 on June 8th of 2011.

21-23 after 44 is nothing to hold a plaza parade over. They set the expectations. They set the expectations of far more than a team on pace to win 77 games. They did it to get Dayton Moore a contract extension in order to keep the gravy train flowing. They sold their best assets in the farm system for a starter none of the hitters want to win, another starter who should be a reliever and a utility infielder.

All this pitching, all this pitching, was supposed to make this team contend.

Ervin Santana had a 2.00 ERA after April and 99 career wins. Ervin Santana has a 3.14 ERA after May 23rd and 99 career wins. Ervin Santana was very happy with his performance where his ERA went up by 37 decimal points. So at least he's happy for the remainder of the 2 months he'll be a Royal.

James Shields has a better ERA in losses than wins. The better he pitches, the worse this offense performs. This team doesn't deserve a James Shields. This team put up more wins for the first 10 starts of Luke Hochevar's 2012 season than for the first 10 starts of James Shields' 2013 season. It's true, look it up. 29 other teams would love a James Shields. 29 other teams would have given James Shields more wins than this Royals team.

Jeremy Guthrie is a mere mortal. Jeremy Guthrie is a nice guy from all indications. Jeremy Guthrie would have been an ace on a lot of Royals teams that didn't have a functional Gil Meche or the beginning of Zack Greinke's career peak. Jeremy Guthrie has seen his ERA go up by over a run in the last month.

If you put Wade Davis in a corn maze, the guy would never get out. Amazingly irritating pitcher to watch. So slow during any sort of stress. He's a relief pitcher. He's being forced to start because he's the Mike Wood of this deal. A general manager who acquired Vin Mazzaro, Sean O'Sullivan, Will Smith, and an army of mediocrities. Wade Davis is just so incredibly irritating to watch. He wasn't put in the Tampa Bay bullpen because they had a great rotation. He was put in the Tampa Bay bullpen because he was their Luke Hochevar.

Luis Mendoza used to be infuriating to watch. Back in 2010, the guy just showed up and spewed runs all over the scoreboard. He turned himself into something useful for a little bit. His 2012 was serviceable. He's better than Wade Davis. But that's like being a better drummer than Meg White.

The idea of pitching winning championships is such a load of nonsense. Good pitching is nice. Teams with good pitching typically fare well. But this team has had great pitching for the first two months and they have a losing record. They could have had a losing record with a lot less effort to build a starting rotation.

The problem is the hitting, but guess what?

The hitting wasn't all that worse to start off the magical first 27 outside of the Philadelphia series.

They put up 4 runs a game in those 24 games, and won 15 of 24 in those games. They've put up around 3.9 runs a game in their 17 games, and lost 13 of 17.

One of those two things is a bigger fluke. I'd imagine the 5/8ths winning percentage while scoring 4 runs a game is far flukier than the 4-13.

I never had this team marked as anything over 76 wins. Never. Not once. Not even at 16-10. Because every single Dayton Moore team always fades early in 2007, and 2008, and 2009, and 2010, and 2011, and 2012. Every single time. Dayton Moore has never built a team that has a winning record after game 43. NEVER. NEVER. NEVER. NEVER. NEVER. But don't worry ownership likes him because they don't know anything about Baseball and they keep falling for Dayton Moore's baloney. I'm not advocating the ownership directly run the team. They just need to fire Dayton Moore before they realize they got taken by the Music Man.

Every single Dayton Moore team fades. It's like they hired the guy who built Galloping Gertie to keep building bridges. That kept getting decimated by the wind. It's like they don't even pay attention to the fact that Dayton Moore is not a credible judge of major league talent.

Is anybody doing more to shorten the length of their job tenure than Ned Yost? Anybody? Let's face it, this team won't contend with a new manager. But Ned Yost is just repeatedly shooting himself in the foot in the last week.

The worst thing possible is to go on a season-ending downward slide with a defining moment to start the streak.

4-13 since James Shields got pulled after 8.

4-9 since they moved Alex Gordon to the 3 spot and started batting guys who hit like pitchers in the 1 and 2 spots. And on Thursday, they batted the 4 worst hitters on the team directly in front of Alex Gordon. THEY MOVED GORDON TO GET HIM MORE RBI OPPORTUNITIES AND DROPPED THESE GUYS IN FRONT OF HIM. It's amazing.

Just bat Gordon leadoff to get him as many at-bats as possible since he's the only guy on the team who consistently has good at-bats.

Chris Getz is a joke. Chris Getz wasn't even playing a few days ago and now he's hitting leadoff. Chris Getz is not going to be an RBI opportunity for Alex Gordon. You know you have to be really damned bad at Baseball to make people pine for Elliot Johnson to regularly play. Chris Getz is one of the few 2nd basemen acquired by Dayton Moore and for some reason, he has had four seasons in Kansas City. He somehow has an option year. Chris Getz doesn't field extraordinarily. Chris Getz doesn't satisfactory. I'm sure he's a nice guy and smart and everything, but he's just not good at baseball. It's like the sports cliche mentioned about Getz finding his game. When he finds his game, he'll find his game is something not called baseball. He might be a good tennis player or something.

Alcides Escobar is good with a glove and totally out of his element hitting at the top of the order. If this team actually acquired or developed players worth a damn to be at the top of the lineup, Alcides Escobar is hitting 7th or 8th. They had Alex Gordon hitting leadoff and Melky hitting 2nd two years ago. They turned Melky into Sanchez and turned Sanchez into Guthrie. Whoo. Just a trade or two away from finding some offense in those hills.

Alex Gordon is the James Shields of the Offense. Alex Gordon was the only guy hitting in the last 3 weeks, but he's not scoring or knocking in runs because they are suck in the 1970s and they think that Gordon has to hit 3rd because that's what they did when people thought tight pants was a good idea. Just bat Gordon leadoff because it'll get him the most at-bats.

Billy Butler. I'm finding it amazing that i'm losing patience with Billy Butler. He just hits too many groundballs and you know there is no chance he's getting on base when he grounds the ball to the Shortstop for the 9th time in the game. The Shortstop could have a heart attack, be legally dead, and get the ball out of his hand during a rare moment of clarity, and Butler would still be out by 5 steps. Billy Butler isn't even such an automatic out because of his size. I don't spend time looking at his stomach (I figure that's best left to his texting/photo buddies). Billy Butler isn't slow because of his size being any larger or smaller than usual. He's slow because he has two feet that don't move very fast. Billy Butler had a breakthrough year in 2012. He hit more line drives. Even more fly balls, and fewer groundballs. Then in 2013, he's back to his usual self. Billy Butler has the most career games and PAs of any player his age at DH. Butler leads those categories for "career to 27 years old" easily. He leads those categories for "career to 28 years old" as well despite being 27 years old. You're witnessing history when you see Billy Butler, because most every other regular 27 year old was put at a position, even in cases of delusion, instead of being an every day DH from the age of 25 until now. Butler will start mixing in a few more line drives some day soon. It's just irritating to watch because it kills confidence that he's going to actually do something in a big situation. They're walking Alex Gordon to pitch to Billy Butler. What is wrong with the universe.

Eric Hosmer. All he really does is hit singles. If he ever gets to be somewhat good, and he might some day! It'll require accepting that his offensive skillset is like a Travis Lee. He won't hit a lot of home runs. He'll get some doubles. He'll steal bases because nobody ever told him to stop that and his percentages aren't terrible when it comes to stealing bases. He has hit some more singles lately. But he doesn't hit for enough power to really do much anyways. The one thing I've always heard from people is that Hosmer and Moustakas like the KC nightlife a bit. Which is a surprise since one could say the nightlife is not great in KC (if Hosmer likes the night life, put him in New York and see how long he lasts). Maybe the people who think Hosmer parties too much also make note of when they think Butler's pants size has increased.

Lorenzo Cain. It's like they don't know what the hell do to with him on offense. They don't like him at the top of the order after occasionally trying him there. They didn't start Cain at leadoff twice in a row. They started Cain a few times at 2 when they were pretending Escobar was a leadoff hitter. They've moved Cain back to 6. Because they think there's 5 hitters who they want to get more plate appearances than Lorenzo Cain.

Salvador Perez has moved forward on offense. Naturally he's hitting in the bottom half of the order. Because God forbid we get one of the better bats in the lineup out of the bottom half of the order. He's more solid on defense than a lot of recent catchers, which means he gets overrated by the team media people. He'll probably be a bit worse than the 1990s era Pudge Rodriguez on offense. But right now he's kinda wasted in his spot/

Oooooooooh Mike Moustakas. Nobody has ever started as deeply bad as Mike Moustakas as a young 3rd baseman and actually done something with their career. Moustakas was bad in 2011. He was dragged to bad in 2012. He's bad in 2013. He's on a 2 for 43. He went on a 2 for 49 in 2011. He doesn't study video tape. He openly contrasts that to Butler and Gordon studying tape and doesn't realize what's wrong. Mike Moustakas is the guy who doesn't study and doesn't take notes who winds up trying to make his way though a college. Mike Moustakas is not the same as Alex Gordon in 2007/2008. Mike Moustakas is a lot worse. Mike Moustakas probably shouldn't be playing in Kansas City, but they made sure to prevent any legitimate competition from being in the upper reaches of the KC farm system. They'll act like a tag team of Tejada and Falu wouldn't be preferable as Moustakas goes away to figure things out. They say Moustakas hasn't lost his confidence. But they were openly hiding that Moustakas needed "mental days off" in 2012 as they happened. They batted Miguel Tejada for Mike Moustakas in the 7th. I don't know when, if ever, Ned pinch hit for someone in the 7th in a competitive game. Dayton, it is not a sign of weakness to demote one of the prize ponies.

Jeff Francoeur. Well, he got pinch hit for on Thursday night for the first time since July 2009. Yes, it had been nearly 4 years since a manager pinch hit for Jeff Francoeur. Most of the time NL managers would double-switch Francoeur away. Ron Washington would just play Francoeur v. LHP. But Francoeur is pretty much getting to play every day until the end of the Dyson injury due to the David Lough error.

It's a giant blaring double standard that David Lough makes one error in Oakland. But Jeff Francoeur makes multiple errors, some on the same night, and it doesn't seem like anything ever happens to Francoeur. In fact Francoeur is batting against RH pitchers. It's like the charge of the lightheaded brigade. It's amazing. It makes no sense whatsoever.

George Kottaras is pretty fine, plus he's exposing which people are adherants to the outdated stat called batting average. George Kottaras pinch hit for Jeff Francoeur. That's kinda amazing to think about. Ned may not be Bobby Cox, but he's not completely oblivious to Francoeur.

The batting order is a giant freaking mess. Ned started messing with the tiles in his shower, and destabilzed other tiles trying to correct one. Here's an idea from 3am.

Gordon LF
Hosmer 1B
Butler DH
Cain CF
Perez C
Moustakas 3B (if he must be here)
Escobar SS
Getz 2B
Francoeur RF

Hell, it winds up batting Gordon behind the four black holes like the other lineup, but Gordon gets to hit a bit more. Hosmer could get some more at-bats if he ever wants to work things out and become useful. Gordon wouldn't be a total dead duck if Hosmer just grounds everything to the infielders. You could flip Cain and Perez for all I care. And yes, they'll use lefty relievers on Gordon and Hosmer. But then again, if you're gonna bat two lefties back to back, might as well have the better one go first.

Or in a world where Moustakas is in Omaha (which makes the lineup a bit too right-handed, but we could create two more lineups of David Lough/Dyson.. heck might as well get creative with the idea of Dyson not leading off but being in a position where he could move across the bases for other hitters):

Gordon/Falu/Butler/Cain/Perez/Hosmer/Francoeur/Getz/Escobar

Gordon/Cain/Butler/Perez/Hosmer/Tejada/Francoeur/Getz/Escobar

Or just pick a batting order out of an empty Starbucks cup or something. It'd make as much sense as Getz hitting leadoff.

Our offense just seems very one-dimensional. They hit a lot of ground balls (aside from the 2nd baseman and Moustakas). Sometimes they hit groundballs that go into the outfield, or the infielders blow the play. Most of the time they make outs. The Ned Yost home run projections was one of the dumber things he said in the last few months, but how many HRs can you expect from a bunch of guys who will hit lots of groundball outs.

They have enough problems avoiding double plays when the batter and runner aren't fast enough to pull off a hit and run. Most of them don't appear to have any sort of obvious two strike approach aside from swing-away.

To be quite honest, I think they're trying to do some sort of plate patience but they're not buying into that sort of communism. Which is ridiculous because they're just shooting themselves in the foot with stupid stupid approaches that cause guys like Joe Blanton to throw 7 pitch innings. Joe Blanton throws 9 pitches while tying his shoes. They got Jason Vargas on Friday, Jerome Williams on Saturday who i've probably seen but don't remember, and CJ Wilson's hair on Sunday. God Help Them. Because their bats certainly won't be the X-Factor in getting them some wins over an Angels team that'd be lucky to top .500.

Is this all a product of getting rid of the so-called hitting guru Kevin Seitzer? No. Stop being a reactionary. Stop acting like a Royals offense that was only special in 2011 when you got a Melky enhanced year, a Francoeur contract year and the rise of Gordon was the typical Seitzer product. Kevin Seitzer is a pretty good hitting instructor if the person involved in 12 years old. But he wasn't all that special as a major league hitting coach. I don't know enough about the results of Jack Maloof or Andre David to have strong feelings that they have to go. It's like blaming the economy a few months into a Presidential team entirely on the current President.

Losing has a way of really bringing out a lot of the stupid things said. There's less of a halo if you're losing and stupid than if you're winning and stupid. People in the vicious KC sports media are beginning to stop dancing around their points in regards to Ned Yost. Should Ned Yost be fired? yes. If you fire Dayton Moore at the same time. Why would you let a guy who hired Trey Hillman and Ned Yost make another managerial hire. Do you think he's got an idea of what a good manager is right now. There's reason to doubt either will happen quite yet. They'll close that barn door after all the cattle are gone.

Is this team, as it stands now, built to win? No. Joe Sheehan may say 83-79. Lots of other experts may say close to .500. But it's 76-86 all day long. They are all victims of the gambler's fallacy. But this is a one-dimensional offense whose veteran bats are not exactly prestigious. I've been more definitive on the idea of teams havng somebody on the roster with experience in winning situations being better bets to succeed. I'll stick by that. This team is not making a June or July run. They're not that good. This isn't Hawk Harrelson will to win nonsense. They're just not good when everything is factored into the equation. Good teams tend to finish ahead of not-good teams. Aside from some glitches in the Matrix. This team can't just bounce back to having 4 runs a game and winning 62% of their games. They can't just bounce back to the schedule leading up to 17-10 where they beat the Ray's terrible bullpen and then beat up on the hitless White Sox. The 17-10 Royals are not the real 2013 Royals.

You can act like 21-23 is not a failure. That's fair. You can't act like it's a success. Not when they started 17-10.

If this team proves me wrong, and precedent says they won't. Then good. I'd rather be wrong and happy than right and unhappy. Prove me wrong Eric Hosmer, be somewhat useful with a bat. Prove me wrong Mike Moustakas, actually get a hit more than 2 times per 40 at-bats. Prove me wrong Royals team that has repeatedly failed to approach .500 in the actual summer.

C'mon. If you're so different, prove it. Until then, you're the same as 2008, 2009 and 2011.

Royal Card of the Day 5/23/13: For the Love of Gordon

2013-05-23T21:02:18Z

2013 Topps Silver Slate Blue Sparkle Wrapper Redemption #204 Alex Gordon - Beckett Value: $4

Photo: 8/10

This photo has it all, a good shot of the player's profile, some action and a great view of the uniform. Because of the blue sparkle design, we can't see the full picture so I had to drop it off a couple points. Alex also has a Joe Randa-esque tobacco grin on his face, so you know he smacked that ball. That gets me thinking... has anyone noticed that the rise of these stupid "Look I'm on base" hand signals have started to rise throughout the league with the fall of chewing tobacco? Any theories out there?

Design: 10/10

I absolutely love the design of this card. As I mentioned in a recent post, I love the 2013 Topps design. What makes this card special is the awesome blue sparkly glitter shit going on. You can't go to Wal-Mart and buy a pack in hopes of finding one of this. No sir, you had to mail off dozens of empty packs to Topps in exchange for a redemption pack stuffed with these. The only problem is that Topps literally only made enough of these redemption packs to cover the orders that were mailed out the very first day of this promotion. I got this bad boy off of Ebay for $2... worth every penny. Sadly, my scanner doesn't do this card justice, it really flattens out the shine. The sparkling blue glitter looks way better in person.

Card Back: 9/10

This is the exact same card back you'll find on any base Alex Gordon card this season, which is a good thing. Now everyone can enjoy its beauty! The biggest difference you might notice with today's cards versus older ones is the renewed emphasis on statistic columns. These cards are a numbers-guy's dream! It takes me forever to open a pack of these because I go through and analyze every column of every batter to find patterns. I would break down the numbers here, but my mom is calling for me to come upstairs for an afternoon snack.

The design is fantastic, but it really brings some things to light about Alex. His career average may never be above .300 due to some rough early years, but at his current pace it's still entirely possible. Mike Moustakas will be happy if he ever gets his average above .260. As we've seen, Alex's consistent ability to get extra base hits is extremely impressive. What isn't impressive is that though he had 51 doubles last season, Gordon only scored 93 runs. He'll be lucky to come close to 93 runs this year.

Overall Score: 9/10

Gordon's 2013 Season:

It's been really effing good.

2013 Topps Silver Slate Blue Sparkle Wrapper Redemption #204 Alex Gordon - Beckett Value: $4

Photo: 8/10

Design: 10/10

Card Back: 9/10

Overall Score: 9/10

Gordon's 2013 Season:

It's been really effing good.

JUST AN OLD MAN AND HIS BASEBALL THOUGHTS

2013-05-23T20:37:22Z

I've been around KC for years but did not grow up here or play here,but along with the Reds i follow the Royals closely.

Now i can tell you about 3 observations i've made in the years gone by about KC baseball. First and foremost whether people like it or not this is Chiefs country. I'm not syaing KC doesn't have it's very loyal and knowledgeable fans for baseball also but to me this city does bleed red and gold. So with that out of the way i can understand why 1/4 of the way through the season and with a struggling but 500 ball club it seems that most fans have given up and jumped on the same old Royals band wagon.

The second think i have found is that KC has one of the top 3 (in my opinion)stadiums in MLB. Its absolutely beautiful, fan and family friendly with well behaved fans and a clean atmosphere. The amenities at the K are high quality options of all food and drink variations. I've never enjoyed a ball game as much without being on the field as at The K.

The 3rd and final observation is the team itself and the struggles it has been mired in lately. I'm not sure if anyone else has noticed this but the body language from the players tell me ALOT. They are not relaxed and enjoying the game or the competition at all. And that stems from the manager and coaching staff. I don't believe these players believe in the manager or the type of play he is soliciting from them. The play is very lax in hustle,fire and attitude. i feel this is a 2 fold problem,first you have a manager who manages not to lose instead of managing to win. Yost has done this with young players before and is doing it again and if not corrected soon will ruin 4-5 of the very good ball players the Royals have. You can not expect young players with the fire and passion to play without passion and be productive. The other part of this equation is the hitting coaches. Can anyone explain to me any advantage of 2 hitting instructors who may or may not have some great insight into hitting at the major league level? Well you can see what its done for 3-4 of the younger players they are very cautious at the plate and looking to pat the ball the other way,uncomfortable with the feet and hips and not looking to drive the ball.

Overall what i see is this. A very solid group of young players who by instruction are being told stay back and patient at the plate and hit the ball the other way. And if you think i'm wrong go back and look and see how many times they have pulled pitch or hit a rope, i mean hard. Damn these coaching even have Butler tentative and uncomfortable. the only player exempt from the struggles is Gordon and he is tearing it up but he can't do it all himself. And for the first time the other night i saw some go get em on the bases(yes you Elliott Johnson). And it looks like he got benched for it. Well thanks for letting me vent and please if anyone agrees with me lets let the higher ups know some how that we want a team that plays with passion and heart. We don't want to play not to lose we want to play to frickin win. Firing Seitzer was a mistake,Yost playing not to lose is just wrong and for God Sake please tell these young hitters to be more aggressive and do what comes natural SEE THE BALL HIT THE BALL. GO ROYALS

I've been around KC for years but did not grow up here or play here,but along with the Reds i follow the Royals closely.

Royal Card of the Day 5/22/13: Jim "Bow Chicka WOWOW" Eisenreich

2013-05-22T18:43:16Z

1993 TOPPS GOLD #22 JIM EISENREICH - Beckett Value: $.25

Photo: 10/10

Holy crap, this may be the greatest photo in Royals baseball card history. Ladies and gentlemen, on this day in 1992, Jim Eisenreich became the first player in Royals history to get to Second Base... with second base. No, Jim isn't sliding, he's lounging. In fact, he hit a standing double two outs ago. At that point he sat down next to the bag, reached over, and copped a feel. As he got a nice handful he looked over his left shoulder and said "Hey baby, I guess this gives a whole new meaning to dirtbag." Thankfully the Royals quickly got the 3rd out before Jim could go for third base.

Design: 6/10

I know what you're thinking. "OHEMGEE IS THAT CARD MADE OUT OF RAEL GOLD!?!?!?!" No, no it's not. Someone at Topps found a secret stash of foil and baseball cards have never been the same.

Card Back: 5/10

Damn this card is busy. The photo is a nice touch but everything else is overkill. Nothing really of note in the text other than... woah... Jim Eisenreich had two triples in one game? How could he DO THAT to second base! That three-timing bastard!

Overall Score: 7/10

Jim Eisenreich's 1993 Season:

On a more serious note, I have a lot of respect for Jim. As you may remember, Jim has Tourette Syndrome (which I'm not going to joke about) and spent the 1985 and 1986 season out of baseball. In 1987 he signed with the Royals and put in a few good seasons against all odds. From what I understand about Tourettes, it involves a lot of involuntary tics, which would make everyday life extremely hard, not to mention trying to stay cool at the plate. Jim's 1993 season was played with the Philadelphia Phillies after signing there as a free agent. Jim batted .318/.363/.445 across 394 PA for a 2.5 WAR. Today Jim runs the Jim Eisenreich Foundation for Children with Tourette Syndrome out of Kansas City.

1993 TOPPS GOLD #22 JIM EISENREICH - Beckett Value: $.25

Photo: 10/10

Design: 6/10

I know what you're thinking. "OHEMGEE IS THAT CARD MADE OUT OF RAEL GOLD!?!?!?!" No, no it's not. Someone at Topps found a secret stash of foil and baseball cards have never been the same.

Card Back: 5/10

Overall Score: 7/10

Jim Eisenreich's 1993 Season:

A Quick Article on Why Lorenzo Cain is a Beast

2013-05-22T03:01:08Z

Quick note - I wrote this around mid-day Sunday, but couldn't post until now due to some technical complications. Sorry... I'm new here.

The Royals are off to a fairly good start in 2013, holding a 20-19 record entering their 40th game today, and sitting just 2.5 games back of first place in the Central. (Entering Sunday's games)

The offense however, has struggled in the early going. The Royals currently rank 13th in the American League in runs, so it has really been the pitching that's been the Royals' key to success thus far. There are a few bright spots offensively, as Alex Gordon continues to show that he can hold down the heart of the order, leading the team in most offensive categories. Another player that has shone so far this season is 27 year-old Lorenzo Cain.

Cain was drafted by the Brewers in the 17th round in 2004, and came to Kansas City in December 2010 as a part of the Zack Greinke deal. Now in his first season as an everyday player, Cain is thriving.

His slash line of .310/.378/.426 is pretty good, but he has been even more productive than this suggests.

Miguel Cabrera currently leads the league in batting average w/RISP, holding a .500 average in such situations. Miguel Cabrera is really, really good. However, second on that leaderboard you will find Kansas City's own Lorenzo Cain. Cain is currently hitting .457 with runners in scoring position, totaling 22 RBIs to this point. Although 22 is no where near Cabrera's astounding 42 RBIs, Lorenzo is making the most of his chances.

Cain has also done terrifically well in the pressure situations. In 20 "high leverage" plate appearances, Cain has totaled 7 hits (.389 average), producing 9 runs and 7 RBIs while walking twice. The 9 runs and 7 hits in such situations is tied for the team lead with AG4 (does anyone call him that?), while his 7 RBIs places him behind only Butler (8) and Gordon (14). His .389 average in high leverage situations places him 4th among American League outfielders. (The first 3 are all Orioles. Go figure.)

Furthermore, Lorenzo Cain has been the most productive Royal hitting out of the 5th spot this season. In his 68 at-bats out of the 5th spot, Cain is hitting .324 and has collected 13 of his 22 total RBIs, while scoring 19 runs. Everybody else is doing... well, less. Other Royals hitting from the 5th spot have had 77 at-bats, but are only hitting .260 and have so far only produced 3 RBIs and 6 runs.

So yeah. Thanks, Lorenzo Cain, for being really good. Here are a few GIFs of Lorenzo Cain having a bad day.

via sportsgif.com

Quick note - I wrote this around mid-day Sunday, but couldn't post until now due to some technical complications. Sorry... I'm new here.

The Royals are off to a fairly good start in 2013, holding a 20-19 record entering their 40th game today, and sitting just 2.5 games back of first place in the Central. (Entering Sunday's games)

His slash line of .310/.378/.426 is pretty good, but he has been even more productive than this suggests.

So yeah. Thanks, Lorenzo Cain, for being really good. Here are a few GIFs of Lorenzo Cain having a bad day.

via sportsgif.com

Royal Card of the Day 5/21/13: Mike Kingery

2013-05-21T18:06:11Z

1987 Topps #203 Mike Kingery RC - Beckett Value: $.10

Photo: 5/10

One glance at this photo and you've had one glance too many. Mike Kingery may be the most generic looking baseball player of all time. Seriously, I challenge you to find a more typical All-American boy than this. The only un-American part of Mike is his Made-In-China polyester softball top with a fat brown spot on the right shoulder. I can't decide if his jersey is filthy or if it's just really poor camerawork. Since this is his rookie card, I like to think he had just been introduced to Skoal and while attempting to spit over his right shoulder... well you get the picture.

The majority of baseball cards were shot at spring training, including this one. The easiest way to tell is the tiny palm tree you see over the back of his neck. That or he had some gnarly back hair. Why is he in a batting stance right up near the left field wall? Because it's Mike Kingery and who cares.

Design: 7.5/10

If I spoke ill of the 1987 Topps design then it would be blasphemy. The 1987 Topps set is probably the most iconic set of the 1980's. The wood panel border makes me cringe with joy!

Card Back: 7.5/10

Mike toiled in the minors for almost a decade before receiving the call-up in 1986 where he was utterly worthless. Except for one time. During one game he had a game winning RBI, the first and only of his career. I have no idea when or how that RBI happened, but it HAD to have been magical. Why else would it get its line of dedication? Anybody care to do some research?

I like the layout and the angles of the polygon borders. I also love random trivia, especially when it's about a random star that no one has thought about in years like Mark Belanger.

Overall Score: 6.5/10

Mike Kingery's 1987 Season:

Mike actually spent the 1987 season with Seattle after being included in the trade that brought Danny Tartabull to Kansas City. Kingery received a nice salary bump up to $92,000 from $60,000 in 1986. I wish I could get a 50% raise for having a -.6 WAR... He set a career high 9 HR's in '87 over 395 PA. For what he lacked at the plate he did not make up for on the basepaths. Mike recorded 7 SB's and was caught stealing 9 times. Remarkably, Mike set the world on fire in 1994 with a .349 average for the Rockies, good enough to land him third in the NL. He quickly came back down to earth the following season and was out of baseball by 1997. Today Mike works as a motivational speaker in his homeland of Minnesota while also heading up his family's gospel band.

1987 Topps #203 Mike Kingery RC - Beckett Value: $.10

Photo: 5/10

Design: 7.5/10

If I spoke ill of the 1987 Topps design then it would be blasphemy. The 1987 Topps set is probably the most iconic set of the 1980's. The wood panel border makes me cringe with joy!

Card Back: 7.5/10

I like the layout and the angles of the polygon borders. I also love random trivia, especially when it's about a random star that no one has thought about in years like Mark Belanger.

Overall Score: 6.5/10

Mike Kingery's 1987 Season:

KANSAS CITY ROYALS -CHICAGO CUBS OF THE AMERICAN LEAGUE

2013-05-21T13:43:49Z

Royals fans let’s face it, the team is a bust-has been a bust for decades, there is something ingrained in the very fabric of the KC Royals that undermines any motivation,any initiative that has or might develop in the club house,what it is that drives this team to the cellar is a mystery to me. I have been a KC Royals fan from day one,loved the years of George Brett,Frank White Dick Howser, but those days are long gone.the caliber of player that made up those teams is not to be found in today’s KC Royals.

The media, the management hyped up this year as being the year of possibly a contender for the Division Champ’s, well hell we can all see that the Royals are heading back to familiar digs (the cellar) or close to it. KC Royals have a terrible manager,the front office is no better, let’s face it , this is just going to be another disappointing season.

Question is "JUST HOW MANY MORE DISAPPOINTING SEASONS CAN WE KC ROYALS FANS TAKE"?

More Home Runs!!

2013-05-21T00:20:40Z

“Our offense was built more around singles and doubles,” Yost said, “but it’s difficult to get three or four singles in a row to score a run. We have to have the ability to open it up a little more, use the power that we have to take advantage of a quick strike.

“A walk, a base-hit and boom — there’s three runs. I think that’s the major difference in philosophy.”

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2012/10/04/3847710/royals-fire-hitting-coach-kevin.html#storylink=cpy

These were the comments that one Frank Yost made at the press conference where it was announced that the Royals would not be bringing back Kevin Seitzer as the Royals hitting coach. Yost explained that he felt the Royals needed to stop trying to "hit up the middle", the philosophy that Seitzer teaches and utilized during his big league career. Rather Yost wanted to see the Royals hit more Home Runs. The only caveat that you have to have the horses to hit home runs, and it wouldn't hurt to have a hitter friendly park.

That all sounds good in practice, but the real reason we all know Seitzer was fired is because Hosmer and Moustakas weren't hitting like the Royals wanted them to.

Hosmer hit .242/.304/.359 last year with 14 home runs and 60 RBI's. Clearly not what you want from a high prospect corner infielder.

Moustakas hit .242/.296/.412 last year with 20 home runs and 73 RBI's. Pretty much the same story.

The Royals as a team in the first 40 games last year hit .258/.315/.394 with 28 HR's and 150 RBI's. Included in this was a 13 game losing streak. Their record for the first 40 games last year was 16-24.

In 2012 the Royals ranked 13th in HR's, 8th in OBP, 10th in SLG, and 12th in Runs/Game in the AL.

So Seitzer was fired. The Royals hired two hitting coaches from within to replace him. They had a full offseason to fix Hosmer and Moustakas right?

Well so far to date; Hosmer is hitting .252/.329/.326 with 1 home runs and 12 RBI's.

And Moustakas? Well he's hitting an abysmal .178/.252/.311 with 4 home runs and 10 RBI's.

The Royals as a team you ask, they're hitting .264/.316/.389. Higher average than last season, less power. So far this year they have 26 HR's and 167 RBI's. Less home runs than last year to this point as well.

The Royals are dead last in the AL in home runs with 26. 5 teams in the AL have double the home runs we do. We are 10th in Runs/Game and OBP, and 12th in SLG.

So what's the difference you ask. Why do all of our hitting stats look the same but we have a different hitting coach. The difference, we have James Shields, Ervin Santana, and Jeremy Guthrie starting 60% of our games instead of Jonathan Sanchez, Luke Hochevar, and Bruce Chen.

Honestly, I think all signs point to the fact that Seitzer was in fact the scapegoat that we thought he was, and that Hosmer and Moose are gonna need a lot more help that we all thought. I don't have the answer to what that is. From the untrained eye, I notice Hosmer has a massive hole in his swing on away pitches and his balance is way off. Moose has been dipping his backside a lot and tends to pop up dang near everything, that is if he doesn't strike out. Either they're both stubborn and resistant to changing their swing, or they've tried and they can't kick old habits. Either way we're in for a long season if our corner infielders are hitting a combined .200 with no power.

Hopefully they can figure it out, but if you want to know the answer, it's that, yes, we do need to hit more home runs. However we don't need to TRY and hit more home runs. We need to try and be better hitters, we need to be more patient at the plate, see more pitches, foul off more balls, and through all of this more hits will come, and yes more home runs. If you TRY and hit home runs, you pop up a lot, and you end up having an adverse effect. That's why we have less home runs than this point last year. That's why despite a better record, our offense hasn't got any better.

Dayton Moore did a superb job reworking the pitching staff this offseason, but his complete ignoring of the offense in the form of refusing to get a RF to replace Frenchy and a second baseman to improve over Getz has caused this offense to be atrocious. You could handle a slumping Moose and Hosmer if you had everyone else hitting well, but to date we have too many holes in the lineup and it's forcing Butler and Gordon to not see any good pitches.

Something is going to give, either the hitters improve or the record goes in to free fall. Time shall tell, hopefully for us fans, it's the former over the latter.