No, it's not a weekly "forum" hosted by Bob Costas dedicated to having his friends come on and discuss issues with only the insight and intelligence that a guy who stands in front of a camera can deliver. No, not that at all.

It's Costa Now!

What this lineup needs is Costa. Costa now.

OK, that may be a bit of an overstatement. But I do think that it's time to give Costa an extended bit of playing time at the Major League level.

For whatever reason, a true Free Costa campaign has never really caught on on this site. He's had his supporters over the years, but no one has ever been too excited about his upside, or so it seems. Moreover, he's actually seen a fair amount of action with the Royals, albeit in weird chunks and in strange situations. Basically, this has been the only thing that I'd ever thought about him: the Royals have found a number of lineup slots and positions to play him, while never really committing to anything much. Costa for all the world has looked like a tweener: he can't play center and he can't hit enough to hold a corner slot. End of story.

I'm not sure that's necessarily true anymore. Costa is hitting .313/.357/.565 this season in Omaha, and has already hit seven home runs. Costa has always been a .300 hitter in the minors, but the knock against him has always been a lack of power. Well, he may have improved in that regard, and a modest power spike in the mid to late twenties is actually fairly standard. Furthermore, this is the Royals we're talking about, and at a certain point Costa's status vis-a-vis traditional conceptions of how to build a lineup is irrelevant. The question is, essentially, is he better use of a roster spot than Joey Gathright. Only it's not. Gathright is out of options and must clear waivers to hit the minors. It's hard to see Moore jettisoning Gathright (or running the risk of it) for a few weeks of Costa. So who has options remaining? Basically no position players other than Butler and Gordon. I believe Peralta might , but I am not positive. Ditto for Yabuta.

No, as odd as it sounds, barring any trades or dramatic changes of course, the only player that Costa can easily replace on the Big League roster is Billy Butler. Sending Butler to Omaha so that Costa can snag Joey Gathright's playing time isn't a terrifically obvious move, but I think it has some merit.

- Costa can outhit Gathright. Gathright is a career .265/.328/.312 hitting in the Major Leagues. While is lack of home run power is obvious, it's startling how few doubles Gathright produces, especially considering his speed.  Last year, Gathright had 70 hits and 62 of them were singles.  As a Royal, Gathright has cranked out 15 doubles, four triples and one home run in 586 trips to the plate. On a different team, Gathright's dogged efforts to get on base (he did post a .371 OBP last year) might be more valuable, but on the Royals it just means he can advance to third base on a Mark Teahen single and be stranded when Jose Guillen strikes out. The thing is, the knock on Costa has always been that he's basically a singles hitter, and he very well might be. Joey Gathright is still a bigger singles hitter, one of the most singles-based hitters in the universe, actually. Again, Costa is showing some pop this season in Omaha, and it wouldn't be unheard of for a guy to flash a little more power than previously shown when he turns 26. Costa doesn't have to slug .550 in the Majors to be an upgrade over Gathright. He doesn't have to slug .500. If Costa can slug .450 in the majors this year, maybe even just .400, he'll probably do enough to off-set what even the best case scenario for Joey Gathright is. Even if all of that isn't true, and Gathright's likely to be a better overall player, the Royals know what they have in Gathright at this point (I hope) but regarding Costa, they don't. They need to find out.

- Billy Butler needs a sabbatical. There is perhaps a deep irony in calling up Costa to chase after a 100 points of slugging but at the cost of demoting Billy Butler, as I well understand. However, at the moment the matter may be mute because Butler is slugging .362. That number is even more remarkable when you consider that Billy is actually hitting .277. As they did with Alex Gordon last season, the Royals have shown remarkable patience with Butler, which in many ways is very admirable, even courageous in the limited way that these matters can truly be courageous. Considering that Butler has no baserunning value and limits Hillman's options afield, it goes without saying that he's not pushing the offense much by hitting an empty .277.  As is often said, the American League is not an instructional league, and I think that there is sufficient evidence that Butler could still use some lower-stress instruction in many aspects of the game. While I am generally not in favor of arb-clock gaming, it must also be said that it may be in the team's financial best interest to have Butler work on things in Omaha. Gordon and Butler are similar, but they are not the same: Butler is much younger and lacks much of Gordon's overall polish. Even though Gordon struggled last season, a rational case can be made that it was good for him to experience that, and hopefully learn from it, at the highest level. It isn't obvious that Butler is at that point.

-Increased Strategical Flexibility. With Costa replacing Butler, Hillman gains another chess piece for the late game pinch-hitting that he seems to be in favor of. The Royals have a number of extremely slow players (Buck, Olivo, Grudz, Gload) as well as a certain shortstop who essentially should never bat more than 3 times a game if you can avoid it. With Costa around, Hillman should feel more comfortable using German and Gathright more optimally and earlier in the game. Or, he can keep German in his back pocket, and feel safer using Callaspo earlier. Costa might also be useful in spelling Guillen and Teahen, while allowing Hillman to feel comfortable that he still has an infield reserve available in German. Butler creates problems, Costa creates solutions. (Ok, that's unbelievably cheesy, but I couldn't resist.)

The best Shane Costa has ever performed at the Major League level came at the opening of the 2006 season, when he was a nearly-regular player for the first 21 games of the campaign. Over that stretch, Costa hit .317/.333/.533, in 61 PAs. A little hacktastic, sure, but that issue is almost a sunk cost with this team at this point. Since then, despite appearing a lot, he's never really got extended playing time, which has likely driven his numbers down. Maybe, maybe not. Yes, unlike, say, Justin Huber, Costa has actually been given a solid chunk of playing time, over 400 PAs in fact, but on the whole it's been haphazard, with lots of pinch-hitting and spot starts. Plus, he's older now, and, the wonderful thing about being in your twenties is that it's a rare moment in your life when being older actually makes you better at stuff.

In both the short and long term, the Royals would be better served by replacing Billy Butler with Shane Costa on the roster. Butler will, without any doubt in my mind, have the better career in baseball. Actually, I'd be willing to be a large sum that he'll be better next year. He might even be better by August. But, with all facets of the game considered equally, he's not not better now. This season isn't about winning, it's about positioning the team to win next year (right? we don't have to wait until 2010, do we?). Billy Butler is still just 22 years old and remains one of the youngest players in baseball. His future is bright. However, he has no position and appears lost on the bases and he isn't hitting. The Royals' plan for him seems to be one of resignation: he is what he is and he isn't going to get better, so let's just guarantee that he becomes a Super Two and accept him for what he is. If that's the case, then the half-hearted efforts to get him starts at first base seem especially ill-conceived. Nothing is being accomplished by the status quo, and even less so will be forwarded once inter-league play begins.

What the Royals need now, is Costa, sweet Costa.

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Appendix:

- Royals Authority on Costa in 2007 and then in 2008, the latter link, when they "broke up" with Costa.

Since falling to 11-14, on three occasions the Royals have clawed back to two games under .500, with a chance to get oh so close to even, only to lose again, trading in 14-15 for 13-16, or in the most recent case, falling back to 14-17 as opposed to 15-16.

Here's something positive to get our minds off of an impotent lineup and a sometimes silly manager:

Despite a predictable downturn from an early season remix of the 1960s Dodgers, there's still a lot to like here, especially the strikeout numbers, where the Royals rank seventh in the AL, an especially strong total against the second lowest walk total in the league. The problem is that the Royals are allowing a .263 batting average to opponents (9th) along with a league average 28 home runs, which is helping to push the ERA to 4.37, which is a disappointing 12th in the AL. Not a figure I expected to see this morning.

But that's still wonderful compared to the offense which ranks dead last in the League in runs, last in OBP, last in SLG and tenth in average. It's hard to score when you need three straight singles to do so, especially when someone in there you're also mixing in a caught stealing.

Tonight, Brian Bannister (3-3, 4.04 ERA) takes the mound, looking to rebound from a rough start in Texas, while the Angels counter with Nick Adenhart, who is making his second career start.

Adenhart's War

For those of you unfamiliar with Baseball America, their website has a weekly feeture called the "Prospect Hot Sheet" which is about prospects who are doing particularly well.  There's no formula, but it's about prospects who have done well this year and who are doing particularly well recently.  Finally some Royals prospects have hit the most recent Hot Sheet .

Continue reading this post »

Walks Drawn: 0

Caught Stealings:1

Extra-base Hits: 1

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Runs Scored: 0

Oh, and Joakim Soria never appeared in a game that was tied 0-0 going into the 9th. Instead, the 9th inning (with the heart of the Angel order coming up) was left in the hands of Ramirez, Gobble and Peralta. Gobble and Peralta are probably fourth and fifth best relievers on the team.

But, if the Royals had been winning 4-1, and the 7-8-9 hitters were due up, Soria woulda totally slammed the door. Totally.

--

p.s. I would be remiss without paying respect to Brett Tomko tonight: seven innings pitched, two walks, seven strikeouts, no runs allowed. Your Tomko ERA Update stands at 4.98, and he is now 30th amongst active pitchers in innings pitched.

After another scoreless ninth, there's no reason not to resume the Soria discussion from last night.-RR

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Seriously.

In twelve thirteen innings pitched this season, Joakim has allowed three hits, walked one, and struck out fifteen. He has not allowed a run. As I listened to the 9th in my truck tonight, I was struck with a bittersweet realization: what Soria is doing, literally, cannot be topped and won't last forever. What we're seeing is an extremely rare level of brilliance. I hope we enjoy it as long as it lasts.

He should be getting five times the media attention and blog & fan devotion that Banny has received, not the other way around.

Call me weird, but a guy who is just totally dominant is always going to be more compelling to me than a guy who gives a good quote.

I wasn't going to write anything about Buzz Bissinger and his petulant, sanctimonious, and ill-informed rage. Not that I didn't care, far from it in fact; it actually ruined my day yesterday. Being told, even indirectly, "you suck" for the millionth time, by someone who in some sense you respect, even admire, and in any case has ultimate scoreboard over you, isn't very fun, although sadly, I've had plenty of time to get used to this sort of thing.

Then I saw this: Step Aside Yankees Universe and Red Sox Nation.

A collaborative piece posted by Jim Baker, Jonah Keri and Mike Philbrick on April 30th on ESPN's Page2, Step Aside is a humorous parody of the the endless, and endlessly tiring Yankees-Red Sox rivalry and the purple prose that it's generated. Ha! The Orioles and Rays, two pathetic teams, dividing a town miles from both and obviously not a battleground. That's pretty good. There's even a take on the old saw about familes being divided, and it's all the better because the town, in this case, Manning, South Carolina, is simply a tiny lil dot on the map.

The post on Page2 (or is it Page 2?) is funny, and I would have enjoyed it, as it's the kind of thing I really love. Unfortunately, I didn't, because I wrote something highly similar almost exactly one year ago: The Battle for Grass Creek, Wyoming. Parody of Yankes-Sawx? Check. Two pathetic teams with no actual rivalry? Check. Highlighting a tiny town sarcastically caught in the middle? Check.

Not that they were identical. The Page 2 "battle" included some great Rays-O's games, while I tried to dig a little deeper into Grass Creek (which wasn't easy, since in reality, it isn't actually a town anymore). In subsequent posts I've played up the players who've gone between the Mariners and Royals, which wasn't stressed on ESPN, while they went with the future as a framing device. I do take immense pride in the fact that, God knows how, a man who grew up in Grass Creek actually found my post, contacted me and shared his stories and thoughts on what the place was like. That remains one of the most satisfying things thats ever happened to me in connection with this site.

ESPN (The World Wide Leader in Sports):

Just off Interstate 95, not all too far from Florence, S.C., is a little place called Manning. In the giant battle zone that is the Orioles-Rays rivalry, this unassuming way station on the great coastal corridor just happens to be the very front line. Sitting equidistant to Baltimore and St. Petersburg, Fla., it represents the physical demarcation line of loyalties in this epic encounter of enmity. All those to the south of Manning are in the Rays' camp. All those to the north side with the Orioles. Any deviance from this geo-fandom would be a betrayal of the natural order of things.

In Manning, though, the lines are not so clearly drawn. Here, where the two great regions dominated by these team allegiances abut one another, it is neighbor against neighbor -- and very often brother against brother, father against son and pastor against parishioner.

Royals Review (Part of the unwashed masses with no standards and intelligence):

Royals-Mariners is always special. The proximity of the two cities, as well as their long historical rivalry, would alone justify the contempt. When you factor in the nearly annual 1-2 finish the Royals and M's produced in the old AL West (who can forget 1992?) and the countless greats who have shuttled between the two teams what emerges is a battle for the American soul: are you a Mariners fan or a Royals fan?

How you answer that question says everything about you.

And this is why the Gil Meche signing was not only the biggest news in sports this December, it was a cultural and historical event. Gil switching teams altered the emotional state of an entire region. It was a betrayal, it was a new found friend, it was the jilting of a lover and the gaining of a mistress. It was everything.

It divides families, college campuses, marriages and army units. Each side knows just what the other side hates most to hear, and vice versa. Every year ESPN jams the rivalry down our throats, knowing that we'll only beg for more. Mariners fans think the Royal cronies are bandwagonners, while Royals fans think the Mariner supporters are self-important and annoying. The Royals are sleek, corporate, professional and classy. The Mariners are swept by the tides of the sea, romantic, given over to loathing and self-doubt.

Caught in the middle of this culture war is Grass Creek, Wyoming.

Let me be clear, I do not think Baker/Keri/Philbrick stole my idea. I really don't. I don't think they did so directly, indirectly, consciously or unconsciously. Not only would it be wrong to assume so, it would be grossly presumptuous. Even though this last month was the biggest in the history of this site, my audience is astronomically small compared to the WWL, as they call themselves. It's hard to even imagine a scenario in which something from Royals Review ended up in front of them, especially from a year ago. No, I just think we both ended up in the same place by pure coincidence. A coincidence driven by the simple fact that the whole premise is a good idea.

On any other day, my reaction would be a slightly frustrated bit of pride, but on the post-Bissinger Thursday, frankly, I feel angry and bitter. Bitter that people who don't even read 99% of the good blogs out there still have the platform to make blanket statements. Bitter that, in a strange way, I feel like I have written quality content, content that's basically been ignored in this false and idiotic debate that's been based on medium and format.

When I started writing on this site, I imagined that the worst thing that could possibly happen would be getting a cease and desist letter from the Royals regarding the name, or some trumped up claim of defamation or copyright infringement (not that there's actually any defaming here, ever). Perhaps the next closest fear was getting an angry email from some player's girlfriend telling me what an idiot I am and what a joke I am and how pathetic I am. Hasn't happened. I've received one angry email from a reporter (which we talked out and ended well) and I've received one angry email from a Kenny Rogers supporter, which was not threatening but was certainly negative.

The funny thing, is that the most upsetting bit about being a blogger is that, for some terrible reason, about once a month I get word from Michael Wilbon or Bill Simmons or Rick Reilly or now, Buzz Bissinger, that I'm an ignorant, no-talent hack who lives in his mother's basement , hates civility, breeds cruelty and regularly butchers the English language. As regularly gets pointed out, the unmistakable vitriol in many of these blasts bespeaks a clear sense of being threatened, which is both understandable and ironic. But it's also just dumb. Really really dumb and tiring. It's about the same as Steve Nash showing up at a middle school, yelling at everyone that they can't shoot free throws, challenging one kid to a contest and then pumping his chest.

This may sound weak, maybe even too much so, but beyond anything else, these recurrent "controversies" hurt my feelings and depress me more than anything else.  We often hear writers of all kinds brag about how little they get paid and how they're in it for all the right reasons. Well maybe they should consider the position of someone who does something for free, for almost no audience. Yet, I'm supposed to be the one who doesn't care about pure language and the beauty of words, in Bissinger's world.

Oh, and of course, also without any talent or standards. Best not to forget that.

If you only knew, Buzz. It's a sad fact of life that we are destined to lose sight of our roots, to lose connection to the motivations and circumstances that pushed us to succeed in the first place. This is what so many artists never quite match that first novel, album, or set of poems. So let's step into mine for a moment: in two weeks this site will celebrate it's third year of existence. Over that span, I have made probably $1,500 dollars total (see those text links in the sidebar), and that probably won't grow any time soon, since Google has killed the text link industry. Still, Royals Review is the most satisfying writing I've ever done, because of the feedback and interaction I have with readers. Compared to my supposedly real work, it's not even close. Let's see, there's the scholarly article I spent  over a year working on and submitted seven months ago. Feedback? None. Response? None. Comments? None. Nothing. But just because I want even more pain, I'm also trying to finish a novel this month, which by my calculations stands about a two percent chance of ever getting published, and if so, that'll be sometime next decade. Maybe those with a built-in audience can't see how the simple ability to have a voice can be inspiring. Maybe those who detest the public can't grasp how the entire internet isn't a "wild west" of idiocy. What is clear is that the Buzz Bissinger who was able to avoid cliche and generalization and see around the sides of issues in Friday Night Lights is long gone, at least when he has something personal at stake. Or inaccurately feels like he does, as it were.

In the last few years, and this is a point Will Leitch has made brilliantly, we've been able to see just what the established media thinks of their audience, and it isn't pretty; we aren't capable of insight, we aren't capable of a well-turned phrase, we aren't capable of being polite and we aren't capable of reading big kid books. But by all means, keep watching Costas Now! And this is in the world of sports by God. Sports! Not foreign policy, not economics, not chemistry, sports! The mind boggles.

So, in sum, it wasn't a fun day to see -- via Lookout Landing actually -- that one of my ideas was executed so similarly by a set of pros. It should be affirming, even a small vindication, but, today at least, it's just another iron in the fire of resentment and sadness.

Here are your questions:

1. Is it early?
2. Do the Royals have an attendance problem?

Let's start, obviously, with the first question. So, is it early? I ask in reference to the refrain of "it's early" that we've all heard, read, said and written these first four weeks.  The answer depends, of course, on how you define terms. The facts are simple: the Royals have played 25 games, or 15.4% of the schedule. Then again, the Royals are prepared to play 180 games, or whatever Hillman's line is. So, let's rephrase, have the Royals played enough baseball that we can say much of anything about them?

The second question is similarly hard to answer. I ask because, as I drove back to Iowa on Sunday, I heard on the radio that the attendance for Sunday's game was 13,998, which jumps out as a fairly low total for a Sunday afternoon game with nice weather. Right now, the Royals rank 27th in pure attendance and 25th in percentage of seats occupied. Yes, it's early -- or is it -- and I've been around long enough to know that supposedly the attendance picks up when school ends and it gets warm and all that. That being said, the Royals have only played eleven home games, one of which was the guaranteed Opening Day sellout, two more of which were against the Yankees. And all of them were after the 3-0/4-2 start.

Let's take a look at how everyone fared on Sunday:

Thoughts?

I don't know what the Royals should be drawing on a typical Sunday afternoon game. Not in a financial sense (from the club's end) not in an actuarial or sociological sense (looking at the region's size and economics) or in a civic pride or in a team spirit sense. Nevertheless, being dead last in something isn't a good thing, nor is finishing nearly 16,000 fans short of a pretty blah White Sox-Orioles game at the Cell, or six thousand short of Twins-Rangers in Arlington.

Don't look now, but our "surprising Royals" are back in familiar territory:

As Sam Mellinger said today on Ball Star , there's plenty of blame to go around, but it's especially the lack of run production that's dragging the team down. Sure, contributing to the streak has been a fair amount of bad luck, like how the last few offensive nights of competence have coincided with bad nights from the pitching staff, but honestly, going 2-5 over this last week instead of 0-7 wouldn't make much of a difference, other than leaving the Royals at 11-11 and over .500 for another few days.

We're only at loss number seven, but I'm already running out of things to say, from throwing out numbers to talking about fan/managerial cliches to trying to suggest how silly managerial veneration is.

The horror:

Barry is not walking through that door, and if he does, I'll eat my hat tomorrow at RR Fest. Not only does he seem like an odd fit for a supposedly young, not-quite-there yet Royals team, he's also, at least in term's of perception, not a Dayton Moore type and could potentially cause a fan/media meltdown where ever he goes. (Not that I think this reaction would be justified, or that Barry's baggage is actually his own baggage.  No, the party that "has baggage" in this case is the aggrieved media. Barry is by all accounts a loner and a sulking jerk, but not someone who seems that disruptive.) That being said, Dayton's surprised us before, and some smart GM could sign Bonds, showcase him for a month, have their team bear the brunt of the initial media crush, then trade him. It might happen, I just don't think the Royals will be the one's doing it.

The bigger problem is that the Royals have found that anti-sweet spot of roster design. The offense is currently terrible, and doesn't project to being much more than average, ever. The anti-sweet spot is that the lineup is also filled with guys that the team likes, guys like Ross Gload and David DeJesus and Mark Teahen and John Buck, who aren't terrible players, and who have some skill, but who, ultimately, aren't pushing the team towards 800 runs either. With Butler and Gordon likely still a year away from truly breaking out, your left with a lineup without any elite production and just a group of OK guys. This could potentially create a terrible problem down the line, because aside from shortstop, I'm not even sure where the Royals should upgrade. Step one is getting to mediocrity, but now the Royals will need to replace two of the mediocre guys with actually good players, and I'm not sure how that's going to be done. Incidentally, this is precisely what they were trying to do with the Emil Brown/Jose Guillen swap. But unfortunately, Jose Guillen is exactly in this same class of player, maybe only slightly above.  The Royals have a bland lineup filled  with guys they like, which is a sticky situation.

OK, I'm heading out the door. Preparing to drive to KC for RR Fest. I hope to meet a few of y'all on Saturday in the K's East Lot, or up in section 304.

Two batting-order bullets:

- Alex Gordon (.317/.371/.488), essentially the only guy really hitting the ball with any authority, continues to hit 6th for no real reason. Last night, in the first game, Hillman put him 5th, which still seemed silly, but maybe a step in the right direction. Nope, in the second game he was back at 6th. Now, from both old-school and new-school perspectives, this shouldn't be a big deal, namely, either Gordon is comfortable in that slot, and you wouldn't want to throw him off and overall lineup order doesn't matter much anyway. This is all fine and good, but go back to the 9th inning of the second game last night. What happens if Esteban German gets a hit, putting the tying run on-base? Unfortunately, three more dudes have to not make outs before Gordon hits.

- In that same vein, Mark Teahen (Mark Quinn Award nominee) has not budged from the 3-hole, since randomly replacing Gordon there for the fourth game. Just as the selection of a manager is mostly important because it gives us insight into how the General Manager thinks, the lineup card is mostly useful as a demonstration of what the field Manager expects and envisions. I like Teahen, and there's a case to be made that the Royals are doing the right thing by being patient. It would certainly be worse if they had him hitting 8th or something. Still, its striking that Hillman can't see what seems obvious to this underwear typing idiot blogger, Mark Teahen is a classic #2 hitter. Basically, his entire game at this point is being a good OBP guy.

Wonderful timing for helping me promote RR Fest.

I think everything should be ok now. I think.

Since the Royals apparently  lead the American League in Christians , can someone step up to the plate (pun intended) and do something here?

But as a Christian man, he had to, instead, follow the leading of the Holy Spirit. And it was compelling him to Kansas City—miles and miles from Comfort Zone.

15-1.

Your Gil Meche ERA update is 8.00.

Tonight's 15-1 meltdown caps a four game stretch in which the Royals have been outscored 41-8, dropping their record to 9-11. One week ago, the Royals were 8-5. That was a long time ago, back when Trey Hillman's leadership and attitude had transformed the Royals, a city, even the entire Midwest.

Has Trey Hillman sewed up manager of the year yet?

-Dom Amore, Hartford Courant

New Royals manager Trey Hillman appears to be having an effect, second-year third baseman Alex Gordon is producing, and young pitcher Zack Greinke has been eye-popping. Hillman brought a jarring change to the Royals this spring. If drills were not done right, they were done again. The diligence has paid off. According to several scouts, the most noteworthy aspect of the Royals' fast start was their crisp play. They did not toss away outs on the bases or give opponents extra outs.

-John Rawlings, The Sporting News

Hillman had the Royals running more this spring (sound familiar, Yankees fans?) in the hopes that they could manufacture more runs, and he'll motivate his players by being both energetic and approachable. In time, he'll make the Yankees regret that they never promoted him to their big-league coaching staff.

-Ken Davidoff, Newsday

He brought a jarring change to the Royals this spring. Drills ranging from situational defense to bunts were done with fervor. If the players did not get them right, they did the drills again and again. If Hillman saw a return to the sloppy habits from recent seasons, he pounced.

The diligence has paid off.

-Gerry Fraley, The Sporting News

(after two pages of Hillman=fundamentals God stuff)

He will not apologize for who he is, the methods he uses or what he expects from his team.

He will continue to stress fundamentals and respect of the game. And he will ask for a lot -- even now, he talks about preparing for a 181-game schedule, counting every postseason game possible -- and he will give a lot. In spring training, he was in the park regularly at 5 a.m. for a minimum 12-hour workday.

-John Donovan, SI.com

And the epic story by Posnanski, done in vignette style, that set the whole shooting match off. The fundamentals trope would be picked up by nearly everyone else, although the chair's bit was left behind, either as a sign of respect, or because it would be too obvious to rip off, or because it was too maudlin.

“Men,” he says, “pick up your own chairs and put them away.”

He watches them closely — it’s a Hillman test. He wants to see if any players are rolling their eyes, if any are grumbling, if any feel too important to pick up his own chair. This is a Trey Hillman moment, a small opportunity to remind everyone involved that the Royals are going to be a working-class team, a lunch-bucket kind of a team, a nobody’s-too-big-to-bunt-or-move-over-the-runner kind of team. The players pick up their chairs, and Hillman smiles. This is exactly the kind of team he wants.

[...]

Every manager talks about baseball fundamentals, but they are the lifeblood of Trey Hillman’s feelings about baseball. He may or may not be engaged by a conversation about Ryan Howard’s home-run power or which pitcher has the best stuff in the American League. But if you start talking about how a team should play the double steal with two outs, he will talk to you for hours about that.

[...]

A few years later, he went to manage in Japan. He tried to make things easier for the players — he cleaned up their locker room as mentioned, he shortened their workouts, he tried to joke with them and take some pressure off them. The team played better. The problem was Hillman was not really getting through. The Japanese players wanted a manager who would work them, challenge them, inspire them. So he changed, and he mixed in a little extra toughness, and they won the Japan Series.

The only fundamentals that matter are scoring runs and preventing them, and the Royals haven't been very good at the former for this entire season, and the latter for the last week.

If you look at the Royals a different way, putting aside our optimism and the heady days of the hot start, you still see the same problems: the offense isn't good at anything, not even hitting for average, which is it's stated goal, Hillman's in-game strategies have been brutal, and the pitching staff is built around three guys with middling K-rates (Meche, Banny, Greinke) who will always be prone to giving up too many home runs. The Royals have a nice bullpen, which they under-utilize, and they don't especially play good defense. Other than that, it's wonderful.

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Sorry, this post was originally longer, but I lost portions of it last night when RR crashed.