Royals Rumblings

Weekend Rumblings - News for September 30, 2017

Will Whit join the 20/30 club?

By Max Rieper@maxrieper Sep 30, 2017, 10:00am EDT

Weekend Rumblings - News for September 30, 2017

Whit Merrifield is just a home run shy of joining the 20 HR/30 SB club.

“There’s no way to go up there and not try to hit a homer at this point,” said Merrifield, who needs one more home run to reach 20 for the season. “I don’t want to go up there and try to hit it 500 feet. I still want to put a good swing on it. But there’s a little more consciousness in putting a driving swing on it.”

Danny Duffy thinks about the possibility of his teammates leaving.

“It’s a hard prospect to think about,” Duffy said. “It’s something that you never would think that it’s gonna come to an end. So hopefully it doesn’t. But these guys reserve every right — they’ve worked their butts off — to test the market.”

Lee Judge thinks it still matters to win games when you’re out of it.

Veterans who have been on winning teams — been-there-done-that-guys — can speed up a rookie’s learning process.

If a rookie screws up on a winning team, some veteran is supposed to sit him down and explain what the rookie did wrong and how important it is that he not do it again.

But if you’re constantly losing — and losing big — mistakes seem less important, what difference does it make if you lose a game by six runs instead of five?

So players who aren’t playing winning baseball might lose track of outs, the count and whether or not the guy at the plate likes to go to the opposite field once he has two strikes. If you’re 30 games under .500, what difference does it make?

Vahe Gregorian writes about Mike Moustakas embracing the city.

Sam Mellinger writes how Eric Hosmer matured in Kansas City.

Royals fans reflect on the end of an era.

Ewing Kauffman once stopped playing the national anthem at Royals games because fans were disrespectful.

A new Saturday Night Live cast member is a Kansas City native and Royals fan.

The Phillies fire manager Pete Mackanin.

Mets owner Fred Wilpon protected Terry Collins from being fired.

Bill Murray could play Joe Maddon in a movie about the Cubs.

A fan was ejected from a Yankees game for tipping pitches.

The Korean Baseball Organization will begin to allow agents to represent players.

The story behind Billy Ripken’s infamous profane baseball card.

The NBA tells players they need to stand for the national anthem.