Weekend Rumblings - News for April 13, 2019

Weekend Rumblings - News for April 13, 2019

Alex Gordon had a huge night last night, and it was in honor of his friend Charlie.

Charlie is one of several Kansas City area children who have benefited from Gordon’s Lemonade Stand Foundation, which helps support childhood cancer research.

Charlie was diagnosed with a rare form of brain cancer in 2007 when he was just three years old. He was given a less than 5% chance of survival, but had battled the disease into remission. Now he’s facing another tough health battle after requiring brain surgery on Thursday.

Gordon did his best to raise the spirits of Charlie and his family. After hitting a double later in the game, Gordon again pointed to the arm band as a salute.

An MRI shows no damage to Billy Hamilton’s knee, and he explains what happened on that fly ball he missed on Thursday.

“That’s a play I make — should make,” Hamilton said. “I’m mad at myself. I should’ve made that play. But the sun was a big factor to it at the end. The ball actually got in the sun, so I had to take my eye off it a little bit. The ball hit the tip of my glove. I was cussing myself at that. That’s a play I gotta make, especially in a situation like that. I feel like that play is on me.”

Vahe Gregorian writes about what Whit Merrifield has taught us.

The streak didn’t end because he audaciously dared address it by peppering his remarks with references to eyeing DiMaggio’s seemingly immortal mark and with other unflinching assurances. Like his playful daily “see y’all tomorrow” after pre-game news conferences that were going to be ongoing until the streak ended.

“I LOVED that,” Brett told The Star. “You know what, if you don’t have confidence in yourself, how do you expect other people to have it in you?”

Or as Merrifield put it: “Why would you not want to go out and play with that kind of pressure and try to do something that they say can’t be done?”

Sam Mellinger has a good column about how this bad start could hurt attendance.

The Royals did not even come close to selling out their season opener — the announced attendance of 31,675 was the lowest for an opener at the Truman Sports Complex since the first game after the 1994 strike. The Royals have had teams open on the road, come back with reasonable expectations of 100 losses, and still sell out that first game at Kauffman Stadium.

Heck, the 2005 team, which followed a 104-loss season with 106 more, drew 41,788.

Granted, the weather wasn’t great, but the low turnout also wasn’t a fluke. Entering the weekend, the Royals hadn’t drawn more than 13,533 fans for any game this year. Five of their nine home games drew fewer than 11,000.

Last year, the Royals did not have a single total that low.

Baseball America lists a Royals prospect as an international sleeper prospect.

LUIS DE LA ROSA, RHP, ROYALS

The 16-year-old de la Rosa was training as a shortstop but moved to the mound before signing with the Royals for $147,500. He’s an athletic pitcher who has grown a few inches to 6-foot-2, 175 pounds and taken to pitching quickly. He shows a loose, easy arm and a fastball up to the low 90s with more to go, mixing in a slider with feel for a changeup and impressive pitchability given his background, to the point where he might even skip the Dominican Summer League.

Jim Bowden writes why Dallas Keuchel and Craig Kimbrel are still unsigned.

The 2026 MLB All-Star Game will be in Philadelphia.

What numbers would Mike Trout have to put up to have a 15-WAR season?

Here are MLB’s holiday uniforms.

Ozzie Albies’ contract may be the worst-ever for a player.

What is the reason for all the contract extensions?

A look at the opt-out decisions players will need to make next off-season.

Jessica Mendoza embraces her role as a trailblazer.

Does CBS pipe in fake bird noises during Masters coverage?

A British rugby league is expanding to New York.

Human drugs are polluting water, and animals are swimming in it.

Breaking down all the key moments from the new Star Wars teaser trailer.

Every episode of Game of Thrones, ranked.

Your song of the day is Charles Mingus with Nostalgia in Times Square.