Royals Rumblings - News for August 27, 2021

Fun stat of the day:

ICYMI: Josh Staumont went to the DL and Scott Blewett (6.47 ERA in Omaha) was called up.

Michael Clair at MLB.com interviews Bobby Witt Sr. about his career. I hear his son is pretty good at the baseball:

“It’s been a lot of fun, but I can just tell you this: I think I’m his biggest fan. I just love watching him play. He’s got some old school, too, where he’s a grinder. He goes out there and he loves the game. He really does. He has a passion for it. So hopefully he continues to do what he’s doing and get his chance here sooner than later.”

Jim McLean at KCUR (NPR represent! wait, if you say things like “NPR represent”, you’re old, aren’t you?) profiles Brad Collins a.k.a Sluggerrr:

Squeezing into the stifling costume of a professional sports mascot can make you lose 10 pounds in a half hour. So just imagine jumping around in one — skipping across the field, dashing up stadium steps, dancing to delight the kids — on a summer day from well before the first pitch through the final out. And imagine pulling off that act in a form-fitting, six-foot, nine-inch lion’s costume topped by a giant crowned head.

“It’s like putting on leggings, then a Spandex shirt, then pajamas and then a snowsuit and then you have to be able to dance and be entertaining,” said Brad Collins, the man inside Sluggerrr, the mascot of the Kansas City Royals.

We’re going to throw the Royals blogs section in with the Royals “official” news section today since there aren’t a lot of stories from either.

David Lesky with a lot of thoughts on Wednesday’s game:

I promise I’m going to get to what ended up being the meat of the game, but I’m really sort of fascinated right now by pitchers facing teams in back-to-back starts. I’ve talked a lot about it over the last couple days, obviously focusing on the difficulty for a young starter like Daniel Lynch or Brady Singer, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy even for a veteran like Mike Minor. Last week in Kansas City, Minor was pretty good through five innings against the Astros, but ran into some trouble in the sixth and left with the game tied at 3, a score that stood until the 10th inning.

Colby Wilson shares some thoughts with Craig Brown at Into the Fountains:

The Royals host three teams—the White Sox, A’s and Mariners—still in the thick of the postseason fight during September. All are three-game series; remember we had this talk if they go 6-3 in those series and rumblings of, “Hey, maybe these guys can fight for the rancid AL Central next year,” start growing louder.

A trio from Kings of Kauffman:

• Mike Gillespie: Why this Omaha player is worth watching (hint: it’s Rudy Martin)
• Batoul Hammoud: Which 2 players should the KC Royals add next week?
• Batoul Hammoud (double duty): Is Foster Griffin ready for a comeback?

Wait? Foster Griffin is still around?

Finally, the new Sports Illustrated affiliated Fan Nation Inside the Royals has a pair:

• Jerry Edwards: Carlos Hernandez’s Trial by Bullpen Could Help the Royals Develop Jackson Kowar
• Jordan Foote: Even With Less Power, Whit Merrifield Still Has Plenty of Strengths

Chris Sale threw the third immaculate inning of his career yesterday, tying Sandy Koufax for the MLB record:

He struck out Nick Gordon, Andrelton Simmons and Rob Refsnyder on three pitches each. Refsnyder was fooled badly by a slider in the dirt on the final pitch of the inning. Sale’s other immaculate innings came less than a month apart in 2019 when he did it against Baltimore on May 8 and Kansas City on June 5. He’s the first pitcher to throw an immaculate inning at Fenway Park since Pedro Martínez on May 18, 2002, vs. the Mariners.

Padres setup man Austin Adams has 17 HBP in 45.1 IP this year. Wait, what?

Fewest IP in a Season with 17+ HBP (Live Ball Era)

Austin Adams (17 HBP): 45 1/3 IP in 2021

Jerome Williams (17 HBP): 129 1/3 IP in 2004

Chan Ho Park (17 HBP): 145 2/3 IP in 2002

Charlie Morton (19 HBP): 157 1/3 IP in 2014

Jonathan India of the Reds hit a home run into a coffee cup in the Cincinnati bullpen yesterday afternoon.

Yadier Molina said next season will be his last.

While Miggy said he has 2 more seasons in him.

Apparently there’s a legal battle around the Phillie Phanatic:

In 2019, the Phillies attempted to sue the original creators of the Phanatic. The team filed a federal complaint accusing Harrison/Erickson of going back on an agreement from 1984 to let the Phillies use the mascot “forever.” The team then decided in February 2020 to alter the appearance of the Phanatic, which included changes to the mascot’s feathers, as well as a few other tweaks.

While the Phillies are still legally allowed to use their new version of the mascot, Netburn recommended that Harrison/Erickson be recognized as the original creators of the Phanatic. She also noted that Harrison/Erickson had the right to end the Phillies’ 1984 agreement to acquire the rights of the Phanatic, which they did in 2020 after the team made the mascot changes.

With the pic above and Rumblings not even at 1000 words, how about a random poll question:

Finally, the song of the day is going to bring Matt out of hiding. We’re revisiting the incomparable F-Zero GX. Even at 60fps, these YouTube videos just don’t do justice to how pretty (and fast and hard) this game was and still is.

I was going to do Fire Field’s Cylinder Knot, but apparently I’ve already done that one before (April 26, 2019). I I got some facts wrong, so this will serve as a Rumblings correct (yes, 2 years later). I linked to a secondary video and said it was a remake of an N64 level: it is not. It appears some guy re-created Cylinder Knot using an N64 emulator (or something like that), but I did not know that as I had never played the N64 version. Whoops.

Anyways, onto today’s song of the day. Mario Kart has always had Rainbow Road but F-Zero used different final levels. In F-Zero GX, this was Phantom Road:

An area covered in mysterious secrets. Rumors say that it’s actually a black hole, explaining the odd behavior of the track. Other rumors say that the track is completely computer generated, a track in cyberspace, or a whole new dimension. The ultimate challenge!

Enjoy: