A bit

My goodness, but it has been a while since I've written here!

I try to be a ray of optimistic sunshine, but when my Royals lose five straight they leave me with little to say. I have to take some advice from the greatest character from Bambi (Thumper!)..."If ya can't say nothin' nice, don't say anything at all!"

Well, that and I've been pretending to do homework. But I'm back now, and I'm trying to think of good things to think and say about my Royals.

Luke Hochevar might have been the one and only good thing about the series with the Yankees that has thankfully ended. If I never had to see another KC game against New York, that would be fantastic.

A lot of people like to ask me why I hate the Yankees. I'm not great at listing concrete reasons, because as most of you know, I'm an idiot. But the KC Star has been very helpful recently in outlining the historic reasons why every self-respecting Royals fan, or any fan of real baseball, should feel a deep hatred for the Evil Empire. Here's one from Sam Mellinger, and one from the great Joe Posnanski.

- David DeJesus has just claimed sole possession of the Royals record for most Hit By Pitch in one season with 19.

- I love Baseball Almanac, but I'm bitter at them for being so interesting and eating large chunks of my time. I wasted away a few hours this afternoon on pages like this list of baseball lists. It started when I was looking for cool quotes to share with my Bible study.

- Blogger is having a planned outage in 3 minutes, so I must go.

O-Royals wrapup, and Bannister for RoY

- Is it just me, or were the Omaha Royals really, really good this year? I talked to a lot of different types of people in Omaha this summer, and it seems like most people had no idea what the O-Royals were doing. People still see them -- and the Royals organization in general -- as some kind of joke. It felt like those of us who were at Rosenblatt every night were the only ones who realized what was going on.

The team finished at over .500 with a record of 73-71. Though they had major issues on the road (especially in June when their House was occupied by the College World Series), they posted a fantastic record of 45-27 at home.

And what a shame; those who weren't in on this fun year at the 'Blatt may never know this team that made me fall in love with AAA baseball. My e-friend Micah touched on this idea in her blog, and I've thought about it quite a bit myself. It's hard to think about right now, but I know that a lot of the guys I saw every day in Omaha are not going to be around anymore when I go back for another season as a promotions chick there. Some should be in the Majors, and some will have been traded. I don't know if I necessarily want a whole new crop of players; I rather liked the ones we had!

Take, for example, Mike Aviles. He should be in the Majors right now. And he's under the impression that the club doesn't like him. He should be with an organization that will give him a shot, and as far as I know he'll be a free agent this winter so he likely won't be around. How sad. Mikey batted around .300 for the whole season at Omaha, including 17 homers, and knocked in 77 RBI. I know I'm not the only person who thinks he's too good for the Minors; I've heard people who know baseball far better than I do say that Aviles should be in a KC uniform, not an Omaha one.

Speaking of people who were snubbed in this round of September callups, why won't KC give Matt Wright the chance to appear in the bigs for a while? Actually...never mind. Now that I really look at his numbers, I see how much he struggled in the 2nd half, although I still think he was an underrated part of an excellent Omaha rotation. He's the guy who can rack up strikeouts the way most Royals pitchers haven't been able to do the last few years.

I guess now is as good a time as any to finally share some highlights from the O-Royals 2007 home season, since Aviles and Wright each figured prominently in several of them. In no particular order:

April 29: Gathright's flight
No one has ever questioned the idea that Joey Gathright is fast. The sky is blue, Shaq is tall, Joey Gathright is fast. But on April 29, a hot Sunday afternoon, Gath showed that he's beyond fast; he's inhuman. Omaha had won three in a row against the Nashville Sounds, and was looking for a 4-game sweep. Omaha was down by one in the bottom of the 9th, and Gathright had made his way to second base with one out. Shane Costa hit a fly ball to medium-depth right-center that would have moved most runners to third, and...Joey scored. From 2nd. Center fielder Callix Crabbe (one of my favorite MiLB names of the year) made a pretty decent throw, but no outfielder's arm could stand up to a runner whose speed rivals that of light. Omaha went on to win that game in extras on a walk-off home run by Justin Huber. (OK, so that one was like 2 highlights in one. It was a good game to cap off a great series.)

July 14: 15 innings
I should have known better than to make plans around the O-Royals. I take full responsibility for this game going as long as it did. For whatever reason, this game against the Iowa Cubs went into extras in a 4-all tie. In the top of the 10th, Iowa had a bit of offense going, but Mike Aviles flashed some fantastic leather to start a double play to end that. The pitchers on both sides were impressive until the 14th, when Iowa got a runner on again with one out. Again it was Aviles with the heroic double play to keep it tied for the Royals. In a game that long, the crowd's energy waxes and wanes. In the 9th, everyone is excited, hoping their team can walk off with the win. In the 10th through 14th or so, people start getting tired. But when Omaha got some baserunners going in the fifteenth inning, the Rosenblatt crowd got excited again. Omaha loaded the bases for -- guess who! -- Mike Aviles. He pushed another single to center field to bring home the winning run.

July 2: The Wright Stuff
Matt Wright came in to relieve a rehabbing John Bale after a few innings against the Oklahoma RedHawks. During the 6th and 7th innings, some vocal regular fans started calling for Wright to come out of the game. Matty's response? He struck out the side in the 8th...in 15 pitches.

August 3-4: The innings-eaters
Omaha picked up two wins in a 4-game series against the Las Vegas 51s before Billy Buckner took the mound for Game 3. The Vegas number 9 hitter had three hits, but none of the other 51s could seem to figure Buckner out. In 8.1 innings, Billy shut them out before coming out in favor of Jason Shiell. Shiell didn't give up any runs either, and I went home excited that I had almost seen one of our guys throw a complete game shutout. The next night, Ben Hendrickson gave me even more to be excited about, as he made it all the way for a CG shutout. In Buckner's almost-all-the-way game, he gave up six hits and walked just one. Hendrickson didn't walk anyone in his game, and only gave up 4 hits. It was a beautiful two days of baseball.

All season: Neal Musser
Neal Musser is a highlight. He's The Guy; the one we could always count on to get anyone and everyone OUT. In 55.1 innings, Musser gave up three earned runs.

Yes. That was three earned runs all season.

There were probably more highlights from this O-Royals season. Aviles and Craig Brazell each had their crazy hot streaks where they each hit multiple homers per game. We had all those extra-inning games, most of which were wins. Royals batters up and down the lineup came up with big hits all the time. Shane Costa had a 19-game hitting streak, and a stretch where he reached base in 30+ games at home. Gathright had all his steals. Mike Jerschele fought umpires and got ejected a bunch. There was that closing weekend with all the crazy extra innings and home run heroics. All told, the O-Royals gave us a hell of a season, and I'm sad it's over.

This might be a good time to point out that the 2008 O-Royals schedule is now available; Opening Day is April 3.

Also...in KC Royals news
It's Banny Time!
People have been talking pretty seriously about my favorite, Brian Bannister, as AL Rookie of the Year.
In this Royals Notes, Connor Nicholl shares some great numbers about Bannister as compared with Daisuke Matsuzaka.

Brian Bannister continues to make a strong case for American League Rookie of the Year honors. After he tossed eight innings of one-run ball Sunday afternoon, Bannister ranks first in rookie ERA (3.16) and trails Daisuke Matsuzaka by one in wins (12).

By one measure, at least, Bannister is currently the best rookie in the American League. According to Baseball Prospectus' Value of Replacement Player (VORP statistic), Bannister stands at 41.9, slightly ahead of Matsuzaka's 41.2.

The numbers alone are pretty telling, especially considering that Banny has that many wins without having worked a full MLB season like Dice-K has. Bannister also doesn't have the luxury of the Boston lineup batting behind him. Furthermore, Dice-K is boring. For all the hype he received in the offseason, watching Dice-K pitch is sure a letdown. He averages about 14 years between pitches, whereas MANnister (as my brothers and I like to call him) works quickly and is easily the most exciting pitcher I've ever watched. Let's keep an eyeball out for this most worthy candidate for the RoY honor. (Not to be confused with the "ROY" in this commercial!)

Every night before I go to bed, I update two stats on the whiteboard in my dorm room: the number of teams who have worse records than KC, and the number of games KC is ahead of the White Sox. Last night's numbers are 9 and 4. Yay?

On LaRue and PGs.

- I was supposed to be in Des Moines tonight to see what turned out to be an O-Royals loss, but due to nightmarish traffic I did not make it to Rosenblatt in time to meet my bus. Sigh. You know when there's a wreck on the interstate, and traffic slows to 0-5 mph? That's how bad I-80 was today, but there was no accident. Just one guy moving a few cones. Yeah, that was totally worth the slowdown.

- I would have been OK with it if Scott Baker had finished his game in a perfect manner tonight. My reasoning behind this is that I've never watched a perfect game before, and I kind of wanted to see one. Besides, if you're going to break up a PG or a no-no, you had damn well better go on and win the game. Still kinda wondering why Bell would put in a PH in that situation, but at the same time I was pleased to see my Best Friend make a splash like that in his first AB back.

TANGENT: Here are a few things I want to see in person before I die:
1) No-hitter (asking to see a PG in person is kind of lofty, no? I'd happily settle for a no-no.)
2) Bench-clearing brawl (any sport. I aaaalmost saw the O-Royals get into one, but it was broken up)
3) A parade for the World Series Champions Royals

- I found an amusing comment regarding my favorite* Royal, Jason LaRue, on this post at the MVN Royals blog:

Remember in Little League or playing softball when you’re a kid and a girl or some other bad hitter comes up and people start yelling “automatic out?” Does that happen in the major leagues? If it does, they do it for sure when Jason LaRue bats. You almost think that Pena is going to be set to lead off an inning and the Twins would walk him and Gathright just to see if they could coax a triple play out of LaRue.

Heh. So true.

*Well, he's my favorite behind everyone else in the organization except for maybe Emil Brown.

- Tomorrow begins Husker football season. Expect a subtle shift into college football as the autumn goes on, but fear not; I will not abandon baseball!

EPIC

This might be a little on the long side, but I'd prefer it if you'd think of it as as "epic" post. That sounds better. Due up: my weekend with an All-Star, the end of the best job ever, some O-Royals home highlights, and a return to normalcy.

Mike Sweeney is my new best friend
The first time I "met" Mike Sweeney, I was a wide-eyed young teenager and Sweeney was pretty high up on the list of people that I -- and most KC fans -- adored and admired when game time rolled around each night. I was waiting to get on an elevator, and he stepped off of it when the door opened. He looked me in the eye and said, "How ya doin'?" I said, "buh-whaa? heeeeeee." Or something like that. It wasn't English.

This weekend, I made a personal goal to actually introduce myself, and maybe speak some English words this time. On Friday, he was in the lineup for game 1 of the doubleheader, and was swamped with fans before the game. I couldn't get near, although at one point he did pause at my end of the dugout to offer another "Hey, how are you?" sort of thing. I did manage a "Good, thanks. How are you?" but it took some effort.

By the way, I rarely get starstruck. Paul Splittorff, David Eckstein, and Sweeney are the only three people I've encountered that have left me unable to remember how speak, or blink. For the most part, I'm fully aware that these guys, no matter how illustrious of careers they may have, are people too. But I admire Sweeney for more than the baseball stuff. Next to the Pope, Michael John Sweeney is my favorite Catholic in the world. A lot of people ridicule him for the way he shares his faith, but I think it's awesome, and something more Catholics should do. I've known for a while that meeting someone like Sweeney would be a Big Deal in my spiritual life, so yes I was nervous about it.

Anyway, Saturday I was supposed to arrive at Rosenblatt well before the start of our 2nd consecutive double-header. I hurried through my pregame preparations, hoping that when I took my big Bucket O' Stuff to the third base dugout, #29 himself would be in it. Sure enough, Sweeney was down there, giving a radio interview. I have to admit, I hovered around the area until he was done, but I think that given the circumstances it was almost socially acceptable. After the interview ended and Mike stood from the bench to head to the clubhouse, I approached him. "Hi," he said. "I'm Mike."

...are you kidding me? Of course I knew who he was! But he's so unassuming; he was just "Mike." He asked me my name, and told me it was nice to meet me. (wow!) We talked about Catholic stuff for a good 10 minutes, which he could have been using to prepare to play, but chose to give to me instead. I didn't want to be a ridiculous/needy fan, so all I asked was for him to maybe sign a ball for Catholic Campus Ministry in Omaha, with whom my brother is heavily involved. That wasn't enough for my best friend Mike Sweeney. After pausing to sign autographs for every fan at the end of the dugout, and then a new wave of fans who was a little late to arrive, Sweeney disappeared into the clubhouse for a few minutes. He emerged with a signed ball for my brother, and the one we requested for CCM, and...a bat. For me. It wasn't broken or anything; Mike Sweeney just straight-up gave me one of his bats, and it's signed with an awesome message for me as well: "Continue to shine for Jesus!" I hope I can.

A little later, he asked me when and where he could get to Sunday Mass. I suggested one, the parish in which my brother got married two weeks ago, but Mike admitted he'd like to sleep a little later than the 9:00 start time allowed, so he chose a 10:30 Mass instead. He invited me to join him, and bring anyone I wanted to.

The Mass with him was incredible. I am sure I can not adequately describe this to any non-Catholics, but to share in the Eucharist with my HERO in faith was one of the most meaningful 60 minutes of my life. After it ended, he left the pew before we did, and we thought he had ninja-vanished on us. Turns out, he had just wanted to say hi to Chris Lubanski, who was a few pews away and is apparently also a devout Catholic. After that, Mike actually waited for all of us outside of the church so he could chit-chat with my brothers and sister-in-law.

After we parted ways, we all agreed it felt like we had known him our whole lives. Mike Sweeney is indeed my new best friend.

The end of all things?

It had to end like this. It had to be perfect, after the season the O-Royals have given their home crowd. The team gave us an absurd about of baseball in the closing weekend: 14 innings in two games Friday, 17 innings in two games Saturday, and then Sunday's 13-inning affair.

Brandon Duckworth was unbelievable, going 7 full innings, walking zero, giving up zero runs and only four hits, and striking out six in Omaha's last home game of the year. Mitch Maier ignited the crowd by leading things off with a home run, but bats were quiet for quite a bit after that. Round Rock did not score at all until the top of the 9th, when Greg Atencio surrendered a solo shot that tied the score at one. With the bottom of each inning, I was left to wonder which of the guys was going to be the big hero, the batter everyone remembers this offseason for heroically ending the last home game. Would it be Craig Brazell? Mike Aviles? Justin Huber? None of those names would be surprising to me, given all of their performances when it has counted all season. When each of those guys, along with my personal favorite, Ryan Shealy, dug in, I wondered which pitch would be the last one. Which one of these guys would smack one into the covered bleachers beyond the wall?

I guess I just figured it would end on a home run, because that's what Omaha does. It's weird, but it's the way things are. At home this year, the O-Royals went into extra innings 10 times, which seems like a lot to me, but maybe it's just because I attended each of those. They only lost two games in extras, and won five by way of a walk-off home run. Is it just me, or is that a lot, especially in an organization where power has never been the valued element of the game?

As it turned out, the magic walk-off wasn't hit by any of the Usual Suspects. Instead it was Richard Lewis, but by inning #13 I was willing to bestow the title of "Hero" on anyone who could bring a run home. (Disclaimer: I actually really like Mr. Lewis; he's very kind, but I guess I never figured he'd be the Big Hero.)

After a few minutes of jumping up and down, screaming, high-fiving, running in tight happy circles on top of the Omaha dugout, and screaming some more, the fact that this was The End really hit home. I'm not going to lie to you good folks; I cried like a baby more than once yesterday afternoon. A very loud, wailing baby who realizes she is finished with the Best Job Ever and must now return to lame stuff like school. Before I move forward with school, I must look back on some...

2007 Omaha Royals Highlights
Well, when I got to this point in the post, I got about a 4-hour interruption in the form of dinner, getting a DVR box (yay!!), and catching up with old friends. This post was long enough anyway; highlights will be here tomorrowish.

New best friend!

My new best friend is Mike Sweeney.

More tomorrow, but Mr. Sweeney is the nicest man I've ever met. He invited my brothers and me to join him for Sunday Mass this morning.

BEST. DAY. EVER.

Omaha loves Mike Sweeney

Michael John Sweeney may only have played one of the games of tonight's double-header in Omaha, but Sweeney Fever left the whole crowd feeling happy and energized through the last out of a fantastic second game. Other than a couple of hits, Omaha couldn't get a whole lot going in the first game. Maybe they were feeling rusty afer not playing a night game since last Saturday. Anyhoodle, the first game was mostly forgettable, as the Round Rock pitching and defense had their way with Omaha.

The second game was the opposite. From the first pitch, Tyler Lumsden and his teammates showed that they owned Round Rock. Lumsden's very first pitch was hit weakly right back to him, and that set the pace for an awesome game. Lummy did not allow a hit for the first three innings, and only walked one in that time. That led me to wonder: If a Minor League pitcher threw a no-hitter in a 7-inning game, would it still go down in the books as a no-no? In every other sense, these rain-shortened games count as regular games, but would a pitching accomplishment like that still get recognized despite not having the opportunity to play nine full? It didn't matter tonight, because shortly after I started thinking about that, Round Rock came through with a single. Bummer. However, Lumsden never did allow a runner to reach scoring position. Lumsden then gave way to another show of Musser Being Musser. Before the 2nd game, I educated a couple of kids on how awesome Neal Musser is, so I hope they hang on to his autograph. After his work tonight, he's pitched 50.1 innings and lowered his ERA from 0.38 to 0.35.

(Side note about Neal Musser: One night during an I-Cubs game, the Rosenblatt Stadium radar gun clocked one of Musser's fastballs at 100. I later asked him about it, because I hadn't heard that he could throw in triple digits. Sure enough, the gun was being a little kind to him. He did say that he asked whoever was charting pitches that night to use the 100 mph readout on his charts, but they went with a meager 98 or so instead. Hard life...a 98 mph fastball and a 0.35 ERA. Man I love Neal Musser.)

Anyhoodle, in the bottom of the third, Omaha started nickel-and-diming the RR defense to death. By the time Ryan Shealy came up to bat, the O-Royals had already scored a run on a walk and a couple of singles. Shealy took the first pitc h for a strike as the two runners waited on base. From my spot on top of the dugout, I heard a little kid say something about "It's OK, he'll get a hit next time." The next pitch met Shealy's bat and made the most perfect sound I've ever heard. I knew as soon as I heard that crack that the ball would be way out of the park, and yet I did not allow myself to breathe or move until it cleared the wall. I could listen to that bat sound all day...especially if it's Shealy's bat, as he's one of my favorites.

All told, each team was shut out once tonight in Part I of a double-double-header. It turns out that two consecutive rainouts means two consecutive double-headers. After tonight's games, I got to hand out free copies of Baseball America while my coworkers handed out free loaves of Sara Lee bread as part of their Great Whole Grain Giveaway. In honor of Sweeney's time with Omaha, I'm going to get biblical here:
"Man does not live by free Sara Lee bread alone, but by every word that comes forth from the latest issue of Baseball America."

...isn't that how it goes?

After all the fans left, I went to clock out, only to discover a ton of Chinese food in the offices. Turns out that two people each thought they were in charge of getting food for the Express players, so one had gotten Chinese food and one had ordered Outback Steakhouse food. Of course the guys went with the Outback, so the O-Royals employees got to feast on free Chinese food. Hooray!

Quick notes:
- I'm writing this on my boyfriend's computer, as I made the mistake of moving my computer to Lincoln a few days early. Thanks J!
- I wish Baseball America was always free.
- I never thought I'd be excited to go to Des Moines -- it is one of my least favorite cities -- but I'm pretty pumped to go on a bus trip to see Omaha play the I-Cubs next Friday. For just $30, you can join this trip too!
- Joe Posnanski is not going to be blogging for a while, because he'll be working on a new book. The good news is that I will have several "extra" free hours a day while I'm not reading his blog, but the bad news is there are few activities worthy of filling that void. Sigh.

Monsoon season?

Last night's O-Royals game was rained out, which created a double-header tomorrow. Tonight's game was also rained out, which created...we don't know. A double-header Saturday as well? I asked a few players, but no one seemed to know if it's possible to just cancel a game and never make it up. Mike Aviles gave the best answer, saying neither Omaha nor Round Rock needed this game, so why make it up?

The rain delay and eventual cancellation provided some interesting opportunities for me, my coworkers, and my brothers who were at the stadium. My brother Brad and I were desperately hoping that Mike Sweeney would be hanging around the clubhouse in preparation for his game with Omaha tomorrow, but he apparently was not there. Or if he was, he is very good at hiding. But I did get to have him (my brother, not Sweeney) come out by the dugout with me so he could meet Angel Berroa and just be around the team, because every good fan should get to be around their team at some point, right?

The owner of the Omaha Royals was here for tonight's game but obviously did not get to see his team in action. Sadly, he was only planning to be around for today's game, so bummer. The promotions staff was planning on putting on our best performance EVER for him, too, but instead we all just huddled up in the hallway next to the Royals clubhouse in a feeble attempt to stay dry. (The attempt was not feeble because rain came in, but rather because Aviles and Fernando Cortez found our bucket of water balloons we were going to use for a promotion, so we bore the brunt of a few of those watery explosions.)

I guess I've always wondered what it would be like to hang around the clubhouse with a bunch of pro ballplayers, and I gotta say it's a lot like hanging around the playground with my Little League teammates. The guys are a bunch of little kids trapped in grown men's bodies -- I'm not saying that's a bad thing; it's perfect for their jobs! But it's just funny how much my coworkers and I have to watch our backs around them, lest we get pinched, tickled, de-ponytailed, or nailed with a water balloon.

Tonight was the season's final Thirsty Thursday, so fans who were "Here for Beer" got to sit and have as many dollar Hi-Lifes as they wanted (in quantities of only two per customer per visit, of course) while they waited for the rain to let up. And then again after the rain let up and then came down again. And again. And again. I wonder how concession stands do during a long rain delay when all the fans gather on the concourse to stay out of the rain.

- Last winter I decided to emulate one of my favorite MLB players, Mark Teahen, by suffering a torn labrum in the shoulder of my throwing arm. OK, that may not have been the reason it happened, but the subsequent surgery and long immobilization of my arm made school ridiculously difficult. I still managed to scrape together a 3.4 or so for the semester, but I'd rather not EVER go through a semester without my writing hand ever again. I bring this up because I think I may have re-torn it. Whoops.

- I moved my first car load of stuff to my new dorm today (the moving might be related to the shoulder thingie). It didn't rain much during my drive from Omaha to Lincoln, but the minute I eased my car into its parking spot, the heavens opened and I began my moving process in a downpour. Of course that's how it would happen with me. I am only half-heartedly committed to moving, which is evident in the fact that my computer is still here in Omaha. I suppose I'll finish moving eventually, but I have a MiLB season to finish!

- Here's how much baseball has permeated the lives of my brothers and me. My brother Ryan, who got married last weekend, is also in the process of moving out of the current house (which he so graciously shared with me this summer) and into his wife's condo. He told me that he had some items that I could claim off of waivers, but if I did not claim them before the season was over, they'd lapse into free agency and some other organization might nab them. I claimed a GameCube and a bunch of games that way. Hooray for waivers!

- Lastly, please say a prayer or two for someone very close to me who is making a career change. Thanks!

A tornado and some storm clouds on the field

Where to begin? Two games, one very hot day. The O-Royals played a double header today after last night's game was tornadoed out. (For the record, having to huddle in the basement together is a great way to get to know your neighbors.)

Brandon Duckworth made the start for Omaha, his second AAA appearance of his rehab assignment. After a not-so-spectacular showing last Wednesday that put his ERA at 22.50, Duckworth dominated the Albuquerque lineup. He struck out six over six full innings, walked only one, and gave up one run -- a solo homer in the 2nd. Sadly, the Omaha lineup wasn't able to pony up much help, and was down 1-0 when Duckworth left the game.

Omaha loaded the bases with one out in the 7th -- which was the last inning because it was a double-header, which means we have a 4th inning stretch and it's all on the line in the 7th. The Royals scored on a 2-out, bases-loaded fielding error on the Isotopes' 3rd baseman, but failed to bring in any more offense, so the game went into extras. Thad Markray surrendered 4 runs in the top half of the frame, and that was pretty much the end of things for game one.

The good thing, if there is any such thing, about a 10:35 a.m. game is that not much is expected of the promotions team, so I got to listen in on a lot of great pitcher-to-catcher chat between innings. In spite of all my dugout time, that kind of thing is something I rarely get to hear, so it was fascinating to hear how Paul Phillps thought Duckworth was handling things. (For the record, he thought Duckworth was being too timid on first pitches, and if he'd just have faith in himself and pitch the ball, it would move the way it needed to and Duckworth would get ahead of batters. Turns out he was very right.)

Minor League Baseball doesn't count attendance for each game separately, so they only posted that information for game 2. But I would guess that the attendance for this morning's first game was somewhere around...150. Sigh. Allegedly there were about 3100 in attendance for the second one, or maybe that was a combined total. But it was a pretty darn small crowd for a while. A small, warm crowd, and not warm like a teddy bear. Warm like...it was easily 95 degrees out, and all those great clouds from yesterday were NOT there today. I might be a little burned.

Game 2...Man, what a weird one. John Thomson got the start as part of his rehab process. It wasn't pretty, as he gave up eight runs over 3.1 innings, including a grand slam in the 1st. He also hit two batters. Poor Justin Huber got hit by a pitch in each game, and when he was hit to lead off the 4th inning, home plate umpire Delfin Colon warned both dugouts. Mike Jerschele, who for the record is a great fighter, questioned why on earth the Colon thought Thomson had hit those batters on purpose. Colon responded by ejecting Jersch, which prompted Craig Brazell to come out from the on-deck circle and fight the good fight for his manager. Well good golly, that just about sparked a bench-clearing brawl. That's one of the few things left on my list of basebally things I dream of seeing, but it did not happen today.

A few innings later, Thomson was still running his mouth the umpiring crew. The threat of ejection didn't bother him, as he had already come out of the game. It was kind of awkward to be around grown men bickering like that, and a little bit scary too. Thomson is a mean-looking fellow. However, I was totally on his side, as there's no reason in frozen hell that he would have hit those guys on purpose -- he's trying to rehabilitate himself, for Pete's sake! Doesn't it stand to reason that he would want to locate all of his pitches accurately?

Gads. Whatever. It's all over, the 'Topes are leaving town, and the Royals can move on with the rest of their season.

Whee!

FIRST: Not in last place! I'd like to wish the last-place Chicago White Sox for losing seven straight to get to where they are now...which is last. Which the Royals are not. See?

SECOND: I forgot to write down that I'm supposed to work today. Whoopsie! That means that, by the time the season is over, I will have worked thirteen straight games. Not sure how that fits in with the concept of resting my still-VERY-sore ankle...But I'm fine with it. I hate not working a game, because when I come back I always feel out of the loop. The season is about to end, and that makes me horrifically sad.

THIRD: Matt Wright gave up a bunch of home runs last night (a la Scott Elarton) in Omaha's 11-4 loss to Albuquerque. Wright is still the best starting pitcher on the Omaha staff, though, which is crazy because when you stop to think about it, Omaha's starting rotation is awfully good.

Is an undeserved win still a win?

Extra innings, a walk-off home run. The fat lady sings, it's really over; the home crowd goes home happy. That's how it should work, right?

But after Chris Lubanski lofted a homer against Iowa reliever Neal Cotts in the 11th last night, I did not feel the high that a fan should feel after such a win. Check out the 10th inning log from last night's game. The bases were loaded at the time, and there was one out. Iowa had a 1-run lead.

* Mike Aviles grounds into a force out, second baseman Carlos Rojas to shortstop Joseph Simokaitis. Fernando Cortez scores. Shane Costa to 3rd. Angel Berroa out at 2nd. Mike Aviles to 1st.
* On-field Delay.

That "on-field delay" was when the Iowa coaches and players argued -- correctly -- that Aviles was out at first, so that play should have been a DP to end the inning and the game.

As a Royals fan, I suppose I should be OK with iffy calls of "safe at 1st." But I felt really, really weird about dressing as a fat lady and singing about a Royals victory -- and not just because I was singing in front of thousands dressed as a portly Viking lady. Even in that moment, right after that Cotts pitch landed on the bleachers side of the outfield fence, when I should have felt as high on baseball as a fan could possibly feel....I didn't. Instead, I felt bad for the Iowa pitching staff who labored to hold Omaha to an admittedly small number of runs but still got pegged with a loss. And for the Cubbies fans, who saw a great game with a questionable ending brought by a mistake made by a very much human umpire. And for that umpire, who probably knew as soon as he bellowed "Safe!" that that was probably not the right call.

(Side note: I also felt terrified that I would be impaled by a chair, as a very angry Neal Cotts was venting his frustration about 13 feet from where I stood. The chair ended up halfway down the tunnel behind the dugout.)

What is the ethical way for a good fan to deal with an ill-gotten win? The Royals did provide a lot to celebrate: Luke Hochevar was fantastic (6 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 6 SO); Craig Brazell has found his home run stroke again; Lubanski finally hit that homer that he tries so hard for every swing; Neal Musser, though he did allow an earned run (only his 2nd allowed on the season, his ERA is now a lofty .36), pitched a terrific 2 innings and hit 100 on the stadium radar. Plus it was dollar beer night. But I still don't feel like we won it.

I understand that umpires are human; they make mistakes and the teams on the field are to play the game as though those mistakes were actually the right calls. That is a part of the game, and that humanity is a huge part of what makes baseball so appealing. The lack of instant replay in umpiring makes baseball umps more human than officials in any other sport. A bad call can be -- and often is -- the deciding factor in a deadlocked game. I know all this, and yet I feel almost squeamish about accepting Omaha's win yesterday.

(Side note, on which I'm actually going to end this blog: Some Iowa player -- I don't know who he was because he had a t-shirt on over his jersey -- was running his mouth to the first base umpire after the Aviles call. This player said, "There's a reason you're in Triple-A!" ....um. Yeah, guy. You clearly have room to talk there, as you're way too good for the Minor Lea--oh wait, you're in AAA too. Good job, guy.)

Joe Posnanski is my favorite

One of the hardest things about being away from my house, and consequently my computer, for a couple of days is trying to catch up on all my favorite blogs and forums (forii? forctopodes? Hi Mom!). The hardest one up on which to catch is Joe Posnanski, as he is prolific and eloquent. He also goes off on delightful tangents, such as this one against Jason LaRue in the middle of a post about Pedro Feliz. This is fantastic stuff, as I also don't understand why LaRue plays, ever. (Well, okay, he calls a good game, but we'd be much better off DHing for him and having our pitchers hit!)

Bill James has often said that if we didn’t keep trustworthy offensive numbers, we would likely not be able to tell much difference between a .300 hitter and a .275 hitter, a 25 homer guy and a 20 homer guy, a 100 RBI guy and an 80 RBI guy and so on. I think this is true, though I would say there are exceptions here – I do think that, in a very short period of time, we would realize that Jason LaRue can’t hit.

Tangent: This year, in 127 at-bats, LaRue is hitting .157. That would be a 1 followed by a 5 followed by a 7. Now, many people have wondered why LaRue keeps playing on a fairly regular basis, and I don’t have a particularly intelligent answer for this; I do have a theory. I think it may have something to do with the regret the Royals feel for not going into the National League a few years ago when they had a chance. Since they cannot have their pitchers hit, they are doing the next best thing.

Two other points about LaRue:

1. He hit .194 in 191 at-bats last year. So that means that in his last 318 at-bats, LaRue is hitting .179. The last guy to get 300 at-bats in ONE season and hit that badly … the great Rob Deer in 1991. He hit .179 in 448 at-bats. Deer did bang 25 homers (13 more than LaRue) and walk 89 times (50 more than Larue). Before that, you have to go back to 1974.

2. Tony La Russa made big news by hitting his pitcher eighth. So where was the national media when Buddy Bell hit LaRue seventh?

Everyone needs to bookmark The Soul Of Baseball (the blog) and buy The Soul of Baseball (the book). Also, keep tabs on what JoePo writes in the KC Star, like this lovely, hope-filled piece from yesterday, which was good to keep in mind last night as KC left the bases loaded in the 8th inning.

O-Royals cruise past I-Cubbies

Tonight was one of those nights where it felt good to be a baseball fan. Actually it was more than good; it felt...it felt like the most correct thing I could possibly do with my life. I suppose it was hot outside in Omaha, but if it was I didn't notice. A strong breeze kept everyone cool, and that relief -- the first such relief after a sweltering weekend -- put everyone in a relaxed, happy mood.

It was in that laid-back atmosphere that Omaha welcomed its fans into the year's final homestand with a spectacular game. Billy Buckner started the night by pitching 2.1 perfect innings until Nebraska alum Joe Simokaitis broke it up with a single.

The rest of the game -- a 2-0 Omaha win -- was pretty fast paced, although each team loaded the bases a time or two. Omaha's runs came in on a couple of singles, a sacrifice, and an error on the Iowa infield. It's good to see them score runs that way; I have never become comfortable with their reliance on the long ball to bring home the runs. Maybe it's because no team I've ever liked has had a power lineup.

Buckner ended up pitching seven full scoreless innings, striking out 4 and walking just one. Because I was working (if you can call what I do "work") I didn't get to pay perfectly close attention to the action but I definitely got the impression that Buckner was owning the Iowa offense. I guess he did own them, because he got through those 7 innings with only 95 pitches. Kenny Ray took over to start the 8th inning, but only faced 3 batters before giving way to the dominant Neal Musser. I have no idea why Ray came out of the game, but I very much hope it was a matchup thing and not an injury thing. Musser closed out the game in fine form, striking out three and walking none. He did give up one hit, a single to start the 9th, but that runner was erased in a double play a moment later.

Tonight's game took just 2:08, the pitching was awfully good on both sides, and the weather was beautiful. I'd be the world's most selfish woman if I dared ask for more.

Weddings make fans miss baseball

Only a few special things could ever, EVER take the place of baseball in my life for any amount of time. As you can tell by the lack of posts lately, one of those things has come up. My brother Ryan got married on Saturday (YAY!!!!) so I was occupied for much of the week with bridesmaidly duties and with spending time with my parents and little brother, whom I don't get to see nearly enough.

Because of the wedding, and the visiting family members, I have missed a lot of Royals baseball. I was also blessed to miss Barry Bonds' record-tying and -breaking homers, so in that respect I'd like to thank Ryan and Haley for having their wedding this weekend.

Just a few quick notes, because I still have some wedding business to attend to (all the tuxedos have magically appeared at my place, so I suppose I should do something with them other than let them sit on the dining room tables).

- Someone at royals.com finally came out and mentioned Matt Wright as someone who should/will see time in the Majors this season (Toward the end of the article). He has quietly been the best starting pitcher on Omaha's staff all season, and it's about damn time he gets some recognition.

- Neal Musser is SO the real deal. Look at his ERA. Now look at his IP. Yes, he has pitched 46.2 innings, and yes, his ERA is 0.19. He finally gave up one earned run yesterday. I never mentioned his 0.00 ERA before, because I knew that as soon as I mentioned it, he'd give up like 15 earned runs in one inning, and it would be my fault.

- I'm very much looking forward to watching KC tonight. It will be the first time in longer than I can remember that I'll have had the opportunity to watch a game. I've missed some great ones in the last week or so, and I feel SO out of the loop. Don't call me tonight if it's not about Royals baseball. I need this game.

- Lastly, and most importantly, congratulations to my brother Ryan and his new wife, Haley. If I had hours to sit here and type, I could fill every minute with gushing about how wonderful they are, and what an inspiration they are as a couple and as individuals to their friends and family. I do not have hours to do this, I only have seconds, so I will just say congratulations and God bless!

A-rod's 500th

The bottom of the 1st inning finally ended in Kyle Davies' first start for Kansas City. He has already given up a single, a double, a triple, and a home run that was kind of a big deal for the Yankees. It's 4-0 New York, and Davies has thrown 34 pitches. I guess what I'm bitterly trying to say is...

Welcome to the team, Kyle?

I'm glad that A-Rod got #500 at home. I find it sad when an athlete or a whole team accomplishes something great in someone else's ballpark. If a player is going to reach a lofty and impressive goal, he should have the luxury of his home crowd right there to support him. I don't like A-Rod and you should know I hate the Yankees, but I'm not stupid -- I know he's talented. And I know that statement was a gross understatement. He's not some aging DH who is celebrating his 40th birthday along with his 500th home run. The man just turned 32; he has a ton of good baseball left in him and will eventually become the all-time home run king. I'm okay with that.

At first I was a bit miffed when Rodriguez stood still in the batter's box after making contact with what turned out to be his home run ball. Then I realized he has hit a few of those in his career and was probably sure that the ball had the distance, and was just waiting to see if it would stay fair. For once in my life, I will forgive a lack of hustle, because baseball has the tendency to reduce grown men into young boys who want to stand and watch the highlight-reel long balls just like everybody else. I suppose Rodriguez deserved to watch this particular ball leave the park from the best seat in the house.

Craig Brazell is like a little kid

I've got to run off to watch some Prison Break with the Gentleman Friend, but tomorrow I'll tell a tale of how O-Royals DH-and-sometimes-unfortunately-1B Craig Brazell is like a 10-year-old kid.

P.S. If you've EVER worked in a prison, or if you know ANYTHING about prisons, don't watch Prison Break. I nitpick it constantly for all its erroneous procedures regarding prison operations. And I'm just a kid!

So many things

So many things to cover today! We have Buddy bell stepping down as Royals manager, the bridge collapse in Minneapolis (and the subsequent game and groundbreaking postponement), Reggie Sanders' future, Gathright and Braun getting called up, Shealy being optioned to triple-A, and KC tying the White Sox again.

I must apologize for not doing this all last night, but a migraine hit me out of nowhere and the thought of spending any time staring at a computer screen was enough to make me ill. So here we go:

Buddy Bell resigning as KC skipper
Royals manager Buddy Bell announced yesterday afternoon that he's stepping down at the end of this season. He said that after his scare with throat cancer last year, his priorities have shifted, and the choice between staying with the team or being with his family more was a "no-brainer."

I'm glad he's staying the rest of the season. It might give the players some extra motivation to work hard for him, knowing their games with him are limited so they should make each game a great one. Also, Dayton Moore and company will have oodles of time to figure out who will succeed Bell. My money is on Billy Doran or Frank White. White did a fabulous job with Wichita last season, which shows that he's great with younger players. Given that most members of the KC roster could be considered "younger players," White seems like a good choice. However, I would also be perfectly okay with it if Doran was chosen for the job.

Also, in the royals.com article, Bell jokingly wondered if the journalists present would not report this story until today so that his daughter Traci, who has Down's Syndrome, could be prepared to hear the news. I like to think that my waiting to blog about this was just honoring Bell's wishes.

Minneapolis bridge collapses
The Associated Press has reported that the death toll, which was at 7 last night, has been lowered to 4 this morning.

Last night's O-Royals game was delayed a bit because of rain, so the video guys put the RSTN telecast on the video board. That was how the Omaha players, staff, and fans learned about both the bridge collapse and Bell's announcement. I guess I'm not used to seeing news of a tragedy (the bridge, not Bell) on such a large screen, but I'd like to not do it again.

I didn't realize until this morning that the reason KC and Minnesota still played last night's game was actually traffic-related. It makes perfect sense, though, to not send over 20,000 vehicles back on to the roadway and potentially hinder rescue efforts. That was good thinking.

Normally if a Royals game was postponed for any reason at all, I'd be rather upset. I mean, what am I to do in a given day if I don't have my Royals? But today's postponement, I understand, and I will continue to pray for the rescue workers, the families who don't know where their loved ones are, those awaiting rescue, and those who have died. An event like this is horrifying, especially when it's so random and so sudden.

Reggie Sanders questions his future
Another thing the O-Royals crowd saw in the RSTN telecast was the list of transactions made yesterday. Leading this list in significance (I think) was Reggie Sanders' being placed on the disabled list again for his left hamstring. The poor man now has to figure out if this is the end for him.

I thought for sure Sanders would have been traded and Joey Gathright would have been called up to take his place, but now that this hamstring injury has come to light, it's clear he wouldn't have passed the required pre-trade physical. Either way, Gathright is now back in the majors, and probably will be for the rest of the season.

Too bad for Sanders, though. I hope he can still find some way to play more. He deserves the opportunity to decide for himself when his career should end so he can prepare himself for that. To have a stupid hamstring take away that decision is awfully sad.

Shealy optioned to Omaha
Ryan Shealy's bat has been heating up in his last 10 or so games in his rehab stint with the Omaha Royals, but it was announced yesterday that he's been optioned to Omaha. Though this move is kind of unfortunate for Shealy, it makes perfect sense to me. It's been pretty clear lately that having Ross Gload in the lineup every day is a Good Idea. But if Shealy were called back up to the big-league club, then Gload might have to DH some days, which would either take Billy Butler out of the lineup or force Bell to put him in on defense somewhere. (left field perhaps? But then where would Gahtright play?) As long as Gload's bat is as ridiculously effective as it has been lately, I see no reason to keep him out of the KC everyday lineup. His defense is more than adequate, and he's exciting to watch. Why take that away?

Tied for non-last once again!
I'd like to personally thank the Yankees at this time for hitting ludicrous number of home runs in the last few days to keep the White Sox from winning. The two teams are wrapping up their series right now, and this pains me greatly to say, but...

...go Yankees. Gross, now I have to go wash my mouth out with soap for saying such a dirty thing.

Random Stats Rundown

I'm a little high on David DeJesus after his lovely catch last night against Torii Hunter, so here is a list of some categories in which DeJesus leads the Royals:
Games (105)
At bats (421)
Runs (75)
Hits (118)
Doubles (24)
Tied - Triples (6, along with Tony Pena Jr. and Mark Teahen)
Total bases (169)
Walks (44)
Hit by pitch (14 - leads the AL)

However, his inability to steal bases takes away that high a little bit, so here are some categories in which he does NOT lead the team:
Home runs (5)
RBI (2nd to Teahen, but DDJ is a leadoff man)
Stolen bases (5)
Stolen base percentage: (55.6%)
OBP (.365)
Slugging percentage (.401)
Batting average (.280)

ROYALS TRIVIA QUESTION: Ryan Shealy, the KC first baseman who is currently rehabbing with the O-Royals, has struck out every ____ ABs in his time with the big-league club this season? (Answer at end of post, and bear in mind that I love Ryan Shealy and am not trying to bash him. It's just a random stats thing.)


Other important Royals stats:
Games behind the White Sox: 1
Games ahead of the Devil Rays (in case of a bizarre league restructuring which would put KC and TB in the same division): 3.5
Number of consecutive winning months KC has had: 2 (for the first time since June-July of 2003!)
MLB teams whose records are equal to or worse than KC: 7
Mustard wins: 20
Relish wins: 19
Ketchup wins: 16

TRIVIA ANSWER: 3.25, but Shealy's bat has warmed up some as he nears the end of his rehab assignment. In his last 10 games with Omaha, Shealy has 11 hits, including 3 doubles and 3 home runs for a .282 average. One of his homers was a grand slam over Colorado Springs on Monday.

Royals forget how to run bases in loss to Minnesota

Jason Smith
Jason LaRue
Mark Grudzielanek

This list serves several purposes. First, it is a list of the three Royals players who hit home runs tonight against the Twins. It is also a list of Royals players in tonight's lineup who seemed like the least likely candidates -- besides maybe Tony Pena Jr -- to do so.

David DeJesus robbed Torii Hunter of his 2nd tater of the night, and I'd post a video of it if MLB wouldn't kill me for it. It will likely be a highly ranked Web Gem tonight on Baseball Tonight. To me, the best part about that catch was Hunter's reaction. He waved off DeJesus as if to say either, "Come on, just let that ball go out," or "Awww man, I can't be mad about not getting a homer; that was awesome!" I choose to believe, based on Hunter's reputation as a jolly guy, that his line of thinking was closer to the latter.

Other than DDJ's sweet robbery, the Royals looked a little...off tonight. Maybe it was the pathetic baserunning in the early innings. Three caught stealing? Come on! Maybe it was the utter inability for anyone named Jason to hang on to a ball. Remind me again why LaRue plays, ever? I'm not a fan.

No surprise that Octavio Dotel was traded today; the only thing that surprised me is that Atlanta was able to finish off the Teixeira deal in time to finalized the Dotel deal. This is what I heard last night about what to expect from Davies (from a dedicated Braves fan who has coached baseball for many years, and pretty well knows what he's talking about): His fastball generally comes in chest-high at 90 mph, and doesn't move a whole lot.

I hope there's more to Kyle Davies than that, but you know me; I'm always loudly skeptical until a new acquisition gives me reason not to be, and then makes me eat my words. (See: Gil Meche, Joey Gathright, etc.)

Elarton, Dotel, A-Rod, etc

- Scott Elarton was released by the Royals organization yesterday. When they announced that at the head of the RSTN broadcast last night, the first words out of my mouth were "Now there's a surprise." Of course, I was being sarcastic; it was not at all surprising to see the struggling righty let go, no matter how healthy he said his shoulder was.

Here's what I don't understand: last night in an interview, Buddy Bell said he gave Elarton the option to finish out the season in Omaha, but Elarton turned that down, and so the decision to release him was made. But in the article at royals.com, Elarton said he would "'ideally' like to finish the season on a Triple-A team." I don't get that at all. If pitching for a triple-A team would be an 'ideal' way to finish the season, why not make it with Omaha and avoid the shame and hassle of being released and having to shop himself around to other organizations?

I am sad to see Elarton go; he struck me as a very kind, humble, classy individual. But I have said several times, both in conversation with other fans and right here on this blog that he no longer displayed major league-caliber stuff. It seemed like he was rushed back up to the bigs before he showed that he was ready, and payed the ultimate price for that.

- In the 9th inning of last night's loss to the Yankees, my dad (with whom I got to watch the game) and I were amused at the number of scouts who were there to watch Octavio Dotel. I would love to know what teams sent those guys, but I suspect I'll know soon enough. When A-Rod came to the plate, Dad said Dotel should pitch around him, lest he surrender home run #500 to Mr. Rodriguez. I disagreed, figuring that Dotel should pitch to Rodriguez and make the scouts' trip worthwhile. He did, and he did, as A-Rod struck out. I hope that at-bat convinced the scouts to throw in additional players or otherwise increase Dotel's market value.

- On the subject of A-Rod, I really hope he keeps hitting homers. I have never EVER considered myself a fan of the man, and a lot of times I think he's a whiny little girl, but I'd much prefer for him to be the home run king than Barry Bonds.

- On the subject of nothing I've mentioned yet, I made the mistake of going to Hobby Lobby today. I wanted a frame for a George Brett poster that's kind of an odd size. I found one, but ended up leaving the store with a bag full of other things -- and no frame. Go me.

Back to baseball: Bonds and more

Barry Bonds. I'm almost afraid to write anything about him at this point, so I'll be friendly to Mother Earth and recycle. The last time I was brave enough to have an opinion on Bonds in particular was here, and here are two heavily researched pieces (in one post! Go me!) on MLB's steroid issue in general.

Joe Posnanski, in whose writing I could immerse myself for hours on end, is currently part of the media circus that will be stuck on Bonds as long as they need to be. Bonds is at 753, leaving Posnanski unsure of how to approach the impending record and what he'll write about it. (It's here) I take solace in this, because I face similar confusion:

...these are confusing times. I don’t have any clearer picture of this crazy home run deal. My own thoughts constantly contradict each other. I tend to believe that steroid use is worse than using amphetamines (or the more law-friendly cheating like corking bats or scuffing baseballs) but I couldn't tell you exactly why. I think that Hank Aaron is more worthy of the home run record though I believe Barry Bonds was the better player (even before steroid suspicions). I think Barry Bonds was, in most ways, just playing the rules and boundaries of his time, and yet I also think he was fully aware of the lines he was crossing.

-Enough of that. Time for O-Royals!

Last night's Blake Shelton concert drew a crowd of over 14,000. Luke Hochevar got off to a rather rocky start...his first pitch bounced in the dirt about 55 feet in front of the mound. His control problems continued (but not to such a gross extent) for the rest of his outing, as he walked five over five innings. However, he wasn't all bad. He did not give up any runs, only surrendered one hit, and he struck out four.

In tonight's game, everyone in Omaha's lineup had at least one hit, and five batters had more than one. Mike Aviles homered twice (I think he either hits zero or two in a given game; never one), and Angel Berroa and Shane Costa also homered. Some of those may have been helped by the wind blowing out to left, but we'll take 'em wherever we can get 'em, no? I do not like relying on the long ball as something to build an offense on, but it is a ton of fun for me when O-Royals batters hit them, as I get to jump around on the dugout tops and high-five every fan I can reach. Doing that is easily in the top 3 thing I love about my job. One of the other top 3 favorite things is up next...

- Tales from the dugout
Yesterday afternoon, my co-workers and I found ourselves with a ton of extra time before the game because of a scheduling typo. Our boss accidentally wrote that we should arrive at 4:00 for a 7:05 game, so we were all ready to rock 'n roll a couple hours ahead of first pitch, and were chillin down by the field before most of the players even arrived. Joey Gathright was the first player there, taking extended batting practice before his first appearance since being sent back to Omaha. As the rest of the players trickled in, they all greeted him pretty warmly; it was pretty clear that they all like having him around as much as we fans do. He told me that while he was in KC, he spoke with my cousin Chris (who works for the Royals) about me and how I heaved myself off the dugout. I'm not sure I want to know how that conversation went.

Anyway, it's great to have Gathright back, even though it's likely only going to last until the trade deadline. He injects a certain something into the fans' spirit; it seems everyone is more into the game when he's leading off. (Perhaps it's the fact that he had two hits last night, and two more tonight.) That means I misjudged him completely when he first joined the Royals organization last year. This is me admitting I was wrong, and wholeheartedly embracing Mr. Gathright as an important part of the Royals' lineup.

Before tonight's game, the usual smattering of fans was gathered 'round the Omaha dugout, looking to score some John Hancocks. A young boy, maybe 10 years old (but I'm not sure because I'm terrible at guessing that kind of thing), had a request with several contingencies for Ryan Shealy:
"Um, hi, Mr. Shealy? I was wondering...if you guys win tonight, and if you break a bat, can I maybe have the broken bat? Please?"

Shealy's reply: "That's a lot of ifs, but I'll see what I can do."

He broke two bats tonight.

Here's my thing about Shealy. I like the guy a lot, and I seem to be much more patient with him as a hitter than most people are. He's not having the best year at the plate, I know. I'm well aware of his tendency to strike out frequently, but I'm also aware that he has power. It's unfortunate that he had to be hidden in Todd Helton's shadow for so long, but I think he still has the chance to prove to the KC fan base that he was a good acquisition. He also happens to be pretty darn nice, and good with fans. I spoke to him yesterday about how much I appreciated him being a part of the Royals Caravan this past winter, as meeting him (along with Frank White, Ryan Braun, and Brian Poldberg) was exactly the kind of thing I needed to cheer me up from the worst winter EVER. I wanted to thank him for doing what I figured was kind of a chore for players to do. His response kind of shocked me. He told me that he actually really enjoyed being part of the Caravan, and he was actively pursuing the opportunity to do it again this winter. How can anyone not like this guy?

One more. Last night as I was singing 'Take Me Out to the Ballgame' from on top of the Royals dugout, a few fans stopped me as I was making a safe, non-injury-inducing exit back into the camera well. They had an adorable little boy with them, and said it was his 4th birthday. The one thing he wanted out of his birthday baseball game was to get a ball, if he could, from the dugout. Of course I told them I'd do what I could to acquire one for him. The players in the dugout were pretty engrossed in the action, because it was a close game, so I couldn't get anyone's attention for a little while. Then a foul ball was hit into the dugout, and pitcher Billy Buckner picked it up. I turned to my co-worker Britany and said, "Maybe that ball should go to the little birthday guy up there." Note that I did not say that to Buckner or anyone else inside the dugout. But Buckner overheard, and asked where the birthday boy was so he could give him the ball.

One very last thing
-Kansas City SO far from the basement
I am NOT a fan of the worst team in baseball. Pretty much the entire NL West has a worse record. I'm pretty sure the Comic Book Store Guy from the Simpsons has the scientific name for a division like that:
"Worst. Division. EVER."

Anyway, here's the list of teams that are not doing as well as KC right now:
Tampa Bay
Texas
Washington
Pittsburgh
Houston
Cincinnati
San Fransisco

WHEW! What a long list!

Sorry for the crappy blogging tonight, you could make it up to your brain by reading more Joe Posnanski. Also, buy his book.

From the bowels of my hard drive

No Royals game tonight, so here's a thing about the time I broke my face on a floor. The story is totally true, by the way.

From somewhere in my hard drive: A Face Smashing

What can a girl learn from breaking her face on a floor?

It all started fairly innocently. I didn’t think twice about stepping out onto the gleaming gym floor for another day of kickball. I was a busy little freshman, and P.E. was just a small part of my day: I still had golf practice, homework, chores, and the all-important Nintendo time to accomplish. Though this day of P.E. had innocuous beginnings, it ended with me unconscious in a pool of blood, and about 80 eighth- and ninth graders wondering if I was dead.

My team was on defense in a close game — the competition was always tight because Coach W. had quite a knack for picking fair teams. Anyway, the kid who was at the plate kicked it high, straight toward the ceiling. I started toward the ball, never taking my eye off its spinning red form growing larger and larger as it approached my outstretched hands. Well, my teammate Joel was equally focused on making the catch, and neither of us saw the other until it was too late. He jumped and I didn’t, so his bony knee jabbed me in the ribs, not too far beneath my clavicle, and I fell down backwards.

That much was really not a big deal. At that point, all I had suffered was a bruised rib, some floor burns on my elbows, and a second or three of unconsciousness. As I lay there on the floor, winded and slightly groggy, another classmate leaned in, offering me his hand. Part of my brain was protesting, telling me I should lie down for a few more seconds before trying to stand up. The other part argued right back, and told the first part to not be such a sissy. So I stood up.

It didn’t take long to realize that I should not have done that. Since my body wasn’t yet ready to stand up, I blacked out again and began to fall forward. Being unconscious and all, I really didn’t have the mental capacity to think, “Oh crap! I’m falling, and I should perhaps put my arms out to stop that!” so I just fell. I was on my feet one second, and then on my face the next.

As you can imagine, a face falling to the floor from five and a half feet up doesn’t stand a very good chance. The floor emerged as the victor in this battle, taking casualties such as my nose and eye sockets. I came away from the ordeal with a broken nose, two very darkly blackened eyes, and a concussion.

Contrary to what most high school girls might do, I didn’t try to cover up my black eyes. They made me look tough, and I had a ton of fun thinking of imaginative stories to tell people who asked how I got them. And due to the concussion, I didn’t have to go to P.E. class for two weeks, and instead got into a study hall. The study hall was fun, but not very useful, since most of my teachers took pity on me and didn’t make me do any assignments for those weeks.

So what can someone learn from such an ordeal? Plenty, as it turns out. One immediate lesson I learned was that getting a concussion is quite detrimental to one’s golf scores, which was unfortunate because I had to compete in the district meet a mere 9 days after my floor-face fiasco happened. It wasn’t pretty.

Four years later, my nose is an excellent barometer; I can feel even the slightest change in atmospheric pressure. When in the presence of fluorescent lights, I can tell you whether the lights are of high quality based on how bad of a headache they give me. I guess that’s just proof that my high school isn’t your typical learning environment.

By the way...

Last night's Kansas City win was Win #40 on the season.

So I set out to find out how long it took to get to 40 last year. I had forgotten (or repressed? Yeah, probably repressed.) how atrocious the first half and the beginning of the 2nd half were last year. Are you ready for this? The Royals took until the following date to reach 40 wins in '06:

August 9. Yes, really.

Sigh.

BYAH!!!

Omaha came from behind in the 9th inning to beat the Isotopes 6-5. Omaha's three runs came when Richard Lewis lofted a homer with one out, bringing home Craig Brazell and Paul Phillips, who had both singled. CLUTCH.

Kansas City won pretty handily, too. 'Tis a good day to be me! (Or, ya know, any other Royals fan.)

A little late, but

- Casual Royals fans, and even somewhat impassioned ones, can sometimes miss out on some of the talent their team has at the minor league level. Until this season, I really only knew about a handful of players in the KC farm system, because people only ever talked about a few: Mitch Maier, Billy Butler, Chris Lubanski, and so on. It makes me a little sad to see how many awesome players about whom I hadn't heard before this year. Should it really have to take attending every home game to know what's going on in your team's farm system (beyond the marquee players, that is)?

Omaha put up an impressive battle against their rivals, the Iowa Cubs, this past weekend. A roughly equal number of I-Cubs and O-Royals fans filled a good number of Rosenblatt's seats throughout the 4-game series, and were delighted with three close games, two of which went into extra innings.

**Whoa, my roommate's cat, Sophia, has hopped up on a scratching post behind my desk and placed her head right under the bottom edge of my monitor. I guess I'll finish this post with an audience. Speaking of cats, I bought a Nerf gun this afternoon to deal with Kronk, my other roommate's cat who loves to get on the kitchen counters and in the sink. It doesn't hurt him, but boy is it gratifying to get a good shot in!**

ANYWAY, I don't want any Royals fans to overlook Mike Aviles. He was Mr. Clutch in Saturday night's 4 1/2 hour, 15-inning win. Twice in the late goings, once in the 10th and once in the 14th, Aviles made spectacular plays to end Iowa's offensive assaults and hold the Cubbies scoreless for an astounding total of 10 innings. Then, in the 15th, it was Aviles who drove in the winning run.

His batting average is only at .301 right now, but only because of a slightly less-than-average June and July so far. He's still pretty reliable at the plate, and more than capable at either middle infield position, and at third base.

If you don't get the chance to go many O-Royals games (or any at all), you really don't get the chance to hear about some of the not-quite-big-name-but-still-damn-good players. I'll definitely profile more players as the 2nd half progresses, but wanted to start with Aviles for his awesome contributions to an exciting series against the I-Cubs.

- In other O-Royals news, Justin Huber is back in the lineup! He rejoined the team last night in Albuquerque after spending a little time rehabbing in Surprise. He had a double in last night's loss to the Isotopes. So far tonight he is hitless, but he has at least one more AB coming (more if Omaha decides to play yet another extra-inning game).

- In still more O-Royals news, Reggie Sanders has rejoined the Kansas City lineup (at least temporarily, as the club is very open about the fact that they're shopping him around, probably for some pitching) so Joey Gathright is coming back to his adoring fans at Omaha.

I'm assuming that Gathright will be called back up to KC at the start of August, assuming KC finds a good exchange for Sanders. In the meantime, Omaha's outfield will be pretty stacked, with the likes of Gathright, Maier, Shane Costa, Lubanski, and probably Huber on some days.

- For those of you who watch Prison Break...does anyone else see a resemblance between Captain Bellick and Craig Brazell of the O-Royals? It's especially apparent when Belick is wearing his hat and smirking, which is most of the time. The fact that Brazell, too, spends a lot of time smirking makes the resemblance even easier to spot.

That's it for now; I have to go try to catch the naughty kitten doing something he's not supposed to so I can Nerf him. Yes, I just used 'Nerf' as a verb.

It could be worse.

Sure, the Royals got shut out by a pitcher Boston called up from the minors at the last second to replace the hurting Curt Schilling. Sure, Emil Brown could not be bothered to put up two hands to catch a routine fly ball in the 5th*. But things could very much be worse for the 39-53 Royals right now; we could be the Devil Rays (35-56), the Nationals (38-54), the Astros (39-54), the Reds (38-55), or the Giants (38-52).

I am thrilled that typing a list of teams that are worse than KC took as long as it did. This is progress, people! Last year at this time, the Royals were 32-60 and had sole possession of the MLB basement. The closest team to us was Pittsburgh at 33-61.


*I Loooooove seeing Major Leaguers ignore the basics that I taught 9-year-olds in little league. Makes me feel really really good that we pay that much money for those guys to play. But at least Emil gave me a more concrete reason to dislike him as much as I do. Two hands on the ball, folks, or you'll look like that lazy guy.

Guess I could not go without KC news

Oh for Pete's sake. I try to take a break from baseball, but KC has to do something like this.

This article contains a lot to consider for Royals fans. Chiefly, I suppose, I'm led to wonder how this new fellow, Jason Smith, will fit in the KC infield and in the lineup. Though he has chiefly been used as a middle infielder, I'm sure he'll be used at first, with both Ryan Shealy and Mike Sweeney on the DL forever and Ross Gload coming off a nasty quadriceps tear.

Fernando Cortez will apparently be coming back to Omaha (the article didn't specify, but I assume they wouldn't have any reason to send him any lower than AAA). He got off to a pretty decent start with KC, but was scarcely used after that.

This is what excites me the most though. Luke Hochevar has been promoted to Omaha after posting a 3-6 record and a 4.69 ERA with Wichita. Hochevar has been followed by a lot of hype since he was selected 1st in the 2006 draft. I was pretty skeptical of his selection, but I'm excited to finally see him in action. How lucky for the home crowd -- he'll pitch on Sunday in the final game of the upcoming homestand against the Iowa Cubs.

I'm nervous and anxious about how the 2nd half will treat Kansas City. People seem to be optimistic about how things will go from this point forward, provided the starting pitchers show more consistency. I'm a little less confident, but don't tell any of the players I said that. The team has suffered a number of injuries, and I'm just praying people can stay at least marginally healthy for the remainder of the season. Then again, I was skeptical about the reserve players having to do all the work at the end of last season in the absence of the regulars, and look what happened. I do think the team will do better than they did in, say, April, and I do think certain key players (Emil Brown, Mark Teahen) will heat up at the plate.

Billy Butler has an interesting opportunity to show what he can do now that Sweeney will be out for so long. Nobody in the front office necessarily wants a 21-year-old as their everyday DH, but if Butler can make it work now is the time to do so.

Also, God bless Dick Kaegel for this bold 2nd-half prediction:

Not only will the Royals escape another 100-loss season, they'll make their way out of the cellar and finish ahead of the White Sox.

I can so get behind that.

Lastly, what the heck? A Royals hammer?!? I'm simultaneously disgusted and intrigued.

Best. Dog. EVER.

Lately my roommates' cats have been causing me a lot of grief, so I went home over the weekend so I could be around my dogs instead. The two dogs my parents have now are seriously awesome. And completely adorable:


Anyway, the point is that I love having pets, and I hate being without them. On my favorite message board, someone asked people to share stories of their favorite pets. My childhood dog Sweetpea definitely gets that honor from me, and this is what I said about her on that message board:

My dog Sweetpea belonged to my family before I was even born. Aside from a fear of thunderstorms which caused her to shake and pant uncontrollably, she may have been the perfect dog. We don't know what exactly she was, as we got her at the Humane Society, but her mixture of breeds made her small enough to sit on our laps, but big enough to play with, free of the worry of crushing her. She did not shed.

Sweetpea had an almost human quality about her. She was even big on subtleties, which I've not seen in a dog since. If she wanted food, she'd bat her food dish on the inside of the dish. If she wanted water, she'd bat her water dish on the outside of the dish (in case there was a tiny amount of water left in it, I guess...she didn't want to spill or get her paw wet).

She also taught me to walk. When I was...however old kidlets are when they are almost ready to walk, Sweetpea would crouch down next to me until I grabbed onto her neck and tried to stand up. As I stood, so did she, so that she was like a moving handrail for me as I tried to take a few steps. She walked alongside me as slowly as I needed her to, and if I fell she'd crouch back down and patiently wait for me to use her to stand back up.

She died of congestive heart failure* when I was 11. We decided it was time for her to go on Valentine's Day of that year, and going to school the next day was the hardest school day of my life. I knew that when I got home after the final bell, I'd have to say goodbye to the best dog in the world. I took her for a walk around the block, which took at least a half hour because of her failing health. I still get a little misty sometimes when I think about losing her.

*Side note: My grandpa died of the same thing in the same year. They were even on one of the same medications, though Grandpa's dose was bigger than Sweetpea's.

Anyway, just figured I'd use MLB's break from baseball to take a similar break. Hope you enjoyed it.

UPDATE: My mom just sent me this picture:

Whoopsie!

Today on my way back to Omaha, I got pulled over. Only once has that happened to me before, and that time it was for an "improper left turn." Today it was for speeding. Oops.

The All-Star Game is happening right now, and I could not be more bored. I hate the All-Star Break. For me, this three-day break from actual baseball feels like three weeks. I need to have 13-15 MLB games to keep up with every day. I need the Royals. what I don't need is an exhibition game played by a bunch of big shots who don't want to be there.

For the first time all season, I don't have any emotional stake in how Gil Meche performs. I guess I hope he does well if he gets to pitch, but only so KC critics have one less thing to mock (I still hear crap about Mark Redman being our All-Star last season). But for the most part, a person could not pay me to care about tonight's game. I'm watching it, yes, but I may as well be doing taxes or cleaning a bathroom -- I feel it's something I'm obligated to do even if I don't want to.

To make matters worse, the Royals have a built-in off day on Thursday. That means a four-day break. Fortunately, Omaha plays Thursday night* so that will help pass the time until my Return to Normalcy.

Until the Break is over, I will be grumpy. You can't say I didn't warn you.

*It will be Thirsty Thursday! $1 beers and Cokes! Come drink!

Independence Day in KC

How lame of me to not write about my Independence day in KC sooner. We went for two things, the game and the fireworks. Both were pretty much lacking. KC got shut out, and the fireworks were cancelled due to afternoon rains.

The trip wasn't all bad. Here are some small positives:
1) Our seats were fantastic. They were high enough to be underneath the overhang, so we did not have to sop up any water when we first sat down.
2) My section won free cookies from Midwest Airlines when a precious little 6-year-old correctly answered a trivia question. Incidentally, the boy's birthday was today, so he turned 7 on 7-7-07. Happy birthday, precious little boy!
3) Brian Bannister was good in most of his innings. If not for the top of the first, and the bottom of every inning, Wednesday night might have been a good game.
4) We got some...shopping...done prior to the game.
5) My car has brand new tires, so it easily survived the driving rain that killed the fireworks. My car > fireworks.

Tonight's Royals game was nuts! I didn't get to listen to all of it, around steaks with my parents and little brother, as well as a trip to Wal-Mart. (Yes, I really know how to party...) How happy that Mark Grudzielanek is magically healthy again so he could deliver the game-winning hit. After being frustrated in two ways in two consecutive games -- shut out one night, and falling just short of a comeback the next game -- it's extra refreshing to see a win like tonight's.

I'm hanging out at my parents' house for a few days while Omaha is on the road. Woo!

Good news, bad news

Good news: Kansas City won on my birthday, which usually doesn't happen.
Bad news: I was at work and missed it.

How about that Billy Butler? Last night's game is the game the KC front office is going to look to in the near future, when all the now-injured players are healthy and the decision about whether Butler stays in the majors or goes back to Omaha needs to be made. His bat is big league; there is no doubt about that at this point. But he can't be DH forever, especially with Mike Sweeney close to ready to come back.

I was away from my computer from 3:00 yesterday afternoon until 1:00 this morning, and by that time I desperately needed to sleep, even before reading up on the Royals. That's how you know I'm tired. So I didn't hear until just a few minutes ago that Jason LaRue also homered. Good for him. I would love it (and I'm sure he would too) if he was more consistent at the plate, so his offense would merit the almost platoon-style catching rotation he and John Buck share. Perhaps coming so close to hitting for the cycle can be a good starting point for LaRue.

After last night, Alex Gordon leads the American League in hit by pitch. David DeJesus is close behind him, in third place.

I loved Joey Gathright's diving catch to end the game. THAT is how you should do things when you're brought in late in the game. The TV announcers from Fox Sports Northwest said it best: "The best thing they can say about this game is that is has ended."

Good news: My ankle held up during work yesterday.
Bad news: Scott Elarton did not.

I was rather encouraged to see Elarton's name in the "probable pitchers" column for yesterday. Elarton is a good pitcher, but right now I don't feel like he should be in the majors. However, he's generally fine during his rehab starts at triple-A. In his last outing, he threw six scoreless innings, so I hoped he'd show similar stuff yesterday. But when you start a game by giving up three homers in the first for a total of six runs, things don't usually end up too well.

Last night was the Big Night for the O-Royals. The announced attendance was 21,873 for an evening that included a post-game concert and a huuuuuuge fireworks show (which I missed). I had hopes that the team would show all these fans who don't normally come to the game what they're missing. Beyond the first inning, it really wasn't a bad game, but the damage had been done, and all those "extra" fans pretty much pegged it as a loss from the middle of the first inning on.

Mike Wood was supposed to pitch for Oklahoma, but he got a call in the mid-afternoon...the Texas Rangers need him up there. Good for him.

Good news: It was a fabulous day for lots of water balloons.
Bad news: They don't feel very good if they don't break.

Jorge Padilla threw one at me while I was on top of the Omaha dugout. It bounced off of me and popped harmlessly elsewhere. One that popped on me would have felt much more refreshing.

Good news: I'm going to tonight's Kansas City game!
Bad news: Are you kidding me?

I haven't been to a KC game since Opening Day, so I'm awfully pumped for this. And you probably all know by now how much I love Brian Bannister, who is slated to pitch tonight.

A good day to be a Royals fan

Happy birthday to me!
I like to think that David DeJesus' awesome performance in last night's extrra-inning win was like a birthday present (one day early) for me. He had three hits, a homer and two doubles, and scored all three Royals runs. (By the way, you can check out video highlights from the game in that article...worth a look since the game was not televised!)

But check out this glowing praise from Jose Guillen regarding DeJesus:

"The ball jumped off his bat like he was one of those power hitters," Guillen said. "I thought he would have 20 homers, 30 homers. It's amazing when I saw the ball jump off his bat. I should have gotten a better read on that ball."

Okay, maybe in real life DeJesus only has five, but still...pretty ringing endorsement for David's ability at the plate.

Meanwhile, down on the farm...
Chris Lubanski hit his 1st home run at the Triple-A level in last night's game against the Oklahoma RedHawks. It was just his 4th game with Omaha.

Better yet, Matt Wright pretty much owned the Redhawks in relief, as he struck out 10 over five innings. Wright came on in relief of the rehabbing John Bale, who worked three innings and gave up three runs. Bale is scheduled to make one more start at AAA before finally being called up to throw in the majors. Wright's finest inning was the eighth, long after some fans had started calling for a reliever to come in. Wright struck out the side on just 15 pitches. It was beyond fantastic.

Angel Berroa had a great night, with three hits and a rare walk.

When, oh when, will Justin Huber be healthy again? He was quietly placed on the DL again in mid-June, while the team was on the road during the College World Series. I'd love to have him back!

Hoo boy
The last time Oklahoma was in town, I had a hard time rooting against former Royal and all-around nice guy Mike Wood. He's had a really good season so far; the game in late May in which Omaha beat him was a rare loss. He's their representative in the AAA All-Star game, and according to my calculations he's also their pitcher tonight (I had to guess on that, because it's only 8:40 a.m. and the starters haven't been posted online yet). Tonight is my birthday, and I would love to watch Omaha win! So sorry Mike, I have to root pretty wholeheartedly against you this time around.

UPDATE: Starters have been posted: Wood will indeed pitch for Oklahoma, and Omaha's starter will be Scott Elarton.


Come on over!
If you're in the Omaha area, I highly recommend coming to tonight's game. We are expecting around 20,000 fans, and we'll have live music and tons of in-game entertainment, plus the BIG Independence Day fireworks show.

Hope to see you there!

Congrats, Gil; nobody is surprised

Gil Meche has been named Kansas City's representative to this year's AL All-Star team. Raise your hand if you're suprised....

Nobody? Me either.