Touching bases

So I'm in the midst of a week in which I'll be away from the computer for most of my time. Posts will come sparingly.

When I return, I'd imagine that the Royals will not still be riding a winning streak (seven and counting), the Chiefs will more than likely still be winless and well on their way to my revised prediction of 0 - 16. I'll also have entries about "Dreams from My Father", Burn After Reading, a Nick Cave concert in Portland, and other mishmash.

Be prepared.

Nuggets While Internetting

Here are a couple of things I stumbled across while dinking around to take my mind off of the disappointment that I am now suffering at the hands of that fickle Hurricane Ike that has left Austin merely breezy after forecasters predicted a 100% chance of rain today...

Sarah Palin is a liar. About sports.

Also, does anyone else have a problem with the McCain ad airing during sporting events (maybe other times, too) painting both of them as mavericks that states the Palin was against the Bridge to Nowhere? Seriously. Just bold-faced lying in a nationally televised ad is brazen to say the least.

Another bit from With Leather: this one should appeal to fans of the Kansas City Chiefs and crazy-dancin' D-backs.

What is wrong with the world today?

The first three paragraphs here should explain to you why I'm rapidly losing my mind. And Rany also addresses the Kila Konundrum here.

And I'll end this by stating that the instant I get home today, I'll be watching the tivoed Iowa/Iowa State game. Go Hawks*!

*It's really been hard to see such a quick demise of a solid program. Iowa is only 3 1/2 years removed from finishing the season ranked 8th in the country (Drew Tate's sophomore year, capped off by an Orange Bowl victory over the Chris Leak-helmed Florida Gators with that dramatic last second bomb to Holloway--I think that's who caught that ball). Then we suffered through two progressively worse seasons under Tate and last season in which Ferentz's team was unwatchably bad and should have been sitting at home during bowl season. It's really shocking to have seen a team led by a guy pegged to be a head coach in the NFL every year fall so hard so fast. I will say that Ricky Stanzi moved the ball with confidence last week, something that Jake was unable to do. Maybe he'll be the key to reversing the hard times they've fallen upon...

And then I came across this, totally by chance while clicking on a link to an article on FoxSports. I don't think I've ever been weirded out more than I just was when I saw my friend Sean's visage on an ad on my browser.

Kila Watch--Watch Kila

So to tide y'all over until Kila Kaaihue's debut in less than 24 hours, here's John Sickel's take on him. Oh, and here's some more Kila hype from Craig over at MVN. It's sad that this is what our season has become in one short, or rather, long month, and we may not even get a good look at what the future may hold. Smarter men than me think this will be used as an opportunity to get him a few at-bats.

What's the point?

I get that they may not want to rush him, but he's 24. I get that they may want to see what Shealy has to offer--wait, no, I don't really get that. He's not the future, and he's out of options. Gload has no place past a utility guy and a good clubhouse presence. Kila's a man--a man that absolutely crushed the ball everywhere he went this year. Treat him like one.

More importantly, give the fans something. We've been given very little this year. We're still watching. Give us a reason to keep going.

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While I'm looking to the future, here's a snippet giving props to Moore and crew on scoring the biggest coup of the draft.

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Lastly, is it just me, or has being a Royals fan over this past month made us all feel like the little girl in this video?

When it rains, it fucking pours

The Royals are playing terrible baseball. There's no getting around it. If memory serves me correctly, Friday's loss puts them in the midst of a 3 - 16 skid. Not impressive.

To add insult to injury, the commissioner's office has told Eric Hosmer to stop practicing. There's much more on the matter here (membership required) and here. It is all related to the Pedro Alvarez nonsense coming out of Pittsburgh--both are Scott Boras clients--but I think the last thing the lowly Royals need is something this ridiculous to be imposed upon them.

Both sides are happy in Kansas City, so what gives with the decree from on high mandating that Hosmer not play after already suiting up for three games in Rookie Ball?

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That other team in Kansas City that I've been souring on for a few years now is about to start playing that game they don't play very well. If they keep playing it as poorly as they did last year, it seems as though a change will be made.

All I can say about that, is that I wish it happened about four years ago. The time has come, Clark. Cut the cord.

O-V-R, Over (Scattershot Royals Thoughts)

If you needed any sign that the Royals season was over, look no further than their recent signing of Kip Wells, who hasn't been serviceable in years.

Is it too early to hope for them to just take a dive and make a run at the first pick of the draft next year?

Hell, Soria got tagged last night.

I'm just glad I wasn't watching as the Royals squandered a great Gil Meche start.

Maybe the Royals will decide to re-send Newman back to Omaha and call Rosa up to see what they've got. I'm sure that starts his service time sooner than they want, though. Is it worth not having him up and having to watch Newman, though? I kind of think it's not.

And not that I'm trying to relish the injury of a Royal, but maybe the broken face of Mitch Maier will lead to the call-up of Kila and the shifting of Gload to the outfield where he can rip balls down from the wall with aplomb.

Only it won't. Gathright will get called up, and we'll have to wait and see if Kila is ready for the bigs.

Echoes

I have to second Rany's sentiments regarding the Royals draft after the August 15th signing day has finally passed. To see them shell out more money than any team in the history of the game in the draft is one of those eye-rubbing, jaw-dropping occurrences that make you wonder if there is a tumor eating away at David Glass's brain. In a good, maybe-this-team-can-be-competitive-some-day kind of way.

Right before the midnight deadline passed, they got Eric Hosmer's name on the line for a mere $6 million minor league contract. Another Boras client, another signing just under the wire.

Obviously, Hosmer may not pan out--maybe none of their signings do--but I have to say it's nice to see them spend the kind of money they're spending on building up their farm system. The deeper the farm system, the better they can be in the long term, as free agent acquisitions are merely short-term solutions whereas a strong farm system allows them to reload early and often, much like the Braves did through the '90's and the Marlins seem to be doing lately.

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Once again, the internet has been spotty at best, so I'm going to wait to post a review of Tropic Thunder. I may try to go to it again in the next day or two to focus it a little more.

Signing?

So apparently the Royals are very close to signing Tim Melville, their fourth round pick with first round talent. Hopefully they can come to an agreement with Eric Hosmer, too. I know high school bats aren't sure things, but it would certainly send a signal that they are committed to winning. We'll know by midday tomorrow how the Hosmer negotiations went, I guess.

As far as their drafts under Moore's watch are concerned, they seem to have decided that they don't need to worry about slot and previous signability issues as much, going more for the talent than the price tag. It is certainly nice to see such a shift in philosophy (not to mention the seemingly more studious approach to the whole thing--we're not talking about Colt Griffin being drafted here). The Tigers were willing to draft players who fell as the result of signing worries and righted the ship pretty quickly. Sure, they seem to have gone overboard on the excess front pretty quickly as all reports are that they'll be slashing their exorbitant payroll, but they were able to obtain the likes of Miguel Cabrera because they took guys like Andrew Miller, who fell because of financial concerns.

Granted, if Eric Hosmer does not sign, the Royals get a compensatory pick (I seem to remember having read that it's the fifth pick overall), but I worry about the tone that sets when the Hot Stove kicks into high gear. Detroit was legitimized once they started showing no hesitancy at spending money and accordingly showing free agents that they were trying to build a winning team. The Royals can do that, too, and can learn from the extremes the Tigers went to.

Ugh.

It's becoming more and more clear that I need to stop watching these Royals games. Today, a solid Hochevar start would seem to have been wasted. They've managed to score a total of zero runs in 17 innings in Chicago this series with three outs to reverse the trend. Vazquez and Buehrle have dominated the Royals hitters for two days. Let's face it, neither of these guys are going to win the Cy Young. I'd be shocked if they even registered any votes. The White Sox have added another run at the expense of the suddenly vulnerable Kansas City bullpen.

I think it's time to take a break. Maybe I'll go see what these retard advocacy groups are all up in arms about. What they should be pissed about is all the roles of retards being given to guys like Sean Penn and Leonardo DiCaprio instead of guys like Chris Burke or that little guy in Simon Birch. Isn't that essentially like blackface?

Make that 18 innings without a run scored, by the way.

Merry Christmas.

Kila Kaaihue: Our fingers are crossed

Over the past couple of days Kila Kaaihue has been getting written about quite a bit. There's this article in the Star, and its ensuing response from Rany. He's the first player mentioned in the latest Farm Report over at MVN, too. He was Texas League Player of the Month in July, after which he was called up to AAA-Omaha. He's been hitting lefties in his new setting. He is the new hope. Moreover, this has absolutely come out of nowhere.

We Royals fans want this dream to come true. We don't ask for much. We get even less. Is it too much for us to get just this one insane breakout?

I don't think so.

So maybe the Royals have lucked into the next Steve Balboni. Isn't it sad we have to hope for that?

Sad Sacks and The Enforcer

After all that talk about how my sports fan energy has shifted to the Royals, I do have to say that they've looked fairly bad every time I've watched them for the past week and a half.

I'm sitting here watching them get dominated by Javier Vazquez, managing a mere five hits through eight innings. He has ten strike outs, and before the third strike on DeJesus to give him #10, David looked at his bat and exhaled as if he were completely overwhelmed.

Brian Bannister managed to give up four hits, three of which were home runs, but he did make it a full seven innings, which is the first time he's accomplished that feat since June 23rd. That was also the last time he won a game. I don't think that's mere coincidence.

Honestly, aside from Zack Greinke becoming The Enforcer lately, there hasn't been a lot to like. Now, while I'll have to wait for the insider's knowledge on the subject until the sure-to-come entry from Sam Mellinger, I can say that it was pretty sweet watching the game Saturday with a casual baseball fan and getting to see Greinke peg Delmon Young, inciting an intervention which prevented a mound charge from the noted hot-head. Now I didn't have the time to rewind the game back to the second inning, but if I had been able to, I'd imagine that Delmon spent a little too much time admiring his fifth(!) home run of the season. Coming hot off the heels of a suspension-yielding start for a retaliatory bean ball, Greinke--ever the calculator--waited until he was nearing the 100-pitch mark yet again and nailed Delmon Young.

I loved it.

Much more than that painful first outing of Josh Newman that just ended.

Ouch.

Bicentennial Man

This is my 200th post, a point I really never figured this blog would get to as my attention tends to wane on time-consuming endeavors that don't pay off in any palpable way. Over the course of this blog's existence, it has turned more and more into a blog on fandom. Sure, there's the occasional entry ranting about whatever has pissed me off that day, ranging from inane road closures to inconsiderate cell phone use, but mostly it has consisted of me espousing my opinions on sports, film, etc. Whether or not there's an audience for that has yet to be determined, but here's to hoping the next 200 posts strike some chord with some segment of the population.

Now much of these writings have been dedicated to the two franchises I follow mostly closely, the Royals and the Chiefs, so already I'm painting myself into a corner in which no one is interested in anything I'm writing about. Sure I could keep writing about Jason Segel's cock or Donna Reed being hot--apparently I'm not alone, as I just got a hit from someone who did a search for "hot Donna Reed"--but those posts really don't drum up that much traffic and I don't feel like I'm getting any repeaters for that anyway. In the end, I do need to keep writing about things that interest me.

So post #200 finds me exploring what feels to be a shifting in primary fandom.

I am a fan of two unsuccessful teams.

The Chiefs have not won a playoff game since January 16th of 1994, when Joe Montana led them to the AFC Championship game only to fall short in Buffalo. They have lost their last six playoff games, three to Indianapolis, one to Miami, one to Denver, and that one to start it all in Buffalo. It's been a long fourteen years. The Chiefs have lost their two most iconic players before their time due to death (Derrick Thomas) and a freak neck injury (Priest Holmes, who actually persevered through the injury that ended Bo Jackson's career). They have opted for perhaps the most conservative coach in the history of the NFL. They were awful last year, signed no free agent of true significance, sit something like $30 million below the salary cap, and had what on paper looked to be an all right draft but currently have their top two picks already nursing injuries on the sidelines. It certainly doesn't look like they're getting any closer to winning that elusive playoff game.

To even have to say that a playoff victory is elusive should speak loudly to the state of the Chiefs fan.

The Royals have had one winning season since the strike-shortened 1994 season. I may be mistaken, but I seem to recall that they are the only team in the history of Major League Baseball to have three straight 100-loss seasons. Almost any talent they have had hasn't blossomed until they're in a different uniform. They've been historically bad and don't have being an expansion team to blame for such ineptitude.

Even worse, I was not old enough to appreciate their sole World Series win, with the 1987 Series being the first I was able to watch. Many of my baseball memories as a youth are of seeing the Royals play the Twins in the Dome, though, with Bo Jackson seeming to be superhuman, and George Brett raking many a-double, and Saberhagen shredding the Twins. That all happened before the strike. Before the Royals turned down the chance to move to the National League. Before Herk Robinson. Or Allard Baird.

Since then I've had to take solace in the fact that I called Aaron Guiel's second home run in a meaningless game for an awful team. I've gotten to see Mike Sweeney destroy the Twins, but spend much of his career on the DL. I've gotten to see the Royals trade Jermaine Dye to the Rockies for Neifi Perez.

So, while the Chiefs have been frustrating, they've at least enjoyed enough success to have made the playoffs. The Royals have simply been terrible with very little upside.

Last year, at this time, I was immersed in reading up on preseason Chiefs news. I didn't think they were going to be good--probably in the 7 - 9 area--but I was interested. The Royals were about to break their string of 100-loss seasons with a 69 - 93 record, which was a step in the right direction but was nothing to get excited for.

Then last football season happened. The Chiefs were horrible. Unbearable to watch. The only bright spot on the whole season was the play of Jared Allen, who established himself as arguably the best pass rusher in the game. And he caught touchdown passes. And now he's a goddamn Viking.

To add insult to injury, the man who built the team up in his first ten years on the job only to have it crumble under his watch over the following ten years retained his job. I'm not a person to call for someone's head without cause. As much vitriol as I spit out, I don't think it stems from some irrational place. I'm not quick to freak out about things on a large scale. Sure, if someone drops a ball and the game is on the line, I'm going to verbalize my displeasure, but I don't play the part of the reactionary who wants that player cut. If there is a long line of futility and sub-par job performance, then the pattern does speak to me. Carl Peterson has established himself as someone who should no longer be in his position. And after last season, it looked like the Chiefs would have to move in a Peterson-free direction. Clark Hunt saw things differently, but I think I speak for at least a segment of the fan base when I say that I'm a bit disenfranchised.

The Royals, although mired in what looks sure to be another losing season, somehow seem to be on the upswing. Under the direction of Dayton Moore, the GM brought in from the Braves organization in the hopes of injecting their winning tradition into the Royals flailing organization, the Royals have made what seem to be largely shrewd moves. They now turn Bill Bavasi's refuse into a borderline prospect, wild arms into possibly league-average starters, sketchy middle relievers into pitching prospects, historically bad bullpens into the strength of the team, and Mexican League starting pitchers into one of the best closers in the game. Obviously, the Royals are not going to contend for the division. They might, however, contend for signing real free agents. Someone who could affect their win-loss record in a positive way. They have thrown a lot of money at Jose Guillen and Gil Meche, and both have paid off at least intermittently. Their rotation looks to be possibly taking shape for the future with Rosa, Cortes, and Hochevar giving hope to the believers in their respective settings. Sure, their farm system is still lacking in offensive firepower past a Hawaiian with power and question marks and first-round draft pick Mike Moustakas, who is without a clear position but murdering the ball regardless, but you get the sense that Dayton Moore may be able to remedy this situation.

So I find myself in the strange position of not giving a shit about the Chiefs. I'll watch their games. Don't get me wrong. But I'm not investing any time outside of watching their games and the posts following the games. What is there to hope for?

When you ask that question about the Royals, you can actually come up with an answer. Or at least I can.

So my priorities are shifting. I'll be watching for the Royals to be active in the Hot Stove bidding wars, just like they were last year. I'll be monitoring their farm system. I'll be reading all those great Royals blogs. I'll be largely ignoring the Chiefs.

And I think I'll be happier for it.

Brawl Revisited

Just a quick return to the brawl on Sunday. Over at Sam Mellinger's Royals Blog for the Star, Mellinger writes:

In other news, Zack Greinke's final pitch plunked Nick Swisher in the hip, and my first thought was, "THAT's how you hit somebody."

Greinke said the right things afterward, that he had trouble with the fastball inside to lefties all day, that the 7th was his worst inning, it was hot out there, so maybe he just a little tired.

So then I thought, "THAT's how you avoid a suspension."

I couldn't help but laugh at the suspension line. When you watch the replay, there can be no doubt that Greinke is trying to hit that creepy bearded Swisher. He pegs him right in the ass. And it looks like it hurts. It's pretty nice to see.

Maybe Mellinger is right, and the Royals have found their new rival. It shouldn't be too hard to learn to hate these White Sox.

Mercurial Royals

If this year's Royals have proven anything, it's that they're prone to streakiness. Currently in the midst of a string of seven wins in eight games, the Kansas City Royals are hot once again. Maybe their abysmal series against Detroit after the break was a wakeup call.

Gil Meche has all four starts he's made since the break and has an ERA well under 3.00 in his last eleven starts.

Greinke has been flashing some dominant stuff and actually shredded the White Sox over the weekend.

Speaking of the White Sox over the weekend, how about that brawl and the later ejection of Greinke. Maybe it's not the responsible sports fan sentiment to root for your team to start brawling, but it is refreshing to see the Royals refuse to take shit off anyone. Greinke pegging Swisher in the ass later was the icing on the cake. Maybe the aggression will strike fear into the hearts of all comers. And sure, the bases were juiced, and Carrasco probably didn't mean to hit the clearly volatile but not particularly fearsome Miguel Olivo, but I'm not really caring that he charged the mound because this is a team that has been lacking in the fire for quite some time. If nothing else, I think Olivo and Guillen bring a passion to this team that was altogether absent prior to their arrival.

And let's not get ahead of ourselves. The Royals are not contending for the AL Central title this season, but maybe they can make that step back towards respectability that we Royals fans so desperately long for.

Our desires are simple ones.

Give us something to root for.

God knows the Chiefs won't.

San Jose or sans Jose?

I had been a fantasy owner of one Jose Guillen numerous times in the past. I had experienced the highs and the lows, so when the Royals signed him, I had an idea as to what to expect.

My expectations were not that he'd be this hot/cold. Honestly. There was no one in baseball as hot as he was for about six weeks. He was amazing. He was ripping everything he touched. You got the sense that every trip to the plate was going to result in an extra-base hit or a screaming single, driving in multiple runs along the way.

And he did just that an inordinate amount of the time.

Since June 23rd, his average has dropped from .293 to .260 today. He just had his sixth 0-fer in seven games. His OPS has come back down to a very earthly .736 (as of yesterday's game) after peaking nearly .100 points higher at .830. He hasn't socked a dinger in a month and two days.

That would all constitute what could be aptly described as a dry-spell.

I'm not going to lay blame here. His back is hurting. He still makes his way into the lineup almost every day. And yes, his back was hurting while he was on his tear, too, but I can't imagine it's getting any better as the season wears on.

What I will say is it's a whole helluva lot harder sitting by and watching him when he's cold when he's wearing a Royals uniform.

Free baseball? More like free coronary...

I could focus on Ron Kulpa's inexplicably microscopic strike zone the Royals' pitchers began pitching to in the ninth while the White Sox' pitchers enjoyed generous calls while they were on the mound.

I could wonder what Bill Hohn was looking at when he decided there had been no contact between base runner on first (Alexei Ramirez) and the second baseman fielding a grounder (Esteban German) after Ramirez noticeably winces following their brush up, ignoring what should have been the second out and allowing for the two runs that scored on Pierzynski's warning track sac fly on the very next play where Gathright should have been jogging into the dugout, ball in glove.

I could turn the shower on, sit down on the tile, and put my head on my knees, sobbing uncontrollably

I could do all those things, but why?

My biggest question following the Royals late-inning let-down is what the hell was Trey Hillman doing having Billy Butler trying to bunt Mark Teahen to second with no outs in the bottom of the 12th with the game tied? Billy Butler had bunted something like four times in his professional baseball career. That's counting the minors. And we're talking about Billy Butler here, not an Esteban German-type player. Mark Teahen's a great base runner. Butler has been hitting the ball pretty hard since he returned from Omaha. There are no outs with Masset just having walked Teahen on five pitches, and Butler comes to the plate, squares up to bunt, and puts the ball right back on the grass toward the pitcher for an easy double play. Teahen leads off with a walk, and Hillman has Butler bunt. Seriously.

Of course, Ross Gload singled immediately after the double play. Olivo grounds into a fielder's choice. The cameras track Butler through the dugout, looking confused and hurt. An opportunity is squandered for what one might assume is an attempt at catching the defense off guard, but you've got a guy who has really never had to bunt and already had the lack of confidence vote made by sending him down to AAA, and you decide that you'll have him bunting in a sensitive situation where the bunt really does have to be laid down properly. It doesn't get down, the Royals play themselves out of a chance to win the game against the division leading White Sox, and instead they are left with the taste of defeat in their mouths with no real reason why.

Great.

Baseball and Shit

By seeing that title, I'm sure you got your hopes up and thought I'd interject some shit-related talk. Sorry. Just baseball.

• So the Royals came back from four down in the sixth, scoring seven runs off Garrett Olson, Adam Loewen, and Chad Bradford in the top of the inning, thanks in very small part to Kevin Millar smacking a bobbled grounder with his bare hand into foul territory, allowing Guillen (who started the inning off with a walk, the latest in a rash of surprising bases on balls from Mr. Guillen) to score from third. The Royals batted around, and even TPJ had a good at-bat. Things came together, and they earned a split in the series against the Orioles, who have seemed to have their number for years. The bullpen then came in and completely shut down the Orioles, with Mahay and Soria doing their thing--not allowing a base-runner in their combined three innings of perfect work. These Royals do seem to be better than that horrendous losing stretch would indicate.
• Which Royal makes the All-Star team? One would assume it would be either Jose Guillen or Joakim Soria. Both have been great. Is there any way two Royals make the team? Both are certainly deserving.
• Jeff Francoeur got sent down to Double-A Mississippi to re-figure things out. Apparently, Frenchy is pissed. It's easy to forget that Francoeur is still only 24 years old, so it's probably a bit early to be hitting the panic button if you're a Braves fan. He's supposed to return after the break. It certainly could be worse. They could still have Andruw Jones...
• Buster Olney is reporting that the Brewers are throwing Matt LaPorta at the Indians for C.C. Sabathia. According to him, J.J. Hardy may also be in the mix. I've also heard that it may be Alicides Escobar that the Brewers may include in the deal. If the Brewers can sign Sabathia to an extension, then I think the deal is worth it. If they're merely getting a three-month rental out of the deal, I don't think LaPorta and Hardy/Escobar were worth it.
  

Happy Birthday, America! Eat it, England!

NL Champs???

It is becoming more and more clear that the Royals should be in the NL. They have the best record of any MLB team in interleague play. DeJesus has caught fire. Guillen is still smoking hot (and he walked twice against de la Rosa and the Rockies last night!). Aviles has been more than surprising and certainly seems to be sparking the offense from the two-hole.

Their pitching seems to be back with Mahay providing some stability out of the pen, and the rotation stepping back up to its performance level earlier in the season (although Davies seems to be doing it with smoke and mirrors, as he's not striking guys out while maintaining about a 1:1 K/BB ratio and a 1.65 WHIP).

Olivo's bat is so powerful it's taking out umpires--OK, maybe that was too soon... Seriously, well wishes to Brian O'Nora, whose face was the latest victim in this ridiculous maple bat fiasco that did not see any decision made today when the owners met to talk about it (amongst other things, of course).

But mostly, I think it is odd to have just broken free from another long losing streak only to find the Royals a mere eight games out of first and two games out of third place in the AL Central after less than a month of time has passed. I really think they do have the talent to threaten .500, as the offense couldn't possibly underperform for that long, and if they get the Billy Butler back, who is tearing up AAA (why is he not up yet? I think that swing is fixed...), and he keeps raking, it would stand to reason that they could really start to score enough runs to stay in ballgames.

I guess I'll ever be the slight optimist.

Travel Update

Tomorrow morning we head out for Tom Waits in El Paso, stopping in the Alpine/Marfa area on the way.

Buffalo Rose, here I come.

If you haven't heard from me in the next week or so, assume the Juarez Cartel got me. If so, hopefully I went out in a blaze of glory.

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A gem from Posnanski on Michael vs. Kobe.

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Interleague play sure seems to be treating the Royals well. If only they'd made the switch when they had the chance...

Un Poco Mas Beisbol

Davies only made it five innings (pitch count got high), but he did manage to only allow five hits and three walks, which is better than I'd expected, and he limited the Indians to one run--a questionably earned run at that. All in all, the outing was encouraging.

I know TPJ has been absolutely abysmal at the plate, but it is rough seeing Esteban Callaspo (they're essentially the same player, aren't they?) manning short.

Mahay worked a 1-2-3 top of the sixth to hold the three-run lead the Royals built up in the bottom of the fifth. Will tonight be the night, Neil Young?

Quick break from Royals talk...

Jacoby Ellsbury seems to be every bit the player that he looked like he could be last post-season. He's got seven steals this week. He's already got 26 through 51 games. Oh, he has been caught twice though. If the Sox could just get rid of Crisp and get him in the lineup absolutely every day, he'd lock down Rookie of the Year honors by mid-July.

Back to the Royals...

Peralta comes in with one out and one on in the top of the seventh to go full on the fearsome Jamey Carroll, giving me the feeling certain deflation, eventually walking him on a borderline pitch, putting the tying run at the plate. I smell a game-tying three-run shot off the bat of Ben Francisco.

Pop up in foul territory. Praise be to Allah.

Homerless V-Mart comes up. Joel still in the game. Botched pick-off catch by defensive replacement TPJ at second. Pop up to Guillen. Lead preserved. Hope not yet dashed. Can it happen?

Buck, TPJ (actually getting a good swing on the ball for once), and Gathright (on a bunt) all pop out, making for a very short and easy inning for the large C.C. Sabathia.

Soria coming in for a two-inning save. Hillman clearly wants this win.

Juh-honny Peralta singles up the middle to start the top of the eighth. Can things be so bad, that Soria actually blows the save? Passed ball. Peralta to second standing up. No outs. Please, Jesus, let Joakim take care of these Clevelanders. Guillen tracks a well-hit, slicing fly ball towards the left field corner. One down for Filthy Abe. Pop fly to shallow center. Gathright loses it. Defensive replacement Tony Pena, Jr., misses the catch by about two inches. Runners on the corners. The Royals look to be doing everything in their power to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Walk to Blake. Bases juiced. Unhittable Soria who'd entered the game with a BAA of .100 has loaded the bases and has one out. Delucci's up. The world seems to be ending. Where are you when we need you L. Ron? Grounder to Teahen. Only play at first. Jhonny scores from third. A rare earned run (what the hell are you doing official scorer??? two questionable non-errors?) for Joakim. Pop up. TPJ can catch a pop up after all. Disaster averted. Too much happened for me to convert to Scientology, though.

Bottom of the eighth, C.C. still in the game. Yet another 1-2-3 inning for Sabathia. Thanks for the insurance, guys.

Soria taking the mound again. Hasn't blown a save all season. Is Vishnu watching over the Royals? Carroll looks foolish at the plate. Maybe Soria got it back. Francisco pop up to shallow right. Vishnu! Vishnu! Vishnu! V-Mart rips a single past Teahen guarding the line at first. Way inside to Jhonny. I wonder if this is the first time Joakim has faced the same batter twice in a game. I'd imagine it is. Wild pitch. Buck can't find the ball. Slow Victor only advances to second. Grounder to TPJ.

Hinduism it is.

Mas Beisbol

I am sorry in advance for the fact that this is yet another baseball-centric post, but sometimes dems da breaks, ya know?

Anyway, I think anyone in Cincinnati is thinking that my boy, Jay Bruce, is the cat's pajamas. Seriously. He has been killing the ball. He hit a walk-off in his fifth game (his first major-league home run). He's now hitting at a lean .579 clip--and no, that's not his slugging percentage, or even his on-base percentage, that's his batting average through his first five games. To go with that ridiculous average in his extremely young career, he's scored eight runs, driven in four, drawn five walks, stolen two bases, and struck out exactly once. I guess one could call that a hot start. One could also ask why Corey Patterson was sitting there in the lead-off spot and Bruce's rightful position in centerfield. One would probably be right to do so.

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So Billy Butler got demoted to AAA a few days ago, which may be slightly discouraging to Royals fans, but I think it's probably the right move. He's looked absolutely lost at the plate and would more than likely be afforded the chance to get his head straight. He's too important to the future of the franchise to not handle with care.

In other Royals news, Tomko was (deservedly) demoted to the bullpen. Replacing him today was Kyle Davies, having gotten called up after tearing apart AAA hitting at Omaha. I know much of the Royals fanbase (at least over on the Kansas City Star discussion board) is really not fond of Davies, but I personally think he has the stuff and make-up to be a serviceable fifth starter if not more than that. And the kid's only 24 years old, which to me is much too early to give up on a pitcher.

Oh. In case you were curious, yes, the Royals are still mired in this awful losing streak. When it started, they were one game under .500. They've since lost, what, twelve straight? Will it ever end? Sometimes I wonder...

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I've heard from a few sources now that the new Indiana Jones movie was not especially good. By not especially good, of course, I mean it was an utter mess. I'll surely see for myself soon enough. Can it piss me off more than Pirates 2? Only time will tell. Stay tuned reader.