Brief Sunday update: Johnny Giavotella called up; quickly nicknamed Gia; intelligentsia wonder what great prospect Gia is already holding back

Johnny Giavotella better be the second coming of Frank White.

If not, a lot of the Kansas City sports intelligentsia will be sorely disappointed.

Last night, a sports talker began the 11:30 p.m. segment with something like this: "Tomorrow will be an exciting day for Kansas City sports fans because the Royals have finally called up Johnny Giavotella."

I don't know if it works this way in other towns.

(It does. Watching Astro's broadcast this afternoon, all the talk, and I mean all the talk, about the exploits of their minor league players, despite the fact that half the players on the field this Sunday were minor leaguers a few week ago. Same conversations with the rookie families in the stands as Royal's broadcasts. And a kid from Austin celebrating his birthday who plans to be the Astro's general manager when he grows up and predicts a world series victory for the 'Stros in 2013. This is just so Kansas City...

Greinke, by the way, up 6-0 and perhaps on his way to victory 10...

Astros' announcers admit "this game isn't very interesting" down now 6-1 so they've focused on discussion of a kid they've obtained by trade who the organization has just moved up from the Florida State League with -- the brass say -- "a can't miss bat." I guess when your major league team is going nowhere for years and years, the most interesting thing is the future... Not a very Zen way to live, eh? Certainly familiar to Kansas City fans...)

But it sure does in this place. The savior is always just around the corner. The grass is always greener in Omaha. The excitement is never a pennant race -- it's something off in the distance, a promise for the future, the next flavor of the month.

And so, Kansas City fans create their own excitement in the dog days of every losing season, waiting for the new savior from Omaha to arrive.

What do you think Detroit fans were cheering tonight? Their league-leading Tigers, no doubt, racing for the post season.

And now, it's the bottom of the second and Johnny Giavotella is at the plate. The announcers have already nicknamed him Gia. They are, it is clear, already his buddy. The excitement is palpable on screen and in the announcers' voices... save Mr. White, who was once a rookie and has met his share of rookies, and -- given the way he has been treated -- obviously feels he owes little to the Royals' brass in the way of shilling for their latest call up.

Gia looks at a ball. That's good news. Obviously a money ball player willing to take some pitches. Certain fans are thinking how angry they are with Chris Getz for hitting so much above his average this season and fielding so well that Gia has been held back from their eyes.

And on the next pitch? Well, it is with sadness that it must be reported he grounded weakly to the second baseman who flipped to second for one out and the shortstop fired to first for two, ending the inning. One announcer, with real sadness in his voice, announces Gia -- "The good news story of the day" -- has grounded into a double play in his first at bat. But never fear, he says, "there will be many more at bats for this young man."

Far be it for reality to interrupt the good news story of the day.

I have nothing against Johnny Giavotella. He has an excellent name for baseball -- a sort of pre-Jackie Robinson, pre-Roberto Clemente, pre-Ichiro, kind of second baseman name. And, as the last great call up we couldn't wait to see, Mike Moustakas (another pre- everything name) trudges back to the dugout, head down, after striking out -- he has just 10 hits in the last 20 games for a .177 batting average -- I'm wishing Gia well. A second baseman like Frank White doesn't come to a city's faithful every day.

But now that Gia has two major league hits under is belt, and a ninth inning walk, I'm wondering who HE is blocking from "our" view. Indeed, what great player at Northwest Arkansas or Round Rock or Wilmington, is he blocking? Some member of the Kansas City sports intelligentsia is no doubt asking that question in a post somewhere on the Net as we speak.

As long as Kansas City fans look on baseball this way, the brass will never be forced to put a winning team on the field. Not at the major league level anyway. It'll always be blue sky and next year.

--Lofflin -- feelin' sorry for the kid because he didn't make these promises but will have to live up to them. The sports talkers and the club brass created this hype for their own improvised purposes.

Thanks to Tony Botello for noticing, to Anon for arguing, but now's the time to call bullshit bullshit

Last night I snapped. After the second inning I could watch no more. I had had enough. I turned off the television and made more productive use of my life, vowing never to turn the Royals on again, never to read the paper about the Royals, never to listen to the paid talkers squawk about the Royals and never to write about the Royals.

You can see how that went.

Even if I can’t hold to it, I am duty bound to offer it as advice to others.

Actually, watching the game itself isn’t so bad if you appreciate it for what it is… a battle between David and Goliath… a penny pinching minor league team against a major league team. From that perspective, it can be kind of interesting.

What you have to eliminate, for your own sanity, is the commentary. You can only stomach so much bullshit at a time and in a world full of bullshit, every little bit you can avoid helps. As a political scientist of sorts, bullshit is my research interest. As a teacher, I encounter some form of bullshit every day.

One of my favorite little books is “On Bullshit” by Harry G. Frankfurt. Professor Frankfurt begins his treatise with this:

"One of the most salient features of our culture is that there is so much bullshit. Everyone knows this. Each of us contributes his share. But we tend to take the situation for granted. Most people are rather confident of their ability to recognize bullshit and to avoid being taken in by it…. In consequence, we have no clear understanding of what bullshit is, why there is so much of it, or what functions it serves." From there he develops a sophisticated definition of bullshit, which, for a philosopher is something akin to establishing your fastball early in the count.

As Professor Frankfurt soon points out, bullshit is everywhere today. We’re awash on an ocean of bullshit and, as the late James David Barber foresaw, the ropes mooring our boats to the shore are coming loose at a frightening pace.

My impatience with bullshit about the home team is not because I'm a New Yorker marooned in Kansas City and spoiled by winning. I’m no newcomer to losing baseball. I was an A’s fan as a kid. I have a friend who says he became an atheist because he always prayed on Sundays for God to help the A’s win at least one game of the doubleheader. Like Nietzsche, his conclusion was that God is either dead, not a baseball fan, or not listening to boys marooned in Kansas City.

At least then we had Star sportswriter Ernie Mehl to call bullshit “bullshit.” The owner once saddled up a donkey and had him led around the warning track at Municipal Stadium wearing a banner that read: “Poison Pen Award to Ernie Mehl.”

A Henry Wiggen Blog reader took me to task yesterday for my “cheap shot” at Star sportswriter Sam Mellinger. I was reacting to the usually reliable Mellinger’s convoluted logic that somehow Zack Greinke’s 5-something earned run average – when compared to the ERAs of the rest of the starting staff – made the trade for Greinke look like a success for the Royal’s Brain Trust. My argument was that Mellinger failed to mention Greinke is 7 and 3 so far this season for the Brewers and only Bruce Chen, who hasn’t pitched much, has a winning record for the home nine.

Now, in the abstract, Anon was right in criticizing my use of the pitchers’ won / lost records to argue with Mellinger. Anon – who is, b y the way, a pretty darn good writer – reminded me most Sabermagicians have abandoned winning and losing as a measure of pitchers, that my old school approach is hopelessly dated. I agree, to a point.

Whatever the math reveals, it seems the point of the game is still to win. The argument reminds me of the current abhorrence for the ancient runs-batted-in statistic. I agree this yardstick is flawed. It depends in great measure on what the three or four hitters in front of the person in question are capable of doing. But, again, the point of playing baseball IS to drive in runs. Flawed as won / lost records and runs-batted-in may be, it is still better to drive in runs than to not, and winning is definitely better than losing.

My fear is that those who should hold the feet of the Royals Brain Trust to the fire will get lost in numbers describing bullshit like "quality starts" and "pitches seen per at bat".

Today, the Star’s Sabermagician blogger Martin Manley seemed to have had enough as well. His column, though not a direct repudiation of Mellinger’s, makes the case using much more sophisticated number. As I barely understand it, GMSC – game score – is meant to measure what a pitcher adds or subtracts to the game by his presence on the mound for however many innings he lasts. The calculus is more complex than that, adding points for completed innings and strikeouts and subtracting for hits, earned runs, unearned runs and walks. It was created by Lawrence, Kansas, wizard Bill James, of course.

So, if I’m reading this chart right, Royals starters have only added value to 36 of the 83 games they’ve worked. That’s roughly 43 % of their starts, which is reasonably close to what you get if you only look at their won/lost records. And only Bruce Chen has averaged adding anything to a game – and Chen just barely.

Now, as I said before, that is horrendous. As Manley said, it certainly wipes the lipstick off the pig.

Which is what got me going on this subject in the first place. What I’m sick to the point of shouting about is the ridiculous public relations effort (sorry John Landsberg… but you know what I mean) by the team’s talkers and others, to not only put lipstick on this pig but add eye-shadow and blush. I expect better out of the sportswriters and bloggers who cover the Royals. The announcers – well that’s easy to understand. Frank White and Denny Matthews have adopted their mothers’ admonition to not say anything if you can’t say something nice. The others come to the booth well armed with lipstick and eyebrow pencil.

And what’s more troubling is this same ocean of bullshit is everywhere today, from baseball to medicine, to politics, to education. About all you can do now is swim for your life.

--Lofflin… pushing that damned metaphor like an old Volkswagen with a bad starter…

Image courtesy http://hopeexists.wordpress.com/2010/09/

PS: Joe Posnanski used the dreaded "quality start" statistic to absolutely embarrass the Royals' pitching staff in a great post today.I remain unconvinced about quality starts but the numbers they produce do nail Kyle Davies work on the mound rather well.

Billy Butler is a hitter, today, tomorrow, next year. Leave him alone. If you want to see Omaha, take I-29 north and shut the heck up

Just let the fat boy hit.

I'd like to digress from from search for jazz negatives to talk just a bit about Billy Butler. Sam Mellinger brought this to mind in a Star column and Kevin Scobee added his own thoughts of KoK, which is an excellent read.

The fans here are so enamored with the future, with what MIGHT be someday (If you are a Royals fan this all too familiar…), they don’t recognize what they already have. One poster on the Star column about Billy said something so damned dumb I can’t get it out of my head. He said he was MAD at Billy for “keeping his average above .300" because that was keeping "us" from getting a look at Clint Robinson, the next flavor-of- the-month in Omaha.

Mad at Billy Butler for not failing! Mad at Billy Butler for hitting .300! What on earth has sports come to in this society? This guy thinks the next Mickey Mantle is in Omaha held back by a .300 hitter in Kansas City. If I'm not mistaken, the intelligentsia among the fan base once thought Kia was being held back by Billy. Were they the same ones clamoring for the Hawaiian to be optioned back to Omaha when he fizzled? Probably.

Now, they want to trade the only proven .300 hitter on the team.

I’m sure Oakland or Boston would be in the market for Mr. Butler. They subscribe to the theory that stolen bases are not a good risk most of the time, that hitters who have patience and only swing at good pitches help the ball club, that driving the ball to the gaps wins games. Ah, you say, but Billy hits into a lot of double plays (between singles and doubles). Seems to me Frenchy has hit into more double plays this year than Billy.

But Billy is not racking up big time RBIs. RBIs measure what the players around a player do. Really, no sense discussing that where the Royals are concerned. If you're angry about Billy's RBI totals, talk to the three or four guys in front of him.

Oh yes, and while we're hating on Butler, we're snuggling up to Chris Getz.

Heard Bob Davis calling the game a few weeks ago with Denny Matthews. Getz is up. It's a 10-pitch at bat. He's fouling pitch after pitch off. Bob's going on and on and on about Getz. He says to Denny, “He's really driving up the pitch count here. Denny, you have to say something positive about a guy who looks at so many pitches.” The moment of silence that followed spoke volumes. You could almost feel Denny roll his eyes through the radio. Finally, Denny says, “Well, yes.” That 'yes' was flat as a squashed squirrel on the freeway. Getz grounded to second on the next pitch.

But the intelligentsia love the new blood from Omaha. Why, they're guaranteed to be stars already.

We’ll see if Hosmer is a hitter second time through the league. Looks to me like they've already found that hole in his swing. And Moose? Like Hosmer, he looks like the real deal. But, we'll see where they are in July.

The grass will always be greener in Omaha, I’m afraid.

--Lofflin

Quick thoughts on O'Sullivan, Billy Butler and the hit & run, why my temper is still a problem at 62, and happy news of a new second grade teacher

Sean O'Sullivan is right. The major leagues are no place to work out a new delivery or a new pitch. Omaha or N.W. Arkansas would be much more appropriate.

With a good friend and maybe 2,000 fans I watched Wednesday's afternoon game at the stadium. We were praying -- out loud -- in the bottom of the ninth the brain trust would let Billy Butler swing away, rather than strapping him with a hit & run request or, worse, a sacrifice bunt.

They didn't, and it paid off.

But we were left with sabermagician questions for which I'm sure somebody has a rational, unemotional answer. How often is hit & run profitable? When, and in what circumstances?

Butler had previously been tied in knots by a hit & run request. Anybody in the park could see it was an attempt to prevent Butler from hitting into another doubleplay. Of course, it caused him to hit directly into a doubleplay.

For god's sake just let the big boy hit the ball.

I played lousy myself last night. It's crazy to do this at 62, but, well... I figured out why. I let my temper drive me rather than my legs and hips. I don't like being pushed around and I let the young man who did it know, but I couldn't leave it there. And I paid the price. In addition, I hit one to the fence in BP and another to the fence in my first at bat and I think I just got enamored with the fence rather than that elusive spot about an eighth of an inch below center on the ball.

If you know what I mean.

Then, as I was settling in to sleep, setting the alarm on my cell phone, I noticed a text message. My daughter is the new second grade teacher at the elementary school in her town! Immediately I could hear this conversation:

Erik: Who you got this year?

Willie: Mrs. Morton.

Erik: Lucky.

--Loffllin -- almost too proud to be healthy...

Photograph courtesy the Kansas City Star. Could not find a credit line for this wonderful image anywhere on the page. My guess is John Sleezer.

Hosmer arrives in KC, Mellinger gushes, silliness and victory dances overtake fans

The silliness of baseball fans in this town never ends. Despite all indications, this has to be the most optimistic group of people on the face of the planet.

Eric Hosmer has been promoted to Kansas City from Omaha. People in baseball towns usually reserve such celebrations for pennants and World Series championships. One guy on a radio talk show this morning said he danced around the house when he heard the news and woke up this morning still dancing.

The future, the Star reports, is coming fast.

Remember last summer when the fans were crying and begging for Mr. Ka'aihue to be brought up from Omaha. We want to see the future up here now, they pleaded. They got their wish and apparently the future was not a .195 batting average.

I hope Hosmer pans out. I also hope Alex Gordon continues to pan out. His comeback has been nothing short of inspirational. But what fans so often lose sight of is the simple reality that this game is difficult. At the major league level it is damn near impossible.

So, be cautious when Sam Mellinger at the Star gushes: "Mission 2012 is real now, it’s legitimate, and if you don’t believe it, you can come out to Kauffman Stadium tonight to see for yourself." Not only is that shameless cheerleading (What DO they teach in journalism school these days?), it's also silly. Mellinger knows the numbers. He knows the real odds against any of these guys becoming a big time ball player.

It's a hard game. Ridiculously hard. If it was an easy game, they'd call it basketball and keep the rim at 10 feet.

--Lofflin

Royals wins per season: a shameful picture

My great colleague Scott Hageman drew this up after getting mad at talk radio this morning. What it reveals is shameful.

Click on it to see the detail, though the trend line is quite enough.

Notice how peaks in wins are -- in all but one case -- followed by large decreases in wins. In psychology this might be called interment reinforcement. Also, isolate the period from 1993 to today and notice how many years are below, or way below, the 80-win line. Isolate, especially, the period since 2003. Only once since 2003 have the Royals been above the 80-win line.

--Lofflin

Sabermagic on Billy Beane and David DeJesus -- which comes first? winning? Or expecting to win?

Chicken or egg?

Do the Royals make the deals they make because they don't expect to win or do they not expect to win because of the deals they make?

I-70 Baseball's Adam Shupe took the challenge and performed some slick saber-magician work on my question about the David DeJesus trade. I wanted someone to run the numbers on Mr. DeJesus and give me a quantitative reason why Billy Beane thinks he is a bargain for his Oakland A's but the Royals' braintrust thinks he's too expensive to keep. Billy Beane, I maintained, doesn't make off the cuff, gut level (or gut wrenching) trades. For more on this and other Royals discussion, see Adam's blog bareknucklebaseball.mlblogs.com.

(By the way, if you need a reporter/writer, hire this man. Baseball is not his only dimension -- I've seen him write with grace about everything. )

Here's Shupe's response.

As for David DeJesus, I can only offer three reasons.

1. For some reason Billy Beane thinks the A's are good enough to make a run at the World Series and DeJesus can be a role player in that process. DeJesus has always been a Billy Beane style player, solid defense and base running with an affinity to get on base.

Bill James' 2011 projections are up and have DeJesus going .289/.360/.427, 11 HR, 86 R, 68 RBI, 6 SB. This matches up similarly to his 2009 output, considering he plays as well defensively as he did in 2009 his WAR would be around 3-3.5, which considering his $5.5 million salary would be a worthwhile investment.

2. Beane thinks he can deal DeJesus at the trade deadline to a contender for more than he gave up to the Royals. This is vintage Billy Beane, think Matt Holliday on a smaller level.

3. Beane believes DeJesus will perform well enough to be a Type B or possibly Type A outfielder. So when he leaves after the season, they will have gotten a good return on a MLB outfielder for a season and possibly a first round draft pick for two guys who may or may not make a major league impact.

SO WHY IS THIS A GOOD DEAL FOR BILLY BEANE AND NOT A GOOD DEAL FOR DAYTON MOORE?

This is where you see the fundamental differences between the mentalities of GMs. This deal makes sense for Billy Beane because he always wants to compete. He constantly has the playoffs as the first priority. You will never see an A's team play 20 games under .500 like the Royals have. They always compete. It's how he fielded a team in 2002 that won 103 games on a payroll of just under $40 million, third lowest in the league. He's known for bring major talent in through trades, but also dealt Andre Either for Milton Bradley (Dodgers), Nelson Cruz for Keith Ginter, and Carlos Gonzalez with Houston Street for Matt Holliday (Rockies).

Can you imagine a staring out field of Andre Either in left, Carlos Gonzalez in center, and Nelson Cruz in right?

But he makes moves like those to roll the dice in the playoffs. Bradley raked down the 2006 playoff stretch.

A few bounces their way and maybe if Jermey Giambi slid, their fate might have been altered.

Dayton Moore, on the other hand, is waiting for one big push. He was bred differently, under a regime like the Braves. He understands a fundamental way to win the game, prospects from within. This is why 2011 is basically already mortgaged in Kansas City. Everyone has accepted the Royals aren't going to win anything this season. It's basically a premier tryout for guys like Kila Ka'aihue, Alex Gordon, Mike Moustakas, and a stable of young arms. Who's good enough to play, so we can take them with us when the farm begins to cultivate?

Moore was quoted as saying you need about 20 good pitching prospects to expect 4 or 5 guys who will stick. His philosophies are based firmly upon comments like those. That's the difference.

The deal makes sense for Beane because DeJesus gives any team a better chance to win. There's no question in that. Worst case scenario, come trade deadline he still has value. You keep him then maybe you get a draft pick. Does the difference between 87 and 90 wins matter? Hell yeah.

If he was a Royal he might be the difference between a 64 and 67 loss team, is it worth it? No way. Of course everyone would like to see DeJesus roaming Kauffman again, but the young arms are what's important. He's piling up arms seeing which are the four or five who can make it.

The casual fans see Moore giving up one of their favorite players for two guys they've never heard of. They think Vin Mazzaro will just be another Brian Bannister or Kyle Davies. Fillers. The difference is this: Vin Mazzaro is 23 and had a WAR of -0.1, he got paid $450,000. A young pitcher establishing himself playing just below replacement level for the league minimum. Bannister and Davies combined played at a WAR of -0.7 at a price of $4.1 million. Seems like good business to me.

It's no coincidence this trade came right after they released Bannister, while questioning Davies return, all while trade rumors swirl about Greinke. So Moore goes outs and gets a young arm under team control for near league minimum for the next five years. This guy would have had the second lowest ERA on the team behind Greinke.

The other kid they got looks like a clone of Will Smith, the southpaw they got from the Angels for Callaspo. That makes about ten lefties I could rattle off who will be in the top 25 prospects in the best minors system in the league. He's playing the odds he can find a couple Tom Glavine's out of a group like that.

We have some other great baseball minds working on this and as soon as they get their ideas to us, we'll put them on the screen. These quantitative discussions are interesting because they get us out of the same old rut -- you know -- the rut that begins with "the Royals have been on full suck since..."

--Lofflin
Photo: www.vegansoapbox.com

Royals trade DeJesus for... oh never mind...

Why did I expect anything else?

Of curse the brain trust would trade the most reliable player on the team. And, sure, no question they would trade for two questionable pitchers, one they thought of so highly they once traded him away.

Why two pitchers? Well, Sherlock Holmes, who do you think is next?

As Bruce Pearson said in "Bang the Drum..." -- "(we) are doomed."

Watched the scene from the movie with Henry, Dutch, Bradley and Patricia in the hotel room negotiating Henry's contract yesterday before reading about the trade. Can't help thinking the same sort of thinking went on in a corner office at the stadium this week. Only the owner was raking leaves in another state hooked in by Bluetooth, Bradley was now the GM and Dutch, well Dutch just nodded his head.

Bobblehead World.

Jeeeeeze.

Somebody please explain this to me. Using logic, as Henry would say...

--Lofflin

Photo: USA Today

Why I love baseball

My I-70 Baseball colleague Bill Ivie recently told me about a blog called The Baseball Docent. One of the missions of that blog is to ask people a simple question: Why do you love baseball?

What a beautiful question to ask about a perfectly imperfect game.

For me, and perhaps for many others, the answer to the question is not so simple.

I love baseball because my dad and my mom took me to games, back in the days when the Royals played respectable ball and you could take a family of four to a big-league ballpark for less than twenty-five bucks - parking and food included.

I love baseball because after the games, my brother and I would go stand around next to the visiting team bus and the home team parking lot, asking for autographs. More players said no than yes, but the ones who said yes - regardless of how they performed on the field - became our favorites.

I love baseball because of my grandmother. A first-generation American, she was born and raised in the small central Missouri town of Loose Creek, and grew up in the days of Ruth and Gehrig. She became a fan of the Kansas City Royals out of spite, for the exact same reason she voted Republican: her husband, the jovial town barber, told her she ought vote Democrat and root for the St. Louis Cardinals. My grandmother did the opposite. Our family friend Ralph Lynch took my grandmother to a playoff game in 1985, and bought her a Royals jacket. The jacket, and a commemorative Dwight Eisenhower plate, were her prized possessions. She wore that jacket every spring and fall until the day she died.

I love baseball because of that jacket.

I love baseball because of Ralph Lynch. Ralph was the kind of guy who would throw away caps when they became too worn out. Once, when he was over at our house, shucking corn and drinking Pabst Blue Ribbon out of the can with my father, he decided his old Royals hat was too worn out and chucked it in a garbage barrel. I dug that sucker out of the trash and wore it the rest of my childhood.

I love baseball because of Bret Saberhagen. He was the kid pitcher on the Royals in 1985, and he went on to win a Cy Young Award and the World Series MVP. He was my favorite player, and still is, even though he sprayed bleach on reporters while playing for the Mets and wore his hair in a ridiculous perm.

I love baseball because of Game 7 of the 1985 World Series. A Cardinals fan tried to tell me recently that the Royals would have lost the series if Don Denkinger, the guy who blew a call in Game 6, hadn't been behind the plate for Game 7. The Royals won Game 7 by a score of 11-0. Cardinals fans are delusional if they think a different umpire would have changed the outcome of Saberhagen's complete-game shutout or the Royals' offensive explosion. But I digress... I love baseball because I was six years old during the 1985 World Series. My family watched the game from our living room, in the house where my parents still live. Ralph Lynch was there, too. My brother and I watched from the living room carpet, laid out on our stomachs, our heads cradled in our hands. When Darryl Motley caught the ball for the final out and Saberhagen leaped into George Brett's arms, we pounded on the carpet and screamed until our fists were sore and our throats were raw.

I love baseball because I love hating the Cardinals, and I love hating the Yankees.

I love baseball because of George Brett, the greatest player I ever saw. Years after he retired I witnessed him at an exhibition game. He was joking around with the crowd, signing a few autographs, and then he took batting practice and his expression became deadly serious. He whacked the ball all over the park, with that wonderfully ridiculous back-to-the-pitcher stance of his. I'll bet money George Brett could still hit .275 in the big leagues.

I love baseball because of birthday money. On my birthday, I would get $15 from my parents to spend anyway I liked, and my brother would get $10. On his birthday, we'd reverse it. One year on my birthday, I blew my entire wad on baseball cards. My brother had always had more cards than me, and it was sort of a sore subject. That night I came home and opened all my cards (probably 30 packs - they were a lot cheaper back then), and shoved all the gum in my mouth. Then, with a mouth full of sugary sweetness, I took my cards and stacked them up in a skyscraper. My brother stacked his cards up too. My stack, for once, was taller.

I love baseball because of the gum. My brother's friend once built a small box out of baseball-card gum and stored his valuables inside, because he swore the gum was fireproof.

I love baseball because of Buck O'Neil.

I love baseball because there's an old family rumor, largely propagated by my brother, that we're distantly related to Mickey Mantle.

I love baseball because my wife lets me teach her about the game, and she's come to love it, too, in a way only a perfect wife can, the kind of wife who doesn't just suffer her husband's obsessions, but shares in them.

I love baseball because it's the only game that matters. It's the only game I'll ever truly love. It's a game that belongs to me in the same way it belongs to all fans, and I belong to it as well.

-- Matt Kelsey

I-70 Baseball

For the past three months or so, I have been cheating on you, Henry Wiggen Blog. I'm having an affair with another website.

I've been writing about the Kansas City Royals at the new site I-70 Baseball. And in the short time the site has been "live," I've also become the co-host of a weekly radio show and the content editor for the site. It's taking up a lot of time, but it's been fulfilling, and I think the website has a strong future.

I-70 Baseball, an affiliate site of BaseballDigest.com, covers both the Royals and the St. Louis Cardinals, which fills a niche missing in the online world - especially since many people in this part of the country are fans of both teams. However, even if you're just a fan of one or the other, there's something new on the site about each team every single day.

To help fulfill that goal, I've enlisted the help of the other half of the Henry Wiggen Blog, Mr. John Lofflin. John's first article will appear on Saturday. Be sure to check it out. He writes a terrific, in-depth piece about Royals Hall of Famer Frank White.

I am forever grateful to John for giving us a helping hand. I know his presence will make the site more popular and much stronger.

Check out I-70 Baseball when you get a chance. I think you'll like it.

But remember, Henry Wiggen Blog, I still love you.

-- Matt Kelsey

The State of the Royals ... not so sweet; just check out the ninth inning last night...

In the bottom of the ninth
last night, the Royals sent three hitters to the plate.

If they had not pinch hit for the third, all three would have been hitters who choke up two inches on the bat. None of the three was Barry Bonds.

Three hitters in a row who choke the bat.

Now I appreciate defense as much as the next guy. Hey, I think defense wins games in slow-pitch softball, the most offense-minded game on the planet. But for an alleged major league team to send three chokers to the plate in a row?

Oh, if only it were about their defense. Only one of the three is a defensive specialist. The center-fielder appears adequate and the catcher -- as Joe Posnanski says -- may be the worst everyday player in either league. So, it's not about defense.

OK, three chokers in a row. The combined batting average of the first two was .421. Combined. That's an average average of about .211.

With the catcher added, the combined average would have been .681. That's a pretty good series in bowling but not much in baseball. The average average of three hitters the Royals sent to the plate in the bottom of the ninth would have been .227.

But instead, the Royals pinch hit for their iron man catcher. Not sure how the manager summoned the guts to tell him to sit down, but he did. And the average of the poor pinch hitter who probably got more swings off live pitching in the first three days of spring training than he has gotten all season? Whoa! .170.

So, in reality the Royals sent three hitters to the plate in the bottom of the ninth last night in front of 34,206 fans.

.200
.221
.170

Good thing the game wasn't on the line and the ticket you bought was just for watching the brain trust evaluate talent.

And, that's how it's gone for Royals fans this year after the trades and the call ups. You can put a ribbon on it, but it still stinks.

--Lofflin

Royals coming apart at the seams; Greinke and Butler know how this flick ends

They're like bad marriages, these bad teams.

Everything comes undone the same way. The warmth of spring spreads hope all will finally be well. And in the heat of August, hope wilts.

Then the bickering begins. The friends take sides.

The brain trust would like for you to believe all is well, this marriage can (once again) be saved. Just be patient. Visit the pastor. Redefine the roles. Work on the small things. Do the dishes with a smile.

But the players (on the team and in the marriage) know different.

In the past week the only two players on this team who would start on any .500 or better major league team have aired grievances. They are inside. They know the thing is coming apart.

Why? They've seen it before. As young as they are for major leaguers, they've seen it before twice.

Greinke and Butler. They know how this movie ends.

And what about the fans? Like some of the friends of the marriage, they've turned on them. Disloyal, they shout. Flawed. Greinke needs to pitch like his old self. Butler can't line up properly for the relay from the outfield. Greinke better shut up and win. Butler needs to grow up and hit for power.

Fans, like friends of the marriage, are fickle. But, like Butler and Greinke, they've also been here before. Some for more than half a century. They all know how the movie ends. Or should know.

It's time for the fans to realize this impossible marriage between Kansas City and Major League Baseball aint gonna work. Ever.

But, unfortunately, they all know next spring they will let themselves be filled with hope again. And by August, they will feel betrayed.

--Lofflin

All Star Game, baby!

This comes as no real surprise, but Kauffman Stadium will be hosting the 2012 MLB All-Star Game.

I'm going to do my darnedest to get tickets, at least to the Home Run Derby, but I'm not going to hold my breath. However, this is pretty exciting for Kansas City, and great for the Royals - and hopefully by 2012 we'll have a team worthy of All-Star designation.

Of course, this won't be Kansas City's first All-Star game. We hosted in 1973, and if you've followed this All-Star story at all, you know that 17 - seventeen - players from that 1973 game are now in the Hall of Fame, including...

Hank Aaron

Tom Seaver

Johnny Bench

Nolan Ryan

Carl Yastrzemski

Catfish Hunter

Carlton Fisk

Brooks Robinson

...just to name a few. Pete Rose was also there. And another ballplayer you may have heard of: Willie Mays, in his final All-Star appearance.

Who will be the Hall of Famers from the 2012 game? I'm guessing the number will probably be less than 17.

Derek Jeter will probably be there. He's a lock for the Hall. Mariano Rivera, if he's still playing. Alex Rodriguez, if the steroid stigma will allow him entry into the Hall. And that's just from the Yankees.

But after that, the Hall of Fame prospects get a little thinner. JAlbert Pujols? Yeah, probably, if he can avoid the steroid speculation. Joe Mauer? Yeah, if he keeps hitting the way he's hitting. Ichiro? Maybe, but he might not have the career numbers to do it (although he already has over 2,000 hits in nine-plus years). Roy Halladay? Tim Lincecum? Zack Greinke? Any number of pitchers in the game today could string together five or six strong seasons and be considered for Cooperstown.

Then there are a lot of borderline position players who may or may not be Hall of Fame worthy. David Wright, Chase Utley, Dustin Pedroia, Miguel Cabrera, guys like that.

Who knows? But it'll be a lot of fun to watch. Can't wait until 2012.

--Matt Kelsey

Is there a Henry Wiggen on the board for the Royals in the draft?

We're hours away from the 2010 MLB First Year Players Draft, and the Royals have the No. 4 overall pick.

Which is just the Royals' luck.

All the draft experts say there are three great prospects in this year's draft class, led by Bryce Harper, likely to go first overall to the Nationals. After those three, as Peter Gammons says, No. 4 through No. 44 are pretty much at the same talent level.

That just sucks.

Still, the Royals should be able to get an impact player. There was talk over the weekend that the Royals had reached a tentative agreement with catcher Yasmani Grandal, but it sounds like it's mostly fell through. I think they'll take lefty college pitcher Chris Sale.

It's always good to stockpile young pitching.

But the Royals are known for reaching down deep past great prospects for lesser-known commodities (Luke Hochevar No. 1 overall, anyone?).

I guess we'll see.

But this day, Draft Day, is where you build a winning team. Let's hope the Royals can lay a cornerstone this afternoon.

UPDATE: So it wasn't a pitcher they chose. Instead it was Cal State Fullerton shortstop Christian Colon. I like the pick. He seems like a solid ballplayer and a good citizen. I'm sure we'll learn a lot more about him in the coming days, weeks, months and years.

--Matt Kelsey

Yunieski Betancort engagement a short one: kind of like the Little White Wedding Chapel short

Well, that's how far Yunieski Betancourt 's engagement with the game of baseball lasted.

The only person with shorter engagement is Britney Spears. And her engagement was only slightly shorter than the 55 day marriage it spawned.

-- Lofflin, just being a smart aleck...

Another Tony Pena Jr., update and a short e(e)rie story

Another update you didn't know you wanted.

OK, I'll give this a rest for a while but once I found out where Tony Pena, Jr., landed I couldn't help checking. After all, it has rained all day, my Thursday night league is rained out, and my mind is just now adjusting to life without classes to teach for the summer.

TJ pitched three-and-a-third innings this afternoon for Richmond against the Erie SeaWolves. He gave up two hits, struck out seven and came away with his third victory against no losses. His ERA dropped to 1.09.

Here's an excerpt from the game story on the Richmond Squirrels' Web site:

"Tony Pena Jr. (3-0) took over for Clark in the sixth and dominated the rest of the way. He fanned seven SeaWolves over 3 1/3 innings, allowing just two singles as he earned his third win of the season. ..."

I saw the SeaWolves play in Erie a few years ago. I was in Pennsylvania to do some reporting and as usual, wanted to sneak in a minor league game. My interview was scheduled for 7 a.m. the next morning. At maybe 6:30 the night before I went to the grocery store for oranges, bread and cheese to feast on in my room. I looked in the newspaper and discovered the SeaWolves playing at home that night then I consulted the map and calculated I could make the drive in time to catch the seventh inning.

So off I went, 250 miles between me and Erie, oranges, cheese and hunks of bread in the passenger seat of the rental car. I couldn't get the game on the radio until just outside Erie about 9:30 p.m. To my surprise the game was only in the first inning, having endured a two-hour rain delay.

And it was in the eighth inning, at 2 a.m., when it dawned on me I had a three-hour drive ahead and I had left just enough time to change clothes and, blood-shot eyes and all -- make it to the interview. If memory serves, I slept like a baby on the plane home that night.

--Lofflin

Fredi Gonzales benches Henley Ramirez for love of the game; Trey Hillman and Kansas City fans -- take note...

Fredi Gonzales did what Trey Hillman could not.

Gonzales, Florida Marlins manager, stood up to lackadaisical play. He stood up to a player disrespecting the game of baseball. He asked (wish I could read lips...) is this the best you can do? Apparently he didn't like the answer.

So, he sat his shortstop on the bench. This, Trey Hillman could not do and Trey Hillman paid the price.

Trey Hillman patted his player on the back and assessed a fine. Kind of what your father might do if it was your first offense.

Admittedly, it took a lot more courage to sit an all-star shortstop like Mr. Ramirez than a weak hitting, barely engaged, shortstop like Mr. Betancort. The irony is this: It took Trey Hillman's firing to get Mr. Betancort's attention. How long this improved play will last is not hard to guess. All you have to do is look at the numbers that mark Mr. Betancort's recent history.

We're just four games into the hard charging Yuniesky Betancort. We'll see if he's still engaged this time next week.

Meanwhile, Mr. Ramierez did not take his benching as a way to re-engage with the game so maybe he needs to have his manager fired, as well. He didn't like being punished, he said. He was hurt. He had been struck on the shin. (Recall Bob Gibson finishing an inning with a broken leg... ) His manager had never played in the Big Leagues, he didn't understand.

Understand what? That good enough is good enough?


-- Lofflin, thinking if I write about modern baseball players long enough I'll learn to spell "lackadaisical" without the spell checker...

Photo/ Associated Press
...
PPS: Many, if not most, Big League managers were catchers in the Big Leagues. Henley, are you sure they would understand why you only give the game 25% playing hurt? My goodness, they played hurt every day. And played hard. Anybody want to make a list of former Big League players who might not be more understanding than Fredi Gonzales? Brett? Gibson? Boggs? Shilling? Mantle? Bob Cerv, who hit 38 homeruns, many with his jaw wired shut...?

Gordon to Omaha, Aviles to the bench? Amateur Hour in the boardroom or the lockerroom drives the bus right into the mud...

...

Sam Mellinger of the Star has it right on the Royals' recent move sending Alex Gordon down and bringing Mike Aviles back to the big club. As Mellinger says, this move could be good if they don't let Alives "rot" on the bench. He adds that's a big if. Mellinger's most persuasive argument is this:

"When asked Monday, neither Moore or manager Trey Hillman could cite much difference between Aviles and Chris Getz at second base other than Getz having more experience.

"Club officials think Aviles has better range than Betancourt at shortstop but may not make as many plays in part because of his recovering arm.

"Aviles doesn’t have the big-league track record to demand instant status as the regular shortstop, but neither does Betancourt. Of the two, Aviles has been far more successful as a big-leaguer.

"Too much of the value on Betancourt has been what scouts thought he might become, and too much of the knock on Aviles has been what folks assumed he couldn’t do. The focus should be on production.

"Getz is now hitting .171 over his 41 at-bats, and if Betancourt is worn down, the Royals are out of excuses about not finding Aviles regular time.

"He can play third base, second base or shortstop. He hit .325 and won the club’s player-of-the-year award last time he was healthy. Even if he’s just 90 percent of that, that’s significant improvement on what the Royals currently have."

I see this as a central example of the central problem with the Royals. This team is run by amateurs. Hey, everybody has to start somewhere, right? Why not Kansas City? You certainly don't get your big break in New York or LA. How many managers have been given their start here then gone on to be ... long time hitting coaches (Hal McRae) and bench coaches (Tony Pena Sr.) elsewhere. It will always be amateur hour in Kansas City -- probably until (and this is increasingly unlikely) a professional baseball man decides to buy the club.

When amateurs run a ball club -- or the department in which you work -- they tend to go by the book ... literally, the last soft-core management book they've read. Or they do things the way the last boss they loved to hate did them. Or they pick out a couple of overarching principles and ride them relentlessly into the sunset no matter what.

What they don't do, what they are afraid to do, is improvise. They get locked in and they are terrified of the consequences of straying from The Book. They can't make exceptions. They don't seize opportunities because they are too busy looking in the rear view mirror of fear. They like this job -- well, they usually love to hate this job -- and they want to keep it.

What that means on the ball field or in your cubicle is that all innovation stops.

It also means they are not capable of listening to what they do. I always tell writers to listen to their stories. If the writing is going slowly, like walking in lava, listen to that, stop, look for a problem. If some part of their story has a lot of energy and they feel great writing it, listen to that energy and for goodness sakes move the energry up to the top. Listen. React.

And that's where the Royals have been for years. The bosses --my guess is from the scouts to the third base coaches -- are intellectually deaf. They're stuck. They're spinning the wheels of the bus in the mud and they can't understand why The Book won't get them traction.

And, because Mike Aviles was not SUPPOSED to be a major league shortstop, they will let him rot on the bench.

Unless they are finally desperate enough now to try anything. That, really, is the only hope for Kansas City. Until management is so desperate it begins to "listen" to what is happening on the field, to throw out the book, to realize this is not and never will be a textbook franchise anyway, to squirm and wiggle and innovate, and to stop worrying about what the pros in their field will think of them elsewhere, every hour of Kansas City baseball will be amateur hour.

God I wish I had seen the Monarchs play.

--Lofflin

Royals' stealth trade leaves you shaking your head... and shaking your head at the Star, too -- At least Aviles is back, if only to sit the bench

...
Can't find anything in the Star about it, but apparently the Royals and Diamondbacks exchanged minor leaguers yesterday, according to the Associated Press.

On the surface this is another head scratching what-in-the-world-could-they-be-thinking moment. They traded a reliever some folks have ranked fairly high among prospects to the Snakes for ... a shortstop. Apparently the shortstop is playing for Crash Davis' last team in A-ball, is supposed to be a defensive specialist but has been prone to errors -- 29 in 118 starts last year -- and had just four home runs in better than 270 minor league games, not at bats. Worse, one Snakes' blogger -- aka kishi --thinks he will probably be eligible for minor league free agency before he can manage to climb to the major league level.

"It's a little surprising that the Royals would opt to trade (Rosa, the AAA reliever), since they are in almost as much need of bullpen help as we are here in Arizona. They had the worst relief ERA of any team in the American League in April, at 5.77 - almost a full run worse than the next-highest figure. I'd have said that Rosa would have deserved a shot in the major-league pen: while admittedly, shortstop is universally regarded as the weakest position in their farm system, the more pressing need appears to be for immediate relief help, and Rosa was decent in two (admittedly brief) stints in the majors, with a 3.21 ERA in 14 innings."

You have to wonder why the hapless Royals would turn loose of a bullpen prospect for a very light hitting shortstop. After all, the Royals already have one of those.

Plus, the Royals don't have a legitimate relief prospect in the bullpen. I mean in the major league bullpen. To say nothing of the minor league system.

On second thought, this is another head scratching what-in-the-world-could-the-brain-trust-be-thinking moment. Let's see, kind of like pinch hitting Ankiel in the bottom of the ninth when he really should be on the DL. Or... well, let's not go down that road. The list might be pretty long.

Sorry, Zack.

--Lofflin

PS: Read the Star's tardy account late today of this trade for a prime example of a half-full, half-empty mug of beer.

Okay. So... How about a little good news?

We're three games into the new Royals season, and to paraphrase the great baseball movie "Major League," these guys don't look to freakin' good.

But.

There are a few specks of good news.

The starting pitching has been spectacular. So far, Zack Greinke has been the worst of the three starters to pitch. And we have Gil Meche back from the injury list this weekend; when he's healthy, he's proven to be a capable middle-of-the-rotation guy. Luke Hochevar did a lot to secure the No. 3 spot in the rotation in Game 2.

And the offense really hasn't been that bad. Hell, Yuniesky Betancourt and a big gust of wind hit a home run in the opener. He's on pace to hit over 50 (that's a joke, by the way). Rick Ankiel finally broke out when he needed to in the second game. And the Royals have been getting men on base. I'm hopeful the offense will come together nicely this year.

But then there's the bullpen.

Just like last year, the bullpen has proven to be atrocious so far. Even reliable Joakim Soria blew it in game two, though he did strike out three batters before giving up a bloop home run to Miguel Cabrera.

I'm hopeful, though. Maybe I'm just blinded by Springtime and opening week. But I think the pieces in the bullpen might fit together to make a fairly complete puzzle. Farnsworth? No. Huh-uh. If they can't trade him, they should make him irrelevant. Only pitch him in situations where a power righty makes sense. Juan Cruz, I think he'll bounce back this year. Roman Colon and Robinson Tejeda will get better. Dusty Hughes has looked good. And Soria is one of the best closers in the game.

So. There's hope. We're still likely looking at a losing season. But it's a step along the journey.

--Matt Kelsey