Rough Week for the Boys

Well boys, we had a rough week. We are now 5-13 since our 6 game winning streak. We’ve gone from a 3 game lead to a 4 game deficit. It’s not time to panic yet, but we need to right the ship soon. It is still May 27th right now - so there is a lot of baseball to be played. That being said, I’ve been really frustrated with the past week, especially our putrid offense.

So my favorite Royal Mike Aviles is on the Dayton Moore phantom DL. This is a 2 part dance: 1. Pick a player who is struggling in the big leagues. (This player must be either out of options or a player whose ego you want to protect) 2. Put his ass on the DL which allows you to rest him mentally and then give him a nice long minor league rehab to get his confidence back. I think its amazing how often Dayton gets away with this, I wonder if the league even cares. If you can work the system, then by all mean Dayton - work the system. Now that Aviles is gone for a while, we brought up Tug Hulett. Tug is more of a 2B, but he has dabbled at short (408 vs. 94 career minor league starts). He hit the ball very well in AAA last year for Seattle (.298/.380/.518). He is only 26 years old, but he is certainly blocked by Callaspo at this point. Don’t look for him to play much this season at all as we have Aviles, Bloomy, and Luis Hernandez. Hernandez is also on the squad right now and I was encouraged by his play over the last couple games. He is the no-hit, slick fielding SS that Dayton has been dreaming about for years. He play is equal to the peak of what Tony Pena Jr. can be. He is not a great SS - so please don’t get carried away - hell, he is not even that good. However, he can lay down a bunt and handle the bat at the plate. There is a better chance that Charlie Manson gets paroled in the next year than Tony Pena Jr. executing a sacrifice bunt this season. I really wish we would DFA Pena Jr. once he is healthy. Hernandez is certainly better than Pena and we can’t carry both. Why not just keep Hernandez up as the back up and say good-bye to TPJ? It really makes too much sense.

Another shrewd roster move by GMDM is putting Hooch back down in AAA while we have a couple off days coming up. We only need 4 starters for a couple weeks, so let Hooch go down there for a couple starts for a confidence boost. It lets us maximize the starts from our solid 3 of Greinke, Meche, and Banny. As long as he is back when we need 5 starters again I’m ok with this. He looked to put a little something together in his last start.

Raise your hand if getting worried about Kyle Davies. I’m really getting frustrated with his sloppiness. He wastes a TON of pitches. I thought he might have figured something out last September, but he is reverting back to his sloppy laboring ways at times. He is still young and shows flashes, but man - does he need some consistency or what?

Gil Meche looks like he has back issues again - I’m terrified that he has a DL stint coming up. At the least, I’m pretty confident that he is hiding an injury from the powers that be. Troubling…

OK, enough of the depressing pitching talk. Zack Greinke is a freak. I’ve been waiting for him to cool off from his ridic start, but now I’m wondering if it will happen. I honestly could see him having an ERA under 2.50 this year, maybe even 2.00 if things get crazy. His repertoire is filthy right now. He is throwing every pitch with great control and nasty movement - it isn’t fair really.

Mark Teahen has been really struggling lately. He just came off a 1-22 stretch and dropped his OPS back down to 2007-2008 Teahen range of .750. He did have a big game at the plate on Wednesday and got that number back up to .794 thanks to cracking his 6th HR. I hope he can get back on track (along with Crisp and Callaspo who are also slumping right now).

This week is huge. We have 3 at home against the Sox followed by 3 @ Tampa Bay and then 3 @ Toronto. That is a tough stretch, however the pitching match ups are decent. Chicago is gonna throw us 3 straight lefty’s in Richard, Buerhle, and Danks. Richard owned us out of the pen in Chicago opening week, but that was a 2 inning outing. Buerhle is always going to give us a challenge. I’m hopeful that we will be locked in against Danks as we’ll be seeing a lefty for the 3rd straight game. Billy Butler and Jose Guillen are the KEYS to the next three games. Olivo needs to be a factor as well. These three guys crush lefties and if they don’t pick up the slack of Jacobs, Teahen, and DeJesus it will be more ugly offense from the Kansas City Royals Baseball Club. We’re throwing Banny (whose been awesome), Meche, and Greinke against the three lefties so we really need to take two and honestly - I like match up in every game and think we could be due for a nice sweep. It all depends on the offense - it has to be said. Though I guess when you have the best ERA in baseball and have a 5-13 stretch, you are allowed to point fingers.

Exit Question: Detroit Rotation: Verlander, Jackson, Porcello, Gallaraga, and Willis. There are a couple "if's" in there and a couple guys over acheiving, but if they stay on, we are in BIG trouble. Is Detroit's rotation going to keep us from competing?

Sore, Tight, Stiff, ugh...

Well I certainly thought there would be more clamoring from the Ponson Pals this week after Dumbo’s awful two starts. I like Hochevar and am referring to him as Dumbo because of his ridiculous ears. I also sympathize with Luke on this because Dumbo was my nickname during grade school up until about 8th grade when he head grew and decided to catch up with my ears. That was an exciting year for me. Any who, in his first two starts of the year, Luke Hochevar pitched like Rick Vaughn in Major League 2 when he went all corporate and ditched leather for Gucci. His sinker has not been sinking and his control has been garbage. Very frustrating for a guy who had given up only 4 ER and 10 BB’s in 40 IP in AAA this year. He definitely deserved his call up, but now he needs to get things back on track to keep his job. There are rumblings that if he continues to suck, he may get relegated to the pen and Sir Sidney will slide back into the rotation. Whatever happens, I just want him to stay in big leagues. He (like I said with Butler when he was struggling) has proven to be very capable in AAA. I’d like him to get it figured out up in KC. He hasn’t dominated AAA the same way Butler did, but he has been solid down there. Don’t forget Luke was already 22 when he started in the Royals farm system. I think he’ll at least get a couple more starts to be evaluated, and I think he needs to relax out there. Overthrowing your sinker flattens it out and removes all effectiveness. I think Luke’s pressing is limiting the sharpness in his pitches. His next start will be against the Cardinals on Saturday - which is actually ok because they are awfully dinged up. Though that 37 year old 1B of theirs is still playing decent ball…

Kyle Davies had two Quality Starts last week, which is very encouraging. He has now given up 3 ER or less in 6 of his 8 starts. That is much better than it seems because he hasn’t been as dominant as Davies v.9/08, but he has been above average. I hope he stays aggressive and goes after guys. Take a page out of that other starter of ours that throws inside.

Big start for Gil Meche this week, I’m real anxious to see how that back holds up. After complaining of back stiffness a few starts back, he just recently complained of “being sore” in his bad Baltimore start this weekend. Hey Nick Swartz and Frank Kyte - how about you do your friggin job and get this guy figured out. Gil only had one strike out in his last start which tells me he isn’t able to maximize his pitches. This would be due to not being 100% and pitching with pain. We need to get him healthy. Speaking of Swartz and Kyte - I think we’ve had enough injuries this year where it’s too the point that they might need a performance review. I’d like Dayton to do this - I’m serious. Am I wrong here? I mean I know the "major league baseball season is 162 games. Even tough guys get strains, sore arms, muscle pulls", but even the great Lou Brown would say enough is enough. I mean is David Glass pulling a Rachel Phelps and skimping on the bills? Where is that new whirlpool he promised? No hot water in the showers? I've had it with this nickel and dime shit!

Jose Guillen now has 14 BB vs. 12 K’s in 103 PA’s. He had 23 BB vs. 106 K’s in 633 PA’s last year. Good gawd, man. That is crazy. If he keeps this up he will surpass last year’s walk total in mid June (while missing the first 15 games with an injury). I think one of the silver lining’s of Jose not being 100% is that he isn’t up at the plate pressing for home run after home run. I think he realizes he can help the team by walking and singles to the opposite field. I feel like he is consciously doing this - he is way above his career OBP and below his career SLUG, so I think this may be the case. For whatever reason it is happening - I like it.

Anyone seen Juan Cruz pitch recently? Wow, this guy is filthy. Remember when Hillman thought Farnsworth was better than this guy and it cost us two games? I do - just wanted to remind you.

This Mike Aviles sore forearm news is troubling. I don’t know what to think of it. Could it be BS to protect his reputation and help his psyche? Sure. Could it be true? I would hope so as it would help explain his poor numbers. But it also means he has been hurting the team by playing hurt (if it really is THE reason for his struggles). I think it hurts him, which doesn’t help, but that its just a part of the problem. I’m getting nervous. I don’t want this to be Angelv2.0. All account on Aviles is that he works his ass off, so I’m hoping he can get this figured out. He is a guy who could maybe use a stint in AAA to get his confidence/swagger back - though I’m not ready to use Bloomy as a full time SS. I will gladly admit I was wrong about this goofball. He is playing good ball - I was wrong. However, I still think part of his effectiveness is his versatility and light workload. I think this will suffer with regular play and we’ve all seen this happen (Desi Relaford, Esteban German). I just don’t want the Bloomy to come off the rose. Too easy I’m sorry. I’d like Mike to get 4 starts in the next 5 now that he has “rested” his forearm. Then the Brass needs to make a decision after this week. Another to thing to be scared of, Dayton, Hillman, and especially LeVebre all LOVE Tony Pena Jr. He will be back from injury somewhat soon. If Aviles keeps struggling, would any of you be surprised if they gave TPJ another shot as the starter. He got LASIK remember!!! Hope that keeps you up at night - cause I won’t be sleeping well for a while.

OK, so we’re only a game out of first with a few blown games, some key injuries, and some really bad offensive spells. I will take where we are at - especially since the Sux keep losing. Man, their offense is looking pathetic and my die hard Sux buddy is starting to get very nervous. The Twins and Tigers aren’t going anywhere for the time being. Cleveland is not going to win this division with their rotation. The Sux could turn it around, but I like the way they are trending.

We need to get 2 of 3 from Cleveland with Banny, Meche, Greinke going. St. Louis will be tough with Davies, Hoch, Meche - so that looks more like 1 of 3. But again, with their dinged up O, it could be a nice time for Hoch to straighten things out. I’m pumped for this week, should be some good ball games. Hell, lets go 4-2.

Eeeeeeeeeeett’s go Roy-Holes.

Exit Question: Is anyone with me on the Dump Swartz/Kyte campaign? I’m tired of “dead arms”. Hell, I just remembered that Banny was bitching about a tired shoulder the other day. What the what is going on here? I mean the Knights got Roy Hobbs to play with blood oozing from his rib cage, so I mean come on - we're not asking for miracles here...

Let's Get Back on Track

Closer: Matthew with a strong post. I think that was a great explanation of the media and what their attention does for Kansas City. There is a broad spectrum of reactions from Royals fans, but I think you did a great job of rounding it out.


Well, it was an interesting week for the Boys in Blue. We started off by winning four straight against the White Sox and Mariners on the way to a 6 game winning streak. Monday was a Greinke shutout, Tuesday was a great come from behind win featuring 11 Royals walks, Wednesday was a blowout and a Ponson WIN, and Thursday was another Bannister gem. Pretty much everything that could go right was going right. And then we flew to LA (in Anaheim). The City of Angels (in Anaheim)…

Going into the series with Meche, Greinke, and Davies (though he has struggled lately) I liked our chances to win 2 games - one game at worst. That would put us at 6-1 or 5-2 on the week. Problem: the 2005 Royals decided to show up for the weekend series. Did anyone else feel like they were watching the Royals of old? Was it Jose Guillen dropping a routine fly ball on Friday that went for an inside-the-park home run? (By the way that is the first home run given up my Meche or Greinke in 95.2 IP - what a BS call by the scorekeeper. The Royals have appealed the call in hopes of an error being charged to Guillen.) How about Saturday and Zack Greinke throwing a Complete Game (4th in 5 starts) and taking a 1-0 loss? We’ve all seen that game before from our beloved Royals. I (and I'm sure Zack) was fuming after that loss. But Sunday, eww, Sunday was the worst. Davies showed up with a nice outing (Thank God cause I’ve been getting seriously worried) and then the 7th inning happened. Jose Guillen letting a routine fly ball drop in for a lead off single. Jamey Wright throwing a routine double play grounder into center field. Man, pitchers drive me nuts with their throwing errors - happens way to often. Then Miguel Olivo dropping Guillen’s perfect throw to home plate that would have gotten the tying run. It was just one of those games the you knew we were going lose. Admit it - you knew Hunter was going to catch Olivo's near shot at redemption (we'll have to wait another week or 6).

This sweep sucked, but we still went 4-3 on the week. I really would’ve like to have taken that game on Sunday, but so be it. Every team will lose 3 in a row throughout a season. What we need to avoid is the 7 game losing streak or longer. You see, as Royals fans, we are accustomed to long losing streaks. Check this out - losing streaks longer than 7 games in our recent history.

2008: 7, 7, 12
2007: 7,7
2006: 8,11,13
2005: 8, 9, 19
2004: 7, 8, 8
2003: 4, 4, 4, 4, 4

Do you see the pattern? You can obviously see that the Royals have not been able to avoid the big losing streak. One big losing streak ruins your season. The one year we avoided the long losing streak was the last time we finished above .500 (2003). The Royals last year were 75-87 and had a 12 game losing streak. If you could find a way to split those 12 games we would’ve been at .500 at 81-81. Even if we went 4-8 in those 12 games (which is still really bad) then we would be 79-83. Much more respectable. For this year and what we’re going for lets do a hypothetical: Going 3-5 instead of losing 8 straight can be the difference between 86-76 and 89-73; or the difference between making the playoffs.

Here is another fun stat from the 2008 season. This breaks down the longest losing streaks suffered by teams and how many teams had that specific length of losing streak. Next you'll see the winning percentage for these teams. The formatting is difficult in the Blogger, so this is the best I can do. You get the point.

Losing Streak; Number of Teams; Wining Percentage of Teams
4 Games; 3 Teams; .5627
5 Games; 2 Teams; .5675
6 Games; 8 Teams; .5146
7 Games; 6 Teams; .5253
8 Games; 4 Teams; .4748
9 Games; 0 Teams; n/a
10Games; 4 Teams; .4505
11 Games; 0 Teams; n/a
12 Games; 3 Teams; .4020

So as you can see, avoiding the long losing streak certainly correlates with your winning percentage. This is where I’m hoping Meche and Greinke come into play. Having a 1-2 like these two should keep the Royals from suffering a long losing streak - but if we don’t score runs they can be beat (see: Friday, Saturday). The good news is that they are back on the hill Thursday and Friday, so we might lose the next two in Oakland, but our studs should stop the bleeding come Orioles at home this weekend. I think we can win Tuesday against Oakland because there is a new face in the rotation.

Ladies and Gentlemen… Luke Hochevar!!! That’s right folks, this young right handed pitcher clearly earned a job out of Spring Training. However, the GM had other plans. Dayton Moore wanted to keep him locked up for 2014 so Royals fans were treated to HoRam and Sir Sidney for 7 starts and a 1-6 record. Boy I hope throwing some of those games away was worth it. We will have to wait 5 years to find out! At least he is up here now - despite Ponson finally winning a ballgame. Some (Ponson Pals I assume) may question why pluck Ponson now - after he finally looks to be putting it together. Answer: Luke Hochevar is better than Sidney Ponson. It’s really that simple (though having SP depth is nice... and rare). Even if Ponson looked decent against a BAD Seattle Offense, you must put your best players on the field when you are competing for a division - which we are doing boys. I wish this current rotation was what we started the season with, but our GM was stubborn. I hope his poor Opening Day roster and Fr. Hillman's early struggles don’t cost us the division. We are still tied for first on May 11, which is lovely - though it could be better - and you optimists can tell me it could be worse as well. My only hope is that our brass is done hindering our record and now the boys can put their fate in their own hands.

Bad News: I don’t really want to talk about it that much because it's depressing. Soria on the DL is a very bad thing. Honestly, I don’t think this is only a 15 day deal like Soria seems to think. He said he was fine last week and look where we are now. I texted a few people after his shaky save on Thursday that he didn’t look right and that I thought a DL move was coming. Let’s hope it’s as brief as can be - I’m worried about a 60 day dead arm injury. That would cripple our chances. We need to get him healthy and back in the pen. The Bullpen Boys are missing their fearless leader.

Seitzer Update: Walks: Last year the Royals finished dead last in the AL with 392 walks. They currently rank 6th in the AL and are on pace for 587. Other than Coco, it’s not like we added any big OBP guys (to be honest Coco has never been a big walker to this point in his career). So, credit needs to be given to Kev-o. Keep this trend going please.

Oh, almost forgot - this is probably the worst I've ever seen DeJesus play in my life. He looks so friggin lost at the plate. I'd rather have Aviles up than him right now - wow. He really needs to get it going. That being said, we have 6 starters with an OPS+ over 100 (meaning average ML hitter). Everyone except Aviles, DeJesus, and our awful hitting catchers. That is pretty sweet - especially if DeJesus can get back to his career averages and if Aviles can get to 70% of his numbers last year (which was planned for). If guys like Callaspo and Crisp can keep over-achieving, then this offense could become productive soon. So, David - quit doing that stupid smirk out there every time you screw up and please snap out of it.

Billy Butler is still my favorite Royal to watch bat. I think he's ready to make "the leap". Please take notes Gordo...


Exit Question: Luke Hochevar Crystal Ball. You saw him labor in the bigs last year and now dominate AAA this year. He seems to think he's figured some things out. He will get about 26 starts and 160 IP this year. So based on those starts/innings, what do you think he will do this year (W-L, ERA, BB, K)?

ProZack

Welcome to the blog Fifty-Five – nice to have you on board. Please keep giving those Cardinal fans hell and let’s hope they start losing a few games. I’ll try to get these pathetic Cubbies winning up here so the Cards don’t win the division, but I don’t think it’s gonna happen.

Well, what else can you say about Zack Greinke that hasn’t been repeated by every media outlet in the same exact storyline over the past week and half. I think Posnanski has copy and pasted the same article 3 times in a row this week. I also learned that apparently Zack overcame social anxiety a couple years ago. Have you seen this? Have you heard about this?

I’m glad some of the Mechanics got out to “The New K” last night to witness that spectacular performance. That was the most dominant performance by Zack Attack since this. He was dialing it up to 96 in the 9th inning. That should be illegal for a starting pitcher – it’s just not fair. I’ve heard some fans are worried that Selig and Co. might lower the mounds next year thanks to Zack’s performances. Zack make the Sux looks dumber than Miss South Carolina.

It is only 6 starts, so yes the sample size is small. Obviously, if the season ended today he would win the Cy Young. I think it’s pretty certain that at worst, he will be in the race come September. He could finish the year with this line over the next 28 starts: 13-7 3.40 ERA with 160 K’s over 180 IP (this is about his average from last year with W-L slightly adjusted considering we’re better). Then his complete season would be 19-7 with a 2.80 ERA with 214 K’s in 225 IP. That line would definitely make him top 5 Cy Young candidate. Obviously, we all know he is capable of a much better line and I think he will do it. But I’m just pointing out that if he just matches his work from last year from here on out it will still be one of the best season’s in Royals history. I don’t like to talk about season awards in May, but I just thought I’d throw out some numbers.

He has outperformed our boldest projections and then some. It’s very, very exciting. It also solidifies the fact that we are a contender for the AL Central. Having someone as dominant as Zack to go along with some other competent pieces is a good start to a playoff run. Of course we will lose some games he starts throughout the season, but what if we only loses 5 or 6? That right there more than cancels out our #5 starter slot – where I’m sure we’ll win more than 5 or 6. Hear me out. An average season can break down to 34 starts from your top 4 starters and 26 starts from the 5 slot (from skipping him due to off days throughout the year). Below I propose what can happen when you have a ridiculous dominant 1 starter. The first record is the season total, the 2nd number is the Year to Date, and the final record is what we need from here on out.

Greinke
28-6
6-0
22-6

Meche
20-14
3-3
17-11

Davies
18-16
3-2
15-14

Banny/HoRam's 1 start/Hooch (ETA is TBD, I say ASAP)
16-18
3-1
13-17

Ponson/Banny (I think he slides in here when Hooch gets up)
7-19
0-5
7-14

I actually went pretty conservative with Meche and Davies. Maybe slightly optimistic with the 4 slot, and pretty fair for the 5 slot – though Sir Sid has gotten that slot into an 0-5 hole. That comes out to 89 wins, which many have predicted will win our division. This really helps to show what a dominant 1 starter can mean to your team.

Other observations from last night:

Mike Jacobs looked good last night. This guy will be a roller coaster this year in regards to consistency – I wanted to kill him last week. He is however seeing 4.2 pitches per plate appearance. That is good for 12th in the AL out of the 95 hitters who have qualified at bats (3.1PA per game your team plays). That is pretty impressive considering he has seen 3.7 for his career (which would rank around 50th). I’m real anxious to see if this holds and if it does I think you can give Seitzer some props. Fun fact here: Callaspo ranks 91st out of 95 with 3.3 p/pa. This defies all the "approach" rules because he makes contact on 95% of his swings (League average is 81%). That is insane - he whiffs 5 out of every 100 swings. Wow. Seitzer should (and I think he will) definitely leave Bert alone.

Miguel Olivo really, really sucks. CABG – I’m gonnna need you to take it back that you think Olivo can be a productive bat. Of all the outrageous things you’ve said so far – this Olivo thing really sticks in my side. It’s so bad that I get mad at you when he strikes out with a runner on 3rd and less than 2 outs. Can you please take it back – I love your homer blindness, I think its refreshing – but take off the Royal Blue glasses for this guy. He is an utter failure in the batter’s box. Please indulge me and concur. I’m not basing this on a small sample size, but rather on 2,149 AB’s of garbage. I actually like the guy’s fire and competitiveness. A lot actually. I get it that he is Greinke’s personal catcher, best friend, Wii tennis partner, etc. That is fine, don’t do anything to affect Greinke’s game – but let’s cut back on his starts, please. I’m not even saying John Buck is all that good, but Miggy is certainly all that bad.

180 degree Post turn…

I really like Jose Guillen. I know it doesn’t make sense because I mentioned how much I hate Barry Bonds. I’ve honestly liked him for a while now – back when he was with Cincinnati, Oakland, and Anaheim. Sometimes as a sports fan you can’t explain why you do or don’t like someone. Sports are funny that way.

Some athletes I randomly really like and always pull for: Lance Berkman, Fred Taylor, Raja Bell, Pedro Cerrano, Burt Reynolds.
Some guys I randomly hate and love to cheer against: Dustin Pedroia, Rex Grossman, Tony Parker, Jack Parkman

Anyway, on to why I like Guillen. He is a hard ass who is uber-competitive. He is a little bit of a head case, but I think the good kind that teammates like. His rant last year about “f@#king hating babies” was classic – and needed in my opinion. Yes, his delivery was odd, but it obviously hit home to our GM – who soon after the rant sent our biggest “baby” down to AAA. I think Guillen has a good feel for the pulse of the clubhouse – and his teammates respect him and his commitment to winning. Yes, I would like him to run out more grounders and yes I’d like a little more effort in RF, but this guy gets me fired up. I love watching him bat. I love the edge he gives our players. Case in point – Zack Greinke. This is a quote from Zack after Monday night’s game: “(José) Guillen pulled me aside (Sunday) and said, ‘All right, let’s show the White Sox that we’re for real this year.’ That got me excited a little bit because Guillen can feel it, too.” I really like that quote. I feel like that meant more to Zack coming from Guillen than just some guy on the team.

Guillen has been mashing the ball lately. He also has 6 BB vs. 7 K, which translates to 74 over a 650 PA season - which is ridiculous considering his track record. He walked 23 times last year. Do I think he will keep this walking trend? Not at this clip, but I’d like him to get above 40 walks like he did in Seattle the year before we paid him. That year his line was: .290/.353/.460. Guillen likes to swing the bat (read: Home Runs make you more money). He has always been a free swinger who didn’t walk much – and trust me, I still think he is at the core. However, I think I’ve seen a little change in him. Call me crazy, but hear me out. I think Guillen really, really wants to take this team to playoffs. I’m sure he would like that it would be a part of his legacy, that he took the 2009 Royals to the playoffs. I think he realized he has a good thing here and that they can make a run. He realizes that he doesn’t have to swing for the fences every at bat. He has been taking walks and driving the ball to opposite field – two things he rarely did last year. This could be some of Seitzer too, but I think it’s an attitude change from Guillen. If you notice, he is still taking his hacks at the first pitch. After that, it’s a completely different Jose (Hosey for Hillman fans). That might be his way of saying, “I get one crack to do it my old way. After that, I’ll shorten up and give a good at bat for the team and not worry about home runs.” After a recent win Jose had this to say: “Hopefully, people will start realizing that like I’ve been saying, we’re going to be good. Keep watching us. When people play us, they better have the mind-set that they’ve got to come and play hard for nine innings.” These are the kind of things I like to hear from Jose Guillen. I think when he is focused and locked in, that he can be a dangerous hitter. I know all the negatives about this guy – I know $12 million reasons this season alone – but I still think he will be a vital piece to our division run. I'd also like him to prove the negative, bitter KC fans wrong.

Sorry to have the Guillen rant take over the Greinke post, but we’ve all read roughly 18,000 words on Greinke in the past two weeks, so I’d like to mix in some other conversation as well. My exit questions does pertain to Greinke however.

Exit Question: What are your thoughts on all this national attention for Zack/Royals right now? Part of me likes it. I think more of me resents it. Kinda like “screw you – you’re only giving us air time because Zack has become a story”. Last year John Kruk said he couldn’t name a KC Royal, now he rides our jocks? Eff you, fat ass. I have mixed emotions. I kind of like just flying under the radar and quietly leading the division. I’m not really in the mode I was in 2003 when I basked in the Baseball Tonight attention. I think I could really care less. I just want my team to win and I want to share it with my fellow Kansas Citians. Am I weird on this?