Kevin's Royals Blog

I have some brief and very random thoughts before I get some much-needed sleep, but before I get to that stuff, I’d like to congratulate good friend of KRB Dave Sanford -- better known to Royals fans as RC -- for having his site linked on ESPN.com’s Page 2 yesterday. In his very, very lengthy “Uni Watch” article about uniform alterations, Page 2 columnist Paul Lukas included a link to Royals Corner and their coverage of the Royals’ new uniforms.

If you’re a Royals fan and haven’t visited RC, you’re really missing out on some of the finest Royals coverage anywhere. Not only was his Arizona Fall League coverage incredible, Dave also works very hard to produce everything from articles to pictures to prospect reports -- all of which is premium material -- so head on over and pay him a visit.

Moving along…

I always thought it’d be awesome to work for a professional baseball team, and earlier this year, I was proven right. One of my favorite aspects of my job last spring and summer with the Springfield Cardinals was getting to have some interaction with the players and staff, limited as those times may be. You all know what I’m talking about; there’s just something way cool about ballplayers, no matter how good or bad they are.

KRB favorites Randy Leek and Juan Diaz agreed to minor-league contracts with the Cardinals earlier this month, so there’s a chance that they’ll be back at Hammons Field in 2006, Leek doing his thing with great control and Diaz doing his by popping the scoreboard with mammoth home runs. However, I’m sad to report that second baseman Aaron Herr will not return, opting to sign a minor-league deal with an invitation to spring training with the Cincinnati Reds.

Herr showed impressive power, hitting .298/.336/.498 in 426 at-bats for Springfield last year, and in my opinion played a pretty good second base. However, his strikeout-to-walk ratio was about as bad as it can get at 108-to-15, a result of poor pitch recognition skills. Despite all that, the 24-year-old son of former player Tommy Herr feasted on fastballs and hit 21 home runs, an impressive total for a middle infielder. He could have a career as a utility man someday.

Getting to the point, Aaron’s the kind of player any fan can get with because he looks playerish. He’s a guy who always swings for the fences, dives for every hard-to-reach ground ball, slides into bases headfirst and generally plays the game like it’s “supposed to be played.” The fans of whatever club he ends up with next season are sure to love him, and he’ll be missed in Springfield.


Diaz congratulates Herr
(springfieldcardinals.com)

Has a more useless article ever been written than this one?

It’s always a scary proposition for record labels when a successful recording artist completely overhauls his or her sound. Unless, of course, the artist is a sheer genius. The Official Musician of KRB, John Mayer, released his newest project on Tuesday. Try!, the first of what hopefully will be many efforts with The John Mayer Trio, has a distinct flavor of blues, jazz, funk, and soul. That’s right, the acoustic has been put in storage, and the legendary sound of electric blues guitar has replaced lighter songs like KRB favorite Why Georgia.

Folks, I’ve listened to a couple of tracks to Try! (which was recorded live, by the way), and I think it’s a must-own for anyone who loves artists like B.B. King or Buddy Guy, and a DEFINITE must-have for Mayer junkies such as myself. Mayer’s guitar playing is nothing short of scrumtrulescent and, after this and the release of Continuum (Mayer’s latest solo album due in early 2006), he will have launched himself to legitimate musical superstardom.

Did anyone else see David Letterman’s reunion with Oprah last night? Aside from the good-natured ribbing Letterman hit her with up until she came on stage, I was taken aback by Oprah’s composed presence and Dave’s gesture of escorting her to the theater at which she plays a role in The Color Purple. Really, when you think about it, we saw television history that’ll probably be on Dave’s “Greatest Moments” compilation 40 years from now.

With the internet running short on good baseball writers, Dayn Perry of FOXSports.com is a breath of fresh air. I’ve yet to read a column of his that wasn’t rational and well-reasoned, two writing traits that guys like John Kruk and Joe Morgan should look into acquiring. I’ve added a link to Perry’s archive on the sidebar.

This entry was posted on Friday, December 02, 2005 at 12/02/2005 02:24:00 AM. |