tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-62462352011-04-21T23:32:51.485-05:00Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596521730246226610noreply@blogger.comBlogger2091100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246235.post-41709121889931650762007-10-03T19:07:00.000-05:002007-10-05T10:43:47.569-05:00

On Monday, I wrote that Kansas City's 2007 Pitcher of the Year would not win "by virtue of being the best of a very poor group of candidates." Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the team's runs batted in leader this past season, Emil Brown. In yet another illustration of just how anemic the Royals offense was all year, Brown's 62 RBI was the lowest team-leading total in all of baseball.

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596521730246226610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246235.post-58308736033607019602007-10-01T20:08:00.000-05:002007-10-01T22:12:10.526-05:00

A poll on the Royals' official Web site asks fans who they believe Kansas City's Pitcher of the Year should be. For the first time in quite a while, the winner of the award won't take the trophy by default, by virtue of being the best of a very poor group of candidates. Much has been made of the quick turnaround the Royals made in keeping the other team from scoring, and that is beared out in the

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596521730246226610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246235.post-6124013565785101772007-09-20T20:58:00.000-05:002007-09-20T21:03:13.338-05:00

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596521730246226610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246235.post-1156137336653728702006-08-20T23:53:00.000-05:002006-08-21T00:15:36.673-05:00

After torching Oakland pitching for five hits in his first eight at-bats over the four-game weekend series, Mark Teahen was finally cooled off in the final two games, as the Royals third baseman went just two-for-nine with one RBI on Saturday and Sunday. In fact, he’s taken quite a few one-for-fours and one-for-fives in the past week or so. However, Teahen’s performance over the past month was so

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596521730246226610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246235.post-1151830165606408642006-07-02T03:28:00.000-05:002006-07-02T15:54:20.456-05:00

For the second time in as many nights, the Wranglers and the Cardinals put on a thrilling show at Hammons Field, complete with a clutch three-run homer in the top of the ninth by Dee Brown, some stellar defense, and a young right-hander making his Double-A debut. The two clubs couldn't have picked a better time to impress; not only was a record crowd of 10,139 on hand, but I got to watch most of

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596521730246226610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246235.post-1151753366399536422006-07-01T05:15:00.000-05:002006-07-01T06:33:57.670-05:00

While the Royals were in the process of narrowly taking down the Cardinals at the new Busch Stadium, Kansas City's Double-A affiliate, Wichita, was busy doing the same to the Springfield Cardinals, squeaking out a 4-3 victory at Hammons Field in Springfield, Mo. It was a hard-fought contest, as the Wranglers had to overcome a 3-0 deficit to improve to 5-3 in the Texas League's second half.However

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596521730246226610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246235.post-1145507514348667592006-04-19T23:20:00.000-05:002006-04-19T23:36:47.346-05:00

Photoblogging the first two games of the Wichita Wranglers' series in Springfield, MO:Alex Gordon took time out for a pictureGordon signing autographsKyle Middleton works a bullpen session......then gets some instruction from pitching coach Larry CarterKila Kaaihue (L) and GordonGordon warms up during pre-gameAngel Sanchez leadin' offDamaso Espino entertained the fansReliever Derrick Depriest

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596521730246226610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246235.post-1145179945449051962006-04-16T00:00:00.000-05:002006-04-16T14:49:33.700-05:00

Even though the Royals were facing Seth McClung, an inexperienced, 25-year-old righthander with a history of control problems (he'd walked 10 batters in eight innings of work coming into his third start of 2006), I was pretty unoptimistic that they'd find a way to end their five-game losing streak on Saturday night. It was really just a hunch, albeit a strong one, as the Royals offense has a

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596521730246226610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246235.post-1139297663055719422006-02-07T01:24:00.000-06:002006-02-07T01:34:23.066-06:00

I apologize for not posting during the past week-and-a-half or so. Lately, my focus has been working on the Season in Preview commentaries for Royals Corner, and there just hasn't been time to do any original stuff for KRB. Just bear with me for awhile longer; we'll be up and running again soon.In the meantime, check out these articles if you missed 'em:Royals CornerRC Interview with Chris

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596521730246226610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246235.post-1138835593603694312006-02-01T17:07:00.000-06:002006-02-01T17:13:13.616-06:00

Last night, I finished part one of a five-part "State of the Royals" series that will begin on Monday over at Royals Corner. Also last night, I pondered just how I'm going to come up with original writing topics for three sites. Everyone loves a challenge, I guess.

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596521730246226610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246235.post-1138344308915143622006-01-27T00:31:00.000-06:002006-01-27T02:44:37.946-06:00

As easy as it is to fall into a "the world is against my baseball team" mindset when "my baseball team" is the Kansas City Royals, I’m surprised that I stayed out of the muck this long. With that said, I’ve never, ever believed that ESPN and other national media outlets make a concerted effort to avoid talking about small-market baseball, at least in a vicious sense. Sure, in a perfect world, all

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596521730246226610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246235.post-1138178746892780762006-01-25T00:09:00.000-06:002006-01-25T02:49:24.770-06:00

I guess we should be surprised that it took this long.Thanks to FOXSports.com's Ken Rosenthal, the trade rumors involving Cincinnati Reds outfielder Austin Kearns have started again and, as usual, the Royals are named as a potential suitor for the 25-year-old. According to Rosenthal's report, the Royals have not been willing to include Zack Greinke in any deal (and rightfully so), but may be

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596521730246226610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246235.post-1137746487346225162006-01-20T01:08:00.000-06:002006-01-20T03:23:58.236-06:00

Growing up, I never really had a taste for or a desire to listen to any kind of music. I knew that bands like Matchbox 20, The Goo Goo Dolls, Bush, and Green Day existed, but unlike the rest of the kids I was in school with, I don’t think I listened to any band’s CD until I was in 8th grade. Looking back on it, I guess my excuse is that I simply never had a connection with any of those bands or

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596521730246226610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246235.post-1137569813959799522006-01-18T00:51:00.000-06:002006-01-18T02:05:33.810-06:00

Just as I expected, The Real Question – my sprayahen.com article about steroids – rankled the feathers of at least one valued KRB reader. I’m still not sure how stating that it’s far more important to gather evidence, learn, and ask the right questions about drug usage in baseball than it is to make hurried judgments is almost always heard as, “I don’t think steroids are a problem,” but it

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596521730246226610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246235.post-1137485768021742732006-01-17T02:05:00.000-06:002006-01-17T02:22:36.933-06:00

KRB has returned from its long weekend, but after quite a bit of searching with virtually no results, I unfortunately don't have anything new for you today. As a result, I'll use today to plug articles at the other two sites I'm affiliated with...Today at Royals CornerAn Interview With Billy Butler (By Dave Sanford)Today at SprayahenThe Real Question (By Kevin Agee)Expanding My Baseball Horizons

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596521730246226610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246235.post-1137049854064601292006-01-12T00:55:00.000-06:002006-01-12T18:56:25.266-06:00

Last night, KRB spoke with BaseballProspectus.com writer Dave Haller about the Battle of Champions, the Royals, and his time working for the leader in baseball analysis:KRB: You joined the Baseball Prospectus (BP) team as an intern in December of 2004. Here we are a year later, and you’ve made a meteoric rise from being a research assistant to writing feature-length articles, and even gaining the

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596521730246226610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246235.post-1136868738827401572006-01-10T00:00:00.000-06:002006-01-10T03:17:43.693-06:00

The Chiefs have their head coach, Kevin Appier apparently (and sadly) thinks he has something left, and Dick Kaegel penned more information-laced responses in his weekly mailbag commentary, but I really don't feel like writing about any of that tonight, so I'll use this space as a forum to make a minor announcement.This season, I'll be writing regularly for sprayahen.com, a baseball site that

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596521730246226610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246235.post-1136798576982771062006-01-09T02:54:00.000-06:002006-01-09T19:31:05.520-06:00

The Royals finally cleared room on their 40-man roster for free-agent signees Reggie Sanders and Joe Mays on Friday, designating pitchers Devon Lowery and Kyle Snyder for assignment. If the two clear waivers as is expected, the club will have ten days to trade, release, or -- most likely of all -- outright both to the minor leagues.Given the rumors that the team was considering removing

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596521730246226610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246235.post-1136595505575033012006-01-06T18:52:00.000-06:002006-01-06T18:58:25.576-06:00

Folks, I apologize for the seemingly-random absences of KRB's photos. The problem lies with Geocities' hourly limit of megabyte transfers; once this page loads 4.2MB of pictures that are hosted there in one hour, KRB's Geocities "site" is shut down temporarily, meaning you, my valued readers, can't enjoy the visuals.I've shifted KRB's photo hosting service to Photobucket.com, so if we have any

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596521730246226610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246235.post-1136524044525024722006-01-05T20:39:00.000-06:002006-01-06T18:09:24.310-06:00

Whether it's been through writing, speaking, or gesturing, I've almost always had a knack for communicating with people around me. Needless to say, those skills have proven themselves to be invaluable as I've made my way through school and in my relationships, and they almost never fail.However, funny things tend to happen to my speaking ability when I stand just inches away from people I admire

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596521730246226610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246235.post-1135995626845198892005-12-30T19:46:00.000-06:002005-12-30T20:20:26.903-06:00

For KRB readers living in the Springfield, MO area, the Royals annual Winter Caravan will visit Bass Pro Shops & Outdoor World next Thursday, January 5 from 7-8 p.m. Andrew Sisco, Mark Teahen, John Mayberry, Brian McRae, and Sluggerrr will be there. KRB will be in attendance as well, so after you've visited with the four former and current Royals, stop by and say hello to the kid wearing the KC

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596521730246226610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246235.post-1135758849536675262005-12-28T02:21:00.000-06:002005-12-28T02:34:09.546-06:00

Kevin Millwood's a Ranger, Troy Glaus has moved to Toronto, and Jeff Reardon's trying his hand at robbing jewelry stores. If the mood strikes you, feel free to discuss that stuff or anything else in today's comments thread.

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596521730246226610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246235.post-1135673406107291752005-12-27T00:20:00.000-06:002005-12-27T04:01:11.466-06:00

We're back!I hope everyone in Royals Nation had a great holiday weekend, and that you got everything on your wish list. KRB ended up with quite the haul, and while Try! (John Mayer Trio's first album) hasn't been taken out of my CD player, my favorite gift is still the very-cool Mayer poster from KRB's best friend, Meagan. Well, that, and the gift of turning 21. Have I mentioned that John Mayer's

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596521730246226610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246235.post-1135394678151229682005-12-23T21:10:00.000-06:002005-12-23T22:20:23.766-06:00

I'm not sure what I'd rather have for Festivus ... A donation made in my name to The Human Fund, or Joe Mays as my favorite team's fifth starter, an idea that doesn't seem so bad now that I've been reminded of his recent Tommy John operation. At any rate, here's a warm KRB welcome to new Royals Reggie Sanders and Mays!

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596521730246226610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246235.post-1135332221867745782005-12-23T03:29:00.000-06:002005-12-23T04:24:55.000-06:00

Ken Rosenthal's report was correct. Reggie Sanders confirmed to Jeff Passan of the Kansas City Star that he has agreed to a two-year, $10 million contract with the Royals, and that he expects to sign the deal today.In the same article, this bit of news is kind of interesting:The Royals have offered right-handed starter Joe Mays a major-league contract and view him as a potential fifth starter."We

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596521730246226610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246235.post-1135242338430130342005-12-22T01:52:00.000-06:002005-12-22T03:49:51.906-06:00

According to FOXSports.com's Ken Rosenthal, the Royals are close to signing 38-year-old outfielder Reggie Sanders to a two-year contract worth about $10 million, perhaps partially because Mark Grudzielanek, a teammate of Reggie's with the Cardinals a year ago, signed with Kansas City last week. Still, if the report is true, Sanders becoming a Royal will be an upset. Just nine days ago, Royals GM

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596521730246226610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246235.post-1134539056568740782005-12-13T23:36:00.000-06:002005-12-13T23:44:16.576-06:00

I ran across an interview with Allard Baird that was conducted by Brian McRae before the 2003 season began. Considering that was the first year of Baird's plan to rebuild the organization, it's very interesting to hear his thoughts when the Royals were at the ground floor of the project.One of the highlights is Baird's remark that in his first two full years as general manager, he was very

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596521730246226610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246235.post-1133935274666407602005-12-06T23:47:00.000-06:002005-12-07T00:01:14.676-06:00

As you've probably heard by now, the Royals are reportedly close to acquiring Mets' right-hander Kris Benson and his incredibly-hot wife for relievers Mike MacDougal and Jeremy Affeldt. My initial reaction to the deal was that it was silly for Allard Baird to deal his two main bargaining chips for one innings-eater, but after discussing the deal with Dave Sanford of Royals Corner, it makes more

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596521730246226610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246235.post-1133649966182593842005-12-03T16:41:00.000-06:002005-12-03T16:46:06.193-06:00

kcroyals.comI'm not sure if this is a crack on Jose Lima, the Royals, or both. I'm also not sure if it was done intentionally or uninentionally. I AM, however, sure that it's one of the funniest things I've ever seen, especially since the un-edited version is designed to sell MLB apparel to the masses.Lima Time. Believe it!

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596521730246226610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246235.post-1133513074990032222005-12-02T02:24:00.000-06:002005-12-02T02:47:53.563-06:00

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

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596521730246226610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246235.post-1133425116724920772005-12-01T00:00:00.000-06:002005-12-01T02:36:07.436-06:00

Have I ever mentioned how much it sucks that FOX gave the heave-ho to Arrested Development?Oh well. We all have to move on, and what better way to do that than by discussing some Royals news?As I alluded to in Monday’s entry, the Royals are still desperately trying to acquire another outfielder or two to flank center fielder David DeJesus, and I don’t suspect they’ll leave any rock unturned. The

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596521730246226610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246235.post-1133167341472917042005-11-28T00:00:00.000-06:002005-11-28T03:17:17.223-06:00

While the vast majority of general managers are waiting until next week’s Winter Meetings in Dallas to sign or trade for their Great White Whale, newly-hired Philadelphia Phillies GM Pat Gillick got a head start on overhauling his team’s roster last week when he acquired center fielder Aaron Rowand and a couple of prospects from the Chicago White Sox in exchange for first baseman Jim Thome. At

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596521730246226610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246235.post-1132822423036289732005-11-24T00:00:00.000-06:002005-11-24T03:58:19.360-06:00

While you were traveling to Grandma's house for Turkey Day, the Kansas City Star addressed a few things regarding the Royals' offseason pursuits:Now that free agents Mark Grudzielanek and Tony Graffanino are seeking three-year deals in a player-friendly market, the Royals are taking a harder look at staying with the status quo — Andres Blanco — at second base.I'd still rather play Blanco at

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596521730246226610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246235.post-1126669373786636842005-09-14T00:00:00.000-05:002005-09-14T01:03:41.943-05:00

Of the eight people who responded to Monday’s makeshift poll question regarding Matt Stairs returning to the club in 2006, only one expressed even the slightest bit of concern that Stairs’ presence on the roster may tempt Buddy Bell to sit a younger player in favor of the veteran (and that person didn‘t view such a thing as being the end of the world). I wasn’t at all surprised at the response,

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596521730246226610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246235.post-1126508552675422112005-09-12T00:00:00.000-05:002005-09-12T02:10:35.826-05:00

I'd like to hear what you all think of the Royals re-signing Matt Stairs for one more season at $1.35 million. Is the risk of Stairs playing a lot next year too high since his presence could disrupt the development and playing time of guys like Justin Huber and Billy Butler, or are his leadership qualities and ability to avoid outs worth the money no matter what?

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596521730246226610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246235.post-1126252156768014622005-09-09T00:00:00.000-05:002005-09-09T02:58:19.200-05:00

I'm not sure if it's a good idea to have any sort of a tie with the Kansas City Royals right now, but if I have to have one, I'm glad that it's the official television show of the Royals (and soon to be the official television show of this blog), Arrested Development. If you've never seen it before, AD is easily the most hilarious and brilliant comedy show since Seinfeld left the airwaves seven

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596521730246226610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246235.post-1126074697815127782005-09-07T00:00:00.000-05:002005-09-07T01:41:28.043-05:00

While I'm working on an article detailing the three players the Royals called to the Major Leagues before yesterday's game against the White Sox, here's a prospect report I put together about a month ago on one of the finest pitching prospects in baseball, the Cardinals' Anthony Reyes.=========================================================As a general rule, I don’t evaluate pitching prospects

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596521730246226610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246235.post-1125989833470487562005-09-06T00:00:00.000-05:002005-09-06T03:04:24.550-05:00

Remember this? + = It's been about five months since KRB's campaign to FREE CALVIN PICKERING! proved to be a winner. While half of our crusade was vindicated by way of Ken Harvey spending his entire season at Triple-A Omaha, the other -- Calvin Pickering making the 25-man roster -- was a smashing success. For two weeks.On April 23, the Royals optioned Pickering to Omaha which, judging by his

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596521730246226610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246235.post-1125884292759398462005-09-05T00:00:00.000-05:002005-09-06T23:25:21.120-05:00

Ever since the Royals traded Johnny Damon to the Oakland A’s before the 2001 season, the left field position has been a massive black hole at Kauffman Stadium. Since that time, the organization has shuffled through the likes of failed prospects like Dee Brown, Mark Quinn, Byron Gettis, and Alexis Gomez and washed-up veterans such as Chuck Knoblauch and David McCarty. They even allowed Ken Harvey

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596521730246226610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246235.post-1125699290090317282005-09-02T17:06:00.000-05:002005-09-02T17:15:44.626-05:00

I'm working on a Billy Butler article that'll be up for your consumption, criticism, and deconstruction tomorrow morning.In the meantime, I'd like to point you to The Joe House Dominion, a politically-focused Geocities site that my roommate started a couple of weeks ago. I don't particularly like politics -- opting instead to write about more mind-numbing topics like a 40-games-under-.500

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596521730246226610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246235.post-1125559538753166972005-09-01T00:00:00.000-05:002005-09-01T17:20:37.026-05:00

In so many different ways, it’s the difficult moments of our lives that directly cause us to slow down, stop, and take a much closer look at our lives. Think about it. We’ve all had to deal with the death of a loved one at one point or another which, in many cases, is a good reason to think if we’re really living life to its fullest extent. Additionally, earning a poor grade in a class or two in

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596521730246226610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246235.post-1125473654715019912005-08-31T00:00:00.000-05:002005-08-31T02:35:56.610-05:00

One of the many constants through the Royals’ ten-year run of futility has been a poor track record of developing the organization’s own drafted players. In other words, despite choosing from the same pool of players that successful small-market organizations like Minnesota and Oakland have, too many of the Kansas City draftees have ended up like Roscoe Crosby and Jeff Austin as opposed to Joe

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596521730246226610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246235.post-1125383727088883682005-08-30T00:00:00.000-05:002005-08-30T02:14:49.033-05:00

I know that most of you loaded up the new-look KRB today to read something about the Royals or baseball in general, but sometimes, baseball doesn't seem at all important to me when compared to the things that really matter. As a result, I periodically like to write about life and/or the people in my world. I express myself best in writing, so when times get tough, putting pen to paper (or fingers

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596521730246226610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246235.post-1125221284174631682005-08-28T04:19:00.000-05:002005-08-28T04:56:53.980-05:00

Springfield News-LeaderOn the night that Southwest Missouri State University officially became Missouri State University (pictured), KRB has made its return.After a long and very unsuccessful run writing at All-Baseball.com’s Kauffman Confidential, I resigned my position with the Most Valuable Network last night to return to, as Orange & Black Baseball’s Daniel Smith put it, my "internet roots."

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596521730246226610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246235.post-1125170811603482392005-08-27T14:26:00.000-05:002005-08-27T14:26:54.420-05:00

Haloscan commenting and trackback have been added to this blog.

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596521730246226610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246235.post-1115968610119685012005-05-13T00:00:00.000-05:002005-05-13T02:16:50.136-05:00

Prior to last night's rain-shortened victory over the Devil Rays, Royals GM Allard Baird held a news conference to discuss the search to find the next Royals manager, what qualities that individual will need to have to understand the team's direction, and where the Royals stand in general as an organization. Color me geeky, but it was probably the most captivating Royals press conference I've

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596521730246226610noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246235.post-1115876085429315652005-05-12T00:00:00.000-05:002005-05-12T00:34:45.433-05:00

Yesterday evening, I received word that the secret project I've been playing up the past few weeks will finally be ready to go on Friday. It took about two weeks longer for that to happen than I originally thought, but better late than never, right? Once again, thanks for your patience in the matter and stay tuned!By the way, I'm pretty sure we'll be seeing Carrie Underwood and Anthony Fedorov in

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596521730246226610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246235.post-1115797845275851572005-05-11T00:00:00.000-05:002005-05-11T02:53:26.753-05:00

MLB.comSo, what do you get when a Royals fan stops paying attention to his team one night, and instead watches a bad movie and a disappointing Final Four edition of American Idol? A polka-dotted dinosaur? Christopher Walken in another “I need more cowbell!” sketch? No … apparently, you get a very surprised and stunned Royals fan after learning of his team’s manager suddenly resigning. (Okay, so I

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596521730246226610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246235.post-1115619732332993392005-05-09T00:00:00.000-05:002005-05-09T01:25:15.546-05:00

Pushing across a run because of a pitcher’s mistake is a pretty cheap way to win a ballgame, but I’ll certainly take it, especially after the Royals have had the combined rotten luck of Joe Theisman, George Costanza, and anyone who’s ever crossed paths with Liza Minnelli thrown their way this year. Because of that, I’m certainly not going to complain that the Royals scored the eventual

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596521730246226610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246235.post-1115358448863661042005-05-06T00:00:00.000-05:002005-05-06T00:47:28.873-05:00

I’m guessing that everyone else was shocked as I was when Tony Pena emerged from the dugout yesterday with a hook in his pocket, removing a dominant Zack Greinke from a 1-0 game after only 85 pitches. How shocked was I? Watching the action unfold on MLB.com’s Gameday feature, my first thought wasn’t that Greinke was being taken out in favor of Andy Sisco because of tiredness; I immediately

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596521730246226610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246235.post-1115333996608184122005-05-05T17:57:00.000-05:002005-05-05T18:00:33.183-05:00

The Royals' brass isn't putting Tony Pena on the hot seat, but they should be. Removing a cruising Zack Greinke after only 85 pitches today is simply inexcusable no matter what happened afterwards. This game has me on the verge of entering an extreme level of depression.

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596521730246226610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246235.post-1115187506526661922005-05-04T00:00:00.000-05:002005-05-04T01:24:41.550-05:00

So, who else thinks Gwen Stefani's Hollaback Girl will go down as one of the most awesomely bad songs of this decade?Anyway, sorry for the lack of a new post today and yesterday. I've been something slightly more than busy the last couple of days, but I think things are going to slow down enough from now until a week from Friday that I'll be able to resume posting regularly about our 7-19

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596521730246226610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246235.post-1115014827017081942005-05-02T00:00:00.000-05:002005-05-02T01:20:27.023-05:00

I still don't have anything definite to say about my little secret, so instead, I'll spend some time discussing the Royals' series victory over the Indians. Or for those of you with a real sense of Royals nostalgia, the biggest Kansas City miracle since that time Jim Pittsley shut out the Cincinnati Reds for five innings. Moving on...If there ever was a day in which Lima Time! ensued for five

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596521730246226610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246235.post-1114750358109100352005-04-29T00:00:00.000-05:002005-04-28T23:52:38.110-05:00

I had an entire post written when my browser locked up on me, so because it's been a very long day and I'm extremely tired, here's the really, really short version:The secret announcement I mentioned in Wednesday's entry won't be made today. While it became final last night, I don't want to let the cat out of the bag yet because the project isn't fully functional. When I know things are up and

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596521730246226610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246235.post-1114660687079263342005-04-28T00:00:00.000-05:002005-04-27T22:58:07.083-05:00

This is starting to get really old, really fast. Another night, another loss, and another notes article where I talk about why the game got away (again)...Brian Anderson was having a very nice night in the early-going of his start retiring the first eight Twins who came to bat, but I noticed that he fell behind in the count quite a bit during those 2.2 innings. Knowing that poor hitters generally

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596521730246226610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246235.post-1114578207496640792005-04-27T00:00:00.000-05:002005-04-27T00:03:27.500-05:00

Today, I find myself defending a man I very much would like to see fired, so I’m in a little bit of a strange situation right now. A day after semi-blasting the work ethics of the team and Tony Pena, an article on the Royals’ web site detailed the lengthy full-squad workout the Royals had prior to Tuesday evening’s game against the Minnesota Twins. Despite the fact they blew another opportunity

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596521730246226610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246235.post-1114490812499602332005-04-26T00:00:00.000-05:002005-04-25T23:50:54.600-05:00

Royals fans have gone through a LOT over the past ten seasons, but 2005 is going to be something far worse than anything any of us have ever seen before. That may not come as a surprise to some outside the Kansas City inner circle, seeing as the Royals are probably the least-talented club in the American League, and as a result, never were on any sort of a track to pocket even 70 wins this season

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596521730246226610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246235.post-1114146988179083582005-04-22T12:00:00.000-05:002005-04-22T00:16:28.183-05:00

The Twins play "small ball." The White Sox win games by bashing the ball out of the park (despite what Ozzie Guillen would lead you to believe. The Braves? Well, they've always relied on great starting pitching. As for the Royals ... well, if you aren't sure what the Royals are all about, the ninth inning of yesterday's loss should give you a pretty good idea.As I mentioned yesterday, any game in

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596521730246226610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246235.post-1114056450203000692005-04-21T00:00:00.000-05:002005-04-20T23:07:30.220-05:00

I still haven’t downloaded my copy of Tuesday’s win over the Indians, but the Royals’ website finally made the clip of Alberto Castillo’s strange walk-off homer available. Watching it revealed a few things:- Neither team’s network broadcast it on TV- Both the play-by-play man and the camera guy went all Howard Dean when the ball cleared the fence- Brian McRae’s been practicing his diabolical

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596521730246226610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246235.post-1113968212885344602005-04-20T00:00:00.000-05:002005-04-19T22:41:01.403-05:00

The white smoke appeared today, signaling the selection of a new Pope and, apparently, foreshadowing an Alberto Castillo walk-off homer. I haven’t had the chance to watch the game yet, but I have some thoughts on the action anyway…The Royals certainly haven’t hit a lot of walk-off bombs in the past ten years or so, so every time they do, the event tends to stick in my mind. Castillo – who has to

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596521730246226610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246235.post-1113877862449245102005-04-19T00:00:00.000-05:002005-04-18T21:31:02.453-05:00

I’ve come to believe that two of the most difficult things to do in any sort of writing are expressing emotions and tones of voice within the context of an article or, for our purposes here, a blog entry. There are a few tools available to writers like italics, boldfaced print, and capital lettering that certainly aid in clarifying how something is meant to be read, but even those don’t really

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596521730246226610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246235.post-1113797146686980302005-04-18T00:00:00.000-05:002005-04-17T23:05:46.686-05:00

I think it's pretty incredible that after everything the Royals have put me through during the course of the past ten seasons, I still get extremely frustrated when they beat themselves in ballgames. There's currently no willingness to NOT swing at the first pitch of any plate appearance, outfielders missing the cutoff man, relay throws being thrown over the catcher's head, and a general lack of

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596521730246226610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246235.post-1113547236619499032005-04-15T00:00:00.000-05:002005-04-15T01:51:16.683-05:00

I don't really have anything positive to say about the Royals and their horrific (yet vintage) series against the Mariners, so I'm just going to shut up until I have the chance to chill out a little. See ya Monday!

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596521730246226610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246235.post-1113456649113260432005-04-14T00:00:00.000-05:002005-04-14T00:30:49.116-05:00

Imagine turning on a radio to listen to your favorite team’s game. Now, imagine what your listening experience would be like if the announcers – say, Denny Matthews and Ryan Lefebvre – got caught in the mother of all traffic jams and weren’t in the booth, but the team decided to put the game on the air anyway. You’d be left with only the noise of the crowd and music blaring over the stadium

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596521730246226610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246235.post-1113270955836009932005-04-12T00:00:00.000-05:002005-04-11T20:56:30.343-05:00

Kevin: Well, it's been an extremely long time since we last chatted, my friend. Between steroids, Calvin Pickering being freed, and the candlelight vigil I'm going to hold for Zack Greinke's bruised right arm, we have quite a bit to get caught up on. But let's start with a guy who had more to do with the Royals' 3-3 start than any other player on the roster: David DeJesus.As you aptly pointed out

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596521730246226610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246235.post-1113198248619940002005-04-11T00:00:00.000-05:002005-04-11T01:03:56.103-05:00

After everything that happened in sports yesterday, I’ll be surprised if we hear the “s” word mentioned much at all on talk radio, in newspapers, or on TV. Not only did Tiger won a major tournament for the first time in what seems like a million years, but Sunday also provided us with John Smoltz and Pedro Martinez engaging in the mother of all pitching duels, Josh Beckett striking out 11

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596521730246226610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246235.post-1113004911217776822005-04-08T18:39:00.000-05:002005-04-08T19:03:07.940-05:00

Mariano Rivera’s reign of having the most scrutinized right arm of the 2005 baseball season to date was short-lived. Royals fans and fantasy baseball owners of Zack Greinke alike will be collectively holding their breaths to see if he’ll be able to make his next start (and, more importantly, pitch effectively) thanks to Carlos Guillen’s line drive that hit Zack's arm in the third inning of

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596521730246226610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246235.post-1112857171361854852005-04-07T00:00:00.000-05:002005-04-07T01:59:31.366-05:00

Runelvys Hernandez was without his clown perm, but his return to the pitching mound went pretty well, now didn’t it? While I wouldn’t go as far as saying that he thoroughly dominated the Tigers due to a very bad strikeout-to-walk ratio of 1-to-1, the fact that he allowed only one run in seven innings is still very impressive. It’s especially cool because knowing that Wednesday’s start would be

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596521730246226610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246235.post-1112670371681805522005-04-05T00:00:00.000-05:002005-04-04T22:06:11.686-05:00

On a marvelous Opening Day that saw Carlos Beltran and Joe Randa – two players who were on the Kansas City Royals’ roster in 2004 – go a combined 5-9 with two home runs (Randa’s a game-winner) in the same contest, the Royals simply played like it was 2004 all over again. The pitching staff made damned sure of that by helping Dmitri Young become the first guy since Tuffy Rhodes to hit three home

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596521730246226610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246235.post-1112604026297314462005-04-04T00:00:00.000-05:002005-04-04T03:40:26.306-05:00

Have you ever experienced an entire weekend in which almost everything that happened to you had nothing but positive overtones and the few things that weren’t positive were still overshadowed by the good stuff? Well, if you have, you’ll understand why today’s entry isn’t about my beloved Kansas City Royals opening up the 2005 season in Detroit at noon. If you haven’t, I hope such a weekend is on

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596521730246226610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246235.post-1112338342937909802005-04-01T00:39:00.000-06:002005-04-01T00:56:39.510-06:00

Wow ... we made it. Only three days separate us from Opening Day, a celebratory event so big that it should be a national holiday.Anyway, I have a humongous day of things to do ahead of me, so I'm going to call it a night. For some Royals-related reading, I'd recommend checking out The Daily Lancer, Royalties, or The Royals Op-Ed Page. See ya Monday!

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596521730246226610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246235.post-1112254609464698362005-03-31T00:00:00.000-06:002005-03-31T01:36:49.470-06:00

As I alluded to in yesterday’s entry, the Royals did a darned fine job of, for the most part, maximizing the talent of their 25-man roster. However, I still don’t understand the logic behind Denny Bautista being the fifth starter when a serviceable pitcher like Mike Wood would’ve happily assumed the job in the short-term, allowing Bautista to clean up his control in the minor leagues.

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596521730246226610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246235.post-1112156213614859532005-03-30T00:00:00.000-06:002005-03-29T22:16:53.620-06:00

+ = Ironically, Tuesday, March 29, 2005 will go down in history as one of the most important dates in Royals history. What’s so ironic about that? That 10, 15, or 20 years from now, nobody will remember why. Nobody – perhaps not even myself – will associate 3/29/05 with That Time The Kansas City Royals Chose Calvin Pickering Over Ken Harvey, but if the Blue Wave have rattled off a few playoff

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596521730246226610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246235.post-1112071775345868792005-03-29T00:00:00.000-06:002005-03-28T23:19:46.920-06:00

As it relates to this blog, I anticipated there’d be a dramatic shift from the offseason to the regular season in that I’d quickly go from having nothing to write about to having too much to write about. However, I didn’t think the change would be quite this dramatic. For example, last night I attended a very THX-1138-esque confusing (yet rewarding) training session at Hammons Field to prepare

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596521730246226610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246235.post-1111987812286648842005-03-28T00:00:00.000-06:002005-03-27T23:30:12.300-06:00

It’d be fair to say that I didn’t do much of anything this weekend besides watch movies with some good friends. In no particular order, I took in:Exorcist: The BeginningShall We Dance?Little Black BookBe CoolWicker ParkAustin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged MeThe ScoreThere’s some comedy, some romantic comedy, and a dose of dramatic comedy in Exorcist (meaning it's really stupid). At least it’s a

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596521730246226610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246235.post-1111656942325004042005-03-24T03:30:00.000-06:002005-03-24T03:35:42.333-06:00

Initially, I was very much against a journeyman like Emil Brown making the Royals’ 25-man roster on the merits of his spring training performance. As I’ve written before, I think allowing things like “open competitions” for everyday jobs in camp will lead teams to make more bad decisions than good ones. After all, a 50 at-bat stretch is a 50 at-bat stretch whether it comes in early March, making

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596521730246226610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246235.post-1111553805895442622005-03-23T00:00:00.000-06:002005-03-22T22:56:45.896-06:00

Brace yourselves, Royals fans, because the Catfight of the Century is about to commence under a hot Arizona sun.However, I'm sorry to report that the catfight won't be between Catherine Bell and Jessica Alba in nothing but Zack Greinke jerseys. We'll have to settle for Denny Hocking battling former St. Louis Cardinals cult hero Joe McEwing for the right to be the no-hit, moderately good-fielding,

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596521730246226610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246235.post-1111470444381576812005-03-22T00:00:00.000-06:002005-03-21T23:47:24.390-06:00

Just as a quick point of reference, Kevin’s Royals Blog went over 10,000 hits late yesterday afternoon, a milestone I’m quite proud of. My thanks goes to every last one of you who take the time to load up and read this page every day. Here’s to many, many more thousands of hits down the road. Now, some links to Royals-related items:Royals GM Allard Baird (who is one of my heroes) did a very

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596521730246226610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246235.post-1111384447163265792005-03-21T00:00:00.000-06:002005-03-20T23:54:07.170-06:00

When the Royals announced they’d traded Carlos Beltran to the Houston Astros, I wasn’t exactly sure what to do. I was extremely sad that Beltran, an all-around good baseball player and an even better person, wouldn’t be patrolling center field for the Royals ever again. After all, he’d created so many good memories for Royals fans with his fence-climbing acrobatics, hustle, and game-winning home

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596521730246226610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246235.post-1111266708393688722005-03-19T15:01:00.000-06:002005-03-19T15:12:34.466-06:00

Sorry for the dust that blew through this blog yesterday. I don't really have anything interesting to write on this Black Saturday in Lawrence, but after taking a look at the pictures of the 2005 Royals, I think Leo Nunez might be an ET:

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596521730246226610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246235.post-1111043600243846402005-03-17T00:00:00.000-06:002005-03-17T01:13:20.263-06:00

By the time you read this, The Idiot Brigade’s witch hunt (read: Congress’s steroids hearing) will be close to starting or already underway, so here’s another un-juiced entry of random baseball thoughts, with some non-baseball stuff mixed in for good measure. These spring training notes articles are quickly becoming a favorite of mine:Royals fans have to be relieved today in the aftermath of Zack

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596521730246226610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246235.post-1110957778615631542005-03-16T00:00:00.000-06:002005-03-16T01:22:58.616-06:00

or With the announcement that Chris Truby probably isn't going to start the season with the Royals, the team's prepared to give Mark Teahen the third base job right out of spring training. As I see it, their other options include making a trade for another stopgap third baseman (which I view as totally unnecessary), or allowing Tony Graffanino, Chris Clapinski, or Denny Hocking regular playing

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596521730246226610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246235.post-1110855585476357782005-03-15T00:00:00.000-06:002005-03-14T21:00:59.536-06:00

Since I sorta' slacked off in yesterday's entry, today's covers a lot of stuff, at least by my standards. Let's get started, shall we?In what was their darkest hour, the 2004 Kansas City Royals achieved an unenviable trifecta of finishing dead last in the American League in ERA, last in OPS, and next-to-last in fielding percentage (one point ahead of Detroit). As you might expect, a team that’s

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596521730246226610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246235.post-1110778112284118282005-03-14T00:00:00.000-06:002005-03-13T23:28:32.286-06:00

In the absence of an article (at least for the present time), here are a few links to weekend stuff I found to be interesting:Friend of KRB Dave Haller has written the Milwaukee Brewers' Team Health Report over at baseballprospectus.com, and did a darned good job if you ask me. You can read it if you have a Premium subscription over at BP.com. If you can't read it, why haven't you signed up yet?

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596521730246226610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246235.post-1110521548480302842005-03-11T12:00:00.000-06:002005-03-11T00:12:28.496-06:00

A few weeks ago, I wrote a short commentary on the way teams use spring training to evaluate players who are competing for jobs. I probably went a little bit overboard in my opinion, saying, “teams need to have their minds made up about their rosters before the games start.” I’m partially retracting that statement because even after taking everything into account, trying to understand what a

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596521730246226610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246235.post-1110433450792319172005-03-10T00:00:00.000-06:002005-03-09T23:59:41.086-06:00

Since I received a couple of e-mails and a comment yesterday on the subject of the Royals possibly picking up Rick Ankiel, let’s talk about that for a moment.For those of you who haven’t heard the news, here’s a little background: Cardinals pitcher Rick Ankiel is now Cardinals outfielder Rick Ankiel, as he decided to scrap the whole pitching thing and try to carve out a career as a hitter. The

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596521730246226610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246235.post-1110345358968289932005-03-09T00:00:00.000-06:002005-03-09T01:46:41.120-06:00

From the “Don’t They Have Anything Better To Do?” department: Congress has subpoenaed seven current and former baseball players to testify before a panel about ‘roids, which is pretty much the latest ridiculous development in what I’m officially dubbing “The Great Witch Hunt of the 2000’s.”I’m on record as saying that I really don’t care if athletes take steroids. While I agree with the masses

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596521730246226610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246235.post-1110254691505538692005-03-08T00:00:00.000-06:002005-03-07T22:28:02.683-06:00

I’d feel bad for forcing upon you guys and gals another article about the ongoing battle royale between resident fatties Ken Harvey and Calvin Pickering, but the FREE CALVIN PICKERING! march must go on until everyone’s on board with it. Impossible? Perhaps, but I won’t rest until Harvey’s back home in Nebraska playing some Triple-A baseball (or in Tampa Bay – also Triple-A baseball) and Pickering

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596521730246226610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246235.post-1110174551902407172005-03-07T00:00:00.000-06:002005-03-06T23:50:32.486-06:00

If you’re reading this, you’re probably a Royals fan, which means you’re at least a little bit concerned about Donald Zackary Greinke today. However, if you aren’t a Royals fan, let this entry serve as a lesson for just how important Greinke having success is to the Royals’ future and, more importantly, to Royals fans not being sent to the nuthouse.After hearing of the shellacking he took

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596521730246226610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246235.post-1109923334232228342005-03-04T01:52:00.000-06:002005-03-04T02:02:14.236-06:00

With thanks to D-Rays Bay for the idea, here's a discussion game with a Royals twist. Just copy and paste the template below into the comments box, and post away!First Name: KevinFavorite Team: RoyalsHow you became a Royals fan: My first baseball game was in Kansas City, and the team stuck with me.Favorite current player: Carlos BeltranFavorite former player: Mark GraceFavorite Royals Prospect:

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596521730246226610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246235.post-1109911722348188322005-03-04T00:00:00.000-06:002005-03-03T22:53:11.926-06:00

With their season-opening 6-4 win over The Fighting Showalters, the Kansas City Royals are over the .500 mark for the first time in 323 days, or since April 14, 2004. While such a thing wouldn’t be just cause to start a ticker-tape parade in 28 other baseball cities (with the noted exception of fellow basement-dweller Tampa Bay), make no mistake: I’m VERY psyched that the Royals are actually not

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596521730246226610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246235.post-1109833164000869852005-03-03T00:51:00.000-06:002005-03-03T01:22:16.953-06:00

Five months ago today, I made the trek to Kauffman Stadium with a good friend to see the final game of the most wretched season in Royals history. They were shut out 5-0 by Jose Contreras and Shingo Takatsu in a game that pretty much defined the entire season, especially when Mike MacDougal threw only five strikes in his 17-pitch appearance. While getting autographs from virtually every player

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596521730246226610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246235.post-1109755507258288662005-03-02T02:56:00.000-06:002005-03-02T03:45:20.823-06:00

If you’ll take a quick look at the upper right-hand corner of this page, you’ll see that I changed the description of KRB. The FREE CALVIN PICKERING! movement has a home base – right here – even if that home base is very unnoticeable. I wanted to add FREE CALVIN PICKERING! to the title, but that looked extremely cluttered. I'd like to put it in a more prominent place, but that just doesn’t look

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596521730246226610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246235.post-1109663685351668572005-03-01T01:28:00.000-06:002005-03-01T01:58:24.846-06:00

On this blog, I’ve made a concerted effort to avoid talking about players and events of Royals past, and instead focusing on the present and future. For one thing, the Royals’ recent past has been nothing short of brutal, and for another, I also just don’t enjoy writing about stuff that happened 10 or 15 seasons ago. It isn’t that I’m not interested in The Last Good Royals Teams, but I don’t see

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596521730246226610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246235.post-1109574896226232552005-02-28T01:05:00.000-06:002005-02-28T01:40:48.103-06:00

I was hoping this year would be different.The Academy Awards show is supposed to be about celebrating the best and brightest in movies. It’s supposed to be about reveling in the successes of our heroes of the silver screen and, just for one night, getting away from it all and spending one evening a year with those stars in our living rooms. Such a thing should be a thrill. After all, through

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596521730246226610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246235.post-1109318247247203842005-02-25T01:41:00.000-06:002005-02-25T02:08:24.663-06:00

Maybe I should make player recommendations more often ...When I returned home from a night of talkin’ baseball and eating at IHOP with a buddy of mine, this e-mail from friend of KRB Dave Sanford was waiting for me:Subject: Baird had a very good day!Hey man, send me an IM when you sign online tonight. I’m pretty fired up about today’s events!He neglected to mention what exactly happened, so I was

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596521730246226610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246235.post-1109230026209541572005-02-24T01:09:00.000-06:002005-02-24T01:27:06.216-06:00

Statistics, like scouting, never by themselves tell the whole story about a baseball player’s season, career, or start. In most cases, combining the two will tell us everything we want to know, but every once in awhile a situation pops up where a player’s performance can’t be explained by either method. The baseball term for such a performance is “fluke” or “outlier,” but I’ve learned that not

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596521730246226610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246235.post-1109144366441775602005-02-23T01:09:00.000-06:002005-02-23T01:40:35.216-06:00

How can anybody not love Barry Bonds? It was about time somebody held the media -- the real cause of the steroid circus -- accountable for beating us over the head with the same stories over and over again. Sadly, their writing has brainwashed at least 8,312 baseball fans. Check out the results of this ESPN.com poll, and my responses to the questions directly related to his entertaining press

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596521730246226610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246235.post-1109134696735062032005-02-23T00:00:00.000-06:002005-02-23T01:48:29.663-06:00

When the time comes to evaluate a baseball player (which happens quite often in my world), the one thing I make sure I never do is making an assumption about the player in question. Call me a dork, but I always like to do my research on Baseball-Reference.com for major league numbers or The Baseball Cube if I need some real in-depth minor league stats. Too many times, I see fans assuming that a

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596521730246226610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246235.post-1109057513997103032005-02-22T01:25:00.000-06:002005-02-22T01:31:54.006-06:00

Roughly three weeks after doing my informal interview to work for the Springfield Cardinals, I finally got to do my second interview yesterday. That is, of course, after I circled Hammons Field twice trying to find some way in to any parking lot. Every single street that leads to the stadium is totally blocked off and under heavy construction for some reason, and although my last ditch "Maybe

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596521730246226610noreply@blogger.com0