Life’s Not Fair (Royals Edition)
Posted: July 20th, 2009 | Filed under: Baseball | 91 Comments »
The older I get, the less tolerant I am of excuses. I’m not entirely sure why this is … maybe it’s because the older I get the more I appreciate that concept introduced to me when I was probably 7 years old, the concept that life isn’t fair. When I was young, I thought that this was simply a way for my parents to explain why I had to go to bed before Laverne and Shirley was on.
“That’s not fair.”
“Life isn’t fair.”
As I got older, I realized that it was much more serious than that, that unfair things happen all the time in life, tragic things, awful things, sad things. Sometimes the bad guy runs off with the girl. Sometimes hard work doesn’t pay off. Sometimes cheaters prosper. Sometimes bad things happen to good people. “Life isn’t fair” took on a cruel meaning; it was all I had to explain a lot of the rotten stuff that happened.
But now, I don’t think of the expression that way. Now, I think of it as simply this: It’s our role in life to negotiate through the choppy waters. Because life isn’t fair. You have to bounce back when you get dealt an endless stream of thirteens at the blackjack table. You have to work through a DiMaggio streak of bad days because it’s your life and people don’t want to hear your problems. You have to finish the job because at the end of the day bosses don’t care about unanswered calls or flooded basements or pounding headaches or the overwhelming feeling you might have that something went very wrong somewhere along the way. Life isn’t fair. And the only way to deal with that is to overcome it.
All of that is actually high-falutin talk for what I really mean, which is this: I have grown utterly intolerant of organizations who complain about officiating. I have become deaf to complaints teams have about injuries. I have no use — none — for anyone who whines about the cards they were dealt. And this is why: Life isn’t fair. If the umpire calls it a strike then it’s a strike. If the replay is inconclusive, then the replay is inconclusive. If a player gets injured, it’s your job to replace him. If Don Denkinger calls him safe, then he’s safe and it’s your job to win the game anyway. And if you don’t … it’s your fault.
And while it’s probably harsh, I’ve come to think of any player or coach who really whines about this stuff as a loser at heart. Fans … yeah, it’s our job to complain about that sort of thing (though even that gets irritating after a short while) but to me sports organizations that complain about bad breaks are simply not tough enough to win.
I’ll give you the example that bothers me these days: The Kansas City Royals have been playing astonishingly bad baseball for more than two months now. They have won 19 of their last 62 games — it is one of the worst stretches of baseball in the history of the organization. The New York Yankees have not gone 19-43 over any stretch since the Deadball Era. The Los Angeles Dodgers have NEVER gone 19-43 over any stretch. This is remarkably bad baseball.
Now, to me … the Royals have come by this record honestly. They play awful baseball. They can’t run the bases, they can’t field their positions, they can’t hit, they can’t run, they have a lousy bullpen except for their closer, and they cannot give him a lead. Yep, that makes for a bad baseball team. And I would feel a lot better about it if the Royals would simply take their medicine … “Hey, you know what? A couple of our gambles haven’t worked out yet, a few of our players are not playing up to what we believe is their ability, we got into a slide and have not been able to get ourselves out.” That sort of thing. I would feel a lot better if the Royals people would say, “We are reevaluating ourselves constantly, and while we still feel like we have the nucleus of a good team the truth is, obviously, we are not a good team. We will have to get better or make some changes, there’s no other way.”
Trouble is: That’s not the vibe I get from the Royals. Here’s the vibe I get: “Injuries killed us.” And, plainly, that just makes me ill. There’s an old saying: “Winners win and losers meet.” Well, I think it’s also true that “Winners win and losers complain about injuries.” Or “Winners win and losers gripe about umpires.” Or “Winners win and losers make excuses.” Or simply, “Winners win and losers lose.”
Injuries. Ugh. Young Jedi Sam wrote a blog post trying to figure out how many more wins the Royals would have had they not had injuries. I despise the whole topic — as you will see, I think there is absolutely NOTHING to it — but he did some research, and he found it quite reasonable to add 3.3 wins to the Royals season. I’m not crazy about his methodology to be honest, but let’s say that it’s true, that injuries have cost the Royals three wins this year. Let’s say four wins. Hell, let’s say that the Royals would have won FIVE more games if they had been completely healthy. That would make them 42-49. That would mean they would still be a lousy baseball team.
And anyway, anytime you start trying to add a couple of wins here or there … well, that’s another loser’s lament. The Royals after six innings have been ahead 40 times, behind 44 times and tied 7 times. So, if only they would have just won all the games they were ahead after six innings, and if only they would have won just six out of the seven when they were tied … they would be over .500! See? If … if … if.
But there’s more to the injury story here. The Royals injured players — Coco Crisp, Mike Aviles, Alex Gordon, Jose Guillen — none of these guys would even START on the Detroit Tigers. Not one of them. Crisp starting over Curtis Granderson? No. Aviles had a nice rookie year at 27, but most scouts I knew felt there was no way it was going to last and (injured or not) the guy hit .183/.208/.250 in 127 plate appearances and his defensive range was completely gone. We can talk all we want about Alex Gordon’s potential — and I still think he has some — but he doesn’t start over Brandon Inge. Jose Guillen has an 82 OPS+ and he simply cannot play the field any more* … in my view that signing (and not the trade for Yuniesky Betancourt) was the worst move of Dayton Moore’s young career.
*The Royals keep putting him out there but he can’t do it. According to the Dewan plus/minus, he is a minus-19 in right field (in 484 innings) and a minus-3 in left field (in 33 innings). That’s historic. The Royals now put Ryan Freel into games in the seventh inning to get Guillen out of there.
So, we are talking about injuries to players who should not be impossible to replace. Yes, the Royals did lose Joakim Soria for a short time … but so what? Soria has been perfectly healthy the last three games, and the Royals lost all three despite having leads going into the eighth inning. Soria and Gordon injuries may have hurt a touch, but among the Royals core group of players who either are or can be above league average in some way — Zack Greinke, Gil Meche, Brian Bannister, Luke Hochevar, Billy Butler, Mark Teahen, Alberto Callaspo, David DeJesus — only Meche has had any injury issues at all*.
*So I just want to see if I have this straight. Gil Meche, from beginning of the season, has said that his back has been sore. But he has not missed a start. One game, he wanted to finish off a shutout and was left out there to throw 132 pitches. His next two starts he complained of dead-arm and was awful. He considered skipping a start but felt better … the Royals left him out there to throw 121 pitches. Then 114 pitches. Then his next start he had to be taken out because of an injury, and now he’s on the DL and he’s talking about missing only one start even though he’s really sore. In a column, I wrote that he’s like the Black Knight from Monty Python and the Royals keep cutting off limbs.
So I guess in the end I have two points … one, I don’t even believe the Royals have been particularly unlucky with injuries. It’s not like they lost Albert Pujols, A-Rod and Lincecum. They lost Crisp, Aviles and Gordon … and Soria for about a month. When you look at it that way, the complaints are embarrassingly sad.
But more … I think any public complaint about injuries is an admission that you are simply not tough enough to handle the grind. I’m a fan of Dayton Moore … but I have a hard time understanding what he’s done the last couple of weeks. The Betancourt trade was incomprehensible. The public statement right now (with this team playing dreadful baseball) that Trey Hillman has a chance to be one of the very best baseball men in a generation just sounded loony. The constant talk about how injuries derailed this team make this whole organization just seem delusional to me.
One of the hardest thing in sports is dealing with stunning disappointment. The Royals really expected that they had turned a corner in 2008 — they were no longer embarrassingly bad — and that if Zack Greinke could emerge, if they could get some some good pitching out of the lower-part of the rotation, if a couple of young players could just break out … well, they had a chance to complete.
Well, Greinke has emerged. They have gotten good pitching out of Brian Bannister and some good pitching out of Luke Hochevar. Mark Teahen (112 OPS+), Alberto Callaspo (114 OPS+) and Billy Butler (111 OPS+) have had encouragingly good seasons. And the team is back to embarrassingly bad anyway. My sense is that it’s a huge shock to the system, and nobody really quite knows how to explain it, and so the human reaction is to point to injuries and bad breaks and growing pains and whatever else. That’s the human reaction, yes. But it’s not much of a plan for winning.
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My two year old has the chance to be the best baseball man of a generation I suppose, doesn’t mean he should be managing the Royals right now… well, maybe he should.
Is it possible that when they’re complaining of injuries with generic statements like “our problem has been injuries,” what they’re really saying is not “our problem has been that Mike Aviles has been injured” but more that “our problem is that Trey Hillman has not been injured this season, so we have to keep dragging him to the ballpark where he lets Gil Meche throw eleventy-seven thousand pitches in one game”? Just a thought.
Preach it, Poz!
I’ve been to the last two Greinke starts. Awful, wretched games to watch. When do Moore and Hillman get held accountable? Ever?
This team gives me heartache. They do not have a winning attitude. It’s difficult to believe that Alex Gordon is the same draft year as David Wright and Evan Langoria. Gordon has a cocky appearance, but cannot deliver. He dropped a routine flyball Friday night which allowed 2 runs to score. He is batting below .100. Guillen is a bust and waste of money. Heilman is a poor manager. The bullpen lost all 3 games over the weekend.
What makes me angry is that I live in Jackson County and the County is taking my money as a sales tax to subsidize this group of losers and their incompetent owner!!!
I took a college history class on American sports, and the theme of the class was “sport mirrors society.” With society embracing the culture of victimhood for every perceived slight, is it any wonder the Royals are blaming everything but themselves for their plight?
I’m also reminded of the classic Sean Connery line from “The Rock” (edited to keep the PG-13 rating): “Losers always whine….Winners go home and *&^% the prom queen.”
Since the Royals don’t have a “comments” section or “contact” links on their website, I am going to post mine here. I have been a loyal fan since 1976. I go when I can afford it, I was watching most every game. I live in Jackson County, so I also fund the stadiums. I am SICK of poor baseball, lousy excuses and stingy owners. I watch the Twins, Detroit and other non-coast teams compete and I am not stupid. There is a fundamental obstacle to putting a competitive team on the field here in KC. Joe, you say you are a fan of Dayton Moore. I think what you mean is you think he is a nice guy. Who doesn’t. I think he is a nice guy too. But I am no fan at this point. I think the problem goes straight to the Glasses. It has to. They should cash out now and find an owner with the vision and dollars to give us the product the fine people of Kansas City deserve.
I am sorry for the boring rant, but I wanted to voice my opinion and state that I will still check the box score in the morning, but would much rather invest my time and energy in watching any reality show on TV other than the Royals. The reality of what they are producing is just a shame.
Here’s a really short quiz to determine whether you may be qualified to manage in the big leagues:
1. True or false: Bunting after a leadoff double in the first inning is a good play.
If you answered “false,” you may have what it takes to be a major league manager. If you answered “true,” you’re Trey Hillman.
This year’s all-DL All-Star Team (incomplete):
P: Carlos Zambrano, Cubs
P: Rich Harden, Cubs
SU: J.J. Putz, Mets
CL: Billy Wagner, Mets
C: Geovany Soto, Cubs
1B: Carlos Beltran, Mets
3B: Aramis Ramirez, Cubs
SS: Jose Reyes, Mets
CF: Carlos Beltran, Mets
Both of those teams are hovering around .500 right now.
It is time for Dayton Moore and Trey Hillman to TAKE RESPONSIBILITY! The first step towards solving a problem is admitting it exists!
Well they did lose Pujols …. sort of. But that was a decade ago.
I fully agree about not making excuses over injuries/bad breaks/mistakes.
The thing about this team is, this division is incredibly weak right now – the first-place Tigers are the sixth or seventh best team in the AL – and the Royals are still 11.5 games out of first. The division isn’t going to be this weak every year.
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So long as this team is owned by David Glass, it will rot like the festering boil on baseball that it is.
Get someone in there who cares about winning and putting good men on the field and in the front office and it might start going somewhere. The New England Patriots were the laughing stock of the NFL until the Krafts bought them, and even then it took a few years to bring it together.
Dayton Moore seemed like a smart guy, but man I am glad he is not running the Boston Red Sox. His name was bandied about a lot during the Theo crisis and we sure dodged a huge bullet with that one.
Joe, the next time you hear Dayton reference the impact of injuries on this season PLEASE ask him who then, should be held responsible for the lack of available talent within the organization past those players that were injured.
No organization in sports or life gets to blame “fate” for a completely pathetic (repeated) performance. That Dayton thinks its somebody else’s fault that 1) KC has no injury prevention, diagnosis, & treatment program and 2) the organization is completely devoid of even replacement-level talent is just insulting to anybody who wastes time on this team.
There is little doubt about the truth of your statements. For me I would like the Royals players and management to show a little emotion. If I were a Royals player, I would be angry(at myself) and frustrated if the poor performances continued. All I see is a lot of guys screwing up and giving it the so-what? approach. Maybe a broken bat over the knee or a slammed water cooler woudl show they really care. Didn’t Guillan say last year that he played better when he was a little angry?
I agree and for the first time in my 31 years, I cannot hardly stand to watch a Royals game. Took my kids to the “K” yesterday and was glad that I had to spend 8 innings in Sluggerville or whatever it is called.
I at least hope that the Royals had the common sense not to send an apology letter to their fans during the All-Star break like the Nationals did. Here is the excerpt that has come close to making me stop rooting for them:
“Our hope was that a solid club leadership would emerge on and off the field and that some intangible combinations would begin to click resulting in many winning streaks.”
That is offensive in so many different ways. They may as well erect a statue of Jobu by the centerfield entrance.
Totally agree with Chris at #6 and I would say this flows right into our discussion the other day about presidential receptions, etc. I think we have cultivated a society in which victims are rewarded, that the argument of who “works harder” is somehow merited EVER (meet my own personal pet peeve…. not in the “he puts in more hours” but the “I’m so tired because I have more work to do than you” discussion), and excuses are promoted to reasons.
I’m a Cubs fan who is happy to have Aramis Ramirez back and who never once considered his absence as the “reason” for their atrocious play there for a bit.
The Mets have a little more room for excuses….but very little.
As a very famous fish once said, “Just keep swimming…” and shut up about it.
I have been a long-time suffering Royals fan-all of my life. I was just old enough to remember the World Series (11 years old) but didn’t realize then how special it was since we’ve never sniffed the playoffs since. I have hung in there and supported this team through thin and thinner-left the park disappointed, angry, confused, frustrated, and occasionally elated. However, I had a new experience yesterday-I left the park before the game was over for the first time in my life. I am done. Three games in a row this team hands it to them by walking in the winning run after a previous walk and an error (should have been called two errors in my opinion). The bullpen sorely disappointed this weekend. However, what really cost us the game us was the 12 men left on base. Bases loaded, no outs, and the only reason you can score a run is the walk it in? After 24 years, I fully expect the Royals to lose. I have grown accustomed to it. Fine. I haven’t accepted the embarrassing and novel ways they find to hand teams the game. Nothing surprises me anymore and no lead is safe with these teams of the past quarter century. What mounted my frustration to the point of an early exit yesterday (a sin in my opinion) was the lack of emotion they show. Strike out, home run, double play or error–they remain the same. Would someone please throw a tantrum? Where’s is the unstable Guillen when you need him? This would all be easier to take if it seemed like the players and coaches cared at least a little. The fans are giving their time and emotion, why can’t the players. Ridiculous. They deserve nothing but our disrespect. Speaking of which, I did something else yesterday which I consider a sin–I booed the home team-my team. I will not return until things change–starting with a reversal of the players apathy.
Poz, you’ve touched on this before, but why can’t Soria pitch more than 3 outs in a game? So he would have been capable of pitching 1 inning in each of 3 close games, but not (less than) 2 innings in any one of them, if not 2? That’s the difference between 0-3 and 1-2. Just blows my mind.
To put another twist in it, would Soria not be more valuable coming into a jam situation in the 8th, getting out of it, and then letting one of the others come into a clean slate situation in the 9th? He is still limited to his “1 inning”, but gives his team a better chance to win as opposed to giving into the baseball mythology of going for the stat save. If the GM position in baseball could get over these false stats, why can’t the managers? As you said yourself, I was really hoping Trey would bring an independent mind with him from Japan, but he is as stubborn as the rest of ‘em. Real shame…
Please put this in The Star! We need you to hold feet to the fire.
Well said (although I’d quibble with you over the Inge/Gordon thing which much come from Inge’s career year this season)
Joe, for someone who very recently said you were not planning on blogging much about the Royals, you sure are doing it an awfully lot. And its not like its ever anything much interesting other then just bashing. I think everyone in the Royals front office, the Roster, and the Fans know the Royals just plain — suck. And our offensive struggles isn’t the problem, its the bullpen. Maybe soon you’ll realize that Royal-bashing or Moore-bashing isn’t exactly very interesting to read.
Why do people persist in lamenting that the Royals didn’t draft Pujols (@ post No. 11)? Would you really want to watch that talent go to waste on a lousy team — and watch that talent never blossom because he was constantly trying to over-achieve to carrry the team?
And don’t think he would suddenly make the Royals a contender … he would’ve been gone to the Yankees or Red Sox by now anyway because the Royals wouldn’t have paid him.
There’s a fear in many front offices, a fear of disappointing and alienating the fans by not putting a great team on the field. It makes executives choose faded but vaguely recognizable vets over anonymous kids. It delays complete rebuilds with new faces in favor of maintaining nests of shredded, ratty but familiar stuffed animals. And it does this in the mistaken belief that any 15 year old on earth values more stuffed animals in right field instead of someone who might be able to play the game. That’s the thing that separates KC and PIT from teams like MIN and TAM who managed to send away the names: it takes trust to ask your fans to wait a year or four while you rebuild. A team has to hope that the fans are sophisticated enough to recognize that the quality of play is improving even if the old names are gone. KC’s management isn’t sophisticated enough or secure enough or something enough to believe that their fans would rather see improvement than old friends. That has to change before the on-field product can improve.
@ philevans66:
To be fair, TLR is regarded as just about the greatest manager EVAR, but he also loves to bunt runners from second to third with no outs. And not long ago, he did it in the first inning. With Colby Rasmus. So that they opposing team could just walk Albert Pujols with first base open.
You are not alone in KC. Managers are idiots everywhere, and that includes the guys who are purportedly the best of the bunch.
Echoing what Other Craig said, people forget that every other team (including the Cardinals!) passed up Pujols for 12 rounds before he was drafted. He was simply not a hot prospect when he came out of Maple Woods. What he made himself into is phenomenal, but no one could have predicted it in 1999!!! If you want other examples, the Cardinals passed up on Mark Buehrle, and 5 teams passed on Zack Greinke!!!
The Royals have a lower winning percentage than the Pittsburgh Pirates 1993-July 20, 2009. Yeah…and the Pirates haven’t even broke .500 in any of those years.
The Royals are losing me, the more I watch my local team this year (Twins AAA affiliate). There is a difference between loyalty and stupidity. You can’t fool all of the people all of the time…
Colin ,
With all due respect, I get your point. But, the fact that those two teams are “hovering around .500 has as much to do with their PAYROLL (which is, ahem, a bit higher than the Royals) than anything.
Interesting post. i don’t even like the Royals, but reading about them here has given me a mild fascination from afar.
I enjoy reading about this, because its very intelligently written. Besides, sometimes its a bit comical, and sometimes comedy is all you have…
Critical analysis of the Royals and their GM (and manager and ownership) is not Royals/Moore bashing. It is objective description. Columns and blogs limited to the club’s only strengths (starting pitching, increased scouting presence in Latin American venues, and a few players in the minor league system with major league potential) will leave a lot of space available for non-baseball material.
The shortcomings of a team as awful as the 2009 Royals need to be thoroughly documented, not ignored. Since Mr. K’s death, this organization is creating a blueprint for what not to do to be a quality major league baseball organization.
I think making excuses and scapegoating have become the American way. Everything is always someone elses fault or a cruel twist of fate. I see it every day and it is sad.
This kind of attitude exacerbates your problems by denying any personal responsibility. You then have more problems because you don’t change. You just find something else to blame and keep on doing the same thing.
The Royals somehow believe they have built a championship organization, but have been beset by bad luck. Glass thinks this team can play itself back into the race. Dayton thinks that Trey is great, because if he was not, Dayton might be wrong. He also spends alot of time talking about bad luck, injuries etc. He defends moves that went wrong by talking about ifs, instead of seeing that it was often a likely (or at least very possible) outcome.
The result is that the Royals, like a person with this attitude, will not change. Which means that until SOMEONE looks in the mirror, we all are in for more suffering.
I have a lot of stuff to do today. This post just took 10 minutes I did not have… but your points were so good I had no choice but to read on.
Great writing, great points, terrible baseball team.
It is painfully obvious what the Royals have become.
They are the New York Knights. Unfortunately, even if Roy Hobbs showed up from Northwest Arkansas I’m certain it would end as it does in the novel and not the Redford/Levinson way.
Trey Hillman’s mother obviously told him to be a farmer. It ain’t too late, Trey. There’s nothing like a farm…
@Chris(#6) – The line begins with, “Losers always whine about doing their best…” Fits perfectly.
Cris E: It’s not always easy for me to defend the Pirates but lumping them in with the Royals of late isn’t quite accurate – in my opinion.
When I read Joe’s stuff about this year’s Royals club I realize how much worse things must be in KC than in Pitt. Agree or not about recent Pirate trades, but for the most part it’s somewhat helpful as a Pirate follower to see that they at least have had some talent of which other teams were interested. Also, the Bucs minor league system has done well in sending a couple very good young prospects up to fill some voids. KC’s Greinke is superb and I guess that Soria has shown signs of being an excellent closer but otherwise I get the feeling that the Royals roster is mostly garbage, some of their guys are highly overpaid garbage to boot.
Joe, not to defend Moore, because his moves this year have been indefensible, but I just can’t shake the feeling that something stupid is going on behind the scenes; i.e., invoving the idiot David Glass.
If you look at Moore’s comments, and his moves, which smack almost of desperation at times, wouldn’t a logical explanation be that Glass is “demanding” that the team try to win more games now, and to hell with rebuilding for the future, despite the apparent hopelessness of this season?
[...] Joe Posnanski » Blog Archive » Life's Not Fair (Royals Edition) By Joe Posnanski He was simply not a hot prospect when he came out of Maple Woods. What he made himself into is phenomenal, but no one could have predicted it in 1999!!! If you want other examples, the Cardinals passed up on Mark Buehrle, … Joe Posnanski – http://joeposnanski.com/JoeBlog/ Tags: all days, All Days Long, cell, cellphone, free ringtones, free tv, iphone, latest news, Mark Buehrle, News, ringtones, themes, tv [...]
I generally agree that whining is pointless whether in sports or in life. But, to be fair, there are times when teams or individuals are foiled by circumstances beyond their control. I’m certainly not a Mets fan, but when you lose your top 3 or 4 players, it’s simply unrealistic to expect the team to win. Of course, there’s a big difference between losing Jose Reyes, Carlos Beltran, etc. than losing guys the Royals have lost.
The point, I think, is not that you should not take circumstances into account, but not to whine about them. Some people are luckier than others, but you can’t let that dictate your approach to life. You don’t give up just because life has dealt you a bad hand.
But it’s unrealistic to simply say that losers try and winners *%!* the prom queen. To me, that’s sort of typical of the philosophy in our country today that, if you are on top, you deserve it and if you are struggling, screw you, you loser.
The question that the Royals have to deal with is how to literally build a franchise from scratch. This can take a lot of time (Look at Tampa Bay. How many years did it take them to contend?), but it’s what they’re faced with. I keep hearing about improved scouting, but as Joe says, they don’t even have replacement-level players in their organization. I can only imagine that it must be very difficult for the leaders of an organization with this much history to admit that they are basically back to square one, but until they do this, I don’t see how this team will be competitive. Ever.
I don’t think that injuries are a valid excuse for the Royals, but they certainly can be a valid excuse. If Albert Pujols breaks his leg tomorrow, and the Cardinals fall out of the race, would you say that the Cardinals weren’t “tough enough” to win the Central? Or would you say that they had no chance because Albert Pujols broke his leg?
Sometimes injuries really are just too much to overcome. Referees, too.
I’m with you Joe. This team/ownership/front office is an embarrassment and injuries have little-to-nothing to do with it. The Cubs have had injuries to “key”players all year and our 2 games out of first place in a much better division than the ALC. The Royals have done their annual “July pack-it-in” routine. How else can you explain this?
Maybe the fans should stop showing up until the ship is righted. Protest often works.
I agree to an extent. Complaining about the officials is not necessarily about making excuses, just a hope for better umpiring. The umpiring was so bad for the most recent Orioles-Red Sox series that fans of both teams were complaining. This especially irritates me, because it’s something that can be mostly fixed by replays on safe/not safe or fair/foul calls, but baseball won’t implement it.
And not all bad calls can be overcome; some have too big of an impacts.
Making excuses in life is never a good idea, but sometimes life gets so unfair that it truly does cause crap to happen. There are people with such serious illnesses that they aren’t really living at all. And if someone felt like their life was horrible because they were in a concentration camp, then they probably have a valid reason.
Hillman is driving me insain! Why in the world didn’t he bring in Soria in 8th either Saturday or Sunday? He doesn’t want to overextend Soria, but he let him pitch with a hurt arm earlier in the year? He makes no sense. He preaches fundamentals, but the team has none.
Replacing Hillman at this point does no good, but if he is allowed to come back next year, then maybe it’s time to have Moore’s head examined.
I’m sick of the excuses, all of them. The injuries, the small market, the bad breaks, and I defiantly don’t expect to hear them from a coach or GM.
at #40: lol? it took the rays 10 years from inception to world series victory in one of the toughest divisions in baseball. that’s not exactly a lot of time in baseball years.
What happened to “professionalism and accountability?”
The Royals would be a much bigger story about incompetence nationwide if the Nationals didn’t continue to upstage the Royals management and players everyday in how to lose a game (and slowly dwindle away your fanbase.) I live in DC now and watch the carnage everyday here and it reminds me of the 90’s Royals teams that invented new ways to lose.
Unfortunate that things haven’t seem to change. After being 18-11, I thought they had a chance…
Most major league umpires are just as incompetent as the Royals. Tons of missed calls, and every one of them has a different strike zone. Yet, you never hear of an ump getting fired or sent down. What’s up with that?
Dear Royals,
Well, that’s it for me. I’m officially done being a fan until a legit administration takes over. It was a fun ride I guess. We’ll always have 2003, won’t we?
I’d argue that injuries CAN be an excuse, but only to a certain point. I mean, the Mets can lament the losses of Beltran, Delgado, Reyes, Putz and Wagner, but even with that, how can a team with a $150 million payroll have so little depth? That team is incredibly top-heavy. I was shocked when I looked at their lineup and saw half the names they’re running out there. What a bunch of scrubs.
My Blue Jays have also been hit pretty hard pitching-wise, and it makes me wonder if someone needs to rant Rany-style about their training/conditioning.
This would have been their ideal starting rotation depth chart at the start of this year, with the status of starters in parentheses:
1. Roy Halladay (may be traded)
2. Shaun Marcum (injured – hasn’t pitched in ‘09)
3. Dustin McGowan (injured – hasn’t pitched in ‘09)
4. Jesse Litsch (injured – won’t pitch again in ‘09)
5. Casey Janssen (on DL for second time in ‘09)
6. David Purcey (demoted due to ineffectiveness)
7. Ricky Romero (surprisingly good)
8. Scott Richmond (injured)
9. Brett Cecil (inconsistent so far)
10. Brian Tallet (lefty long reliever who is now second on the team in starts by default)
11. Brian Burres (in case of emergency, break glass guy who bombed in two starts)
12. Robert/Bobby Ray (injured/not ready for prime time/short on stuff)
13. Brad Mills (not ready for prime time/short on stuff)
14. Mark Rzepcynski (very unseasoned rookie)
None of those guys – not one – has been in he big-league rotation all year. Halladay and Romero have been injured, Tallet started in the bullpen and is now headed back there and Cecil and Rzepcynski were in-season call-ups.
Now I’m not saying the Jays would be competing with the big boys in the AL East if all (or most, or any) of their top starters had been able to stay healthy, but they’re doing a hell of a lot better than one would expect for a team that’s currently trotting out a four-man rotation (which they can do since they have a ton of upcoming off days) consisting of what should be their #1, 7, 9 and 14 starters.
The local media needs to stand tall and call a spade a spade. Too often we listen to absurd comments by Moore and/or Hillman and no one calls them on it. This foolishness they spew about “when you watch all the games” you can ignore the statistical evidence is simply inane.
Moore had the worst off-season for a GM since since gosh-knows-when and everybody just sat on their hands.
We have to face it Moore is Less and Hillman is simply befuddled by what is going on. Both need to go. Preferably by sundown.
I go back to Day One with the Royals but this administration and their ridiculous collection of players has just about seen the last of me.
Adding on to what Justin (@51) said:
- Halladay has also been injured, and was basically either on the DL or ineffective for a month (in which the Jays were really bad, if mostly because they couldn’t hit).
- McGowan’s career is possibly/likely over due to his recurring injuries
- Litsch’s career is also potentially in jeopardy
Adding to the list (to include the bullpen):
- BJ Ryan was consistently hurt over the past couple of seasons, to the point that he was released
- Scott Downs got hurt (breaking his toe while stepping out of the batter’s box)
It is interesting that for all the credit that Brad Arnsberg is (justifiably) given for developing pitchers, not that much is said about the fact that so many of the pitchers he nurtures end up on the DL.
Love this one Joe. Love it, love it, love it.
But one thought: If “you have to work through a DiMaggio streak of bad days because it’s your life and people don’t want to hear your problems” then what the hell is the point of Facebook?
Hillman, Bell, Pena, Muser, etc. Has any team ever had such a pathetic string of managers? I think Slugggerr could do a better job.
Schadenfreud
I think you’re right about the human reaction. I’ve even been fooling myself into believing that this team is not terrible. Thanks for pointing out what I already knew but didn’t want to admit.
I think Jose Guillen read this post and took it to heart:
http://www.kansascity.com/385/story/1336679.html
“I suck” and am “embarrassed by the money I’m making”
…
Guillen admits the injuries, particularly the groin, are affecting him but pointedly rejects using them as an excuse.
“I know I’m not 100 percent,” he said. “I know the type of hitter I am. People know when I’m right, they know the type of hitter I am. Some of this stuff is fixable. So I’ll keep trying to get better.
“Some days, I feel it’s getting better, but some days, I feel I’m going backward. What can you do? You keep fighting. You’re a warrior. So keep trying. Hopefully, it gets better. I’m not going to make excuses.”
…
“It’s just not working. We all suck as a team. That’s the way it is. It’s not a problem with one individual. It’s about 25 guys. Right now, we suck.”
I hear you on the frustrating excuses, Joe, but I have to agree with Marc in comment number 39:
“But it’s unrealistic to simply say that losers try and winners *%!* the prom queen. To me, that’s sort of typical of the philosophy in our country today that, if you are on top, you deserve it and if you are struggling, screw you, you loser.”
That is pretty much the philosophy in this country, and I vehemently disagree with it. Having worked as a social services counselor in New York City for three years, I believe it’s insulting to suggest that obstacles don’t matter, or that people should simply be expected to succeed and blamed if they fail to do so. Sports is one thing, and I know we all value that attitude in an athlete or coach. We don’t want to see them “whining,” when we’d give anything to be in their position and we’re sure we’d do a far better job.
One of the things I always liked about you, Joe, is the compassion you show for all the subjects of your writing (okay, except maybe the inventors of the Snuggie). It humanizes them, and helps remind us all what’s behind the cover stories and TV specials that mediate our contact with famous people. Guess the Royals really push your buttons, huh?
And now for something else you hate to read about… intentional walks. Yesterday the Astros and Cecil Cooper chose to issue an intentional walk I’ve not seen the likes of since Barry Bonds retired. In a 3-3 tie in the bottom of the seventh, two out, men on first and second, the Astros walked Manny Ramirez to load the bases. Now Casey Blake (OBP .362) seems much more likely to drive in the winning run from third than Manny Ramirez (BA .336 at the time, and not all the hits would drive in a runner from second). Cooper got away with it (Blake made the third out) but the Dodgers won the next inning on Kemp’s homer. Hopefully this will distract you from Hillman’s woes.
Joe, I usually love your writing, but I can’t believe you actually wrote a piece as weird and bitter as this.
When important players get injured and have to be replaced by inferior talents, you’re going to win less games, period. When you ‘re trotting out Alex Cora and Angel Pagan instead of Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran you’re fielding an inferior team. There’s no magical “winner” quality that can compensate for injuries and bad officiating. If an umpire or referee makes an egregious call that decides a game, how can you possibly blame the team and not the official? That doesn’t make any sense unless you subscribe to some sort of bizarre magical thinking.
Luck is a huge part of sports, and ignoring it in favor of some half-baked idea that teams that lose because of occurrences outside of their control “are simply not tough enough to win” is completely preposterous. That’s the sort of dopey comment I would expect from an ESPN talking head who thinks that there are players that “just know how to win.”
I actually feel slightly dirty hearing that kind of drivel come from your direction.
@61, Nick:
I believe the point that Joe is trying to make is that injuries are a given. That is, you know going into a 162 game season that folks are going to get hurt. Its absolutely silly to build a team without depth because you know, without a doubt, that some of your folks are going to be on the DL.
Its also silly to build a team that doesn’t get on base, doesn’t run, doesn’t play defense, doesn’t hit for power and can’t get through the 7th and 8th innings.
What I believe Joe is trying to say is that it would comical to say, “Well, we haven’t been getting on base this year, so that’s just bad luck.” Likewise, its downright silly to say, “Well, we had some injuries, so that’s just bad luck.” Well, duh, you were bound to have some injuries. You should have more depth than what the Royals have right now, because you know for a fact that folks are going to get injured.
@62
I agree with what you’re saying, but I think the piece is saying a lot more than that.
“Young Jedi Sam wrote a blog post trying to figure out how many more wins the Royals would have had they not had injuries. I despise the whole topic — as you will see, I think there is absolutely NOTHING to it…”
“… anytime you start trying to add a couple of wins here or there … well, that’s another loser’s lament.”
Bottom line: Don’t even attempt to quantify how much an injury has cost a team. If that team was a winning team full of winners they would keep winning regardless. Only wimpy losers let a silly thing like the loss of a key player affect their record.
“I think any public complaint about injuries is an admission that you are simply not tough enough to handle the grind.”
All professional sports franchises have to pretend that everything is fine even when they have lost multiple key players. Being realistic and admitting that injuries can ruin a season is for those whining losers that just like to lose all the time.
Seriously, the demeanor of this entire piece is completely nuts. I think Mark Schlereth held a gun to Joe’s head and made him write this. It has that “That’s how you win games in THE NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE” flavor, a mix of irrationality, macho idiocy and fervor. I can see Mark yelling at Joe and waving a handgun: “Toughness! Toughness! They just know how to win! THEY JUST KNOW HOW TO WIN!!!”
Sorry Joe, I could not disagree more with this article. Nick’s already made some good points, but I would like to add some random thoughts of my own:
-Your article is the epitome of garbage results-based analysis (“They won so they’re good! They lost so they’re bad!”).
-Taken to an extreme, it almost sounds like you’re advocating cheating; after all, if my team loses because the other guys cheated, I guess they weren’t resilient enough, right?
-You’re also implying that we should accept shoddy officiating even though we have the means to improve it. Pitch f/x could call balls and strikes, for example.
While your saying of “life’s not fair” is applicable to the Royals this year, and every other for that matter, I find that this is more appropriate to explain both the Royals and their fans.
God, grant me the serenity
To accept the things I cannot change (fans)
Courage to change the things I can (Royals)
And wisdom to know the difference (both)
Joe, I’m a little bit confused as to how you write this article (which I 100% agree with), yet still have your huge man crush on Banny. I’ve never heard someone come up with so many excuses after giving up 8 runs in 3 innings.
Pitching on the moon? Really? No, Banny, you got rocked.
[...] "Life’s not fair — Royals Edition" [Joe Blog] Share and [...]
Gil Meche as the Black Knight from Monty Python and the Holy Grail gave me a big laugh. And, after watching the Twins piddle a 10-run lead down their legs tonight, with JoePos’ fave manager pinch-hitting Joe Mauer with two out and none on in the eighth instead of saving him for the ninth (when Nicky Punto led off), I needed it.
As a Twins fan, I’ve always had a soft spot for the Royals, because when I became a baseball fan in the 70s they were a model organization. Of course, then they had a great owner. Kaufman died and for 20-plus years the team has rotted away.
I know the Arizona Cardinals played in the Super Bowl last year, but one thing about pro team sports — success starts at the top. Strong franchises have strong ownership…
We are a nation of whiners and excuse makers. Furthermore, we are raising children to be narcissistic-me, me, me. Not only does this happen in sports, but nearly every phase of life we hear excuses or explanations provided for anything. Tony Dungy states in his first book a wonderful philosophy of,”No excuses, no explanations.” All of us need to practice those principles each and every day.
The Royals have not had a foundation to winning baseball for over a decade, because of the poor work done by the Allard Baird administration. Take a look at the first year player drafts from the early 2000’s, and one can see very few players of significance was brought into the organization for development. Do we remember the Colt Griffin draft? If not done, all scouts and player personnel people from the Baird administration should have been fired a long time ago. We are now repeating the defects of a poorly run organization. It does take time to rebuild. But, it can be done! Take a look at the numerous rebuilt teams of the Florida Marlins and Minnesota Twins! We need people who can do the job correctly, efficiently, and done right! Everyone of the employees of the Royals organization are accountable and responsible for the mistakes, errors, poor judgment done each year. This rebuilding is going to take a long time. Be patient!
When do the Chiefs start playing? This has been the KC Royals/Chief”s fans question for the past 15 years and more. Well the 2009 Royals have been consistent-the baseball seasons starts with hope (as they all do) and after a month we are looking forward to September (and not for a playoff run). Someone mentioned in this blog ultimate responsibility should rest on the Glass family. I couldn’t agree more-DM states in a 810 Sports interview “I have to work within the confines of a certain payroll”. I am not saying you can’t put a contender on the field for $70M+ but the best we can get is Freel and Betancourt? The Glass’ should cut their losses and move on, what is their motivation for investing in a non-profitable, consistently bad franchise? Of course this opens up the question if not the Glass family-then who? Anybody in the their right mind take on the Royals? Someone with too much money?
So the Glass family remains, they probably start with terminating TH-that won’t work. Then maybe DM-that won’t work. Vicious cycle! Along the way we shake up the roster, release X, trade for Y and acquire Z. The fans mill around a $250M ballpark and the summers go on-waiting for the Chief’s.
My childhood memories are of the Royals in the 70’s and 80’s and winning baseball in KC. However, as an adult I am only a casual Royals fan. My kids are not even that… Guess that is what 2 decades of losing baseball will do-erode a generation of baseball fans.
So dear Mr. Glass-good luck with your perpetual rebuilding or whatever you call it. I will probably remain a casual fan, you will occasionally get my $9 for parking, my $20 for a ticket and my $7 for a beer but I doubt you will see much of my kids as they grow into adults-they are too busy wondering when the Chief’s start…
Joe, I have to say that what you are saying sounds exactly like what the Twins manager says constantly. He has been whining and complaining about his bullpen (honestly, for good measure – they are BRUTAL) and whenever the Twins get jobbed by a bad call he a) get’s thrown out and b) complains about the bad call as the reason they lost, when in reality it was probably releif and 2 out hitting. I love the Twins, and I respect Gardenhire, but I think that is just who and what some people are. Some people complain and some people find solutions…. The Royals complain, the Yankees, Red Sox, and Dodgers all find solutions, or at least try….
I liked the piece because it was well reasoned and amusing. i wish i could say the same about people whining about whiners.
But, they sure do battle.
I think I can explain Moore’s statements about Trey Hillman and complaints about injuries. See he’s watching Omar Minaya, who somehow encased himself in Teflon a couple years ago. Of course part of that Teflon was keeping around a lousy manager (Randolph, Hillman) in order to be his fall guy in the event of disappointment. And now him and Omar can simultaneously use injuries to cover their ineptitude. Of course, the Mets’ injuries have been far more damaging than the Royals’, but like you say, buck up and overcome it.
http://www.kansascity.com/sports/royals/story/1336679.html
go Jose Guillen…….this sounds like he’s lighting a fire under himself first, setting an example for the team.
[...] pretty sure this is made funnier by the fact that Posnanski just wrote yesterday about how much he hates it when teams, managers, players, etc complain about bad breaks. About [...]
@philevans66 #8 –
Well, then, how about bunting in the first inning after a leadoff TRIPLE?!
Yes, I actually saw Jerry “Clueless” Manuel order this at a Mets game this season (5/13 vs. the Braves, to be exact).
I have to second what dtro #74 said: Minanya, who is the real incompetent, keeps him around so that the media will blame someone not named Omar Minaya.
In happier Royals news… Joe, I think we’ve found the 2009 version of Banny – Disco Hayes! Very entertaining guy (currently in Triple-A Omaha).
http://discohayes.mlblogs.com/
…and they’re still two games up on the Indians.
Joe,
We can complain about specifics like moves for Guillen & Betancourt or using Soria in the 8th or injuries. But until this ORGANIZATION realizes that the way they are operating on a yearly basis is not working, then nothing will EVER change. And this starts and ends with David Glass. Last week Glass gave his annual ‘State of the Royals’ address to the media (while he was attending a game in another city because he never attends the K). In summation, he stated that injuries were not an excuse and then immediately made them an excuse by saying that they weren’t deep enough to withstand the injuries. Hypocritical to use injuries weakening your lineup as an excuse for 2 reasons. First because injuries just aren’t excuses (EVERY TEAM has them). Second because the reason the team depth is such that the injuries affect it is because Glass doesn’t give Moore the money to get anything other than c-level players.
HALF MEASURES DON’T WORK when you’re dealing with millions of dollars & little room for error. You have to spend smartly but Moore can’t because he will have to overspend (enough money to convince players that they are serious) in order to get the kind of players that are needed & this goes beyond the budget Moore was given (or most likely one that Moore thought would be necessary to contend in year 3). Either way, $70M just isn’t going to get it done in 2009. Perhaps in 2006 but not now. Then Glass follows with his patented “I’m as frustrated as everyone else” and says they have to improve. The Star reporter then comes to the conclusion “the Royals, as currently constituted, are the Royals of the foreseeable future.” How’s that for commitment? EVERY YEAR we hear the same thing at the All-Star Break. EVERY YEAR for the last 9 seasons, since Glass took over.
As a business person, every company takes their corporate approach from the top. The President or the Owner establishes the MISSION STATEMENT. The Royals mission statement is as simple as this quote from Glass when he purchased the team: “I will operate this club to break even, but I WILL NOT (risk)lose(ing) money on this team.” When the owner CONSISTENTLY makes the same statements year-in, year-out, how long must we continue to be surprised that this organization is in a death spiral from which there is no escape. He’s saved millions over the past 9 years putting minor league talent on the field. He get’s tens of millions EACH YEAR from MLB revenue sharing. Reports indicate that gross revenues will exceed $100M this year while the Major League payroll is capped at $70M.
Too many things stack up against a franchise like the Royals. But all of those can be overcome if the Royals have just ONE thing. Committed Ownership. Commitment to not just spend money on the broken minor league system (which appears to be happening) but also a commitment to (over)spend (not give up prospects) on ML talent for a 3 year period to put a decent product on the field AND allow the minors time to produce. Glass won’t do this and therefore, Moore is just doing the same things Allard did (at the ML level) which is he’s reaching for marginal talent & hoping that they can find a .500 season to placate the fans until the minors produce. Won’t work. They have to be BOLD. GLASS IS NOT BOLD. Numbers don’t lie. 9 of the top 10 spenders have .500 or better records (the Mets being the exception). Money directly correlates to success. Period.
When will the Star go after the real culprit of this mess? Having been a fan for over 30 years I’m not sure how many more years I can take, KNOWING that Glass will not change & therefore, this team is doomed. Only 2 things can save us. Glass sells the majority or all of his shares to another group committed to keep the team in KC & spend properly. Or KC buys the ‘Royals’ name, history, etc. (like Cleveland did with the Browns) and work a deal with MLB to allow Glass to move the franchise somewhere else while KC gets a new franchise that will carry the Royals’ name & history. This is the ONLY way I see this organization getting back to something close to competitive.
Just as the Star orchestrated change in the Chief’s leadership (removal of Peterson) so too can be done with the Royals. Mark my words, no matter how successful Moore is at rebuilding the minors, the team will fail because the most important component is missing. And when Moore is fired 2-5 years from now, we’ll all be talking about the next GM (sacrificial lamb) that will take us to the promised land. Why wait any longer? The problem is right in front of us and needs a concerted effort by the Star Staff to put it front & center. Force the issue!
Saying ‘tough it out, no excuses’ is as wrong as always having excuses. The truth, as usual, is somewhere in between.
“I have grown utterly intolerant of organizations who complain about officiating. I have become deaf to complaints teams have about injuries. I have no use — none — for anyone who whines about the cards they were dealt. And this is why: Life isn’t fair. If the umpire calls it a strike then it’s a strike. If the replay is inconclusive, then the replay is inconclusive. If a player gets injured, it’s your job to replace him. If Don Denkinger calls him safe, then he’s safe and it’s your job to win the game anyway. And if you don’t … it’s your fault.”
And if your owner only wants to spend $70 million a year on payroll while other teams spend two or three times that, don’t complain about it, just tough it out, it’s your job to win anyway. Right?
Actually, I disagree. There are real factors beyond the team’s control that come into play and have a real impact on a team’s success. Stating reality isn’t making excuses. The problem with the Royals management is that they aren’t stating reality.
Joe’s right that injuries aren’t the reason they are a bad team. Umpiring isn’t the reason they are a bad team. Payroll’s got a bit to do with it, but it can be overcome with smart management. The Royals don’t have that, and that’s their main problem.
But this tough talk about how injuries are never a reason for losing, and bad calls are never a reason for losing, etc. is pure exaggeration. There are teams out there this year who have been decimated by injuries, like the Mets, as many have pointed out. The Royals aren’t one of them, and when their management claims they are, THAT is making an excuse.
The Royals have no excuse for not having more useful talent at AAA, it should have been management’s mission this past offseason to collect potentially useful players for AAA, looking under whatever rocks it took and throwing a couple of million dollars into it. That would be a much smarter investment for a team like the Royals than wasting money on veterans like Farnsworth or Betancourt or Bloomquist.
It doesn’t even really matter if guys like Farnsworth play well or not, because the team isn’t contending even if they do, and they still cost millions. A middle reliever is not going to make the difference between contending and not contending. Save the millions for picking up a key player who might make a difference in the long run, and use minimum salary guys for middle relief and the bench.
Giving up young pitchers and taking on Betancourt’s contract is a joke. If the Royals needed a “name” to occupy the position for the rest of the season, they could’ve waited a week and picked up Lugo and paid him the minimum salary, while keeping the minor league pitchers. They would’ve saved money and prospects (while still having a well-known scrub as a placeholder for the job, because apparently that’s something that they feel is important.) At least Lugo is getting on base decently, which is more than Betancourt has ever done or will do.
And then there’s the pitching. There’s is no reason in the world for a rebuilding team out of the race to have both Bruce Chen and Sidney Ponson starting games for them. (Both starting on the same day, is that some kind of a joke??) That’s inexcusable. If you’re collecting old useless pitchers and giving them starts in the majors, why not sign Pedro Astacio or bring back Jose Lima while you’re at it?
These guys are 30-somethings who will never be any good again (and Chen never was any good at any point.) At least have some guys in their 20s in AAA who you can throw out there, maybe one of them will turn into a decent pitcher. Chen and Ponson will be out of baseball well before the Royals are contenders, these starts should’ve gone to players who will still be with the team in a few years who might learn and profit from the experience, win or lose.
Not having some possibly useful pitchers in their mid-20s in AAA is something that should never happen to a team like KC.
If you’re a 27-year-old guy who’s got some ability but never really got a shot in the majors and now you’re a minor league free agent scrambling for a job in the offseason, would you sign with Boston or KC? Which team would you have a better shot at making? Players looking for jobs in the offseason want to go to teams who might have openings for them, and KC is a team that looks like it might have openings. It shouldn’t be hard to find a few younger guys for those roles.
Mike Tomlin: “We aren’t going to talk about injuries. We are going to play with the guys who are wearing the uniform on Sunday. And I am confident we will be able to go out and get the job done. No excuses.” That isn’t exactly how the quote went, but it’s pretty damn close. Super Bowl title his second year as head coach.
Good points brought up by the readers with regard that some injuries are more relevant than others, but I think that was Joe’s point as well. If you lose Aviles, Gordon, and Coco Crisp, and this in turn wrecks your season – then you weren’t really going to have much of a season anyway. That is not the equivalent of losing Beltran, Delgado, and Reyes. It’s not even in the same universe. Finding a replacement that would give you anything close to the production of Aviles, Gordon, or Coco shouldn’t be a Herculean task. However, for the Royals, it evidently is. That says as much about the organization as anything…
A quick thought on the subject of “luck” and “bad calls”, which may or may not reflect what Joe was saying.
Bad luck and bad calls certainly play a part in the result of a single game, perhaps even a series (small sample size). But over the course of a season, it is reasonable to expect that luck and bad calls will even out, or come very close. Of course, a fan’s perception comes into play – we (almost) never remember the bad calls that went our way for more than a day or two, and the same goes for good luck. The result is that at the end of the season, we remember all these bad calls and bad bounces, and have forgotten about most of the bounces that went our way.
A final thought: my opinion is that if a team is, year-in-and-year-out, victim to bad luck and bad calls, the team is probably not very good.
This piece is right on the money. For anyone in the organization to blame this free-fall on injuries is absurd and a total copout. Absolute lack of fundamentals and situational hitting have been apparent all season long…no matter who is in the lineup.
[...] about how the Royals injuries have effected their play and overall record this year. I think Poz said it best (like that's a surprise): It's not as though the players the Royals are losing to injury [...]
F*#@… Yuniesky Berroa. Mark QuinJacobs. Neifi Guillen. Utility players at every position. Dave “send ‘em” Owen. F*#@. And i’ll still be watching tomorrow night… girlfriend left, Royals reverted to their 100 loss magic. 2009 sucks. I miss you Bo Jackson! If only the holes in Jacob’s swing were smaller than the chew in his cheek…
ENOUGH! Royals fans need to stop placing the blame for losing on the PAYROLL. Sure we can’t always compete financially with the red sox’s and angels and yankees but we spend more money than texas, 51-41, more than the twins, 48-46, and tampa 52-42. So it really isn’t about how much we spend its about how prudently we spend it, and cultivate players to replace our stars once they are bought by the big 3 named above.
Jason
[...] A good place to start would be this post he wrote the other day: Life’s Not Fair (Royals Edition) [...]
[...] the context of sports, Joe Posnanski recently wrote two blog posts about the best way to cope when life is not fair, the second post being a clarification [...]