Blogging Baseball

I guess it has been a while since I blogged about anything of value, so let me lay down some baseball for you all.....

The Royals snap their losing streak, finally, last night. Good to see the boys in blue remember what it is like to win.

I went to the Royals games on the 5th and the 7th. I have to admit, that is a ballpark that is absolutely one of the best places to watch baseball I’ve ever been in, and I have seen my share. “The K” is a classy ballpark with a ton of fan interaction and some very spirited fans. I was worried when moving to the KC area that I would go to games with apathetic fans that sat on their hands and barely came to the game. While the games that I have attended have not been sellouts, they have had a considerable amount of fans there. And the fans really get behind the team.

I see some life in this team, by the way. Sure, they have a poor record, but I don’t think this is one of those teams that needs to be “blown up” in order to save them. I must admit my disappointment, as I become a Royals fan, in not being able to find a Mike Aviles jersey anywhere. This kid can flat out rake the ball. With guys like Aviles, DeJesus, Teahen, Meche, and Grienke on this team, there is a good, young core to build around. I think one of the hardest things to see right now is the group of young players that are learning the game at the major league level. When you don’t have the roster to compete, you end up with a few guys that should be playing AA or AAA ball trying to figure it out up here against some of the best in the world (see: Billy Butler).

I think with a good general manager, and I admittedly know very little about the Royals GM, this team could turn around in a year or two. They have the youth necessary to make some moves, the payroll flexibility is there (especially with a renovated stadium) and the core pieces are in place. I’ll be interested to see if the team can develop or if it is like everyone tells me, “They grow them, then ship them off for little to nothing”.

There is hope on the horizon, Royals fans. I posted a while back about a no hitter being thrown in the Royals minor leagues. It looks like the no hitter was just the beginning of great things for the Burlington Bees. Tonight, at 5:30 p.m., the Bees will take the field attempting to close out a victory in the Midwest League Championship Series. The young club has gone undefeated through the playoffs and shut out their South Bend opponents through the first two games of this final round. With 6-0 and 12-0 victories under their belts, they hand the ball tonight to 18 year old Kelvin Herrera to finish it up. Herrera has only thrown in three games prior to tonight and only started one, but boasts a 2.13 ERA, 7 strike outs in 12 and 2/3 innings pitched, and is holding opposing hitters to a .265 batting average. Brian Rupp, the Bees manager, is optomistic of Herrera’s abilities and was quoted by MiLB.com as saying “if we get 5 innings, that will be a good outing.”