Archive for May, 2010

Don’t look now Royals fans, but the Boys in Blue could have their longest winning streak this year if they are somehow able to muster a victory tonight against the Chicago White Sox. And how many games would this winning streak be composed of, you ask? A breath-taking three. That’s right, three. Tres. Tre. Drei. Pardon the sarcasm, it is a coping mechanism I’ve developed after watching the Royals for so many years now. But, hey, at least we are talking about a potential winning streak! (Two in a row doesn’t count in my book, by the way) [...]

On this day in 1953, George Howard Brett was born in Glen Dale, West Virginia.

There are lots of different ways to deal with the ups and downs of baseball. Part-time DH Ken Griffey Jr reportedly took a little siesta recently in the clubhouse. Keith Hernandez, former first baseman and current TV announcer for the Mets, also indulged in a brief snooze during a recent extra-inning game, his head down on the desk, sort of like I used to do in first hour English during my brief, awkward foray into the magical world of high school academia. Trey Hillman reportedly did a lot of praying, and reading from the good book. But by far my [...]

With the firing of Trey Hillman, the Royals continued with changes to the coaching staff, reassigning now-former third base coach Dave Owen within the organization. Eddie Rodriguez shifts across the diamond to take Owen’s place and Rusty Kuntz returns to his familiar spot in the first base coaching box. None of this is surprising. Additionally, Ned Yost‘s first lineup makes a lot more sense (the Royals face LHP Mark Buehrle tonight, still no Kila): LF – Scott Podsednik 2B – Mike Aviles RF – David DeJesus 1B – Billy Butler DH – Jose Guillen 3B – Alberto Callaspo CF – [...]

We’re mere weeks away from the 2010 MLB Draft, and, like in recent years, Kansas City is at the front of the line. If done right, Carl Crawford, B.J. Upton, Delmon Young (who turned into Matt Garza and Jason Bartlett), David Price join your ranks and you go to the World Series. If done wrong, you’re the Royals of the 1990s. Thankfully, this year there’s a good amount of talent loaded in the first round, so no matter who Kansas City selects, they should get a good prospect. But which direction should they go?

It’s Thursday and the Trey Hillman era has finally come to a close.  To celebrate I offer up seven celebratory links for your enjoyment after the jump.

As Jon passed along earlier, Trey Hillman was fired as manager of the Royals and replaced by former Brewers manager Ned Yost. Fans and media have called for the move for a while now, and the Royals 11-23 start certainly warranted the move, especially after a dismal first two years under Hillman. The timing – announcing the change after the Royals win this afternoon – was odd, but I suppose there’s no right time to announce such a thing. I’m not going to get too deep into analysis, but I agree that Hillman needed to go.

Well, this seemed inevitable but I was always wondering when it was going to happen. I guess today was the day. Trey Hillman has just been fired as the Royals manager and been replaced by interim manager Ned Yost, formerly of the Milwaukee Brewers. Hillman finished with a 157-207 record and was in the last year of a three-year contract. Stay tuned as there will be opinion and commentary to follow here on KoK.

Bob Dutton tweeted this afternoon that Blake Wood has been called up from Omaha replacing Josh Rupe who wil be designated for assignment. Wood gets an opportunity to make his major league debut tonight vs. Cleveland. He owns a 2.16 ERA in 16.2 IP in Omaha in 2010. In his minor league career, he’s produced a 7.8 K/9 strikeout rate and a 3.0 BB/9 walk rate. Baseball America ranked Wood as the 24th best prospect before the year started based on a 93-94 mph fastball that can touch 97 at times and a powerful curveball. Wood was a 3rd round [...]

Buster Olney of ESPN reported today that former Royal Juan Cruz will undergo shoulder surgery to remove a cyst and miss the rest of the season. Cruz was released by the Royals last month after only 5.1 innings in his second year with Kansas City. At the time, there was confusion about his release as he’d produced a 3.38 ERA and his WHIP of 2.438 seemed high due to a higher than average percentage of balls in play dropping for hits. This at least provides insight to the release as not being entirely performance-based and what looked like a reactionary [...]

Horrific. Nauseating. Repulsive. These are the words once used to describe audience reaction to my performance as the leading man (thanks a lot Mom – it still hurts) in a Norman Elementary School second grade production of “Come Back Little Sheba.” Hey, I’ll admit my interpretation of recovering alcoholic Doc Delaney may not have been as rich and nuanced as Bert Lancaster’s in the 1952 screen version. But I was only seven years old. And in my defense, I’d never actually seen any alcoholic “recover” before (no Mom, I won’t forget the case of Beefeaters next week when I visit [...]

By now, you may have heard the slight controversy involving Ken Griffey Jr. and the Seattle Mariners. Here’s the brief recap if you hadn’t: Griffey, 40, was unavailable to pinch hit recently because when manager Don Wakamatsu went to find him, Griffey was allegedly asleep in the clubhouse (this isn’t verified and new statements indicate the allegation may be half-true at best). At any rate, with an average hovering around the Mendoza line, Griffey – a future Hall of Famer – is well past his prime and may be released, or may be persuaded to retire. The Mariners are last [...]