What’s Left?

Well, it’s that time.  The last week of the baseball season for the Royals.  It’s been a hectic year, to say the least.  We saw the firing of Trey Hillman, the demotion of Alex Gordon and the first steps towards the realization of the Process in action.

There’s still a week to go, so we’re not at the end of the road yet.

Though it may not be pretty.

The Royals lost three of four to the Cleveland Indians over the weekend, burying them in last place in the AL Central by a game and a half. There’s still time to get some wins to spare themselves the indignity, though with a three game series against AL Central division champions the Minnesota Twins and a four game series against AL East leader Tampa Bay to finish the year, they might find wins hard to come by.

One positive though (at least by the standards of Royals fans at this time of the season) is that with their win on Thursday over the Indians, the Royals ensured that they would finish the year with less than 100 losses. If you count moral victories, there’s a nice one to have. I guess.

Still, there’s a part of me that dreads this time of year. Following a team for six months of the year and all of their ups and downs is difficult, but when it’s your team, you do it anyway. Once the season’s over, it’s still the Royals, but not the same team. Some players show signs of developing, some pop up out of nowhere, and some return to form. That’s the fun part for a franchise like the Royals, the perennial loser with money troubles.

But there’s still a week to go. Seven more games. A handful of more at-bats for Billy Butler, Kila Ka’aihue and Alex Gordon. A last batch of chances to see Jarrod Dyson on the basepaths and to predict a popup by Yuniesky Betancourt.

It’s still baseball and still our Royals, so let’s close this sucker out.

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