Thanksgiving in June (sans turkey)

This is a good year to be a Royals fan. Sure, we’re 28-36 as I write this post on a Saturday evening, but we have a couple of things to be thankful for this season and by golly, I’m going to write about ’em. I do this because, let’s be honest, in seasons past the Royals year has typically been decided by the time June rolls around. Sadly enough, we haven’t had a lot to feel good about in previous June months.

1. Exciting Rookies –  Mike Moustakas is just another young player on a long list of guys who have made their way to the big league club this season. I realize that for the most part these guys haven’t had enough major league experience for us to officially say they’re gonna be great, but they’ve been pretty successful so far and man, they’re fun to watch. We have a multitude of guys who are showing early signs of a foundation that looks pretty promising to me. Call me a dreamer.*

*I refuse to be a downer until I have to be.

2. Players who want to win in Kansas City – Basically in every interview I’ve read concerning Moose since his call-up, he’s continually talked about how he and Eric Hosmer are always discussing bringing championships to Kansas City. Sure it’s a typical thing for first year players to say, but I’ve got stars in my eyes and I believe them. I think it’s a mentality that a lot of these players have. No longer will Kansas City be a place for players to groom their talents before asking for a trade or utilizing free angency to head to a team with a chance to win. These guys want to bring the Royals back to glory and I believe that before too long, they’re going to do just that.

3. I can use the word “bullpen” and “trust” in the same sentence – I’ve harped on this before, but I love the young arms we have in our pen. Holland, Collins, and Teaford….even Blake Wood. They’re all pitching well. And Crow. Oh, Aaron Crow. He has surpassed all of my expectations in his appearances this season.

30.2 IP/1.08 WHIP/1.47 ERA

These guys have been pretty steady so far. It’s fun and exciting and odd to have faith in the guys coming in to pitch in the 6th, 7th, 8th, and (sometimes) 9th innings.

Life is good. It could be better….it could always be better, but I think we can all agree that this season has been a pretty pleasant surprise thus far.

In Conclusion

Ryan mentioned Jeff Franceour’s all-star standing recently and it’s something I’ve been thinking about a little bit as well. It’s nice that the Royals actually have options getting legitimate All-Star consideration. Remember the year of Ken Harvey? How about Mark Redman?

We’ve got things to be excited about people. It may not happen this year, but on the other hand, we’re (as of my writing) only 7 games back. I’m feeling good tonight. Paulino’s rocking the high socks, Moustakas hit his first big league homer. We’re lucky to be Royals fans.

Mike Sweeney visited the booth tonight. I always enjoy hearing his perspective on the current Royals and he said something that people have been saying all season, but it seems to sound even better with some Sweeney authority behind it.

“There’s such a great future ahead for Royals fans.”

Excerpt: The future still seems bright even after the loss tonight. I won’t be brought down.

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