Unwanted Fame

There are lots of different ways that people can frustrate you when they’re talking about baseball. Whether it be an analyst on T.V., a peer in a class you’re taking, or a co-worker in the cubicle next to you, people say some cringe-worthy things.

I could list hundreds of instances as a Royals’ fan where I want to roll my eyes when someone is explaining something to me about our franchise.

An example of this always comes up when the Royals are involved with some type of MLB record being broken. In case you didn’t know, Doug Fister set an American League on Thursday by striking out nine straight Royals.

Sweet, nothing I like to see more than nine straight K’s by my team.

Generally an occasion like this means I get to be sarcastic and joke about how we stink. What never fails, however, is that one person piping up with something along the lines of “You should be happy that your team got to be a part of a major league record!”

I look at them to make sure that they’re being serious and when I’m assured that they are, I laugh, roll my eyes and generally change the subject.

Has anyone ever asked you that question? How are you supposed to respond to that? “Yeah, I’m really proud. At least we get to be a part of history.” It’s a stupid thing to say. I dealt with the same type of response four years ago when the Royals got no-hit by Jon Lester. “Aren’t you proud to be a part of history?”

Maybe you guys hang out with people who are knowledgeable enough not to say ridiculous things like that. I just don’t get it. Why should I be proud that my team got no-hit? Why should I be proud that someone hit for the cycle against my team? I think that at some point, people expect you to just be a “fan” of baseball, but I don’t really want those things happening to the Royals. Let them happen to another team.

You know what records I do want to talk about? Sal Perez breaking the Royals record for pickoffs in a season. Or the fact that Billy Butler could be the first Royal to hit 30 or more home runs since Jermaine Dye hit 33 in 2000.

Heck, if Billy can come up with 8 home runs in the next 4 games, we can finally be rid of the Balboni Curse. Now that’s something to be excited about.

In fact, I want to close with that. Remember all the talk of the last few years of how Billy Butler was under-performing based on his “lack of power?” I’ve never understood that argument. Did I want Billy to hit more home runs? Sure, but I was and am appreciative of who he was as a baseball player before. In fact, even with all the extra home runs this year, Billy’s WAR* is still 0.1 less than it was in 2010. I remember there being talk about Billy needing to find power back then. To me, it looks like it may not have been as big of a deal as people liked to make it.

*According to Baseball Reference

Alright, no more soapbox. Billy Butler is solid no matter how many home runs he hits, Sal Perez is a beast, and I don’t really care what Doug Fister did the other night.

Sorry, Doug.