Kansas City Royals Manager Ned Yost Should Take a Bow

Remember that time right before the Kansas City Royals swept their way into the 2014 World Series when almost every “expert” in and around baseball confidently and authoritatively asserted that there was no way that Royals Manager Ned Yost would be able to match the wits or the tactical prowess of his counterparts in Oakland, Los Angeles, or Baltimore?  It is hard to believe now, but it is true. Almost everyone, including many of us in Kansas City, did not appear to have a whole lot of confidence in the Skipper of a team that was making its first playoff appearance in nearly three decades. Last October, just as the playoffs were getting underway,  Brian Costa wrote a piece in the Wall Street Journal  calling Ned Yost a “dunce,”  saying that, “If the Royals play deep into October, they may do so partly in spite of Yost.”

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This was, at the time, an accepted and established position.  The Royals might win, but it would not be because of their manager. Of course, we came by that skepticism honestly, did we not? After all, the term, “Yosted” was not coined by accident, but instead as a result of questionable tactical maneuvers made by Yost throughout the 2014 season and, to be fair, even in the playoffs.  I will still occasionally find myself waking up in the middle of the night with cold sweats thinking about Yordano Ventura pitching in the 6th inning of the Wild Card game.

Of course, the story of last October played out a little differently than  predicted. The Royals did win, and they did so with their manager. And with the winning came an opportunity to see Ned Yost in a completely different light. As a result of the Royals run to October glory, the story-lines surrounding Ned Yost are significantly different here in 2015.  The Kansas City Royals are the defending American League Champions and Ned Yost has gone from the manager that was fired by a Brewers team on the cusp of the playoffs to the man with a shiny new ring and a contract extension.

None of that means, however, that Yost does not still have his detractors.  There are still many who question his decisions and, for one reason or another, feel like he is a lesser manager than many of his counterparts.  There are still those who are convinced that eventually Yost’s decision making will backfire in such a way for which that the Royals will not be able to compensate.

But sometimes things just have a way of working out.  And it seems that it is finally time for the narrative surrounding Ned Yost to change.  Ned Yost is NOT a dunce, as it turns out, he is actually a (crazy) genius. He is a mad hatter of sorts, one that does not need to be understood, but simply accepted and embraced. He is, in fact, the perfect fit for the Royals and for the city of Kansas City.

How can we argue with this new perspective? In 2013, Ned Yost led the Kansas City Royals to their first winning season since “the fluke” of 2003.  From 2013 to the present the Royals have a record of 191-146 (including the playoffs), this is good for a solid .556 winning percentage.  The exciting part is however, how this team continues to improve. Since the 2014 All-Star Break, the Royals have a record of 63-34, which equates to a sparkling .649 Winning Percentage.  Currently in 2015, the Royals are off to their best start in years and are currently tied for the best record in baseball.

It is Ned’s World, and we are all just living in it.

What makes Ned Yost special and perfect for the Kansas City Royals is that his managerial attributes go far beyond his wins and losses.  We remember that Yost is a genius as we recall that this was the man who decided early on last season that, even though all  conventional wisdom dictated otherwise, he would not get in the “dome” of  Alcides  Escobar and pinch hit for him in late game situations.  It would appear that his confidence in Esky has been rewarded as Escobar has developed into a serviceable lead-off hitter.  As we bask in the glory that is the resurgence of Mike Moustakas, we remember that Ned Yost was the man who stuck with him and penciled him into the daily line-up when almost no one else would.

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Perhaps more than anything else, however we need to acknowledge that this is the man who exhibits the wonderful (and rare) leadership quality of regularly heaping praise on his players and doing everything he can to shield them from criticism. He is a manager who gets joy out of watching his players succeed.    Who could not love hearing the joy he expressed in Moustakas’ play against Minnesota on Tuesday night?  Ned Yost is a man who genuinely cares about his players, and his players reciprocate by playing hard all game, every game (this is made evident by the 8 come from behind wins already this season).

2015 has the potential to be a special summer in Kansas City and the Royals have just the right man at the helm of the ship.  So Ned Yost, thank you, and please, take a bow.

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