Years Of Showers, Bring May Flowers
Royals Nation covers a lot of farmland. Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska and parts of Iowa and Oklahoma are largely agricultural areas. John Deere and implement dealers’ spending money to advertise with the Royals is no accident. Kansas farmers listening to the Royals & Cardinals in their combines during harvest is even mentioned in Joe Drape’s book Our Boys, and that’s a book about High School Football. Isn’t it fitting that the Royals Farm System has been glossed by many as the best in Major League Baseball? They say the crop of young prospects is going to turn the organization around.
However, anyone associated with farming knows crops are not guaranteed until they’ve been harvested and sold at market. Hailstorms, drought, high winds are all things that often occur in Royals Nation that can destroy a years worth of work in a few minutes. That’s not a complete analogy for baseball prospects. But the premise is the same. Prospects are just prospects until they begin producing at the major league level. Injuries, freak accidents, organizational mismanagement, character issues, and talent plateaus can all prevent a prospect from getting to the majors. The further a prospect is buried in the minors, the larger the risk that they will amount to nothing but roster fillers.
The praise has been great for the Royals Farm System. But pardon me if I’m a little nervous and expect a hail storm on our parade. After all, this is the same organization that batted out of order, and had a 19 game losing streak. I’m still not used to things going right. Especially when the name of the AAA affiliate is The Storm Chasers
That being said I believe the weather in The Nation might be turning. Last Friday Jarrod Dyson scored the winning run from 3rd base on a pop-up to short. It was a “that just happened” moment. The Twins and umpires were left speechless. It’s the type freak play you see in baseball that usually happens to the Royals, not for the Royals.
This brings us to what happened on Thursday May 5th. The Royals called up Eric Hosmer. Thus announcing that they will begin the long awaited harvest of young prospects in the Farm System . The Royals have been interesting to watch all season. Homser’s call-up begins the real reason Royals fans are excited about the 2011 season. Royals games have become that more watchable, appointment television and entertainment. But that’s not the best part. Come June, like the real wheat harvest, the Royals harvest of top prospects will get into full swing. Watching these prospects grow will be a lot easier than watching wheat grow.