As a baseball fan watching Kansas City suffer for years, I have to wonder if they are actually a good contender this season for the playoffs, or if this is just their 15 minutes of fame.

There is certainly something for Royals’ fans to get excited about right now. At this point in the year, Kansas City is 17-10, when last season at this time they were only 10-20. A dramatic difference. Pitching, in particular, seems to be carrying most of the team, but their offense is not far behind.

Royal Pitching

Veterans like Ervin Santana and Jeremy Guthrie are having stellar seasons. They have combined for 7 Wins to date, both with having an ERA under 2.50 and WHIP just above 1.00. According to ESPN, while Santana is owned in 97% of fantasy leagues, Guthrie is only owned in 50%. Guthrie brings a commendable work ethic to the team and I think would be a valuable pick-up if he is still available in your league. The right-hander excels at mixing all of his pitches to keep hitters off balance, and he recently threw his first major league shut-out.

The Royals’ starting rotation has been rounded out with the new additions of Wade Davis and James Shields. While Davis is has been struggling since joining Kansas City with a 4.75 ERA, he hopefully can get back down to that 2.43 ERA he finished with in 2012. And Shields may soon become the ace of the team, filling the void that Zack Greinke left. Both Davis and Shields are 2-2 this season.

The Royals’ bullpen has been strengthened with former-starting-pitchers-now-relievers, Bruce Chen and Luke Hochevar. Chen has not allowed an earned run yet this year in 5 appearances, and Hochevar has only given up 1 earned run in 7 appearances. Greg Holland is settling in nicely as a solid anchor for the bullpen. He has 7 saves so far this year and only 1 blown.

Royal Batting

Kansas City’s pitching has started off hot, but the fans are still waiting to see the promise the line-up showed during Spring Training this year. There are only three batters with an average above .300 right now, Jarrod Dyson is one of them and he only has 20 plate appearances so far.

The power is not quite there yet from their top hitters. It somehow got lost in the transition between Spring Training and the regular season. If this team can get their bats going and keep the pitching consistent, they can be a force for the entire summer.

Fantasy owners might want to watch players like Lorenzo Cain, Eric Hosmer, Salvador Perez, and Mike Moustakas. They have all been showing signs of improving in their last 15 games, and might just break out of their slumps soon. Moustakas is only 39% owned in fantasy leagues which is obviously due to his struggle at the plate. If he can start making solid contact again, he will prove he deserves a position on your fantasy roster.

Even though the Kansas City line-up is not producing the way they are capable of, they can still be tough to beat in the American League Central. But if history is any indication, this poor team does not have a chance. If someone were to walk into the baseball world right now and not know anything about the Royals’ past, they would never know that they are usually toward the bottom of the AL Central division.

First place Detroit Tigers better take notice that Kansas City is only a half game back. Can they keep this up? Is this just a flash in the pan? If the starting pitching can continue eating up innings, their bullpen will be able to stay fresh for the long season. And if their bats start producing, then I would say that the Royals can shed the pretender branding and will be a contender in 2013.

With the Kansas City Royals officially opening their 2012 season this Friday, the optimism for some fans is now being replaced with nervousness.

For a baseball fan, it is only natural to be optimistic during the off-season. The disaster of the previous year is in the past, free agents have been added, that overpaid free-agent’s contract finally expired, and well…somebody has to win next year, right? And for fans of most teams, eventually the optimism pays off. Your team comes from out of nowhere to qualify for the playoffs, and whether they advance or not, that can be considered a successful season (unless you’re the Yankees or Red Sox). But for longer than any other organization in baseball, Royals fans have had their off-season optimism shoved down their throat in the form of embarrassingly bad baseball. The Royals have the longest playoff drought in all of MLB. So one can understand why a Royals fan might eventually decide not to even bother with the positive thoughts.

Until the 2010 season, it was hard to envision a scenario in which Royals fans would be given any reason to believe they would see a winner in the near future. It was during that season, that things began to come together at the minor league level. Former first-round draft picks Mike Moustakas(3B) and Eric Hosmer(1B) began to emerge as two of the top prospects in baseball. 19-year old 3rd round draft pick Will Myers began to turn heads in A-ball. Other prospects began giving people to take notice as well, and before long, the Royals farm system was the talk of baseball. All of a sudden, that dark tunnel that Royals fans had peered into for so long started to show a faint light at the end. After the 2010 season, all the talk was about the Royals farm system. Not only was it considered the best in all of baseball, but some were calling it the best farm system that they had ever seen. And while the expectations for the 2011 Royals season weren’t great, fans were, for the first time in a very long time, allowed to feel legitimately optimistic for the future. 2011 saw the arrival of Hosmer, Moustakas, Salvador Perez(C), Johnny Giovatella(2B), Danny Duffy(SP), and a whole crop of young bullpen arms.

For the most part, all signs were positive. Hosmer impressed from day one. Moustakas went through his struggles, but by the end of the year, looked like he was figuring things out. Perez was very impressive, and while Giovatella and Duffy both struggled at times, both showed definite signs of promise. On top of this, Alcides Escobar(SS) emerged as arguably the best defensive SS in all of baseball. Lorenzo Cain came up for an impressive September call-up. Free-Agent Jeff Francoeur(OF) pulled his career out of the toilet with a fantastic year, and former top prospect Alex Gordon(OF) finally showed the promise he was thought to have when he was drafted in 2005. Looking at things from a long-term perspective, it is hard to imagine things going more positively in 2011. Everyone has pointed to 2012 as the year when the Royals will begin to ascend back to relevance for the first time in almost 20 years.

But what if it all goes wrong? This is a question that Royals fans are conditioned to ask. While Hosmer is as close to a sure thing as there is, would it surprise anyone if Moustakas never fully came around? If Duffy can’t keep his pitch count down? If Francoeur returns to being a near useless hitter? What if Gordon also finds himself with an extended stay on the DL? Center-fielder Lorenzo Cain is thought to be ready to break out, but what if that doesn’t happen? Salvador Perez has already been injured and is out until June. Closer Joakim Soria is out for the year with Tommy John surgery.

Each of these things individually is a very realistic possibility. But what makes this year different from past years, is that rather than considering all of the things that would have to go wrong for things to go bad, Royals fans were forced to point out all of the things that COULD go right to help them contend.

This year may not go as Royals fans hope. Every single thing listed above could take place. But it sure beats sitting around hoping Juan Gonzalez regains his MVP form, Mike Sweeney‘s back finally holds up, and Benito Santiago and Reggie Sanders discover the Fountain of Youth.

The Kansas City Royals started their Cactus League schedule on Sunday with a 6-1 win over their campus mate Texas Rangers. A win as a good way to start the exhibition season, I’m sure I’m not alone in feeling that having any type baseball broadcast over any medium was a cause for celebration. I’m also confident that by the second game on Monday afternoon I was not the only person trying to figure if any of the individual player performances in these games mean anything.

As much as I’d like to tell myself that a 4-3 record for the Royals at this point in spring training is a good omen. Baseball fan experience tells me it doesn’t mean a whole lot. They do not give out Cactus League Championship rings. They don’t hang Cactus League Championship Banners at Kauffman Stadium, and if they do print Cactus League Championship t-shirts no one should wear them. In fact, the phrase “Cactus League Champion” is so irrelevant that a Google search only brings up four returns, and one of those was from the Royals Review message board.

The Royals have won the Cactus League twice since I’ve been paying close enough attention to notice these things. In 2006 the Royals won the Cactus League and proceeded to lose 100 games during the season. Last year the Royals won the Cactus League and only won 71 games. While it’s good to not look terrible in spring training, winning a lot of games during spring training doesn’t mean that much.

Spring Training is about established major leaguers getting their work in, deciding some position battles, and fringe players catching on with an organization. I have some interest in these battles, but not a whole lot. Other than hoping prospects live up to their potential I’m more concerned that the Royals break camp healthy, and the young players continue their improvement. Only way to improve is to get reps in major league situations. As I fan I don’t have much involvement in that. Nor do I really have any favorites to make the team, just as long as the best players break camp.

Outside of position battles is there any meaning in spring training? Only baseball for baseball’s sake. It’s been a long winter and it’s nice to have any baseball. This is my first spring training with access to MLB Network, and the MLBatBat App on my phone. My access to baseball has never been better. Not only is fan access better, during March the inventory of baseball is greater than during the regular season. With split squad contests, there are 18 games on the schedule today. During the regular season there can only be 15. I guess spring training is a lot like spring break. Don’t look for meaning, just enjoy the experience.

Few moments in our lives have the power to transcend reality and make us feel as though we are actually living in a dramatic movie.

For baseball fans, that first moment might be when we walk up to a Major League Baseball stadium to take in our first game.

The ballpark is a powerful place. Whether full of people during a game or empty beforehand, it has a majestic feel that can overwhelm the senses. There might as well be dramatic music playing during that first trip through the tunnel from the concourse to the playing field.

To a young baseball fan, that moment is one of the most awe-inspiring experiences he or she can have.

I was seven years old when I entered Busch Stadium II for my first St. Louis Cardinals game. I had no idea what to expect. To that point in my life, the most impressive things I had seen were the Christmas lights hanging from the street lights in my small hometown or the excitement that filled the town when the carnival arrived for the Fourth of July celebration.

Busch Stadium blew all that away. The lights, the sounds, the perfect grass, it felt like I was in a completely different world. Baseball heaven, maybe?

Baseball has a magic that other sports don’t. It is a sport that might have been able to turn the Grinch into a hopelessly emotional sap if he had seen it before entering Whoville. What is that magic? It’s hard to explain, and that’s a good thing.

Baseball is different from other sports. Yes, it is exciting when the home team jumps out of the dugout to take the field for the first time, but the lose-your-voice excitement often doesn’t start with the first pitch.
In basketball the first three-pointer or first dunk will send the crowd into a frenzy. In football the first tackle charges the stadium with electricity. Baseball is not a sport where you can “tune in to the fourth quarter” to catch the excitement.

A baseball game is more like a novel. It is a game that takes us on a nine-inning trip that will shake its finger at you if you ask, “Are we there yet?”

No, we’re not. Sit still and enjoy the journey.

In many ways, baseball mirrors life. The big leaguers play baseball every day, not just every couple of days or once a week, just like we go to work or go to school every day. There are also good times and not-so-good times where every minute of every day isn’t filled with excitement.

Today’s Sportscenter-driven world likes to chop our experiences into highlights where we only see the “good” parts of the game. That’s not what baseball is about. One of the great parts of baseball is that it makes you wait for the exciting moment.

Take the Tampa Bay Rays final game of the season against the New York Yankees, for example. The Rays fell behind 7-0 in the first five innings and it looked like their season was finished. Then they charge back with six runs in the eighth and back-up catcher Dan Johnson hits a game-tying and season-saving homerun in the ninth. That homerun and Evan Longoria’s walk-off homer in the 12th are the moments of screaming excitement, but the journey to get to those points is what made them so rewarding.

No matter which players are found to have done steroids, which players leave their team to chase more money or how the playoffs are set up, the game itself will always be great.

Baseball can build drama unlike any other sport. The strings cannot be pulled any tighter than when Brad Lidge has the Houston Astros one out away from their first World Series appearance in 2005 and Albert Pujols hits a home run to win the game for the Cardinals, or when Texas Rangers closer Neftali Feliz has his team one strike away from winning the World Series and David Freese hits a triple to keep the Cardinals’ season and hope for a championship alive.

The emotions that baseball injects in people are fantastic. From brokenhearted, lifelong Chicago Cubs fans who were one game away from a World Series in 2003 to the joy entire cities feel when their team wins the championship, baseball teaches us lessons about how hard we have to work to succeed, as well as how to handle the times in our life when we don’t.

Baseball is great in the fact that there is always tomorrow’s game, so each regular-season loss isn’t such a crushing defeat, but it also makes the season’s final victory that much greater and the final defeat that much more harder to swallow.

That is why I love baseball.

I’ve been meaning to write an Albert Pujols article for my own website. Since this website covers the Cardinals I figure I might as well use it as my weekly Royals column here at I70 Baseball. How does that work if this is supposed to be a Royals column? I’ll get there.

I am a Royals fan first. After that I am a baseball fan. I have enjoyed Pujols’ career from a distance. I remember when Mike MacDougal caught Pujols looking for a strike out with a sweeping 12-6 curveball to end a game in 2003. I remember his blast off Brad Lidge in the 2005 NLCS. Most recently; his three home-run game in Arlington in the 2011 World Series. My favorite Pujols story is how he came into the league. Some have criticized the Royals for letting Pujols out of their back yard. I think that’s a little unfair. After all, how many other teams passed up the opportunity to draft him? I especially like this story from Jonah Keri’s book The Extra 2% about Fernado Arango, the area scout for the Tampa Bay Rays who tried to get the Rays to draft Pujols. I wonder if Fernando Arango and Sir Albert touched base after he signed his deal.

Not living in St Louis I never heard about him off the field. As I read Cardinal fan reaction he must have been much more than a performer on the field. There wouldn’t be such a reaction to his departure to the Anaheim Angels if there wasn’t. I was disappointed to see Pujols sign with the Angels. Mostly because I thought it would have been cool to see a super-star play with one team his entire career. I get that it’s a business decision. I get that the weather is nicer in Southern California. I get that he was some how offended by the Cardinals front office. I get all that. But, the fans in Anaheim will not love you the way fans in St Louis did. How much money do you really need? With Pujols’ current salary you can afford to live any where anyway. Not many people have been in the Pujols Family’s situation so we cannot say for sure how we would make such a decision. I just know that looking at things the way I look at things I would have chosen to stay in St Louis.

Royals fans should take note of this situation. The Royals don’t have a good track record of hanging on to their big time free agents. Like I’ve said before, there are only a handful of teams that don’t have this problem. Royals fans can only hope there will come a day when one (more than one would be outstanding) of the Royals young stars has played well enough year, after year to warrant a $200 Million contact to finish out their career. Rest assured if the Royals ever have a Pujols Situation; that players is signing that big contract only to return to Kauffman Stadium (or Tightwad Bank Stadium if you believe rumors started by bloggers. wink, wink) as an opponent worthy of our boooing and being called a greedy money grubber on Kansas City’s fine Sports Talkosphere. It’ll sting a little. I might be upset for a few days. However, if such a player left after 7 play-off appearances, 5 ALCS appearances, and 2 World Series Titles they will have left this Royals fan with a smile. After all, players come and go; only the name on the front of the jersey remains year, after year, after year.

Baseball is a funny game. On any given day, history can be made, records can be broken, and players can etch their names permanently into stone. Regardless of a players career, or lack thereof, one game can immortialize them forever.

Courtesy of Minda Haas

That is what every player strives for. A game for the history books. A game that can etch their name into the stone history of America’s Pastime. Such a game happened this week in a Triple-A showdown between the i70 teams. The Memphis Redbirds took on the Omaha Stormchasers in Memphis and Luis Mendoza would take the mound for the Royals minor league affiliate from Omaha. But before the night was over Mendoza would see the unthinkable happen as his name would be erased from the “permanent” record books as quickly as it was etched.

His night was not perfect, he would open the night with a walk to Redbirds leadoff man Jim Rappaport. He would walk Bryan Anderson in the fifth and eight innings as well as Matt Carpenter in the later frame. The bottom of the ninth would bring a moment that has every baseball fan on the edge of their seats. Tyler Greene would hit a line drive to deep left field that would go off left fielder David Lough’s glove and richochet off the base of the wall. As fans, players, and media held their collective breath, the scorekeeper would rule the play an error. The end of the inning would arrive and find the Stormchasers celebrating the first nine inning no-hitter for an Omaha franchise since 1988.

It was five days prior to this no hitter that Mendoza took another into the eighth inning against Oklahoma City. Over the course of a week, the Royals prospect has rattled off back-to-back dominant performances and on this night in Memphis, had put the finishing touches on one of baseball’s elusive moments.

Then again, I did say baseball is a funny game.

Within minutes of the final out, the official scorekeeper reviewed that hard hit ball in the ninth and overturned the error. Greene was awarded a hit and Mendoza would have his second straight one hit outing. Funny how you can etch your name in stone and the baseball gods can find a way to erase it, no matter how permanent you thought it was.

Then again, baseball has a funny way of doing business.

News broke recently that the Memphis coaching staff has filed an official appeal with the league office concerning the scoring decision in the ninth inning. Per league rules, a decision from the league office will be received within 24 to 48 hours. Should the league reverse the scorer’s decision, the game will once again be declared a no-hitter. Should they refuse, the record books will stand with a one hitter for the Royals’ prospect.

Mendoza may see his name etched into stone, erased, and then put back within a matter of days. Time will tell if the player will have his no-hitter reinstated.

Like I said, it is a funny game.

It was 1985 when I moved to Missouri. A magical season that captured my attention. Two teams from my new home state would reach the pinnacle of the game I loved.

Until that year, I was a baseball fan. I had liked various teams in my youth and followed others closely, even at my young age. I had baseball cards and favorite players. I played ball in my back yard imaging what it must be like to be on that field. I envisioned larger than life men playing that game along side of me. That year changed the way I saw the game. That year I became a consistent observer of the Royals and adopted them as my “step-team”. That year, I became a Cardinal fan.

I have been asked many times why I became a fan of this team? Why I write about this game? Why I do so many radio appearances and host my own show? All of those answers are remarkably answered with the same two words.

Jack Buck.

It was Jack that taught me how to see this game the right way. His voice over the airwaves, the smooth transition from play to interview and back again. The genuine excitement in his voice over the game he loved. I loved the game beyond belief but when I heard the voice of Jack Buck and the way he described the simple action before him, it became magical. It took on a trait that I never knew was possible. A ground ball to deep short was seemingly fielded in left field and would manage to appear in the first baseman’s glove before the runner could reach safely. Home runs were majestic moon shots that would all but disappear in the night sky. Line drives must have had fire coming off of them. The players themselves floated around the field.

While the game seemed full of magic as I got lost in his voice, the images in my mind were so real I could imagine sitting in the stands. The magical description translated into my mind into a film reel of exact science. I could picture right where Ozzie stood on the field when he unleashed a throw that most shortstops would never attempt and still get his man. I could picture the seat a home run landed in and how much beer was left in the cup being held by the guy who caught it.

Jack Buck began his career in St. Louis in 1954 along side Harry Carray after graduating from Ohio State. Prior to college, Buck was a decorated war veteran of World War II. His fifteen years with Harry Carray would become the launching pad of two hall of fame caliber careers and endless memories for a generation of baseball fans who relied on the radio to bring them their beloved game of baseball.

In the 1960′s Buck had left for a year to broadcast football but would return and continue his work for the mighty KMOX out of St. Louis. He would also miss a year in the 1970′s as he tried to launch his own show on CBS. Ultimately, it was his pairing with former Cardinals outfielder Mike Shannon in the 70′s that would lead to the team that many remember vividly.

While Jack called World Series (8), Super Bowls (17), and various other sports broadcasts, it was his calls of Kirk Gibson’s home run in the 1988 World Series and Ozzie Smith’s 1985 NLCS home run that are most remembered. Perhaps it was the magestic voice that told us after 34 years in the booth that he “can’t believe what I just saw” for Gibson. Maybe it was the 31 year veteran of the booth that showed that he too was a fan when Ozzie launched a home run into right field and all the golden voice could say was “Go crazy folks! Go crazy!”. He would again show that he respected, loved and was a fan of the game when Mark McGwire broke the single season home run record when he simply asked the audience “Pardon me while I stand and applaud.”

For many of us Cardinal fans, Jack is the voice in the background of our memories. He is the announcer in our memories of the team. He was the reason we took small radios to the baseball game. Personally, I fell asleep to the sound of Jack describing the game far more times than I fell asleep to a bed time story or reading a book. My father loved the game and he taught me to love it too. My father drew the picture, Jack filled it with enough color to last a lifetime.

In the early 2000′s it became public knowledge that Jack was suffering from Parkinson’s disease. It would keep him off the road and limit the number of games fans would hear him. It would turn him, physically, into a shell of the man he once was. When baseball returned to action after the horrific events of September 11, 2001, he stood on the field and delivered a poem that left very few dry eyes in the crowd. Very few people knew what to make of it. The sound of his voice saying “Should we be here? YES!” was a resounding call to all of America.

It was nine years ago today, June 18, 2002 that the world lost Jack Buck. The majestic voice was gone. The booth in St. Louis would find a new inhabitant soon. No one would ever compare. No one could even try.

In one of my first articles I wrote for Baseball Digest I wrote the phrase “I miss Jack Buck”. That phrase is as true today as it was then. Last year I had the privelage of visitng with his daughter, Christine, and you can read that here.

The game simply doesn’t sound the same anymore.

Bill Ivie is the editor here at I-70 Baseball as well as the Assignment Editor for BaseballDigest.com.
He is the host of I-70 Radio, hosted every week on BlogTalkRadio.com.
Follow him on Twitter here.

How much are the New York Yankees actually worth? According to last years numbers they are worth around $1.6 billion. The Cardinals, who claim 6th place in the league with $488 million, are still light years away from the men in pinstripes. In St. Louis, being the 8th most valuable team in baseball makes sense. It’s really no surprise, but still sustaining that much value doesn’t compare to the overall control the Yankees have. To compare the Royals is a joke really. $341 million, which ranks 24th among the 30 Major League teams. The Yankees, obviously the most valuable team in baseball, brought in the most annual revenue last year at $441 million.

So at the growing trend, the Yankees can single handedly purchase any one team out of the 17 Major League Teams whose net worth is under $441 million.

April 5, 2011
by Mark Healey