It has been 10 years since we were all shocked to find out that Darryl Kile had passed away, in his sleep, in a hotel in Chicago.  The St. Louis Cardinals lost another member of the “family”, players lost a teammate, and the world lost an amazing man and father.

All of this is well documented and I do not feel I can bring more to the subject.  I admired him.  I enjoyed his career.  I mourned his loss.  I, much like other fans and pundits, have moved on.  Sooner or later you simply run out of words.

About a month ago, I was co-hosting a radio program on my network, pinch hitting for a host that could not make it.   The show featured former Cardinal reliever Dave Veres, a guy I had watched as I grew up and I was excited to interview.  Before the interview was over, the subject of Darryl Kile was raised, and I could tell there was a bond.

When the United Cardinal Bloggers decided that the June project this year should be to look back at Jack Buck and the man many of us now know as “DK57″, I was not sure what to write.  I sent a few emails and some requests but ultimately was denied or met the common “I’m not sure what more I can say”.  My email to Dave Veres, however, was answered kindly.

 I did reach out to former Cardinal beat reporter, Matthew Leach, for his thoughts.  He told me that he would be running them on his blog, but he did not have a “favorite memory” of Darryl Kile.  Leach has said many times that Kile was “hard to cover” and explained why.  He did come up with a memory, and you can read that story over at Obviously, You’re Not A Golfer.

I asked Veres two questions: 1 – what is your favorite memory, on or off the field, of Darryl Kile and 2 – What can you tell me about that fateful day ten years ago.  What I got back but funny, beautiful, inspiring and sad.

On his favorite memories of Darryl Kile, Dave Veres shared the following
As you have most likely heard about Darryl and his on the field accomplishments and how he was such a great teammate and competitor. My favorite memories of Darryl were more off the field since we spent more time in the winter together with our wives and kids being so close.

One was when we were in AAA with Tucson and I think we were playing Tacoma and we would go fishing in the mornings. So one morning we are out and being in the Northwest they had plenty of rain, so we were hiking back to get to a fishing hole and instead of going through a couple inches of water I decided to go across a muddy area instead because I didn’t want to get my shoes wet. Well, needless to say, what looked like a little bit of mud turned out to be about a 4 foot mud hole. I remember as I was sinking and was asking Darryl to help. He basically said “I’m not going in there”.  Luckily, for my sake, I finally hit the bottom. Then he held out his fishing pole for me to grab onto. Of course then it was funny and, needless to say, I went into the water anyway to rinse of the mud.

So, now we are in the big leagues and both live in Houston and Darryl and I would golf or play “mortal combat” and the wives would go shop or whatever. Of course it was only fitting that they were both pregnant at the same time, too. So on Jan 15th 1997 my wife and I are going to the dentist and I get a call from Darryl and he says he and Flynn are going to the hospital and wants me to go by the store and pick up a camcorder so they can record it. Nothing like going into your best friend’s wife’s room and setting up a video as she’s getting ready to give birth to twins. Thank goodness since it was twins and a high risk delivery there were plenty of doctors in there.  I could set up without having to “see” anything. Later that evening we are at home and my wife is feeling some labor pains, I think it’s just because she watched Flynn deliver. Well about 8 hours after their twins were born we had our daughter. And when Darryl signed with the Rockies the next year they traded for me a few weeks later and we all moved to Denver. So we spent nearly every Christmas and birthday’s together for the 4 years.

On June 22, 2002 – The day Darryl Kile was found in his hotel room
Well, I can say that morning may be the worst day I have ever been through. Since Darryl and I usually lockered by each other and he was always one of the first guys at the clubhouse, it was pretty clear when I arrived at the ball park he wasn’t there yet. So I tried calling him and, when I couldn’t reach him, I called my wife to go to his room and try and wake him up. I knew his brother came to town and just figured he over slept. So she banged on his door and there was no answer.  So she asked one of the maids to open the door since he was late for the game. Luckily for my wife’s sake he had the security latch on,otherwise she would have found him. But, that’s when we knew he was in his room. So they had to get security and I think they called the Cardinals and let them know something was up. As we were out at BP the clubhouse guys came and got me and said there was a “family emergency”.  It was my wife on the phone and told me that Darryl had passed away in his sleep. I didn’t know what to do or say,I just kind of went numb or in a daze. A little while later Tony came in with the team and that’s when they told everyone else.

Those next few days were so exhausting. The emotional drain on us, if anyone watched the game the next day against the cubs on ESPN it was like a bunch of zombies. I’m not really sure why they aired that game. I think being a father my first thoughts went out to Flynn and the kids,I couldn’t imagine them not having their father any longer.

I still think about him pretty much daily, usually a DK or 57 will pop up or a story will remind me of him. We ran into Flynn and the kids last year in Anaheim at a volleyball tournament that our girls were playing in. Even though we don’t talk as much it was still we hadn’t missed a beat when we saw them,except there was no Darryl in person.

We appreciate Dave sharing such personal stories with us.  After the stories, he included one quote that stuck with me:

He was truly one of the nicest and genuine people you could have ever had the privilege to know. Also one of the greatest competitors, I don’t think he missed a start in 10 years,so that why when Tony got us together and we realized that Sunday night game would have been Darryl’s start,we needed to play it in his honor.

Bill Ivie is the editor here at I-70 Baseball
He is the host of I-70 Radio, hosted every week on BlogTalkRadio.
Follow him on Twitter here.

Roy Oswalt wants to pitch for the St. Louis Cardinals or the Texas Rangers.  Roy Oswalt wants to start and is not open to moving to the bullpen.  Roy Oswalt also wants a one year deal worth ten million dollars.

The Cardinals and Rangers have full pitching staffs that will see a hurler from each team spend time in the bullpen that have seen time on the mound at the beginning of a game.  There simply is no room for Oswalt in the rotation of either team and little room in the budget for either team, yet both are still engaged in “fluid talks” with the veteran right hander.

The Cardinals are the most logical fit.  While they have three pitchers (Jake Westbrook, Kyle Lohse, Kyle McClellan) that can fill the fourth and fifth spots in the rotation, Oswalt would be a markable upgrade and McClellan or Westbrook could easily pitch out of the bullpen.  The team is attempting to free up some cash by trading one of the aforementioned pitchers but is finding fewer buyers than what they would like.  A pure salary dump seems near impossible and the team is seemingly standing it’s ground with a lower offer than what Oswalt desires.

The Rangers have met with Oswalt, but seem to have less room for him in the rotation.  Many experts seem to feel, at this point, the Cardinals are the most likely landing spot for him, but it still takes an offer and a signature on the contract.

Roy Oswalt has a lot of demands and is summing them all up by saying there are two teams he wants to pitch for.  He is the first player in recent memory that has said “I want to play for this team, for this much, in this position.”  Talk about having your cake and eating it, too.  He may have an air tight list of demands, but it still requires the specific team to meet the demands.  The teams and the pitcher have entered a virtual staring contest over the situation.

I wonder who is going to blink?

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.

As Aaron Stilley wrote on this site a couple days ago, many amazing words have already been written about the life and death of Paul Splittorff, the former Royals pitcher who passed away this week.

I was barely five years old when Paul Splittorff retired from the Kansas City Royals in 1984, and I have no memory of him as a pitcher. In fact, some of my earliest memories of baseball and of life are watching the 1985 World Series, in which the Royals defeated the St. Louis Cardinals.

Paul Splittorff retired one year too soon to be a part of that championship team. But then again, maybe Splitt was part of that championship. His last year was also the first year for future Royals Hall of Famers Bret Saberhagen and Mark Gubicza. Do you think Splittorff, the winningest pitcher in team history, had an influence on those two hurlers? You bet he did.

Although I never saw Splitt play, I was lucky enough to enjoy the entirety of his broadcasting career.

And he was, simply, amazing.

I’d like to think I know a lot about baseball. But every time I listened to Splittorff broadcast a game – every single time – I learned something new about America’s pastime.

Splittorff was a baseball professor of the highest order. He served as a perfect contrast to Denny Matthews and Fred White and Bob Davis and, later, Ryan Lefebvre. He seemed to know everything about pitching and nearly as much about hitting. You have to wonder – what made him turn to broadcasting instead of coaching? Surely he would have been a successful baseball manager.

Frank White is the new commentator for the Kansas City Royals. And I love Frank White, as a person, a player and a broadcaster. But in the booth, he’s no Splitt.

I will miss Paul Splittorff very much.

Matt Kelsey is a Royals writer and associate editor for I-70 Baseball. He can be reached at mattkelsey14@yahoo.com.

19 games into the season, and the Royals have pulled off a surprising stretch of winning baseball. Fans have found themselves walking a tightrope between excitement and skepticism, with the memory of 2009′s 18-11 start and ensuing collapse still fresh. Personally, I will never complain about wins, and the 2011 Royals have been a blast so far, but my hopes for the remainder of the season remain tempered with a healthy dose of wait-and-see.

The Royals, now at 12-7, will have their first winning record after 20 games since 2003, and only the second since 1989. How much of a team’s true talent level is revealed after 20 games? Looking back at the Royals past, the answer could be “more than I expected.” In a surprising number of years, the team’s winning percentage after 20 games has been fairly similar to their final tally. Only once has a Royals team had a winning record after 20 contests but finished the season with a losing mark (1983). (If you are wondering where that 2009 team is, they just missed the cut by being .500 after 20 games.) And only five teams have dug themselves out of a losing 20 game start to finish above .500 (’84, ’87, ’91, ’93, ’94). That means 86% of Royals teams (36/42) have finished above or below .500 when having a similar winning or losing record after 20 games.

Getting a little more technical, the statistical correlation between the winning percentage after the first 20 games and at the end of the season for Royals teams is .42 (0 meaning no correlation, 1 meaning perfect correlation). So obviously there is still a lot of wiggle room after 20 games. But to a larger degree than I expected, teams that are winners after 20 games tend to be winners at the end of the season, and teams that are losers after 20 games tend to be losers after 162. Let’s hope that holds true this year.

Royals seasons 1969--2010

Best 20 Game Start: 16-4 in 2003; Final record: 83-79

The surprise to me in this exercise has been how few fluky starts the Royals have had, but of course there have been a few. Clearly, this was one, but fluky or not, it did lead to a fun summer of contention and the only winning Royals season in the last two million years.

Worst 20 Game Start: 3-17 in 1992; Final record: 72-90

A flukily bad start, but in the broader sense, correctly reflective of an actually bad team.

Limiting this exercise to Royals history may skew things a little. Because their history is generally drastically split between very good years and very bad years, perhaps it should not be surprising that Royals teams usually are showing their colors after 20 games. Looking at the more varied pool of all 2010 teams, seven squads flipped from above or below .500 after 20 games to the opposite at the end of the season, meaning 77% of teams finished on the same side of the .500 line. In 2009, eight teams flopped between winners/losers after 20 and 162 games (73% stayed the same).

We are moving out of the embryonic stage of the season, with win-loss records compiling to the point where teams will be trying to build on a good start or dig out of a bad one from here on out. Whatever the rest of the year may hold, it is nice for the Royals to be in a position of strength after 20 games for a change.

When the season started many Royals fans circled June 1st. June 1st is date that almost without a doubt means Mike Moustakas will arrive in Kansas City to stay. Some think he will save the franchise. Some (me) think these kind of people are crazy. This team is awful! They get rid of all their greats like Zack Greinke. Wait, they haven’t lost any of their 4 series yet? Oh that’s right this team is better than expected, WAY better.

Photo by Erika Lynn

If you have followed me on twitter for any time or made the mistake of defending Greinke to me at the stadium, you know I have no love loss for him. I think the trade made has been fabulous and suddenly the need for Moose to save the franchise is so necessary. That trade has been a critical part of this team being above .500 and leading the wild card. As long as the Royals continue to not lose a series this team will be in the mix for the central and people in Kansas City are going to get excited. If the Royals can come out of their next 5 series without a lost series they will get into May with an above .500 record and only a month from the magical June 1st date. Notice I don’t say the Royals have won all their series because that wouldn’t be true. The Royals are 2-0 in three-game series but settled for splits in their two, two-game series this year.

This has been one of the best starts for the Royals in recent memory and some of us are believing this could be for real, maybe a little too much. Now June 1st has changed. June 1st is now more about a date for many to really start believing this team has a shot instead of just about top prospects joining the team. April has changed June 1st from a big day for a lost season to a day when this team could be making a legit run.

Now with that being said, even if we go 9 for 9 with no lost series’ by May 1st there will still be a month for the team to collapse before June 1st but I hate that kind of thinking. Yes, I get it, we have a habit of sucking but why think that way? Many people want to find the negative in the team regardless of how good things are. Yes I know we went 18-11 at a point and finished a season under 70 wins. Yes I know we have several 100 loss seasons since we last saw the playoffs. Yes I know we blew a 7 game lead and missed the playoffs. To all of you I say: SO WHAT! Why not enjoy the good times. I am so glad to ride this train right now and see what this team is doing. This Royals team is at least a year ahead of schedule. They play with heart and soul and are FUN to watch. We may win .500 we may not but It’ll be fun to watch. IF we finish April above .500, it’ll completely change the expectations of June 1st. It may still be circled, it may still mean the arrival of Mike Moustakas but it may also mean the day this team takes on a face of legitimacy. This team jumped to 14 in some power rankings this last week. 12 teams make the playoffs, to be considered 14 means this team is legitimately a fringe playoff team. We aren’t New York. We have different expectations. We had expectations for great prospects to filter in this year. With a solid April we can switch those expectations to maybe just maybe we’ll be good June 1st and instead of filtering into a bad team those prospects can be needed pieces to add to a playoff push when many thought we’d lose 100. This team has surprised, it can continue to surprise and April wins bring May hopes into June legitimacy. Come on April! Be good to us! No losses in 9 series to open the year. Do this Royals. Do it for all of us. All of the Royal Nation. Lets stop being a joke and bring in some legit baseball!

Troy can be found on Twitter as KCRoyalman. He also can be heard Sundays from 7-8p at royalmanreport.com and here on i70baseball.com with Bill Ivie, Mondays 10p-11p

It’s official. The Royals truly have THE number one farm system, according to Baseball America. That announcement came Tuesday, the same day MLB.com named six Royals to the top 50 prospects in baseball.

Photo by Erika Lynn

Those honors and a buck will get you a cup of coffee. It’s all about how it translates on the big league level, and Royals fans don’t have to look too far to know that top prospects don’t always work out. As is often said, “Potential just means you ain’t done nothing yet.”

Dayton Moore knows this. He admitted it in the Kansas City Star on Tuesday, when the announcement was made:

“It’s one thing to build a farm system, but it’s a whole different deal to win a championship at the major league level,” Moore said. “There is a lot of work to be done. We have to transition these players in at the appropriate time.”

But let’s not rain on this parade just yet. The Royals have committed to building for the long term through their farm system, and for the most part they’ve stayed the course. They should be applauded for having a plan and making it work. They have stockpiled what Baseball America’s Jim Callis called “the deepest and most talented farm system in recent memory.”

The plan is, as is often stated, to have this group of players all arrive at the major leagues at about the same time, so that they can play together for several years. It’s what the Florida Marlins have done a couple of times, as have the Tampa Bay Rays and some other teams as well. It makes sense in “small markets” where few free agents dare to trod.

Baseball America likes the Royals farm system so much it would have rated it number one even without Jake Odorizzi and Jeremy Jeffress, who would have figured into the equation. To be considered a “prospect,” a player needs simply to have recorded fewer than 130 total at bats or fewer than 40 innings pitched at the major league level, or logged 45 days on the 25-man roster of a big league club.

While Baseball America was announcing its top team honor, MLB.com, was releasing its own ranking of the Top 50 on Tuesday, of which the Royals possess six – tied for the most by any franchise in the eight years of annual rankings. Only one other team – Tampa Bay – landed as many as four on the list.

While in most cases major league players would resist gushing over prospects, Billy Butler recently acknowledged that the big league Royals are aware of what’s going on down on the farm.

“We have the number one minor league organization for a reason,” Butler said to fans at a caravan stop on Sunday. “There’s a lot of guys that are expected to do a lot of great things. And that means very soon here we’re going to be contending on a regular basis.”

And, according to MLB.com, those top prospects are:

#7 Mike Moustakas – most likely to be the first to reach Kansas City, “Moose” proved he can hit at triple A last summer. Unless he forces the Royals’ hand in spring training, he’ll probably start at Omaha to make sure he’s ready. The long-term issue will be his position. Can he handle defending the hot corner?

#8 Eric Hosmer – while his tape-measure home runs make the headlines, Hosmer was named the franchises’ top defensive player at the teams FanFest last Saturday. Will he start in Northwest Arkansas or at Omaha is the big question. He’s just 21.

#14 Mike Montgomery – he’s only thrown 245 innings in three years. The Royals have closely protected this commodity, but if he can stay healthy, he could make the big club sooner than later.

#16 Wil Myers – The number two-rated catcher by MLB.com may not stay at the position, regardless of how badly the Royals need help at the spot. He’s just learning to catch, and some feel he should move to the outfield and let his bat carry him quickly to the majors. He just turned 20.

#34 John Lamb – just a fifth-round selection in 2008, Lamb was named the franchises’ pitcher of the year. Lamb pitched just 7 games at Northwest Arkansas and may begin the season there.

#37 Jake Odorizzi – the only Royal on the list not to be drafted by the team, Odorizzi was Milwaukee’s top pitching prospect before coming over in the Greinke trade. Scouts rave over him, but he’s moved slowly thus far. Though he’ll be 21 in March, he’s never pitched above the single A level.

Ranking the prospects 1-10 by position, according to MLB.com, the Royals had:

#1 First Baseman (Hosmer)

#10 Second Baseman (Johnny Giavotella)

#1 Third Baseman (Moustakas)

#2 Catcher (Myers)

#2 Left Handed Pitcher (Montgomery)

#9 Left Handed Pitcher (Lamb)

I was only a few months old when the I-70 Series happened, but as a baby I was in attendance at a few of the games. Of course I have no memory of the series. I do, however, remember George Brett.

My memories are not from ’85 but from a time when the Royals were still winners. A time when the stadium was always full. A time when having season tickets was something to be proud of. So, instead of a stat-filled recap of Brett’s career, I am going to focus on what I remember of Brett as a player.

For most people under the age of 30, George Brest is best remembered as the raving mad man who rushed onto the field ready to kill someone during the infamous Pine Tar Incident. Everyone remembers that image of George Brett, that image of pure emotion, pure passion for the game, and a pure reaction.

I remember George Brett not as my favorite Royal, but as the guy who went out there and did the same thing every single game. He got the clutch hit, made the hard throw, and just pretty much made the extraordinary look routine every night he took the field. I remember not wondering wether George would get a hit, or holding my breath on the long throw from third, because I always knew he would come through when the team needed it.

I also remember Brett being the guy everyone loved, but at the same time hated. George Brett was the face of the team, the heart of the team and the leader of the team in the fans’ eyes. People knew where he lived, where he ate, who he hung out with. His life and personality were always a topic of conversation. Every company wanted George Brett to have their product in his hands.

George Brett was, and still is, the Kansas City Royals. He is the face of that team, the I-70 Series and all things Kansas City, and that in my mind is the biggest stat from the I-70 Series.

George did exactly what everyone expected him to do in 1985. He tore the cover off the ball in the regular season, blasting 30 home runs; he became the MVP of the 1985 American League Championship Series; and he drove the ball all over the field in the World Series, including a four-hit performance in Game 7. He truly lived up to the legend.

George Brett will forever be remembered for that magical Fall 25 years ago when he led the Royals to a world championship.

The hottest 3 songs in 1985. Can you name them?

• Finished 1st in AL West (91-71), Manager Dick Howser (Scored 687 runs, Allowed 639 runs)
• Attendance: 2,162,717 (5th of 14)
• Post season: Won World Series (4-3) over St. Louis Cardinals
  Won AL Championship Series (4-3) over Toronto Blue Jays

And how did the Royals do on this July 12, 1985 day? Well, they lost 4-5 with the winning run scored with two outs. The losing pitcher was Dan Quisenberry who would later go on to face the toughest battle anyone could face, cancer. The winning pitcher was Tom Waddell. Lonnie Smith LF, George Brett 3B, Darryl Motley RF-LF and Frank White 2B, who hit a home run, scored the four runs.

Flash forward to 2010?

1. “California Gurls” …..Katy Perry Featuring Snoop Dogg
2. “Airplanes” …..B.oB. Featuring Hayley Williams
3. “OMG” …..Usher Featuring will.i.am

And the 2010 Royals? Well, here are the current numbers as we head to the All Star break…

• 4th in AL Central, 8 Games Back, Manager Ned Yost who took the helm in May
• Attendance to date: 809,464

The 2010 Royals have some great young talent and it’ll be interesting to watch them develop more after the break. We don’t have a George Brett or Dan Quisenberry. We do have a David DeJesus and Zack Greinke.