No, not necessarily in your team, but in yourselves. Here's the reason:

Yesterday, in The Hardball Times, Craig Calcaterra of the Shysterball blog wrote the following review of Mariners-Royals:

Royals 3, Mariners 0: When I first typed this I accidentally inverted this score to show the Ms winning it. Quick show of hands: how many of you would have noticed if I had kept it that way? But let's not be totally dismissive here. Kyle Davies was impressive (8 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 8K) and Soria got his 38th save for a team with only 66 wins. It would be even more impressive if Seattle had put together even a AAA-quality lineup for this game.

Ha-ha, let's laugh at the pitiful teams playing out the string, right? Well, here's the game summary for the next day:

Mariners 6, Royals 3: Attendance was listed as over 19,000. The fact that these two teams can draw that many people at this point in the season when Tampa Bay cannot absent a huge influx of Sox fans tells you a lot about the relative maturity and viability of the Tampa Bay market.

How ironic! Shyster makes the same mistake he just mentioned the previous day! Waaaaiit a second . . . I contacted Craig to alert him to the error, and also complain a little - this isn't the first time this year he's done this to a Royals score. But his response to me warmed my midwestern, cholesterol-clogged heart:

Brian,   I did it on purpose.  I actually have a lot of Royals'  fans who read the blog and immediately piped up yesterday to say that they would have noticed.  I wanted to test the assertion.  I am happy to report on behalf of Royals'  fans everywhere, that it was almost immediately noticed by several people.  Royals fans are good fans.  Sharp fans too.   I suppose I do give the Royals too much hell.  I think I've actually been harder on the Giants this year, but you're right: I probably need to moderate that a bit.  It's nothing personal.  Sometimes it's just hard to think of something interesting to say about a game without playoff implications this time of year.   Craig

So, I say to internet Royals fans everywhere, show a little extra pride today. Walk with the head a little higher. Stick out the chin with a little more Gload-ian grit. For we might not be the largest fan base, and we might not root for the best team (Hah! Understatement!), but today we have shown we yet retain our dignity and our self-respect. Let us hope our team can follow in our footsteps.

As Royals fans, we all know our team is capable of some tremendous losing streaks. I mean, we went 19 games just a couple years ago. Plus, the team is playing horribly right now. Only one pitcher is up to snuff, and it doesn't matter because the offense can only muster one run a game. But, maybe the end of the longest road trip of the year will cure things (Hah!). Or maybe this streak will hit the upper teens and cause Royals fans to question everything about Dayton Moore, Trey Hillman and the Royals hopes of ever making the playoffs again (the full Rob Neyer). It's worth betting on. So, in the comments, place your bets on how many more games the losing streak will last. The winner will have the cold comfort of being right as another season goes down the tubes, like a shot of good vodka on the day you were laid off.

Let the dour forecasts begin!

Sometime in the last couple of days, one of the Reviewers suggested the nickname "Greinke and the Brain" for Zack and Bannister. I love that idea, and in honor of the back-to-back wins we just received from them, here is the "Greinke and the Brain" theme song (sung, of course, the the tune of "Pinky and the Brain"):

Gee Brian, what do you want to do tonight?

The same thing we do every night, Greinke: try to take over the AL Central!

They're Greinke and the Brain,
Yes Greinke and the Brain
One loves the SABR,
The other throws flames
They're Royals pitchers, true,
But they're a fearsome du-
Oh, They're Greinke, they're Greinke and
the Brain Brain Brain Brain
Brain Brain Brain Brain
Brain

Before each game concludes,
Their talents are displayed.
They make batters look like fools,
'Til Soria gets the save!

They're Greinke and the Brain
Yes Greinke and the Brain
Their summer campaign
Is easy to explain
To give KC a chance
to the playoffs to advance,
They're Greinke, they're Greinke and the
Brain Brain Brain Brain
Brain Brain Brain Brain
Hooch!

Hey guys, we know by now Bannister and Greinke have the "Who's Got the Lowest ERA?" game going. While that friendly competition may lead to problems like tonight, (where I bet some part of Greinke wanted to complete the game because Bannister did) it also leads to quotes like this [courtesy the KC Star]:

“One thing I noticed when Bannister was pitching,” Greinke said, “is he kept the ball down really well. When he misses over the plate, he doesn’t miss thigh-thigh. He misses at the knees or shins. That’s what I focused on this time.”

I think Greinke paying attention to/getting pitching tips from Bannister can only be a good thing. Can we imagine how Bannister's brain might help ZG pitch better? I can't think of a better pitcher for Zach to emulate in terms of control, efficiency, and game-planning.

I'm also thinking: we know Bannister reads stat blogs and the like. If we can put together some solid stat analysis on him or Greinke, maybe Brian can pass it along for us? I think this could be a really awesome way for us to help the Royals. For example, there's been a lot of debate about pitch counts the last few games. Someone should compile the debate into a succinct form and try to get Brian's attention about it. He could refute it if he wants, offer his take on it, or take it into consideration AND pass the knowledge onto Zach/McClure. At the very least, we would get some interesting takes on the debate from the pitcher himself. What do people think? I think we have the brains around to pull it off, but it is very late and I might be imagining this is possible.

Now if we can only get Hochevar involved somehow . . .

Everyone here with internet access and any love for good sportswriting should check out the KC Star's 2008 Baseball Preview Section, posted here:

http://www.kansascity.com/baseball2008/

The section has multiple fabulous stories about GMDM, Jeeves, Banny and the inside story of our pursuit of Torii Hunter, among others, from Posnanski, Sam Mellinger and Bob Dutton. I know it is cliche among our circles, but I DARE you to find a better written baseball preview anywhere in the country. The KC Star's sports section is amazing, and I am glad to have grown up reading it every day of my life.

From Jeffrey Flanagan in Friday's KC Star, here's Moore's response when asked about Teahen and DeJesus' potential:

""Both of those players really need to emerge, and we fully believe they will," Moore told me. "They both have the potential to be All-Stars.

"David has the most consistent swing on the team. He hangs in there against left-handers. He's an on-base guy. He's a guy we feel could get 200 hits.

"Mark is someone we feel is a 20-homer guy who can score 100 runs in the middle of the lineup. He hit 17 homers in a partial season two years ago. We know he's capable. He also may be the best on the team at getting to his top speed the quickest. He can turn a lot of singles into doubles."

Moore knows that Alex Gordon and Billy Butler are simply too talented not to be great hitters one day. Whether that comes this year or down the road is anyone's guess.

But the time is now for DeJesus and Teahen to have their breakthrough years, which is crucial to the Royals plans.

"I do feel much better about the offense at this time than I did a year ago," Moore said. "We can see the potential for production and scoring if the pieces fall into place.""

So, Royals Reviewers, what do we think? Are Moore's expectations accurate? Optimistic? Which player is more likely to meet them?

Personally, I think his projections are pretty accurate, but I do think Teahen has more potential for any "All-Star" status, simply because I'm not sure how much more time DeJesus has to get better in his prime. But, I'd really like to hear some debate about it.