This is something I've been watching for the last week+, so I though I'd write about it.  Maybe, it'll help me feel better.

With last night's loss, the Royals are now 0-16 when they allow 6 or more runs.  I don't expect that any team has a good record when allowing 6+ runs, but this seems a little ridiculous to me.  In my opinion, allowing 6+ runs at the major league level means that you're getting your ass kicked in 2 phases of the game (pitching and defense).  Out of 33 games, we've gotten our asses kicked about half the time.  BTW, the Royals are only 4-3 when they manage to score 6 or more.

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Yeah, I know - it's really too soon to be thinking about this.  I just thought it'd be interesting to see where we stand after the 1st month.

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Hello and greetings from sunny Phoenix, Arizona!  As a Royals fan and a long time reader of this blog, I thought that I’d finally join in and give a few of my random recommendations for anyone planning on coming down to see some Spring Training games (and I know that a couple of you are, so I hope you forgive the newbie for creating his own fanpost). 

     1.  The Phoenix metro area is referred to as "The Valley of the Sun."  Bring sun block – apply liberally.  I recommend sun protection for your lips as well (speaking from a bad experience here).

     2.  Related to the above – I also recommend drinking lots of hydrating fluids.  I know we all (or at least most of us) like beer, but you’ll get dehydrated if that’s all you drink.

     3.  When driving on the highways, watch your speed.  There are quite a few photo radar areas around the valley (yes, I think of them as evil too).  Some are in fixed locations, and others are mobile (meaning you never know where they’ll be from day-to-day). 

     4.  Personally, I prefer getting to the games early if possible.  The traffic is usually lighter then, but it’ll give you some margin for error if it’s not.  When heading out to Surprise, the most direct route is on Bell Road.  Between The 101* and the stadium (9-10 miles on Bell), there are about 20 traffic lights and 1 railroad crossing.  That stretch will take me about 20 minutes on a really good day.  Plan on it taking longer and pray that there’s no train!

* – For some reason, all highways in AZ are preceded by “The” – it might be an Arizona thing.  I’ve never heard this anywhere else.  I find it somewhat annoying – kind of like when someone will say that they attended THE University of Miami for example.

     5.  You can usually walk up and get tickets to most games that same day.  If you plan on seeing the Dodgers (especially if they sign Manny), Diamondbacks, or Cubs, I recommend buying tickets in advance.

     6.  Note, the game times on the Royals website are all Central time.  Arizona does NOT do daylight savings and does NOT "spring forward" on March 8th (I think that’s the right day?).  Therefore (looking at posted game times), 2:05 CT is 1:05 locally (1 exception), and 3:05 CT is also 1:05 locally.  The game on April 2nd starts 1 hour earlier at 12:05 (I guess to allow extra time to pack and leave AZ).  The 8:05 CT games are 6:05 start times.

     7.  At Surprise, the Royals’ dugout is on the 3rd base side.  The Royals will enter and exit the field from the left field bullpen area.  If you want to try and get some autographs, this is the side of the field that you’ll want to be on.  The best time to try is before the game (another reason to get there early).  After the game is also good, but most of the regulars have already left the field by mid-game (so you mostly get the "scrubs" at this point).

Well, that ended up being longer than I thought it would (I’ll just say it and get it out of the way – That’s what she said).  Hopefully, I can learn how to post pictures and do links so my next post doesn’t look like a wall of text. 

If I think of anything else, I’ll add it below.  In the meantime, I hope the information helps.  What else would you like to know?  If anybody has any questions, ask away!!!