SB Nation User Blog: cmkeller

Who could the Mets blow us away with?

cmkeller — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 14:32:41 -0000

In today's Newsday, one of the sports columnists discusses the Mets' need for a closer, and suggests Joakim Soria as a possible trade target. We all know it would take a heck of a lot to get Soria from the Royals. Do the Mets have it? I'd think they're depleted after trading for Johan Santana, but who knows...maybe they have something great the Royals would be willing to trade even the Mexicutioner for?

ESPN: Soria is top "silver lining"

cmkeller — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 20:39:35 -0000

ESPN: Soria is top "silver lining"

Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com lists the top 9 "silver lining" players for teams that are not in playoff contention, and our favorite Mexicutioner is the first man on his list.

My day at the K, 6/25/2008

cmkeller — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 14:13:29 -0000

Well, I reported backin February that I had a big trip planned, and I bought my tickets to the Royals vs Rockies game on June 25 as soon as they came available. I'm back from the trip now, and it was ultra-fantastic! The Royals-specific highlights:

The Royals continue to have a perfect record (2-0, now) when I'm in attendance, beating the Rox 4-2. The game was pretty messy, with the Rockies taking an early lead and the Royals coming back mainly by taking advantage of errors, but hey, a win's a win!
Luke Hochevar recovered impressively from a rocky (pun semi-intended) first two innings
Every time Ross Gload came to bat, I yelled, "Gload will explode!!" and hoped I'd see someone turn around in recognition. No one did, but it was still fun, especially since he did - two doubles.
The roar of the crowd when Joakim Soria came in to close the game was an awesome thing to behold. Also, I saw him referred to as the "Mexecutioner" in the following day's KC Star, so I guess that's now an official nickname for him - did we originate that here?
My wife, who is far more awesome than I deserve, had the Royals put "Welcome Mattis Keller, our most loyal fan" (no offense, loyal2) on the scoreboard.
Even more amazing than that, I actually appeared (with my 10-year-old son and my 5-month-old baby daughter) on the scoreboard during one of the random "fan-cam shots" around the 4th inning. (The rest of my family was either sitting out of range or was on a bathroom break.) Just the thing to make the evening perfect - the image in my mind kept me energetic for the whole drive to Branson that night.
The Royals drove us from the stadium entrance back to our van in one of their courtesy golf carts. I think this was the highlight of the evening for my children who are not yet capable of truly appreciating baseball.

Only two things I'd criticize: I was quite disappointed at the long line to claim my "will-call" tickets, and I'm pretty sure it's because that was also a ticket SALES line, I don't think there was a dedicated line for picking up already-purchased tickets. I expected that pre-buying my tickets would guarantee speedy entry to the stadium. Instead, I was still on line when the national anthem was sung, and I was practically in a panic that after having driven 25 hours to get to the K, I was going to miss some of the game (fortunately, I didn't, just barely). Also, the general parking is a HUGE walk from the stadium. I'm sure I passed at least two completely empty lots on my way from where we were directed to park to the stadium (though the aforementioned golf-cart ride later made up for this.

All in all, it was great to be there in the flesh again! Now, I'm back in New York, rooting from afar - go Royals!

Tony Pena is not our hitting problem

cmkeller — Wed, 07 May 2008 15:21:28 -0000

With the Royals having so much trouble getting runs on the board, one of the things I hear most is "sit Pena in favor of Callaspo." True, TPJ can't hit well, and who wants a black hole in their lineup? But the Royals' recent woes can't be pinned on him. Check out the difference in these Royals hitter before and after the west coast trip that had started on April 14:

April 13 and earlier:

Royals W/L: 7-5

Mark Grudzeilanek: .308/.333/.386

Mark Teahen: .286/.452/.400

Alex Gordon: .333/.604/.360

Billy Butler: .386/.477/.449

Tony Pena: .033/.033/.064

After April 13:

Royals W/L: 7-13

Mark Grudzeilanek: .241/.310/.379

Mark Teahen: .236/.306/.304

Alex Gordon: .246/.287/.337

Billy Butler: .222/.292/.291

Tony Pena: .220/.254/.233

The Royals were not expecting major offense out of Tony Pena. He is what he is, a light-hitting shortstop with great defensive skill. As it is, his hitting during the team's down period is light-years better than it was when the team was doing well, so how could he be held responsible for the problems the Royals have had lately?

The problems here are Gordon, Butler and Teahen, and to a lesser extent (only because he's not big in the future plans), Grudz. And of course, Guillen, but he was bad in both the before and after periods. What could have caused these guys to collapse like this? It's not just regression to a mean from an early small sample size, it's an en masse slump. If the guys we're really counting on as hitters don't hit, what can we possibly do? Callaspo replacing Pena is a band-aid, not a cure.

World record for most uniform-back letters in a single image?

cmkeller — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 08:12:17 -0000

World record for most uniform-back letters in a single image?

Royals bloggers never complete a list

cmkeller — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 03:19:10 -0000

I hate to seem like I'm demanding or complaining, considering that they do this for free. But:

RoyalsRetro's countdown of the top 100 Royals of all time is stalled on # 57, Emil Brown, for more than two weeks.

Rany was counting down 23 reasons to be optimistic about the Royals this year. Stopped at # 2 on April 3.

The Royals Authority duo were doing profiles of everyone on the Royals 40-man roster. As of March 3, they had one more (Mark Teahen) to go. As of today, that same statement is true.

Come on guys, let's wrap up some lists already, can't you?

SI's John Donovan gives Royals love

cmkeller — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 01:10:36 -0000

SI's John Donovan gives Royals love

Looks like we're the darlings of the baseball world for now!

I got mine! How about you?

cmkeller — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 20:33:52 -0000

Today individual Royals game tickets went on special pre-sale to mlb.com subscribers. I've been waiting months for this, because a game at the K is a must for my cross-country road trip plans.

My family (me included) will be sitting in section 303 when the Royals face the Rockies on June 25! Woo hoo!

SI says Royals not hopeless

cmkeller — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 09:18:34 -0000

(still lowly, though)

This article about Barry Bonds on SI.com rates teams' likelihoods of signing Barry Bonds. The Royals are listed as a "Developing young team not ready to contend" (which sounds like it comes out of a personal ad, doesn't it? DYTNRTC seeking power OF or SP for long-term relationship, hopefully pennant), as opposed to the Marlins and Pirates, who are labelled simply "Hopeless." We're moving on up, guys!

Hall of Fame announcement, KC style

cmkeller — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 20:20:29 -0000

The National Baseball Hall of Fame is proud to announce that the lone 2008 inductee is Rich "Goose" Gossage.

Gossage is best known for having surrendered the massive home run to George Brett in the 1980 American League Champisonship Series, which allowed the Royals to advance past the Yankees after three years of frustration. Brett's home run off Gossage is considered by many to be the most significant blast in Royals history.

Gossage is also responsible for what is arguably the second-most famous Royal home run, also surrendered to George Brett. On July 24, 1983, Brett hit the go-ahead home run in the top of the ninth inning off the Yankee reliever, only to find himself declared out due to excessive use of Pine Tar on the bat's handle. This sent the normally composed third baseman into a mad frenzy, the likes of which were not seen again until Joaquin Andujar melted down during the Royals' victorious Game 7 of the 1985 World Series. The ruling was eventually appealed to the president of the American League, who re-instated the home run, and the bottom of the ninth was played a month later, ending in a victory for the Royals' Dan Quisenberry, who for some reason didn't make it past his first Hall of Fame ballot, despite being a more dominant closer than Gossage for the shared years of their careers.

We congratulate the Goose for his induction, where he will join the man to whom he surrendered those homers, who incidentally had gotten in on his first election with over 98% of the vote.