In the first quarter, Payton called alot of passing plays which lead to short drives, turnovers and good field position for the dolphins. IMO, this was the number one reason why the team was down 24-3. Thankfully a couple of turnovers helped cut the lead to 7, but once again Payton called three straight passing plays which lead to a sack and fumble and a 27-17 deficit. Then, Payton went to the running game with Bell and the offense exploded, gave the defense more rest, and put more pressure on Miami.

I'm just wondering why Payton would be so pass happy on the road where its difficult to handle a ferocious pass rush instead of keeping it simple and establishing balance. I hope he realizes how his play-calling put the team in a predicament which could have been avoided by pounding the rock with Pierre and Bell.

Awesome win still!

It's really alot easier this season compared to years past.

LF Dejesus

SS Aviles

3B Gordon

RF Guillen

1B Jacobs

DH Butler

2B Teahen

C  Olivo

CF Crisp

I don't get the idea of batting Gordon and Aviles low in the lineup. Aviles was our best overall hitter last season and Gordon had a great OPS against RHPs and teams face RHPs more often. No reason for those two to bat behind anyone else in the lineup.

I don't take great stock in Spring Training numbers. Most pitchers are trying to get their stuff together. I'm happy Teahen and Crisp had great springs, but it shouldn't make Hillman forget about last season. If Seitzer can work wonders with Teahen, why not with Gordon?

Overall, I don't mind the 9 guys starting and the 4 backups, assuming TPJ is waived and sent to Omaha. I don't mind the 4th and 5th starters as well. But I would do the lineup differently. That's just me.

I looked at the numbers and wanted to post them for some of the players.

Teahen: 63 ABs, .381/.506/.619, 31 RBIs
Sweeney: 57 ABs, .298/.391/.456, 21 RBIs
Brown: 56 ABs, .339/.377/.589, 27 RBIs
Gordon: 53 ABs, .226/.388/.321, 10 RBIs
Buck: 43 ABs, .233/.308/.465, 13 RBIs
Gload: 27 ABs, .333/.345/.556, 14 RBIs
Sanders: 15 ABs, .333/.444/.600, 7 RBIs
Shealy: 38 ABs, .184/.239/.289, 13 RBIs
Pena: 57 ABs, .298/.328/.439, 16 RBIs

Obviously Shealy is worthless meaning he should bat 8th at the highest and on the bench once Gload is back. Shealy probably won't be on the team next season with Gload elgible for arbitration and Butler coming up.

Enough of Shealy. Look at Brown. That's pretty awesome. Gload too. We need guys like them starting.

Buck isn't that great at all. Maybe he belongs at 6th or 7th in the lineup until he starts to improve in this department.

Gordon has gotten on base, but needs to keep improving his slugging percentage.

Pena has done pretty well too.

No, Soria will not play the DA-turned villain with half of his face scared from acid, but instead this is about his splits. Soria's numbers are pretty decent, but not dominating. Why? He flat out stinks against righties while dominating lefties. Why? I don't know, I'm not a pitching coach. Let's look at the stats.

Vs. Left: 9.1 IP, 4 H, 2 BB, 10 K, 0.68 WHIP, .138 average

Vs. Right: 10.0 IP, 13 H, 7 BB, 12 K, 2.00 WHIP, .310 BAA

Very strange. I hope someone has the answers. Maybe you, my beloved L2TR? BTW, i think mobiledawg is the coolest poster on RC.

Well, I downloaded the 2006 rosters onto my MVP Baseball 2004 PC game and straightened a few things to get this years Royals and this years Red Sox. I started Meche against Schilling wearing the home blues. Meche allowed 2 runs in 6 innings while I got 7 runs off of Schil' thanks to HRs by DDJ and Emil Brown. Sanders and Teahen also contributed with RBI doubles to make it 7-2 in the 8th. However, Peralta and JDLR had control problems and Boston scored 4 in the 8th to make it 7-6. In the 9th, Dotel came in and after one out, allowed a solo shot to Coco Crisp to tie the game. After Timlin shut me down in the 9th, I brought in Gobble and he allowed 3 runs and I lost 10-7 in 10 innings. It was a very disappointing lost, but I'm game sure Game 2 will be different with Perez against Beckett.

also, i've recused myself from the Grimsley case after my name appeared on a pharmacy list in Mobile, AL where i went to college. I cant comment any further.

I did go to the Royals game in Houston Friday night and was amused by the fact that the view from 4th level isn't as good as the view from the 1st level.

Anyway, i feel bad for abandoning my dear loyal2theRoyals and her father of course, especially when BYU lost to Xavier in the 1st round of the big dance, but I was too busy hitting pursuing my ex-fiance's sister. Sorry.

Tomorrow in your morning papers, you will see a list of baseball stars like Miguel Tejada, Roger Clemens, and Andy Pettite supposedly outed by my client Jason Grimsley. That is NOT TRUE!!!! My client never gave such names to the feds. The fact is, my client was asked about these clients and this is why these names are in public tonight. This is an attempt by the federal government to put pressure on my client by making him a target for the media, federal government, and now the players union. This tactic won't get them too far. The truth will come out and justice will prevail and by this time next season, my client will be a key member for a team's playoff run.....

I have to be honest. Since last Monday, the offseason began so i could focus everything into my beloved New Orleans Saints. I come by every now and then and see what's going on and check the Yahoo box scores to see how we do occasionally. I was pleased we won last night to avoid 100 losses, but for some reason, it doesn't matter as much because basically enjoying this new found success with the Saints has made me realize how important winning is when following your favorite team. It is nice to see a Royals win this time of year, but right now with the Saints being 3-0 and in 1st place in the NFC South, a Royals victory in September doesn't compare. I haven't felt this excited about the Royals since April 8 when Mike Sweeney hit the 2-run shot in the 8th inning against the White Sox giving us a 3-2 win with Burgos saving it in the 9th. After the game we were 2-2 and things were looking up. We brought in alot of veterans who knew how to play the game and we were on our way. What happens? Well, we lose a close one Sunday 3-1 and then head off to the Bronx for a 3-game set with the Yanks. I thought this year's team was different and it showed when we were up 7-4 thanks to home runs by Reggie Sanders and Shane Costa and we had Sisco and Burgos ready to hold the lead. With our 2 young studs, we could stick it to the Yanks. Nope, a 3-run blast from Jeter gave the Yanks a 9-7 victory and we go on to lose 9 more games after that. A 2-2 record becomes 2-13 and our season is done. DONE!! IN APRIL!!!!!!! Sigh....... I guess it didn't hit me until I read RR's lastest story about how Dayton Moore believes in Angel Berroa and his physical gifts. Well, being a Saints fan, I use to hear the same thing from former head coach Jim Haslett about QB Aaron Brooks. We heard how Brooks is physically gifted with a rocket arm, nice height, and great mobility. Every year we heard how Brooks is improving and will be the QB to take us where we want to go. After every fumble, every interception into triple coverage, and every 7-9 or 8-8 season, we heard the same garbage we are hearing now about Angel Berroa. Why is it different in New Orleans now? Well, our GM Mickey Loomis had enough and fired Jim Haslett and brought in new coach Sean Payton. What was the first thing Payton did? He released Aaron Brooks. Let's hope Dayton Moore can see the light like Mickey Loomis has and do what is needed to get done........

Well, today was a typical performance by a Buddy managed team. The team could only fight for so long until Buddy ball took over again. I said earlier today Mike Wood would have to match Redman's performance from last night in order for the Royals to win because the offense Buddy put out there was not going to get it done. Well, Wood could only sustain it for 3 innings before things unraveled in the 4th when the D-Rays scored 4. That would be more than enough for D-Rays flame thrower Casey Fossum who added to his league leading total of 18 strike outs with 1 more today. The Royals had no answer for him through 6 innings. Still, Fossum must have add a few butterflies when he saw the lineup put out by Buddy. Let's look closely why:

Against LHPs    OBP    SLG
CF Dejesus     .478   .684
3B Graffy      .273   .364
2B Grudzie     .288   .411
DH Sanders     .346   .468
LF Brown       .305   .500
1B Dougie      .400   .447
SS Berroa      .275   .451
LF Costa       .273   .400
C  Buck        .333   .366

What sticks out is Buddy's obsession to start Graffy against lefties and bat him in the 2-hole. For a guy who doesn't get on base and hits with no power, it seems important for Buddy to put him 2nd in the lineup. After Graffy, we have Grudzie batting 3rd. To bat in the 3-hole for most teams, a hitter must have good plate discipline and hit the ball with some pop. Unfortunately, it doesn't apply to Grudzie against LHPs. So basically after Dejesus, we have a guy who doesn't get on base and then another guy who couldn't drive him in even if he ever did get on. So what's the end result? A dominating performance from Casey Fossum. The team did show some spirit in the end including a late 2-run homer by Reggie Sanders. I'm sure Buddy must have been proud. It's nice to see Buddy continuing Baird's "plan" by using Costa and Teahen in platoon rules. Somewhere in Florida, the Bacardi guy is smiling.

Last night was a big win. Down 2-1 for most of the game with our offense really struggling, the 8thy inning comeback was particularly sweet. Graffinino was big last night with a game tying single and providing an insurance run with a great slide after Sanders' double. Let's not forgot Mark Redman's very nice performance going 8 innings and scattering 9 hits with just 2 runs. Basically, it took heroic efforts from graffy and Redman to barely survive the pitching of Mark Hendrickson. Why? Well, the offense skuffled for most of the night until the heroic 8th inning. Let's look deeper to see why.

Bell decided to keep Teahen in the lineup after his 4 hit game, but felt the need to bench Dougie for Graffy because a lefty was starting. What does the numbers say for Graffy against lefties? Graffy has an OBP of .270 and an overall OPS of .613. Basically he doesn't get on base and doesn't hit for power. Yet, Buddy decides to use him in the 2-hole moving down Grudzie one spot. So what happens? You have no one getting on base after Dejesus, and then 2 guys who don't consistently drive in runs batting 3rd and 4th with Grudzie and Sanders. Through 7 innings we only had 1 run from 4 hits. Those 4 hits were from our 7-9 hitters, similar to the success we had the night before when 7-9 had a total of 7 hits. So, the top of the order struggled until the 8th when Buck walked, Dejesus singled and Graffy applied the law of averages by getting his 1st hit in his 4th at-bat. Also, we batted a guy 6th in German who provides no power threat whatsoever expecting him to drive in runs when instead he's a better fit at the top of the lineup. Surprisingly, Redman pitched a great game and we had a breakout inning. All of this inspite of Buddy.

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We're facing lefty Mark Hendrickson for the D-Rays. My first memory of Hendrickson was a star power forward at Washington St. University. He later went to become a 2nd round pick for the Philadelphia 76ers. So with a lefty on the mound, what should our lineup be based on the stats against LHPs?

            OBP   SLG
DH German  .452  .402
1B Mienky  .400  .447
CF Dejesus .526  .800
LF Brown   .321  .531
RF Sanders .347  .489
2B Grudzie .304  .434
3B Teahen  .292  .409
C  Buck    .311  .359
SS Berroa  .250  .438

So with this beautifully constructed lineup against a former basketball star and Mark Redman coming off his 1st win of the year, we should look for the red-hot Royals in a romp..... However, expect Buddy to play the game the right away and start right-hand hitting Tony Graffinino at 3B and batting him 2nd in the lineup. It could be a long night for the fans waiting for free Krispy Kreme donuts.

well, looking at the stats, especially OBP and OPS, i fully realize how our manager really doesn't know how to utilize our players. I suggest this:
              OBP  OPS
against RHPs
LF German    .426  .813
1B Mienky    .361  .744
CF Dejesus   .364  .802
DH Stairs    .339  .782 (against RHPs)
2B Grudzie   .354  .750 (against RHPs)
RF Sanders   .284  .743
3B Teahen    .242  .619
C Buck       .263  .614
SS Berroa    .254  .616

against LHPs
DH German
1B Mienky
CF Dejesus
LF Brown     .321  .852 (against LHPs)
RF Sanders   .347  .836 (against LHPs)
2B Grudzie  
3B Teahen
C Buck
SS Berroa

The most astonishing stat i noticed was Sanders 7 BBs and 44 Ks. What does that make him?

STAT PADDER!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This season is like cancer. A terminal illness that just does not seem to improve. Even when there appears to be a silver lining, a guy named Buddy seems to shatter it. We know about Keppel and his performance, arguably the best performance from a starter all season. Still, it's something deeper in my eyes. I see 4 guys. I don't know these guys personally, but they seem like 4 innocent guys. They go by the name of Shane, Mark, Andrew, and Ambiorix. There was another kid by the name of Justin, but he's gone so no reason to talk about him. Yet. Anyway, these 4 guys seem to have potential to do good things in this league. The problem is they are caught up in this disaster of a season. This disaster of a franchise. Why? Because of that same guy named Buddy. Who is Buddy? Well, he's a former player who believes the game should be played the right way. He even wrote a book about it. I haven't read the book, but I shouldn't have to since Buddy gets to manage my favorite team. I get to see how the game is played the right way. Well, it's been a year now since Buddy was hired and I'm still waiting. Waiting to see a team with a good approach at the plate. A team with pitchers who throw strikes. A team who plays good defense. It hasn't happened. The truth is it never will happen. Is it the coach? Is the players? Is it the lack of an attractive massage therapist similiar to the one in San Diego? The truth is, it's about 4 guys. Yes those same 4 guys I mentioned earlier. Why are these 4 guys important? Well, they're supposed to be part of this great plan. A plan that will lead to glory in the future. A future where we will not use our small market as an excuse, but say to everyone else: "See, we do it the Royal way." Unfortunately, the Royal way will rot whatever skills these guys may posess. You see, baseball is a sport which skills take time to develop. In order to develop these skills, players must work at their craft every day. Players can't work on their baseball skills alone like in basketball or football. Players need to play, play every day. A team like the Royals need to develop as many prospects as they can. They need to play their prospects everyday. Pitchers need to pitch substantial innings so they can learn the craft of getting a hitter out. However, it's not happening for these 4 gentlemen. Shane and Mark only play when a right-handed pitcher is on the mound. Andrew will be lucky to face more than one right-handed batter every few days or so. Ambiorix is put in a position where he has to get hitters out even though he hasn't had the opportunity to learn this craft. Why? Because, because Buddy likes to play the game the right way. He bats righties against lefties. Brings in lefties to face lefties. Give the veterans first crack. It's all about today in his world. Now an ideal situation would have those youngsters in Omaha. Shane and Mark could get to play everyday against righties and lefties. Andrew and Ambiorix could pitch a few innings each appearance, not worrying about the pressure of winning a major league game. They could work on their craft, develop as players, and be ready to help out everyday when called up. However, it's not happening and it never will happen in this current state. Why? Because it's the Royal way.