Getting to Know: The Kansas City Royals

In an effort to diversify the coverage of the teams here at Major League Jerk, I am going to provide a regular series called “Getting to Know”. My intent is to interview a fan of a team and ask them what we need to know about that team. If you want to be the first one on your block to be interviewed by me, the Great RomanWarHelmet, please send an e-mail to majorleaguejerk@gmail.com and put Roman in the subject. Well, this edition is going to be a tad different than the rest. I solicited TBL commenter nwilson26 to help me learn about the Royals. Well, apparently no one listens to nwilson and he got very very wordy in answering my questions. He makes me look like NickP with his amount of words. So let’s just say this one is going to be a bit long. But I will say, I think you may like this edition best of all. Truthfully, I didn’t know very much about the Royals. With the other teams, I had a pretty fair knowledge going in. This time, I learned a whole lot. So let us continue our voyage into Missouri and get to know…The Kansas City Royals.

As always, I am intrigued by how someone becomes a fan of a team and how they follow their team and how a fan base interacts. So I start by asking how he became a Royals fan (nwilson26’s words are in bold).

Well, growing up in the middle of nowhere I was 2 hours from KC, and 4 hours from St. Louis, so if I wanted to be connected to a MLB team the logical choice was KC. My parents weren’t much on “the city life” so we went to about 1 game a summer and I got to tag along with friends when I was younger when there families went. But when I became old enough to drive me and friends would take “trips” to the park. My family didn’t care much about the Majors and basically didn’t watch any games, but I was completely different in that I wanted to play and watch as much as I could. The only problem was the Royals weren’t on TV back home. The only games that were on were those damn Cubs on WGN. So I watched a lot of there games when they played the Cardinals. To be perfectly honest, the day I really became a true blue fan was the day they terminated Allard Baird from the GM position. I thought and still do think that he was completely worthless. Once Dayton Moore got to town, I let myself take the dive. Allan Baird deserves no more mention from me.

So how do you follow the team now?

Last off-season the Royals signed a legit TV contract with FSN here locally. We finally have 140 regular season games and a pre-game and post game broadcast. Now this may seem tedious to some of you big market, or bigger city teams, but this is a big deal. In past years, if you didn’t live in KC then you had no idea when the games were going to be on. The Cardinals actually had that FSN contract in past years, so everybody had to watch them instead. The Cardinals are good and all, but the rest of Missouri, and Iowa were getting Cardinals baseball. Something didn’t seem right. How in the world is anybody in today’s world supposed to care about something that isn’t on TV when your at home? Getting that TV contract in my opinion is the biggest thing that the Royals have done this year. Finally, we have something to look at, something to see and digest. Before it was newspaper articles that didn’t tell the whole story.

Ryan Lefebvre and Paul Splittorff are also a new tandem in the booth this year. Lefebvre doesn’t usually put his foot in his mouth unless Josh Hamilton is involved, and lets Split to the analysis. Split is good. Hall of Fame pitcher that knows his stuff. Short and to the point. (I must have missed Spliteroff’s HOF ceremony but he did have a decent career) When Split isn’t working, Frank White is in the booth. I love Frank, and am under the impression that every Royals fan does. Frank coached the AA team in years past and was there when Butler, Gordon, Hochevar, Aviles were all there. So he has knowledge about most of the Royals starters as their past coach, which is great. I was actually upset when Frank White didn’t get consideration for the head coaching job. Not that Hillman hasn’t done the job, but Frank has put in a lot of years here and deserves a shot at some point.

No TV contract? Shit, the Mets have their own network. Following the Royals by newspaper? Wow, that is very old timey. You must have missed when they stopped calling managers the Head Coach. So how do you interact with other Royals fans? Are there any traditions that they adhere to?

Royals traditions? Does George Brett count as a tradition?

The Chiefs are known for their tailgating (which I might add is ridiculously fun) but Kauffman and Arrowhead are right next to each other and share the same parking lots. So, it’s not like that tradition is lost with the Royals. Sure it’s not as prominent, but every game I go to, we have a grill, coolers, and always play washers in the parking lot. (I had to look up washers, its like horseshoes)

A new tradition that the Royals have just recently started is the Buck O’Neil Legacy Seat. Buck doesn’t need anymore introduction, or shouldn’t need one anyway. Buck is huge in KC, and every home game that seat is sat in by somebody in the community that has made an impact in the community. They introduce that person at every home game and I feel that it’s an honor for them to be sitting in that seat.

The B2 bombers on opening day are always a treat. Two of them fly over in accordance with the national anthem. If the hair on your arm doesn’t stand on end then something is wrong with you.

One new tradition that I hope we can have for a long time is when Soria comes in to close out the 9th. I was at a game a couple weeks back and the top of the 9th rolled around, and here comes Joakim Soria jogging in to the mound, all of the players stayed in the dugout until he got to the mound. Seeing that should show everybody the kind of respect that he’s being given in a year at this level. Once the crowd realized what was going on there was just a buzz in the stadium. It was truly one of the coolest things I’ve witnessed there. As simple as it may have been. I hope the players continue it.

You bring up George Brett, can you give me an understanding of what he means to the Royals organization and the fans?

Brett means everything. .390, crazy pine tar incident, and that wad of chew in his mouth. He was a man’s man. Gritty, dirty, and all out. 20 years of service all to one team. Fans won’t have the chance to see that anymore with the way player movement is becoming. Look at the stats, they tell you a lot, talk to any Royals fan, and see if any one of them FAILS to mention Brett. That’s how you know. George Brett is the epitome of our slogan right now. True Blue.

OK, George Brett rules. He was no Steve Balboni though. So, what can you tell me about this year’s team?

Young and inconsistent at the plate. When Mark Grudzielanek is your leading batter something is wrong. Love the guy, but please. Our pitching is strong, our bullpen is strong, but our offense is dismal. Scoring runs is a real problem for us. This is the sole reason Jose Guillen is here. Power bat. We need one more right handed power bat. Billy Butler is called a pure hitter by a lot of people, but was sent down because he couldn’t hit for gap power and wasn’t producing any home runs. Since coming back up a couple of weeks ago, he’s been hot at the plate and producing more power.

No power, and no speed. David Dejesus is our leadoff hitter, but he doesn’t have plus speed on the bases, Joey Gathright is on the DL, but when he’s playing he can’t get on base. If you can’t get on you can’t steal second. If you can’t get in scoring position, nobody can hit a f’in (We say fuck in this league son) double, so nobody scores and we end the inning with a runner on 1st and 3rd. Never fails. Our offense should come around with young players at the plate. In theory anyway.

We have 3 solid starters in Gil Meche, Brian Bannister, and Zack Greinke, but then finish out with Kyle Davies (who is inexperienced, but has potential), and Luke Hochevar (who is real young with loads of potential). The problem with the last two is you never know what your going to get. A little consistency from them would go a long way in getting to .500. Ron Mahay, and Soria pretty much have the bullpen locked down. We’ve got a good mix of old/young in our pitching staff.

I believe we are headed in the right direction though. We’ve stayed out of major injuries, certain players have gotten the playing time they need for our people to evaluate whether they will be a part of our future or not. That is an important step.

Are there any players you feel have been overlooked by the media? Well, I guess the answer could be the whole team but I guess I am going for locally or even nationally.

David Dejesus deserves every accolade he gets. He plays a very solid center field. Could use a little more arm strength, but it’s a better option than Gathright in center for arm strength. The guy is batting out of position at leadoff, but produces average, and runs scored. He’s more of a two hole guy. He lacks speed for steals, but produces solid gap power, and average. I’d like to see Gathright get the hang of hitting so he can cause havoc with his speed and athleticism, but he has trouble getting on base. If we could slot him leadoff followed by Dejesus, Alex Gordon, Guillen, Butler, Mark Teahen, Grudz, Aviles and then Buck, I would be happy. Dejesus would finalize a lot of playoff contending teams. Solid, solid, player.

Well, I am sold. David DeJesus for President. Since your team is filled with so many young players are there any players in the minors we should be looking out for? How does the Royals future look?

Carlos Rosa started in AA ball this year and has moved up to AAA already. Daniel Cortez is in Arkansas AA right now and they are high on him. Both are right handed pitchers. Mike Moustakas was our first rounder last draft, and has been up and down in his first start which is to be expected. Our future I would say is solely dependent on who we have called up now. There is a lot of high picks on the squad as of now, so they have to produce. The way I see it, with some help of a friend, our minor league system doesn’t have much to hang it’s hat on right now.

I am assuming by friend you mean Allard Baird? Since we ain’t going to talk about him no more tell me, what do you think of the jobs that Dayton Moore and Trey Hillman have done?

I’ve previously spoken of Moore, and there isn’t much more to say about him. He’s came in and pointed this organization in a different direction. People have taken notice. Hillman is guy who I personally like. He sticks up for his players, and he calls them out at the same time, but everything happens in house. No one guy is too important for this team. In spring training he called out the team for base running errors. Immediately following the game he called everybody out to home plate and lectured them about base running and how important it was. This was after a win. It showed attention to detail and how important he thought detail was going to be in turning this ship around. Did I mention that this was in front of the fans at the game? Embarrassing I’m sure. George Brett went on record as saying the players needed it. When Brett speaks people listen. The only problem that I have right now with Hillman is leaving the starters in too long. That 6th inning is a killer for them. Hillman needs continued motivation from his players to get to .500 at the end of the season. It’s not out of reach. You have to play for something when your 13 out with 2 months to play.

Well, you seem to think the franchise is headed in the right direction but let me ask you, do you think the Royals can ever be a winner with David Glass as it’s owner?

This is a tough question. 2 years ago I would have said no way. When Dayton Moore came here I didn’t know what to think of him. Either he was the biggest scam artist of a GM, or really knew his stuff. For somebody to come to town and take some coin out of Glass’ pockets was impressive. Our payroll has jumped by close to $30 million in 2 years, a power bat is here, a power pitcher in Meche was signed. All well and great for now, but the more impressive thing was that people would actually come here. Glass has made that possible. Now. With that being said. What happens when Gordon, Butler, Aviles, and Pena Jr., all need to be resigned? They all came up at the same time. He’s locked Soria in, has Meche here, but there are going to be some players that need to be with this team resigned and not shipped away like Jermaine Dye, and Carlos Beltran. We have to keep our core because our minor league system isn’t looking good. They are all here right now. This group of kids is what we are banking on. Glass needs to take one more step in my opinion and go ahead and lock down Gordon, Butler, Hochevar, and Greinke. Those 4 guys are our guys. We drafted them, we groomed them, now show them we want them and sign them long term. If he goes in that direction, then yes. We can contend with the playoffs. Get us in the playoffs, and then we’ll go from there.

Fair enough. Frankly, I think it is very possible. I tend to believe an owner like Glass has never used revenue sharing money properly. If teams like Minnesota and Oakland can keep some of their core and keep winning, I see no reason why the Royals can’t. OK, switching gears, tell me about Kauffmann Stadium. Every time I see it on TV, I think it is such a nice looking place. Is that so?

Kauffman Stadium is a great place. The waterfalls over the right center and left center fences are a staple of Kaufmann, along with the gigantic Crown that’s on top of the scoreboard. Kaufmann is in the middle of renovations right now. A new HD scoreboard and replay TV was installed. Largest in the majors as of now, with a new crown on top. LED board was installed in the left field walls to show the other scores around the league. The concourses will be widened, which was needed. They are adding a party area behind left field, a field restaurant in right field, more restrooms, and a newer look all around. The renovations are to be completed by opening day 2009. Opening day 2009 will be awesome.

On a sad note, you can go to a game at Kauffman anytime other than the before mentioned Red Sox, Yankees, and Cardinals series and pay $15 and sit lower level. I’m guessing average attendance is 13k or close to that. In one way it’s nice to go and be able to hang out and not be crowded, but on the other hand, when we get a hit or score a run the game takes a hit because 13k fans just don’t make that big of a splash. But I do think all fans get the feeling that the Royals are on the rise, and they the taxpayers are willing to help out. New GM, new head coach, finally getting to see the young players at the MLB level. Hopefully were on the right track. I’m going to say this only because I believe it myself. I think that Kauffman has a lot of history and should be on peoples list to come visit. It’s simple, it’s quaint, it’s personal. The statues outside, the crown when your driving in off of I-70, the people drunk in the parking lot grilling, and offering you a beer and dog… All reasons to give it a shot. Baseball is/was just an added feature for most of us here. Until now.

Well, that sounds lovely. I think KC is a good baseball town. It was in the past. Speaking of the past, how important are the teams of the 70’s and 80’s to the fans considering the team has not been successful in twenty years?

The mention of Willie Wilson, Frank White, George Brett, Mark Gubicza, Bret Saberhagen, Bo Jackson, and Kevin Seitzer. That’s a pretty good group of guys to hang your hat on. I can still see Bo running sideways on the left field wall. What a freak athlete. Technically that’s all we have, but I’d be wrong if I said that I remember too much about all of those guys. I was young and every one of those guys were on there way out when I started remembering going to the games. What I would give to see anybody bat .390 again. Brett was a natural. We had Beltran until we couldn’t afford him, and Sweeney until we had to give up on him. Sweeney and his injuries are a long standing joke here in KC, but his persona, and dedication to the community was and will always be first class. Hell of a guy. Haven’t heard one teammate say he wasn’t “the nicest guy I’ve ever met”.

Do you miss setting your watch to “Lima Time”?

Thanks for the bait, but haven’t we Royals fans endured enough?

I guess you have. I thank you for all the help. I think some of us may have learned something.