Thoughts on 2008, So Far

It's still early in the season, but there are a couple of interesting story lines developing.


The Tigers Suck! Okay, maybe suck isn't the right word, but can you believe the start they are off to? What is the over/under for losses before their first win? Could they be the first team in history to make the post season after starting 0-7? That would be a story. As a Royals fan, I hope they continue just they way they are.

Eric Gagne Sucks! Seriously. Gagne's days of being the most dominant closer in baseball are long gone. It looks like injuries and age have taken their toll on Gagne. I've always like Gagne, so I hope he can pull it together, but so far I'm not liking what I've seen.

The Cardinals don't suck! I have a couple of friends who are Cards fans, and all of them predicted doom and gloom this season. So far, the Cards are 6-2 and don't look like the laughing stock that everybody predicted.

Banny is smart! It's been well documented that Royals' pitcher Brian Bannister is a brainy dude. Check out Joe Posnanski's blog for some analysis on how he struggled against the Yankees, but got the win.

That scoreboard is huge! Kauffman Stadium now features an unreal, almost grotesque scoreboard as part of the ongoing stadium renovations. I've only seen pictures, but I will be at the "K" tonight to take it all in. I hope I will be able to take my eyes off the scoreboard long enough to watch Zack Grienke beat the Yanks.

Opening Day Today

What a day.

2 hours from now (barring any weather delays), David DeJesus will step into the batter’s box at Comerica Park, kicking off the 2008 Royals baseball season.

The Royals will be sporting a fresh new lineup, (DeJesus, Grudz, Gordon, Guillen, Butler, Teahen, Gload, Buck, Pena) and will rely on staff ace Gil Meche.

Could this be the year? Realistically speaking, no. Probably not. But, can we dream a little? Rany’s post lets us dream a dream of watching Alex Gordon hoisting the World Series trophy this fall. That probably won’t happen, but this still promises to be a very exciting year.

2008 looks to be the on-ramp year. The Royals are building themselves into contenders. They are perhaps halfway up the on-ramp. The development of a couple of more prospects (Hochevar, Moustakas), and the maturity a of a few young stars (Gordon, Butler, Grienke, Soria) provide us the hope of a bright future. By the end of 2008, the Royals will be ready to merge onto the highway of contending baseball. Next spring, they will be up to speed, and the summer of 2009 should be a fun ride down that highway.

Let’s get it started.

Just 2 hours after the Royals beat the Tigers today, I will join my friends for our annual season ticket draft. I will be purchasing 15 games this year, and I can’t wait to find out what games I get. My strategy this year will be to go for promotions first, opponents next. Bobbleheads, t-shirts, and the Monarchs cap – I’m shooting for you.

Let’s go get ‘em!

Breaking 100: Back for More

I've always enjoyed doing this blog. I started it in 2006 because I really thought the Royals wouldn't lose 100 games that year. I envisioned a big celebratory blog moment when the Royals won their 63rd game. Unfortunately, that didn't happen.

I tracked them again in 2007. I wasn't as excited about it last year because I was really tired of Buddy Bell. That guy... naw, I don’t want to go down that path.

Anyway, they avoided 100 losses last year. There wasn't much of a celebration here. I'm not sure if anybody even reads this damn thing. But it's still interesting to plug the game results into my spreadsheet everyday and see how the Royals are trending. It was nice to see the green up arrow, instead of the red down arrow.

After they won their 63rd game last year, I quit posting. There are a couple of reasons for that. For one, they broke 100. That was the whole point of the blog, right? But, I also started a new job at around that same time.

Not to get off onto a Posnanski-like tangent, but my old job was very boring. We just weren't very busy there. We had a shake-up in our sales personnel, and our new sales guys just hadn't sold any of our services. So, I found myself sitting around alot. That gave me lots of time to figure out new ways to make Excel calculate Phythagorean records.

The good news is that I landed my dream job. The bad news is, that new job requires me to actually work all day. I also travel quite a bit now. This, of course, means I don't have as much free time to do blog posts. My evenings are also pretty full with a 14 year old son playing baseball, and an 11 year old daughter playing volleyball and softball. After I started my new job, I just became too busy and distracted to update the blog.

So, the last part of last season was never posted. I may eventually get those games posted, but don't count on it.

The 2008 season is less than a week away. I've decided that I will track the Royals again this year.

After all, this is the season to really start getting excited about the Royals. I’m hoping we hit that magic 63rd win sometime sooner than September 12.

Sam points out (and I agree wholeheartedly) that this year’s Royals are a vast improvement compared to when Dayton Moore took over. The icing on that cake is that Buddy Bell is gone, and from what I’ve seen so far, I like Trey Hillman (but, let’s hold out judgment. If he starts bunting in the first inning… Ugh…)

Plus, there’s a lot of interesting blog activity regarding the Royals this year. Hopefully, what I do here can somehow enhance the brilliance that Rany, Joe, and Sam bring to the scene.

So, I’m prepping my spreadsheet and getting ready to plug those first 2008 results in. Hopefully that first arrow will be green. We’ll see Monday night.

I hope you will join me.