19 Comments
Feb 22Liked by Craig Brown

Not really a baseball comment but you may know that Pete LaCock's dad was Peter Marshall, the longtime host of Hollywood Squares.

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Jeff, you must be as old as I am. : )

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Circle gets the square!

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Feb 22Liked by Craig Brown

Calm down, Craig : ) Okay, I get your point about the COLOR of the QT logo, but realistically we know teams can't pick and choose who will step up with the most money. And as you said, there is NO doubt it is about the money (all the park advertisements, stadium names, etc). Personally, I hate the selling of stadium names and the college bowl game names more. (So-Fi stadium is in LA, right? Did the CarQuest bowl used to be the Gator Bowl, or was it Tangerine?) I can't wait for the day we have the Citibank Super Bowl and the Fedex World Series.

As for Hosmer, he was always one of my favorites, though he largely failed to live up to expectations. Gotta say, though, that dash from third may be my all-time ridiculously wonderful Royals play. And I could look at that picture for hours.

That 1B chart has one thing that jumps out at me. If Balboni had a handful more seasons, he'd easily be the Royals homerun leader. And where's Bob Hamelin?

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As bad as I think this logo patch is, I think seeing it in a game is going to be even worse. Be prepared for more rants ahead!

As for Hamelin, he fell short of my PA cutoff. He had 969 PAs with the Royals.

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I just looked it up. Hamelin had a 109 wRC+ with the Royals and 1.9 fWAR. He would rank 9th out of 14.

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Feb 22Liked by Craig Brown

That patch is atrocious! I showed my wife and she said, “yeah, nice try” thinking I was Tom foolerying her. Suddenly, I became excited thinking I’d slept thru the end of Feb, my birthday month and it was April 1st. Totally checked the calendar and was disappointed that that’s not what happened!

And CB; you’re slipping or I’m slipping… did you mention that it’s the colors or that dreaded team from eastern MO??? If you did, I didn’t see it…. Yuck!!!!

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I didn’t mention that, but it reminds me of what the Mets did last year with their patch that apparently had “Phillies red” in it. They redesigned the patch to flow a little better with their uniforms. Flow being a subjective term.

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Feb 22Liked by Craig Brown

Thanks for all the insights you provide. I would like to say that we as Royals fans can’t applaud the team for spending more money on the roster, but then boo them for finding new ways to pay for that extra spending.

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Thanks, JSpi. Sponsorships in baseball isn’t a hill I’m going to die on. It’s inevitable teams look for new revenue streams. I’m not a fan of it, but it is what it is. I just wish they could’ve found a partner with a logo that wasn’t so out of step with the rest of their, let’s say, brand.

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Feb 22Liked by Craig Brown

Salute to Hoz! Not the best Royals first baseman, but one that will never be forgotten.

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If all he did in his career was those 138 plate appearances from the postseason in 2014 and 2015, he’d still be a Royals legend.

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Feb 22Liked by Craig Brown

Is the first baseman Ralph LaCock the guy who went by Pete LaCock?

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The one and the same. Ralph Pierre LaCock.

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As a left-handed hitter who produced way too many grounders, Hosmer probably wishes the shift had been banned a few years earlier. Thankfully for the Royals, shifting was not in vogue until he had moved on.

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He should’ve joined the launch angle revolution.

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Feb 22Liked by Craig Brown

I also find the QT patch repulsive. I remember when the Yankees added a patch to their precious pinstripes (can't put names on but can put an ad on?) I commented to spouse that it was nice the royals hadn't sold out as a smaller market franchise. Perhaps adding insult to injury was rolling out all the photos of the boys shilling that eyesore. Vinnie is smiling, but I swear I can see a "wth am I doing" behind the dimple. Can't fault KC for trying to catch up with the revenue I guess. I muse the PGA's downfall began with the players wearing ads.

I do wonder if this could affect the stadium measure a bit. May be a little harder to sell a voter on corporate welfare, when they know the stadium they fund will surely get named for another corporation.

And oh yeah, betting dollars to donuts this will be a bait and switch, ?% funding of youth programs this year, but 100% revenue source by 2028.

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I kind of figured the guys went along, but if they were able to be honest there was quite a bit of cheese involved.

I won’t go as far as to call it a bait and switch, but I do think it’s very strange that no terms at all were announced. When that happens, my interest gets piqued.

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Yeah, don't look too closely at the flow of funds, or the evidence behind the "solutions" they are intended to support.

I'd respect it more if it went to Mid-Continent Public Library, and was paired with statements on the importance of access and progrsms vs. the disgusting mess that is happening there.

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