I was in town and at the K on Saturday for the first time in several years. Maybe it was the post-game concert, but I couldn’t believe how many fans were there to watch this team and how energized they were. It was a surprising and wonderful game, especially with Lyles starting. Royals fans deserve much, much better from ownership and the front office.
Kansas City is a baseball town. I truly believe that. Which makes ownership and the front office’s fumbling over the last couple of decades (excepting the 2014 and ‘15 seasons, naturally) so confounding. Fans want to believe. They want to support the team. Put a product on the field that is competitive and you’ll see the fans respond.
I think about the 2012 All-Star Game every once in a while. About how ownership and the front office was surprised by the level of support the community showed. It said a lot about them at the time. I don’t think the proper lessons were learned.
I understand your hesitancy to compare to HOFers, but I think the comparison of Witt's weekend to a classic George Brett game/streak is apt. Obviously, the stakes were much higher during Brett's prime, but that's not Witt's fault. I'm still not certain where exactly BWJ will top out (no one is, really), but it's refreshing to see the emergence of what appears to be a regular All-Star caliber player, at the very least. And because I (all other long-suffering Royals fans) am desperate for something genuinely positive, today I'm just going to bask in Witt's performance and not focus on the fact that his performance doesn't have the same significance as Brett highlights because the team around him is so terrible, and that all evidence indicates this is unlikely to change anytime soon. The article you put out last night on the head-scratching Lopez deal pretty much sums up my feelings on the transaction, and it effectively killed any lingering hopes I had the JJ would be significantly different than the latter half of the Moore era. I feel like I've taken the high road and preached patience, pointing out that JJ inherited a mess and it would take time to turn this trainwreck around. And, big picture, this trade was small potatoes and I suppose there's a slim hope he could still bring out the big guns and really start wheeling and dealing, but it's just such a baffling deal. Combined with their justification for it and the mindset that inspired it, I think it's safe to say that my hope and enthusiasm for the JJ Picollo era died last night.
Okay, STOP THAT! I told myself I wouldn't get bogged down in that today. Unfortunately, none of that stuff is going anywhere. There will be plenty of days to gripe about that. But as we head into this off day, I'm choosing to focus on the positive and celebrate Bobby Witt Jr. At least until the next frustrating deadline deal comes down the pike.
Well said, Patrick. It’s why I decided to put out two newsletters instead of combining both into one. I’m up for enjoying any positives we can find around this team. There aren’t many for damn sure, but what Bobby did over the weekend most definitely qualifies.
I was in town and at the K on Saturday for the first time in several years. Maybe it was the post-game concert, but I couldn’t believe how many fans were there to watch this team and how energized they were. It was a surprising and wonderful game, especially with Lyles starting. Royals fans deserve much, much better from ownership and the front office.
Kansas City is a baseball town. I truly believe that. Which makes ownership and the front office’s fumbling over the last couple of decades (excepting the 2014 and ‘15 seasons, naturally) so confounding. Fans want to believe. They want to support the team. Put a product on the field that is competitive and you’ll see the fans respond.
I think about the 2012 All-Star Game every once in a while. About how ownership and the front office was surprised by the level of support the community showed. It said a lot about them at the time. I don’t think the proper lessons were learned.
I understand your hesitancy to compare to HOFers, but I think the comparison of Witt's weekend to a classic George Brett game/streak is apt. Obviously, the stakes were much higher during Brett's prime, but that's not Witt's fault. I'm still not certain where exactly BWJ will top out (no one is, really), but it's refreshing to see the emergence of what appears to be a regular All-Star caliber player, at the very least. And because I (all other long-suffering Royals fans) am desperate for something genuinely positive, today I'm just going to bask in Witt's performance and not focus on the fact that his performance doesn't have the same significance as Brett highlights because the team around him is so terrible, and that all evidence indicates this is unlikely to change anytime soon. The article you put out last night on the head-scratching Lopez deal pretty much sums up my feelings on the transaction, and it effectively killed any lingering hopes I had the JJ would be significantly different than the latter half of the Moore era. I feel like I've taken the high road and preached patience, pointing out that JJ inherited a mess and it would take time to turn this trainwreck around. And, big picture, this trade was small potatoes and I suppose there's a slim hope he could still bring out the big guns and really start wheeling and dealing, but it's just such a baffling deal. Combined with their justification for it and the mindset that inspired it, I think it's safe to say that my hope and enthusiasm for the JJ Picollo era died last night.
Okay, STOP THAT! I told myself I wouldn't get bogged down in that today. Unfortunately, none of that stuff is going anywhere. There will be plenty of days to gripe about that. But as we head into this off day, I'm choosing to focus on the positive and celebrate Bobby Witt Jr. At least until the next frustrating deadline deal comes down the pike.
Well said, Patrick. It’s why I decided to put out two newsletters instead of combining both into one. I’m up for enjoying any positives we can find around this team. There aren’t many for damn sure, but what Bobby did over the weekend most definitely qualifies.