Fanatical

Fanatical adj. - Possessed with or motivated by excessive, irrational zeal.

I think "irrational" is probably the key word in the definition, but I would agree that "fanatical" is an adequate description of me in relation to my home town Kansas City Royals. I suppose "insane" would also be fitting, especially if you were to define it as "a state of mind wherein a person does something repeatedly, though expecting different results." I continue to watch, listen to, and follow the Royals expecting them to win to no avail. The following excerpt from The Baseball Analysts gives clarity to why I continue to place my hope and faith in this team that has provided me with very little in return in the way of success:


"It seems a battle has developed for the minors third spot in the hot corner rankings between Billy Butler and Andy LaRoche. Butler, the Royals first rounder last season, is currently hitting over .350, has 10 home runs, and now 27 walks. LaRoche now has six home runs in his last four games, bringing his season total to 17 in the FSL, in addition to his .361 average. The edge still goes to Butler because of his youth and patience, but LaRoche is definitely making me look good for putting him on my breakout prospect list.

Both players also face the problem of organizational depth at their position. Butler is in Kansas City where the team currently is sporting Gold Glove-caliber Mark Teahen, and will likely draft Nebraska third baseman Alex Gordon in a couple weeks. LaRoche is currently in high-A, and the Dodgers have Willy Aybar and Joel Guzman ahead of him. For Butler the move should be across the diamond to first, as they keep Teahen at third, put Gordon in left and Justin Huber at DH."


I realize dreaming about the potential of a couple of farm hands and one yet-to-be-drafted player sounds pretty pathetic, but when the major league club employs the likes of Emil Brown, Joe McEwing and Ken Harvey, you can cut a guy some slack for drooling at the potential offensive output of the guys riding buses. Baseball Prospectus forecasted a combined OPS (On-base + Slugging percentage) of .754 for Butler and Huber if they were playing in the majors this year rather than in Single-A and Double-A, respectively. Compare that with the combined actual OPS of .691 for Brown, McEwing and Harvey and you can see why I get eager about discussing the future fortunes of the club.

Combine those prospects with the current Kiddy Corral on the major league roster already, and you come up with this possible roster in 2007 or 2008:

C - John Buck
1B - Billy Butler
2B - Ruben Gotay
3B - Mark Teahen
SS - Angel Berroa
LF - Alex Gordon
CF - David DeJesus
RF - ???
DH - Justin Huber

#1 Starter - Zack Greinke
#2 Starter - Denny Bautista
#3 Starter - Andy Sisco
#4 Starter - Runelvys Hernandez/Mike Wood
#5 Starter - Leo Nunez

Obviously, this lineup may not pan out. But the important thing to observe here is this: these are all young, inexpensive and mostly home-grown players that are providing the core of what will hopefully be a competitive team in the next 2-3 years. This is the only way a team with the financial constraints of the Royals can compete. The Cleveland Indians of the 90's utilized this model and dominated the Central division and even made it to a World Series. The Minnesota Twins have utilized this model and dominated the Central division. The Oakland A's have utilized this model and consistently bucked conventional wisdom while winning every year. If the Royals can strategically sign some of these players to long term contracts before their arbitration and free agency years, they can overcome some of their financial limitations and not have to trade away young, talented players (like Johnny Damon, Jermaine Dye and Carlos Beltran) without enjoying the production of their peak years.

On the other hand, these guys could get injured; they may not want to sign with a team that has such a lousy recent history; they could hire another inexperienced manager that likes to soap himself up in the shower; General Manager Allard Baird might not be able to supplement the youngsters with actual productive veterans; Owner David Glass could sell the team and watch as it relocates to Oregon. Who knows? Despite all those things, I'll continue to live and die with my team, however irrational that may be.