Surely You Weren't Waiting For This

Okay, I'm skipping topics. The Royals have really cheesed me off. There has been an overflow of idiotic quotes from Royals players, managers and owners over the last couple of weeks.
Allow me to walk you through them, adding my own commentary.

***

Royals owner David Glass at the Welcome Home Luncheon April 4:

"It's hard to say how many games we'll win, but if character counts, we
will
win a lot."

Uh, Dave? The last time I checked, character doesn't win ballgames.
Good ballplayers win ballgames. Remember Babe Ruth? A big guy but not
a big character guy yet his teams won lots of championships. How about
Ty Cobb? The guy went into the stands to beat up fans. Oh yeah, his
teams also went to three World Series. Mickey Mantle? Liquor,
womanizing, victories. 1970's Oakland A's? Fights between teammates
in the clubhouse and three consecutive titles. The latest Yankee dynasty?
They may have been "character" guys but they were also All-Stars. So,
sure, character counts but unless it's accompanied by skill, it doesn't
win games.

***

During Spring Training, Royals Manager Buddy Bell insisted he put
little stock in those wins and losses:

"I pay attention to the way we play and this team was as good as any
I've
ever been around," he said. "I think we're going to be a tough
team to play.
We have a lot of grinders on this team."

Now, I agree that Spring Training wins and losses don't indicate the
true skill level of a team. (For proof, check out the Royals' 17-10
record and Cactus League title this year.) But if Buddy Bell thinks
this team is as good as any he's ever seen, that means he's seen some
incredibly terrible teams. You can slap me silly and call me Shirley
if this team gets within 10 games of a .500 record this year.
At least he's bought in to the company line, though. At the risk of
sounding repetitive, GRINDERS DON'T WIN BALLGAMES. Just for fun, let's
make up an All-Grinder Team and see how it stacks up against a real
team. Craig Counsell, Joe McEwing, David Eckstein, Eric Byrnes, Emil
Brown, Brandon Inge, Doug Mientkiewicz, Neifi Perez, Kelly Stinnett,
Aaron Guiel, Jason Johnson, Mike Maroth, Todd Jones. Notice how many
of these players are either current or former Royals? I think this team
would lose 8 of 10 from last year's World Series winners, the Chicago
White Sox. But that's what we've been stockpiling here in Kansas City
for years. And this year isn't any different. How many
difference-makers/All-Stars do we have on this team? Mike Sweeney is
an All-Star caliber hitter--when healthy--and we all know how that's
turned out recently. Reggie Sanders is very good all-around player--when
healthy--and he's now 39 years old. David DeJesus is a good, young
player who could be an All-Star one day--if he's healthy. We can't
even keep the few impact players that we do have in the lineup day to day.
But, boy, these guys have character and can grind it out. They've been
grinding out 100-loss seasons like clockwork now.

***

Previously noted grinder and current Royals first baseman Doug
Mientkiewicz says:

“Look at this room now,” Mientkiewicz said. “They brought in character
guys.
… Buddy said it best in one of our meetings: ‘When did hustling
become an
option?’ ”

Well, Doug, apparently it's NOT an option after witnessing Emil Brown
falling down in the outfield trying to field his position, Angel Berroa
and Mark Grudzielanek getting caught off base and Runelvys Hernandez
going on the DL because he couldn't fit through the locker room door.

***

Check out this excerpt from a recent Kansas City Star article:

Independence resident Robert Briggs said he voted for both stadium measures
Tuesday, but he said some of his co-workers voted against the roof. They said
the ballot language left open that the use tax could be used for other stadium
work, including paying off the renovation bonds."They perceived it as a slush
fund," he said. "People got cold feet. There was a lack of trust."

In an ongoing pursuit to submarine any efforts at making Kansas City a real-life "Big City", the Jackson County voters greenlighted the worst available plan to refurbish/replace the Truman Sports complex. In all their wisdom, they okayed over $500 million in taxpayer dollars to renovate both Kauffman and Arrowhead Stadiums. At the same time, they voted down the plan to add a rolling roof that would have been used by each of the stadiums and also would have guaranteed the city a Super Bowl in the next 10 years. In my opinion, they should have voted them both down or voted them both in. I figure that if you're going to waste a half billion taxpayer dollars to subsidize millionaire owners, you may as well go for the gusto. From my point of view, they should have voted down both proposals and called for a more fiscally sound plan (at the very least) or (ideally) a plan that called for the construction of a downtown baseball stadium and renovations to Arrowhead. For the first time in my lifetime, Kansas City has actually made some progressive moves regarding its nearly abandoned downtown. They approved the construction of a brand new, state-of-the-art arena in the hear of downtown, piggy-backing on the redevelopment of nearby H&R Block Entertainment District. All of this has built upon the momentum generated by the increasing hipness of the Crossroads District, the renovated Union Station and the burgeoning loft space available downtown. A downtown ballpark would have been a mutually beneficial situation for the city, the Royals and the fans. Instead, we're stuck with a 25-year lease on a sports complex that was ahead of its time 25 years ago and nearly outdated now. If Missouri is the "Show Me State", then they continue to show me how ignorant and ill-informed they can be.

***

Multiple quotes regarding the fans booing the Royals and, more specifically, team captain and all-around good guy, Mike Sweeney twice in the first two games of the season:


Off-season acquisition/first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz:

"We probably deserved it. That was not very entertaining. But getting on your
own team sends a bad message around the league. And when you boo your
franchise player, a guy who cares so much about this city and tries so
hard...you've got to cut him a little slack."

Off-season acquistion/starting pitcher Joe Mays:

"Everybody here needs to relax, including the fans," Mays said. "Booing Mike
Sweeney, that's poor. That guy does tons of things around here. I understand he
makes some money, but he's human and he's not going to bat 1.000. The fans need
to back off some."

Hey, fellas: you might want to hold off on the criticism of the fans until you've been here for more than two games. Not to mention, didn't you have a clue as to what you were signing on for? This team has lost 400 games in the last four years. Were you expecting cascades of cheers to pour out from the stands after paying $20 to see you get swept by the Tigers? You want a little slack? How about the fact that ANYONE pays to see this team in person after the performances of the last decade. We should relax? What, into a comatose state that doesn't allow us to react at all? Because the only legitimate reactions to this team are boos.

Ironically, possibly the most boo-worthy player on the team, shorstop Angel Berroa, brought some perspective in commenting about the boos he received following another one of his seemingly endless supply of baserunning blunders:

“You’ve got to take it,” he shrugged. “It was a mistake.”

Thanks for taking a little reponsibility for your performance, Angel. Now, how long are we going to have to "take it" until we field a major league caliber team around here?

***

The Royals managed to blow a 3-run lead in Yankee Stadium the other day when manager Buddy Bell decided that sticking to arbitrary "roles" was more important than doing whatever is needed to win a ballgame:

“It was set up the way we wanted it,” manager Buddy Bell sighed, “and it just
got messed up.” “You set roles for people,” Bell said, “and I believe
we’ve got people in the right roles. He proved he could do the job for us last
year. He’s got it in him. We’ve got to stay with him.”Right-hander Elmer
Dessens preceded Sisco with two perfect innings, but Bell dismissed the
suggestion that Dessens should have remained in the game. One reason: The
Yankees were starting the inning with two left-handed hitters, Jason Giambi and
Hideki Matsui.“Again, you put guys in roles,” Bell said. “And you can’t pitch
Elmer every inning.”

Elmer Dessens was acquired in the off-season to fill the long relief spot in the bullpen. As a swingman who could both start and relieve, one might think that he would be well-suited to pitch multiple innings. In fact, he had made only 19 pitches in retiring the six hitters in his two innings of work. But rather than stick with the guy who was efficiently mowing people down, ol' Buddy decided that he needed to bring in Andy Sisco and preserve the integrity of his "role". Well, Sisco went on to pitch poorly and the 3-run lead turned into a 2-run loss to the Yankees. Do you know how many times the Royals have won in Yankee Stadium in the last five years? Zero. Thanks for blowing our one shot, Buddy. By the way, the Royals went on to get swept, keeping the streak alive.

***

Captain Sweeney commenting on the aforementioned blown win:

“It seems we’ve seen this story here in Yankee Stadium before. We get a
lead after we fight and fight and fight. And somehow…we find a way to lose the
game.”

I think that sums it up nicely.