Games: Detroit Tigers, Oct. 3: Judging the Royals with Lee Judge

Games » Detroit Tigers

Oct3

A disappointing finish

Down by one in the fifth inning, Irving Falu led things off with a walk. Jason Bourgeois flew out to left, and Alcides Escobar stepped to the plate. The Royals then pulled off either a perfect hit-and-run or a perfect run-and-hit. (On a hit-and-run, the runner takes off and the batter must try to put the ball in play. On a run-and-hit, the runner takes off and the batter has the option of swinging the bat.)

Either way, Escobar hit the ball through the hole on the right side, and the Royals had runners on first and third with one down.

Alex Gordon stepped to the plate, and I said to the person next to me, “This is the at-bat of the game.”

Wrong again. I figured Gordon had the chance to tie the game with a fly ball or the Tigers had the chance to get out of the inning with a double play. Neither one happened. A pitch temporarily got away from Tigers catcher Alex Avila, and, after a long hesitation, Escobar took off for second. Avila picked up the ball and threw out Esky easily.

Gordon then walked. Luis Marte replaced pitcher Drew Smyly, and Marte walked Butler. Suddenly, the winning run was in scoring position — through no fault of the Royals — and Jeff Francoeur was at the plate. Frenchy had already hit the ball hard twice and made it three times when he hit a screaming line drive to right field. The third time was not a charm.

The ball drove right fielder Andy Dirks deep, but he made the catch, and that was about as close as the Royal would come to winning this one. Kansas City lost 1-0 and finished the season with a 72-90 record. A disappointing finish to a disappointing season.

Game notes

• Triple Crown winner Miguel Cabrera came off the field to a standing ovation from the crowd, his teammates and the players in the Kansas City dugout. After the game, Royals manager Ned Yost said we may never see someone do this again in our lifetimes, and he compared the accomplishment to a 30-game winner or hitting .400.

• Alex Gordon told TV reporter Brad Fanning (who then told me) that Prince Fielder deserves some of the credit for Cabrera’s accomplishment. Good point. Just like Billy Butler, who gave credit to the players who got on base so he could drive them in, Cabrera didn’t do it all on his own.

• Ned was also asked whether the Royals have enough offense to compete in 2013, and he said he thought they did. Some people are going to have to step up, but he believes the offensive potential is already there.

• Despite the team’s “Our Time” promotion, the people who should know thought the Royals would win 78 to 81 games this season. Injuries and a 12-game losing streak made sure the Royals missed the mark.

• In the last game of the season, Luis Mendoza threw very well and gave the Royals a chance to win. Going 0-5 with runners in scoring position meant they didn’t.

Season stats

(Here’s one last look at some of the stats hitting coach Kevin Seitzer keeps. The last two games aren’t included.)

The 2012 Royals had 265 hard-hit outs. Billy Butler led the way with 40 (and I think he had another one Tuesday night), Eric Hosmer was second with 32 and Jeff Francoeur was third with 31 (he definitely had one Wednesday night).

Kevin also keeps track of Quality Plate Appearances (hits, walks, plate appearances of eight or more pitches and hard-hit outs), and anything above .400 is considered excellent. As a team, the Royals put up Quality Plate Appearances at a rate of .399, and the players over .400 were Butler (.468), Chris Getz (.443), Alex Gordon (.433), Salvador Perez (.429) and Jarrod Dyson (.412).

The top three in plate appearances of eight or more pitches were Gordon (21), Francoeur (20) and Butler (18).

It all comes down to this

The guys in the clubhouse were watching the Oakland-Texas game with great interest. They all loved the idea of it coming down to one game on the last day of the season. That is part of what is cool about baseball. Throw a ball away in July, and it might have an effect months later. Blow a lead in the spring, and you might regret it in the fall.

That makes every play important. That means you have to hustle and stay focused game after game. The teams that can do that, that can grind it out day after day and play after play are the ones most likely to be in the playoffs. If you want to play on Oct. 5, the game has to be played the right way all the time.

Goodbyes

Professional ballplayers are not big on goodbyes. They just have too many of them in their profession to make a big deal out of each and every one. Wednesday night, guys were packing up, shaking hands and saying have a nice winter. Guys who are especially tight might make plans to get together in the off-season, but for the most part it’s “see you in Arizona.”

Except you might not.

A whole lot can happen in the world of professional sports. That means a guy who just walked out the door will never walk back in. Some guys may get traded, some may have had their “cup of coffee” in the big leagues and, even though they don’t realize it now, will never be back.

I guess the same goes for baseball writers. I think I’ll be back, but until then, have a nice winter.

Thank you

Since starting this website, I’ve been praised for my great insight into baseball and told I know nothing about the sport. Neither assessment is totally accurate. Whenever someone praises me, I credit the players and coaches who have taken the time to explain what they’re doing and why they’re doing it. That response has the twin virtues of being both modest and accurate.

Whatever I’ve written, whether you loved it or hated it, has originated with the people who actually play the game. That’s been my goal from the beginning: to share the information that the game’s participants have shared with me.

The credit for anything positive this site has accomplished goes to the guys on the dirt. First, the coaches for the Kansas City Royals have been incredibly helpful. They are the first ones on the field every day, and they often spent part of that day explaining some intricacy of baseball to me. The players also bent over backward to answer my questions and explain what was happening on the field. Ned Yost spent a lot of time explaining the moves he made as manager and the logic behind those moves.

These guys want us to understand.

If you demonstrate that you’re really interested in what they’re doing, that you don’t have an axe to grind, that you don’t think you already know all there is to know, they will explain. And that makes the game more interesting for those of us watching from the stands.

I also want to thank the Royals’ front-office people who spent time with me, the guys with Fox Sports Kansas City who gave me airtime on the pregame show and the people back at The Kansas City Star who make the website work, especially the Web editors who get the game notes posted every night, Nicole Poell, who oversees this circus, and John Sleezer, who shoots the videos. (I get a lot of credit for the work that other people do, which, as far as I’m concerned, is damn fine arrangement.)

I’m now ready to take some time off. I’ve been grinding away at this since mid-March, and I’m ready for some downtime. My intention — at this point — is to write something once in a while during the playoffs and over the winter and provide a chat room of sorts for people who want to continue to talk about baseball while the snow flies. Just pop in and leave a comment and see who responds.

It may be me.

My final thanks goes to you, the readers. Without you, there’s no point in doing this. So to all the people who cared enough to check in, thanks.

Lee Judge chats with Royals Alex Gordon about the 2012 season

Kansas City Royals Alex Gordon talks with Lee Judge at the end of the 2012 baseball season. 10/3/12 (Video by John Sleezer/The Kansas City Star)

Comments

Joel Kallem
8 months, 2 weeks ago

Great job all year Lee. Thanks for all you do to provide insight into the Royals and their games. I’m already looking forward to next year, and will miss my daily look at the site until it is back in “action” in the spring. Any chance of a monthly update on insights you may pick up. If it was scheduled for a fixed date (i.e. the first of each month, the 15th, etc.), we would know when to look for it.

To bad Mendoza took the loss tonight, but he showed the potential to fill a hole for the Royals. He deserved a better result, but the offense let him down when we could not get a run to the plate.
Daniel Wesley
8 months, 2 weeks ago

Lee, thank you for your hard work again this year. I know some of us squabbling Royals fans probably added too much unnecessary stress at time. :)
Daniel Wesley
8 months, 2 weeks ago

As someone who was highly skeptical of Mendoza before the year began (and still am, but to a much less degree) I am in total agreement that he should be penciled in for the 2013 starting rotation as of this moment.

Unless the Royals go way above and beyond any of our expectations and pick up multiple improvements for the rotation, there are few options better than he.
Terry Payne
8 months, 2 weeks ago

Lee - Add my thanks for all your diligent efforts in seeking answers for all us curious fans of the Royals in particular, and the great game of baseball in general. And for your prompt and illuminating answers to all my pesky little questions.

Should you ever need anyone to follow you around, lugging your laptop or whatnot, keep me in mind. I’m big and kinda stupid; therefore I make a perfect pack mule. Would love to be able to hang out with MLBers and soak up the insights and the stories.

PS - Esky finished the most #1 Web Gems as “voted” by the analysts on Baseball Tonight.

Can’t wait for ‘13. Sure hope the Mayans are wrong about 12/21.
Aaron Reese
8 months, 2 weeks ago

Great season for the site. It has been a great resource for baseball fans, not just Royals fans.
Ben Harder
8 months, 2 weeks ago

I commented on only the last game last season, and I’ll keep my tradition alive: Lee, your website is so great for someone who came to the game just 2 years ago, to help me understand what’s really going on as I watch the action on the field. I couldn’t ask for a better “non-sports-talk” angle on this team. And it’s always clear as I read through the comments, that there are still a few intelligent, passionate Royal’s fans left out there. I can’t wait for next year…
Sean Fischbach
8 months, 2 weeks ago

Thanks Lee! See you next Spring.
Mark Harkins
8 months, 2 weeks ago

Lee… What in the world am I going to read for the next 5 months??? Gonna be some serious withdrawl coming, but Spring is just around the corner.

I can’t wait to read about the daily journey to the playoffs in 2013. :)
Lee Judge
8 months, 2 weeks ago

Thanks, guys. It’s a lot of work, but it’s also very rewarding. I’ve learned a lot about baseball the last three years and I couldn’t put a price on that.

Getting to watch the best players and coaches in the world (and I don’t care what your record is, if you’re in the major leagues, you’re very good) go about their business has been illuminating.

It’s fun to share what I learn with like-minded fans.

The plan right now is to write something once in a while, but we haven’t decided on a fixed schedule for that. Until then, please use the comments section as a chat room.

The playoffs should be interesting and if you have something you want to say, come to the site and say it.

I’ll keep checking comments and add my two cents worth on a regular basis.
Larry Tindle
8 months, 2 weeks ago

Great job Lee, see you in Spring Training. Beer’s on me.

Now that you have been through this for a couple of years, do you think you would be a better manager.
Vicki Barnes
8 months, 2 weeks ago

Love this site and the Royals. I also can’t wait for next year.
John Wilson
8 months, 2 weeks ago

Thank you Lee for another year of great reading about baseball and the Royals. I’m looking forward to reading you again next year! Now if we only have starting pitching next year :-)
Jeff Circle
8 months, 2 weeks ago

Thanks for another really interesting year Lee. This site has solidified a basic tenet I’ve held to for a few years, regardless of the sport - We may think these guys suck or have no ability whatsoever, but if they’re on a pro roster they are so advanced at what they do that we can’t even conceive of all that’s involved. And the insights that you’ve provided from field-level have confirmed that it’s a whole different world out there. I find myself a lot less upset when a guard misses a shot, a pitcher leaves a pitch up, or a center short-arms a shotgun snap. Certainly makes me appreciate those who are excellent at that level even more.
Sean Fite
8 months, 2 weeks ago

THANK YOU, Lee! I haven’t missed a day of your blog for 2 years, and it continues to educate me. You have helped to make watching baseball fun (even if I’m watching a losing team).

Enjoy your time away so that you can be recharged for 2013!
Jim Fetterolf
8 months, 2 weeks ago

Good year, Lee, enjoy your time off.

Saw that Kevin Seitzer had been fired, that should be a good topic of conversation for us for awhile.

Best of luck to Kevin, I appreciated what he’s done. I’m sure he’s employable but underachieving organizations often will scapegoat someone to buy a “fresh start”. Too bad, I enjoyed him in the videos and the insights he passed on through Lee.
Joel Kallem
8 months, 2 weeks ago

Agree Jim, it will be interesting to see the follow up to Seitzer’s firing. A lot will depend on who the replacement is, and what his philosophy is. On one hand, Royals run production and situational hitting has been less than sterling and it can be argued that Hos and Mous regressed. On the other, the development of Gordon, Esky and Perez can be cited as acomplishments.

My guess is that unless the Royals show progress early next year, Yost will be on a short leash and could be next to go whether or not he is directly responsible for whatever holds them back.
Terry Payne
8 months, 2 weeks ago

Stunned that Seitz was fired. Are they scapegoating him for disappointing production from Frency, Hos and Mous? Perhaps Hos and Mous lost faith in him. Perhaps they thought he messed Hos up.

I hate scapegoating, but it’s a tradition as old as 60‘6”, which I don’t think ever got adequately explained to me, either.

So, who’s “on deck?”
Lee Judge
8 months, 2 weeks ago

I was at the press conference this morning for the announcement about Seitzer. I guess this will be the shortest vacation in the world—I’ll try to write something soon about the difference in hitting philosophies that lead to Kevin being let go.

Keep checking the site. I’ll try to get something posted later tonight or tomorrow.
Sean Fite
8 months, 2 weeks ago

firing Seitzer isn’t what i would call a good start to the offseason. sophomore slumps are common and Gordon, Esky, Perez, Butler all improved. this one mystifies me…
Jeff Frost
8 months, 2 weeks ago

First- great job Lee all year long! You are the best.

Second- REALLY??? Blame Seitz because Hosmer swings at everything and Moose got hurt in Seattle and slumped?? How about the first half of the year and the I-29 Shuffle? I’m guessing Seitzer certainly wouldn’t have taken Burgoeisie, Quintero, Yuni, etc… BUT- someone has to get the blame for this. My thought is it starts with Number 1 and work down. Glass talked a lot of “good talk” last night, and DM is set for as long as he wants. He has been GM longer than Allard and hasn’t gotten this team over the hump! He needs blame too! Ned- nuf said!

I’m all about fresh starts! How about bring in Omar Vizquel as manager and let him bring in Hargrove as hitting coach.

Hang in there Seitz! You deserved better!
Terry Payne
8 months, 2 weeks ago

Jeff - Good idea re: Hargrove, the “human weather delay.” Perhaps he could teach patience to Hos, Frenchie.

Maybe they’re putting Ned “on notice,” and he feels he needs a new hitting coach due to the old “philosophical differences.”
Jeff Circle
8 months, 2 weeks ago

Well Ned’s replaced a pitching coach and a hitting coach, I think that pretty much shortened the leash all the way to his own neck. We’re probably going to hear how we need to hit more balls out of the yard. This despite the fact that we constantly hear how hard it is to hit homers in Kaufman (which has either been supported or disproved by Sports Science on ESPN, I can’t remember now). Not to mention how many doubles (another indicator of power hitting) we hit too.

Now if the real reason is because of our poor performance regarding walks or hitting with RISP, then I’ll listen. But if you give me some pithy “we gotta hit homers” crap, I don’t think I wanna hear it.
Daniel Wesley
8 months, 2 weeks ago

The perplexing thing about Seitzer is that he had amazing strike zone judgment as a player, yet the Royals as a team were never able to gain the same while he was coach. The Royals continue to remain at the bottom of the league in drawing walks, which is an issue that needs to be addressed.
Larry Tindle
8 months, 2 weeks ago

Let’s not jump to conclusions here. Let’s see what light Lee can shed. We all have opinions of why but when we voice them let us be careful that we don’t pick up someone elses opinion and start spouting it as fact.

Having been fired and having to fire people in the past I can tell you it is very seldom one simple thing. Also the the only person not surprised is usually the person getting fired.

I liked Seitz and feel he did some good things. He did however want to cookie cutter the batters all into one mold. Just my opinion. That usually doesn’t work with 25 individuals.

Waiting for further info from Lee.
Joel Kallem
8 months, 2 weeks ago

Good recommendation Larry. There are several “truths” in your comment that we would all be wise to follow.

Judging the Royals