Judging the Royals

Games » St. Louis Cardinals

Lee Judge

None

If the media were in an action movie, we’d be the guy that shouts “WE’RE ALL GONNA DIE!” and has to be slapped to our senses by the hero. So what are we shouting now? “THE ROYALS AREN’T HITTING HOME RUNS!”

No kidding, they play in Kauffman Stadium. The most home runs EVER hit here is 36 (Steve Balboni, 1985). George Brett hit 30 home runs in a season a grand total of…let me see, I’m adding them all up here…OK, got it…for a grand total of once.

The Royals aren’t hitting home runs now, they didn’t hit them in the past and they won’t hit them in the future. Get used to it. Just because the Cardinals bang a couple doesn’t means it’s time to panic and ask Jose Canseco for advice.

The Royals have been leading the league in hitting and part of the reason they’re doing so is because they’re NOT hitting home runs. Home run hitters pull the ball, contact hitters go up the middle and the other way. Home run hitters lift the ball, contact hitters keep the ball out of the air.

If you want the team batting average and low strike-out totals, the home run totals go down. You can’t have it both ways. Spending a lot of time worrying about power when you play in this ballpark doesn’t make sense.

If you want something to worry about, try this: “THE ROYALS HAVE NO SPEED!” (Stand back, I’m probably about to get slapped by an action hero.) It’s not that every guy is slow, but I think that complaint makes a little more sense. Since the Royals play in a big ballpark, they need to be able to hit line drives in the gaps, score from first, go first to third, second to home, steal bases and then use that speed on defense.

And then the media would have to find something else to complain about…and we would. We’re professionals.

Speaking of hitting…

I asked Kevin Seitzer about the Strasburg game and he admitted the Royals tried to ambush him by swinging early in the count. Once Strasburg realized they were going to jump on that first fastball, he began to mix it up and the Royals went back to their usual approach…not hitting home runs.

Blocking pitches…

I also talked to John Gibbons about the job Jason Kendall did behind the plate that day and he pointed out that Brian Bannister’s cutters are even harder to block than curveballs. Because of the trajectory, curveballs bounce up higher and give the catcher a better chance of knocking them down. Who knew?

Kids, what are you gonna do?…

I came back to meet my son in the stands after spending time in the clubhouse. He told me that while I was gone he was asked if he wanted to be ‘Mustard’ in the hotdog race… and said no.

I told him he’d made me proud on many occasions during my life, but I’d never been more disappointed in him. “How the hell could you turn down being mustard? Don’t you realize how hard I would’ve been laughing?”

Boy, this next generation DOES have screwed up values.

George…

I came around the corner and there was George Brett, sitting in the dugout. We hadn’t seen each other in awhile and he asked what I was doing. I told him about this website and he said, “You go to one fantasy camp and now you’re covering baseball?”

What can I tell you, George, newspaper standards have dropped. Next: investigative reporting!

Outstanding plays…

Scott Podsednik’s diving catch of a line drive, Yuniesky Betancourt turned three difficult balls into outs and Mike Aviles caught a pop-up in the sun and had to turn partially sideways to be able to see the ball. Mike made it looks routine, but it’s a much more difficult play than you might think; unless you’ve tried it…then you’re surprised anyone can pull it off.