Archive for Thursday, June 26, 2008

New management, players make Royals worth listening to

By Jim Finley

June 26, 2008

This summer I decided to get a little more involved in listening to the Kansas City Royals baseball games, and at times they have been exciting.

I decided to call my baseball analyst, Don Smith, forgetting that he was not a Royals fan. Don is a former coach and teacher in the Bonner Springs school district and he still has unpleasant memories of his coaching in the district. Before coming to Bonner Springs Don was a successful baseball coach in Iowa, but he never got a chance to coach baseball at Bonner Springs High School. As I stated, his memories of coaching in Bonner Springs are unpleasant, which is understandable knowing the entire situation.

I first got acquainted with Don in 1978 when I was coaching his daughter, Amy, in basketball and volleyball at Sacred Heart School. Amy was a unique girl whom I enjoyed coaching. She went to high school at Bonner Springs, where she was a member of the state championship volleyball team. Don - who retired several years back - is now painting houses with two more former teachers in the school district, Chuck Davis and Leo Richter. They are keeping very busy.

I got a renewed interest in Royals baseball after the hiring of General Manager Dayton Moore, and manager Trey Hillman. The Royals have several young players whom I believe will remain in the major leagues - namely Mike Aviles, David DeJesus, Alex Gordon and Mark Teahen. Moore is doing a fine job addressing one of the Royals' biggest problems: pitching. The Royals have had good luck so far toward the midpoint of the season with some of their starting pitchers who have pitched up into the seventh and eighth innings. The Royals also have one of the best closers in the American League, Joakim Soria.

The Royals have little chance of making the playoffs or even finishing at the top of the Central Division, but they are making baseball more enjoyable for the Kansas City fans. In previous years the Royals have had hard luck in keeping high-caliber players such as Carlos Beltran, Johnny Damon, Jermaine Dye and Jeff Suppan. Economically, the Royals being in a small market have a tough time competing with big-money teams like the New York Yankees, New York Mets, Boston Red Sox and Atlanta Braves. I never like to second-guess major league managers, but it is only natural. Many of us criticize these managers. I question the Royals manager to a certain extent for the way he is making up his lineups. Jose Guillen, whom the Royals shelled out some big bucks for, in three games has played three different positions in the outfield. Teahen came here as a third baseman and has been moved to the outfield and is doing a respectable job, but he still thinks of himself as a third baseman. That's a position that has been nailed down by Alex Gordon.

I still contend Frank White, the former Royals standout second baseman, should be somewhere on the coaching staff instead of the minor leagues in Wichita. White was always well-liked by the Kansas City fans as a member of the World Champion Kansas City Royals of 1985. I plan to keep my radio tuned to the Royals games and hope they have a good second half after the All-Star Game.

Comments

  1. turtleguy03 (anonymous) says…

    I wanted to comment on this piece because it's ridiculous. I'm not an avid reader of your paper, nor do I live in Bonner Springs. But I stumbled upon this column and the absolute inaccuracy with which you have just spouted kills me. I'm glad you're coming around as a Royals fan. As one myself, we can always use more. But please, don't claim to be one and then write 500 words of nonsense and inaccurate information.

    There are so many problems I don't even know where to start, so I guess I'll start at the end of the column and work through some of my favorite inaccuracies. First: Frank White. Frank is in Kansas City. He's the pre and post game analyst for Royals Boulevard Live (the pre and post game show). He does this for every home game. He has also started broadcasting some of the games, taking Paul Splittorff's spot. If you really were listening/watching the games, you should have figured this one out.

    Second: Witchita. The Royals don't have an affiliate in Witchita. Nope. No minor League team at Lawrence-Dumont Stadium at all. The Wranglers moved over the offseason to Springdale, Arkansas and are called the Northwest Arkansas Naturals. They are managed by Bill Poldberg who if you have been following is a familiar name. Since you obviously haven't I'll tell you. Poldy was on the Major League staff the last couple years, serving as a base coach.

    Third: Jose Guillen played three outfield positions in three games. Guillen has never played center field for the Royals. Check out www.baseball-reference.com to see for your self. A quick check show Guillen hasn't played center for any team since 2003. I'm not sure what your point is with this one, but it's wrong. David DeJesus has played all three this season, but in interviews, he says he's fine with it. He's done it for some time. Who'd of thought a Major Leaguer who's paid millions might be able to play more than one outfield position?

    Finally: Mark Teahen. Teahen like DeJesus has said he'll do whatever he he can to help the team. Did you interview Mark and he told you he thinks of himself as a third basemen? I'm gonna guess no.

    Please, get your facts straight. I could go on, but it's hurting my head. This was harsh. I apologize. But I studied journalism in college and top priority should be to get the facts right.