“(The Astros) are possibly one of the worst baseball teams in history. … They’re going to set an all-time record for strikeouts. They are on a pace to win about 46 games. They are on a pace to have a run differential of something in the range of minus 300 – which would be one of the worst of all time. So this is just an absolutely abysmal team that according to scouts might have four or five major league players.”
Buster Olney, MLB expert for ESPN, 810 AM
GH: But be patient, Royals fans. These things take time.

“When you’re 1-33 you have no confidence.”
George Brett, on the slumping Mike Moustakas, 810 AM
GH: Moose is now in a 2-41 tailspin that his manager thinks can be cured by patience. Maybe it can. But there has to be something the Royals can do to help this second-year player that is more than just watching and waiting. If not, why does David Glass pay these guys to be baseball geniuses?

“Last year, when he struggled. I mean (Moose) was a mess. There were times when you’d have to sit him for a ‘mental day.’ This year, he’s been in a great frame of mind. … He’s going to be fine.”
Ned Yost, on the same slumping Moustakas, Kansas City Star
GH: When I hear Ned talk about Moustakas or Hosmer or his team, I hear a man who is talking about himself and his job performance. Yost has no other options than to preach patience and more patience. He doesn’t know what else to do. Read on.

“He’s a PR nightmare.”
Soren Petro, on Ned Yost, 810 AM

“Moustakas has never been a big believer in studying videotape, and his latest struggles have only reinforced the notion that he needs to simplify his approach. Less analysis; not more.”
Bob Dutton, Kansas City Star
GH: When I read Dutton’s story on Moose in The Kansas City Star, one word came to mind – lazy. Fair or unfair, that’s what I think when I hear about a player who thinks less work will return better results. Your kids probably think the same thing when you tell them to mow the lawn. Sometimes a manager has to quit being a cheerleader and start being the bad parent.

“I’m different than a lot of these other guys. Some guys like to watch film. Like Billy (Butler), he gets in there and watches film all day. He’s able to break it down. Gordo (Alex Gordon) does the same thing. I’ll watch film from when I was going good. I don’t break down everything I’ve done. I just try to find a couple of at-bats where I look comfortable, see what I was doing and work from there.”
Mike Moustakas, Kansas City Star
GH: What a surprise that the Royals two best hitters wear out the video machine watching their at bats and Moose tries to find just “a couple of at bats.” This kid needs a coach not an enabler.

“Even though they’re big leaguers and they’re professionals, these last five games are tough to get amped up for! Very small crowds in Oakland. Very small crowds here (in Houston). Now that doesn’t mean the Royals aren’t prepared… Some teams play better in the bigger venues against the higher profile teams than they do in these venues against the lower profile teams.”
Ryan Lefebvre, attempting to explain the Royals poor play on this 3-6 road trip, Fox Sports KC
GH: Ryan went on and on and on about his excuses as to why the Royals are losing to bad teams in front of sparse crowds. It was one of the more pathetic displays of broadcast bullshit a Royals broadcaster has ever attempted to shower on this fanatical fan base. Twitter wasn’t buying ANY of what Beav was selling – and neither was Rex Hudler. I think we all know why Ryan stayed in the Royals booth and Frank White got canned.

“That’s what a good arm do!”
Steve Physioc, after Alex Gordon threw out yet another base runner from left field Wednesday night, Royals Radio
GH: In contrast to Beav’s display of ridiculous excuses for the pathetic play of the Royals, Steve Physioc has spent this road trip growing a spine in the radio booth. Physioc has first-guessed Ned Yost on personnel moves as well as pitching changes – and he’s done it with candor. Something changed in Phys this trip and I hope he leaves that switch flipped. He has been a joy to listen to on the radio of late…despite sounding like Rick Dees.

“There are so many guys who wear the powder blue (Royals jersey) around here. Come on! You look like a giant fat donut!”
Soren Petro, 810 AM
GH: Newsflash to all grown men who wear baseball jerseys – we all look like doofuses. Is there anything odder at a ball game than the 45-year-old guy in an Alex Gordon jersey hanging over the rail trying to snare a grounder with his $450 Rawlings Dual Core PRM1275H? 

“When should the (Royals) fans get over it? When should they drop that part of it? I had a buddy who beat cancer. For four years you couldn’t go ten minutes without him telling you he beat cancer. I got it! When is it time for the fans to drop the ‘I’ve had baseball cancer for 25 years?’ When is it time to admit you’re healed?”
Soren Petro, 810 AM
GH: The Royals do not get a pass on our cynicism just because it is ongoing. The bitching doesn’t stop until the itching heals. 

“I think (Ben McLemore) is very solid at number two. There are a lot of people who think Ben McLemore is going to be a bonafide superstar in the NBA. He’s got a perfect shooting stroke. You keep hearing the name Ray Allen. I think McLemore is a surefire number two guy. … I think McLemore has a great chance to go number one overall.”

Chris Mannix, SI.com writer, on the former KU shooting guard’s NBA draft chances, 810 AM

GregHall24@yahoo.com and Twitter / greghall24

“Some of these things you just have to wait out. Like I said before, you’re not going to run and pick another third baseman off a tree. All-Star-caliber third basemen don’t grow on trees.”
Ned Yost, when asked to comment on Moustakas’ disappointing start to the 2013 season, 610 AM
GH: I was stunned to hear Yost breathe new life into his third basemen tree comment. Ned is supposed to be a high-tech junkie who can’t get enough of his iPhone/iPad and Apple products. He must not use any of them to read Twitter or the social media sites that cover and critique the Royals. It strikes me as incompetent that the Royals organization is not better at coaching or helping the members of their organization in how to handle the media. Is Ned so arrogant to think he is above being helped? The fact he is unaware (or has chosen to ignore) the backlash about his “tree” comment suggests so. I was disappointed that Parkins did not point this out to Ned.

“Well then what’s the problem? … It’s not just a slow start for Mike Moustakas.”
Danny Parkins, 610 AM
GH: This was a good follow-up question from Parkins. He got Yost to acknowledge that Moose’s numbers were more serious than just an early-season slump. Where I thought Parkins failed was in not delving into Yost’s above answer about the third-basemen tree. It sounded to me like Danny had a list of questions in front of him and he was hell bent on getting as many of them asked as possible. This is a mistake too many live interviewers make. Twenty minutes is a long time allotment for a radio interview. Parkins too often acted like he had six minutes to cram in his questions.

“Everything is there. He just needs to put it together. … Once you get to the big leagues it’s more a mental game than a physical game.”
Ned Yost, 610 AM
GH: This is the kind of comment Kevin Kietzman writes on his legal pad so that he can refer back to it later in the interview – it is what makes KK a very polished and accomplished interviewer. If Parkins has that skill set, he didn’t display it with Yost. Moose’s mental state is in my opinion a HUGE point of contention between Yost and the Royals fan base. Yost thinks Moose is rock solid mentally, the fans and media think he’s in desperate need of some R&R at Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo.

“Especially this road trip, I’ve seen great improvements in (Moustakas) plate discipline. Great improvements in him, um, uh, staying focused on getting a pitch that he can drive.”
Ned Yost, 610 AM
GH: Wow – just so many holes here for Parkins to explore. A good interviewer will repeat back the interviewee’s comments and ask how they came to their conclusions. Moose is showing great plate discipline during his 1-34 west-coast slump? How the hell did Yost come up with that? Moose is focusing on getting a pitch he can drive? By swinging and missing on pitches in his zone??? Moose has looked completely lost at the plate. How Yost can attempt to tell us otherwise is simply a manager trying to publicly prop up a struggling player. Yost is doing his job. Parkins’ job in this interview was not to allow it. That did not happen.

“He knows he’s struggling and he’s pressing – a bit – to try and make things happen. The best way that I can help him get productive is to stay patient with him.”
Ned Yost, 610 AM
GH: Yost caught himself here and add the “a bit” to soften his words about Moose struggling. We all know he’s struggling but Yost is adamant that he is going to back his third baseman, despite the awful numbers. This was another op[opportunity lost by Parkins when he didn’t seize Yost’s quote and get him to admit that Moose is indeed struggling and pressing.

“Have you considered sending (Moustakas) down to Omaha?”
Danny Parkins, 610 AM

“Um, no.”
Ned Yost, in response to Parkins asking if he had considered sending Moose down to work out his problems, 610 AM
GH: This was one of the very few short answers from Ned. Yost is very experienced at answering questions he is not happy answering. It showed during this interview. The questions he knew he could expound on and basically resort to coach speak – he took his time with and answered with great length and meandering thoughts. The questions that he did not want to address he answered crisply and quickly. Again, Kietzman understands a long drawn-out answer from an athlete or coach is often an attempt to eat up the clock. KK will bust in and stop these kinds of filibuster answers. KK also knows that a short answer means there is gold to be mined beneath the brevity. Parkins still has much to learn here.

“Can (sending a player down) benefit a player?”
Danny Parkins, 610 AM
GH: Good question but it’s too vague. Parkins is interviewing the manager of the Royals and discussing his highly-touted but young and struggling third basemen. Go ahead and personalize the query. “So you don’t think Moustakas would benefit from being sent down, despite the obvious benefits that Alex Gordon gained from being sent back at a similar juncture in his career?” Questions are always better when names, places and details are attached. Questions and good writing are similar in that way.

“Sometimes it can but there’s a big difference in Triple A and the big leagues. When you’re playing in Triple A, you may face a major league prospect once, twice, three times a week. At the big league level you’re facing a major-league prospect every at bat. So the experience is far more valuable up here than any experience we can give him in Triple A. Now, it does benefit a player if they lose their confidence, if they struggle to the point of they don’t believe in their ability anymore and they just need to get back and have some success, get on a confident roll and have some success. But Mike Moustakas has not lost his confidence. He’s been very stable in terms of his mindset through this whole process.”
Ned Yost, 610 AM
GH: Again, lots of openings here for Parkins to explore but he declined Yost’s invitation. Yost’s entire argument here is based on his belief that Moustakas has not lost his confidence. Parkins needed to beat Yost over the head with this fallacy. If Yost is wrong, he has wasted valuable time that Moose could have used to regain his confidence in Omaha. Even more alarming, Yost may have broken the kid by forcing him to face major-league pitching each night and continue to fail so publicly.

“Also in The Star on Saturday you talked about that instant gratification…”
Danny Parkins, following up Yost’s above statement, 610 AM
GH: Zoom… Parkins zipped right past Yost’s above response and went to the next question on his list. Listening to the interviewee’s responses and asking poignant questions based on these responses is what makes an interview sound like a conversation…and not just another Q/A session. Which is what we got from Parkins.

Parkins: “Just a few more minutes here… How would you describe this team’s offensive philosophy?
Yost: “That’s a good question too. Blah, blah, blah… When you get your pitch, sit on it. Have a plan… Blah, blah, blah…”
GH: An awful question preceded by an even worse intro. When Parkins tipped Yost off that he had only a few more minutes, it allowed Ned to waste those precious minutes with a BS answer that droned on long enough to eat up almost all of the remaining time.

“I don’t know who gets offended to be honest with you. It’s the same thing we hear about Moose all the time. Everybody’s so upset with Moose! Everybody’s so upset with Moose! And then we go to the stadium and it doesn’t matter if there’s 15,000 people there, it doesn’t matter if there’s 35,000 people there. Every time he steps in the box, every time he makes a play the fans are yelling, ‘Moose! Moose!’ They’re not yelling, ‘Boo!’ So, you know, we can take it as far as you want to take it – people got upset, I’m sorry. But that’s just the way that it is.”
Ned Yost, who finally expressed some irritation with Parkins’ line of questioning near the end of the interview – and unfortunately Parkins was quick to back off and assure him he was not looking to argue, 610 AM
GH: This was the one time during the interview where Ned showed some real emotion. Parkins quickly backed off rather than challenged the skipper. “Oh listen,” said Parkins. “We had already covered that. I was just putting that out there on the record…” Parkins then thanked Yost and ended the interview. Boo.

“Ned never wants to say what is true anyway. … Why not say the truth occasionally?”
Danny Clinkscale, 810 AM
GH: Clink nails it here. Yost refuses to publicly admit what we all already know. It is his MO. Parkins failed to break through that façade. Instead of a memorable defining interview we got a safe forgettable interview. I was hoping for so much more.

“My argument there would be that he’s been asked about Francoeur more than anybody on this team. I don’t think there is a single thing on this team that’s been talked about than the right field position. That’s not what I was trying to do today.”
Danny Parkins, to a caller who was disappointed that Yost was not asked about the Royals ineffective right fielder, 610 AM
GH: Parkins used this answer a couple of times on Tuesday when callers asked why he didn’t touch on some of their hot-button subjects. If Danny thinks the Frenchy debate is overplayed and old news, he’s not as tuned into the Royals’ fan base as he thinks. A good interviewer always has a new way and a better way of asking an old question.

GregHall24@yahoo.com and Twitter / greghall24

“Won’t happen. We’ll ask fair questions and follow up. Should be fun. RT @DaRealMattOates i legitimately expect you guys to get hung up on!”
Danny Parkins, @DannyParkins, Twitter
GH: David Glass walked out on Parkins when he interviewed him last year on a remote. It was difficult to tell listening to the interview if Glass was upset with the questions or just had to go to the bathroom. In other words there wasn’t a lot of verbal vitriol. Parkins’ goal with Yost should be to engage him in difficult questions which befit a manager who has steered his club from seven games over .500 to losing to maybe the worst team in baseball and a 20-21 record all in about two weeks. Yost should expect tough questions. Parkins should deliver tough questions. It should be good radio.

“I won’t ask that question.”
Nate Bukaty, when urged by Steven St. John to ask Ned Yost in his next interview if there is a manager tree, 810 AM
GH: I have long thought that our Kansas City pressers with coaches and athletes are just too damn cordial. Everybody places too nice – except Ned Yost or another millionaire coach or athlete who thinks he can degrade or talk down to the media and fan base. Bukaty would be uncomfortable breaching that “professional” decorum that is expected here in Loserville. I say go Howard Stern on Ned, Nate.

“This (Houston team) is the worst major-league baseball team and collection of talent I have ever seen.”
Steven St. John, 810 AM

“You cannot lose this (Houston) series. With the team we’ve got, we should go in there and put it to them.”
Jaime Bluma, 810 AM

“Look, I don’t profess to have all the answers but it’s becoming more and more obvious that neither does Ned Yost.”
Jack Harry, KSHB.com
GH: Is tonight’s game in Houston the most important in Ned Yost’s career here in Kansas City? Does Dayton Moore think hard about firing Yost if his club loses the series to the hapless Astros? Does David Glass wipe out seven years of Dayton Moore’s building and just set fire to his entire front office if they can’t beat Houston? Tune into tonight for these answers and more Moose musings.

“Note to #Royals … Snap out of it. Losing by 1 run, no matter the foe, plays tricks on the mind. Find ways to win. You’re better than this.”
Dinn Mann, @dinnmann, Twitter
GH: The one-run losses eat at both a team’s psyche and the manager’s abilities. The manager is supposed to be able to make a difference in enough one-run games to halt these kinds of skids. Yost appears to fuel these slides with his decision making (pulling Shields continues to haunt us) rather than stop them.

“I can never recall Dick (Howser) getting frustrated and blasting at the media. But we never went through a stretch were we lost 9 out of 13 or 10 out of 13.”
George Brett, while discussing Ned Yost’s “tree rant” with Bob Fescoe and Josh Klingler, 610 AM

“I haven’t given up on Moustakas. I haven’t given up on any of them because I know what they are capable of doing. I just wish they would start living up to their capabilities a little sooner I guess.”
George Brett, 610 AM
GH: There might be some who are willing to “give up” on Moose but I don’t know of many. What I want the Royals to do is whatever is best for Moose to become who so many predicted he would be. Sending Moose to Omaha is not giving up. Rather it might be what saves him.

“There’s no doubt in my mind that (Moustakas) is a solid every-day major-league player. He’s just going through a funk right now. Sometimes these funks are a little hard to come out of.”
George Brett, 610 AM
GH: That sounds like George is backing off what I hoped Moose would be – an All-Star third baseman. A solid every-day ML player would be an improvement over what he is but not really the kind of guy you build your next five or six years around.

“Someone says, ‘Ned is short for Damn Fool.’”
Josh Klingler, reading a reader’s text as they were trying to determine Yost’s given name, 610 AM

“Ned Yost is being accused of never admitting he is wrong. I know what that’s like because I get accused of that here (on this show). … I was wrong about almost everything about Sporting Kansas City. I was wrong about the name change…”
Kevin Kietzman, 810 AM
GH: Sporting Kansas City? Does anyone even remember what KK or anybody said about SKC? Kietzman tried to go into humble apology mode on his Monday show but it just didn’t come off as I am guessing he planned. Read on.

“I think it’s helpful to you and maybe helpful to me that I can come forward and say, ‘Boy, did I blow that one!’ I was giving up on Alex Gordon when other people weren’t giving up on Alex Gordon. Some fans were. The Royals weren’t. I was wrong. He turned out to be a better ball player than it appeared he would be.”
Kevin Kietzman, 810 AM
GH: If Kevin would have stopped his Alex Gordon confession here he would have won the monologue. But he could not stop here. He is not built for admitting his mistakes. He is built to never be wrong. He and Ned Yost share that trait. Read on.

“I was wrong about Alex Gordon. … There was no reason to believe that Alex Gordon would be sitting here hitting .343. I do believe that the first quarter of this season will be his best quarter. I was really close to giving up on Alex Gordon. I was wrong.”
Kevin Kietzman, 810 AM
GH: There were all kinds of reasons to believe Alex Gordon would become a great MLB hitter. He was the NCAA player of the year, the AA POTY and Billy Butler himself, Kevin’s favorite player, called Gordon the best hitter he ever played with or against. Gordon struggled mightily his first two seasons but he has hit .303, .294 and .343 for 2011, ‘12 and now ‘13. KK was calling Gordon a bust and a mistake in April of this year.

“I see Ned Yost’s side of this. What I can’t agree with Ned Yost on is the sarcasm that he uses.”
Kevin Kietzman, 810 AM
GH: KK knows sarcasm (or at least passive aggressive criticism) well. Read on.

“(Gordon) got far enough into his career going back and forth between here and Omaha doing absolutely nothing, that there was absolutely no reason to believe Alex Gordon was going to be sitting here on May 20^th hitting .343. There was no reason to believe that! The Royals believed that in blind faith. … Alex Gordon was way past this point (of where Hosmer and Moustakas are) still shuffling back and forth between Kansas City and Omaha.”
Kevin Kietzman, 810 AM

“I don’t think he’s going to finish this year at .343. If he does, it’ll be one of the all-time great years in the history of the Royals’ franchise. I believe that the first quarter of this season will be his best quarter of the season. He will not duplicate over 40 games what he’s done over these 40 games. But Alex Gordon is a very good major league player.”
Kevin Kietzman, 810 AM
GH: I don’t hardly believe anything KK says but Kevin Kietzman is a very good sports talk show host.

“The sad thing is that Kevin Seitzer made millions and millions of dollars for Alex Gordon. He changed Alex Gordon as a hitter. … Kevin Seitzer retooled and rebuilt him and he turned into a hitter that can hit a lot of different pitches in a lot of different places from being a mistake-only hitter. If you remember, Alex Gordon would occasionally tantalize you with a home run while hitting .220 when the pitcher missed one right down the middle.”
Kevin Kietzman, 810 AM
GH: What is sad about Seitzer doing what he was paid to do and Gordon doing what he was paid to do? KK says some very odd things when it comes to Alex Gordon. #Windaided

GregHall24@yahoo.com and Twitter / greghall24

“Is there a manager tree?”
Frank Boal, KSHB TV 41

“Those trees are at a hidden location but, obviously, they’re somewhere. Because that’s what everyone wants to do. Let’s just go pluck another one out of the tree. That’s the nonsense that really ticks me off.”
Ned Yost, in Saturday’s Kansas City Star
GH: Those “trees” are located in the scouting networks of MLB franchises, Ned. Those trees are nurtured by talented baseball people who know a ball player from a blowhard. There are no secrets to success, Ned. Just talent and hard work. If the job’s too tough, David Glass might need to fire up a Wal-Mart-issued chainsaw.

“The kid (Moustakas) is going to be fine. Yes, he’s fighting it right now. They’re all fighting it. They want success. They want to bring a championship to Kansas City. At times, the desire to win overwhelms them.”
Ned Yost, in Saturday’s Kansas City Star
GH: Yeah Ned, that’s why you don’t roll the kid out there every game and let his confidence turn into vapor. Read on.

“(Moustakas) is 1-34 and hitting .178 and it’s May 20th.”
Josh Klingler, 610 AM

“I’ve been in baseball my whole life. I know which kids are going to work and which kids aren’t. He’s going to work. I’ve seen it too many times. (Being patient) with young guys works. It works.”
Ned Yost, in Saturday’s Kansas City Star
GH: Yost being able to draw a paycheck and become a multimillionaire due to his baseball acumen is one of life’s great mysteries. Instead of shouting it, he should be embarrassed by it.

“Ned Yost apparently knows everything – yet he continues to throw Mike Moustakas out there and he continues to hit poorly.”
Mike Welch, host of The Night Shift, 610 AM

“I’m going to tell you something, if I’m wrong on this kid, it’ll be the first. I’ve never been wrong on one of these kids who I’ve had conviction with. None of them. We’re talking about 15 guys over a 30-year career. There are just too many smart baseball people who see what I see. So with Hos, with Moose, Salvy (Perez) and (Alcides) Escobar…all of these kids, they’re going to be fine. They’re going to be very productive players.”
Ned Yost, in Saturday’s Kansas City Star
GH: So Ned is the new Bob Boone? Our resident baseball never-wrong genius? How’s that Hochevar guy working out, Ned?

“But if you think they’re going to be productive from the moment they get here just because they had great minor-league careers … no. There are huge lessons and journeys to endure at the major-league level.”
Ned Yost, in Saturday’s Kansas City Star
GH: Here we go with the “baseball is hard” routine told to us by another MLB manager who struggled to play the game. What a load of crapola. See the ball. Hit the ball.

“No. You’re wrong. Give them time to develop. But I understand it. I know what the fans want. They want it, and they want it now. Instant gratification just doesn’t work (in baseball).”
Ned Yost, in Saturday’s Kansas City Star
GH: INSTANT GRATIFICATION???? The thought that ANYONE associated with the Royals organization would roll this phrase out to point out the problem with the Royals fan base is so obtuse it makes Frenchy look like a picky hitter.

“I think Ned’s job is on the line from some of the statements he’s making and some of the decisions he’s making.”
Caller Ted, Bob Fescoe Show, 610 AM
GH: It damn sure ought to be on the line.

“Guys are going to start covering their own ass and part of that is going to be Ned Yost being the fall guy. Dayton Moore will get rid of him and he’ll put it on Ned Yost.”
Mike Welch, host of The Night Shift, 610 AM

“Next year the fall guy is going to be Dayton Moore.”
Mike Welch, host of The Night Shift, 610 AM
GH: The Royals need to fire Yost yesterday and tell Moore he has until October. Done.

“We felt the time to move was now. We felt we have reached a point where the only way to win is to try to win every year.”
Dayton Moore, on the Royals off-season moves to trade Wil Myers for the Rays’ James Shields and Wade Davis, MLB.com
GH: Reason #1.

“I think with this group we’re definitely going to win a world championship down the road, the next couple of years.”
Ned Yost, during spring training, MLB.com
GH: Reason #2.

“This is an interesting move here. He’s bringing in Bruce Chen when this situation would normally call for Aaron Crow.”
Steve Physioc, while sharing the Royals’ play-by-play duties Sunday afternoon with Steve Stewart, when Yost chose to bring in Chen to pitch the seventh, Royals Radio
GH: Physioc has received much deserved criticism here in the OTC and the Comments section but he was stellar in first-guessing Yost Sunday on Chen and then again when Yost brought in the faltering Herrera. Physioc never backed down from criticizing Yost’s late-game decisions on Sunday – although he never said Yost’s name.

GregHall24@yahoo.com and Twitter / greghall24

“Twitter can be a pretty negative place so it was nice to see everybody – or almost everybody – appreciate our half-inning of silence to honor Fred.”
Joel Goldberg, Royals pre- and postgame host, on the Royals’ tribute to the late Fred White by their broadcasting booth remaining silent on their from Anaheim Wednesday night, 810 AM
GH: Despite the cackling from some woman in the stands, this was a very cool gesture by the Fox Sports staff. The woman and her laugh caught some heat on Twitter from Royals fans like me but she had no idea she was any part of this solemn tribute to Fred. But it might have been smart of Fox to kill some of the crowd mics during this half inning.

“Brett is 60 years old. White has passed away. Splittorff, who had just turned 39 and had been retired barely a year when the Royals won the World Series, died two years ago. Denny Matthews is 70, and I don’t want to think about how I’ll react when he passes on. My childhood heroes are disappearing, years after the memories they created, and the Royals have created precious few of either of them in the years since.”
Rany Jazayerli, ranyontheroyals.com
GH: When Pete Rose retired, he was the first famous ball player I remember watching as a rookie and then his retirement. It was my first glimpse at mortality. Brett is just a bit older than I. As we pass 50, the reminders that we have only an allotted time on earth become more evident. All the more reason to seize the day, Captain my Captain.

“I think it’s becoming the story of the Dayton Moore era.”
Kevin Kietzman, on Moore’s and the Royals’ failure so far to turn their high draft picks into successful major-league starters, 810 AM
GH: With the news of Bubba Starling’s poor offensive numbers and  eye surgery making headlines this week, Dayton Moore’s draft picks have become more and more of a topic. Read on.

“Hosmer and Moustakas…I don’t have any answers for you. Hosmer hits like right field is in foul territory, and Moustakas hits like anything hit high in the air is a home run. I still believe in their talent. I still believe they will play well in the long run.”
Rany Jazayerli, ranyontheroyals.com
GH: Rany is a sabermetrics seamhead and a huge Royals’ fan all at the same time. His seamhead side tells him that Moose and Hos might be simply flash-in-the-pan kind of talents. His Royals’ fan side wants desperately (as do many of us) for these two young sluggers to carry this franchise to great success for the next decade. I sure hope his fan side wins this one.

“(Listeners) have been emailing me and calling, including my mom, saying you’re so negative, you’re talking too much about the fact that they can’t hit and they’re not fielding… I don’t know that they can be a good offensive team. They were not a good offensive team last year and I have no reason to believe they are going to be a good offensive team this year. None! So, we point that out to everyone and you become the bad guy. We point it out for a reason. I want to get as excited as everyone else. … I have a really hard time believing they are going to be a .500 team.”
Kevin Kietzman, 810 AM
GH: Pretty easy to see why so many listeners have KK pegged as Mr. Negative when it comes to the 20-17 Royals. I don’t think he’ll be happy until they are mathematically eliminated from postseason play.

“Most Twitter tough-guys are so chicken-shit & unused to their BS tweets being responded to, when you do, they pee down their leg & apologize.”
Chadd Scott, @ChaddScott, Twitter
GH: So what does it say about Chadd Scott that he needs to vent about some pee-stained anonymous online haters? I am always amazed at how thin-skinned many in the media are when it comes to a faceless critic’s words. Life is not all that serious to be that concerned with “BS tweets.”

“Branden Albert just seems like a guy who wants to feel like he’s wanted. There should be no more problems. You just need to come in and bust your butt every day.”
Jayice Pearson, after the Chiefs’ franchise-tagged left tackle arrived at the Chiefs’ OTAs and have made nice with all, 610 AM

“I hope (Albert) feels like he has something to prove. I hope he comes in with a chip on his shoulder and it makes him play even harder.”
Jayice Pearson, 610 AM
GH: I liked how Albert handled the media this week. He refused to revisit his juvenile tweets and his public pouting. His response to the media’s questions about his tweets, “You know what I said,” was perfect and stated with just the right tone.

“There are a lot of times when I’m right and a lot off times when I’m wrong. And I’m right more than I’m wrong.”
Henry Lake, cohost with Jay Binkley on 610’s The Day Shift, while discussing the Branden Albert situation and his expectation that Albert would be in camp to collect his money 610 AM
GH: Has Lake been banned from Prairie Band Casino yet?

“Are we also getting Eric Fisher ready to play left tackle? Because I think we all agree that Eric Fisher is the left tackle of the future.”
Danny Parkins, 610 AM
GH: I know everyone likes to stress the difficulty in playing the right side versus the left side but I think it’s no more than a one- or two-practice switch. If Eric Fisher has any intelligence at all, he will be able to make the adjustment seamlessly. What Fisher needs to prepare for is going from the MAAC to the NFL. Now that is going to be a switch.

“I thought (Eric Fisher) looked smooth. Every day he got a little bit better. He’s felt a little bit more comfortable at (right tackle). You can tell his athletic ability. He’s a big man who can move and can bend. You and I know it’s tough to bend.”
Andy Reid, in an interview with 610’s Jay Binkley, 610 AM
GH: I found this exchange between Reid and Binkley fun. What I did not find nearly as entertaining is the storyline that Josh Klingler and Bob Fescoe drove into the ground this week when Reid yelled at Klingler for leaning on a fence. The media once again proving they are far more interested in themselves than we happen to be.

“I do have a hold button and I’ll use it.”
Soren Petro, after muting a disagreeable caller and then going on his own diatribe, 810 AM
GH: It was the tenacity with which Soren made this statement that intrigued me – like he was wielding real power or something.

“(Woodstock) was all blown up in the press with all the rain and people couldn’t get in. We were supposed to be flown in in a helicopter. I ended up driving in in my mother-in-law’s Volkswagen. To us it was just another gig.”
Roger Daltrey, lead singer for The Who, in an interview this week with Howard Stern, Sirius
GH: When Stern asked Daltrey how much he was influenced by the Beatles, he laughed. “Elvis Presley, man,” is how Daltrey responded. Daltrey also mentioned The Dave Clark Five as a band that made him want to be a rock singer.

“(Jimi Hendrix) was a very different person than people thought he was. The person people see on stage, he was the exact opposite of. He was very poetic, very gentle. He was a very gentle man.”
Roger Daltrey, on Hendrix, thought by many as the greatest electric guitar player who ever lived, Sirius

“It was rock and roll, man! We didn’t care about that then.”
Roger Daltrey, when asked by Stern what he thought about managers in the music business having larger fortunes than the musicians themselves, Sirius

“Won’t Get Fooled Again. I get a bit tired of that one.”
Roger Daltrey, when asked by Stern what songs he is tired of performing, Sirius
GH: Daltrey told Stern that despite the fact he is tired of the song, The Who still plays it at every concert. “People want to hear it,” he explained. Baba O’Riley might be my favorite Who song. Behind Blue Eyes is another favorite. Yours?

GregHall24@yahoo.com and Twitter / greghall24