“The most important thing we do now is stay calm and stay the course.”
Ned Yost, after the Kansas City Royals lost their 10th consecutive game of the season’s first home stand and their 11th straight overall, 610 AM
GH: There is a time for remaining calm. It was about a week ago. After 11 losses in a row and a winless 10-game home stand? Bad things need to happen. Very bad.
“I think Ned is trying to do everything he can. I know Ned and his staff are trying to stay calm but Whitey Herzog was not that way. I think sometimes a manager has to say something to his players.”
Fred Patek, former Royals’ shortstop, 810 AM
GH: Patek is a very nice guy and in his very nice way he is saying that Yost needs to go Hal McRae on his team of youngsters. Yost doesn’t have much time left. It is our time to chuck an iPad at Bob Dutton tonight in Cleveland and do it while wearing swinging a bottle of hooch. Let’s get this party started, Ned. Bring down the house and invite YouTube.
“Get Dan Glass out of the Royals’ front office [as president]. He doesn’t have the resume and he’s not any good at it. The experiment and the fun is over! This is a really horrible business plan. Dan has got to go!”
Kevin Kietzman, 810 AM
GH: I do not know of a soul not related to the Glass family who thinks Dan is competent. But is he really making any decisions as to the ball club? Dan is like the special needs kid who gets to run untouched for a TD as the clock run down because the other team feels sorry for him. He doesn’t even count. Sure, get rid of Danno but I don’t see him as the reason the Royals are 3-12. It’s the guys KK doesn’t want to fire who are making the day-to-day decisions who need a head slap. Read on.
“I don’t think Ned Yost deserves to be fired yet. I don’t. I don’t think Dayton Moore deserves to be fired yet. I may change my mind. [Fire] the hitting coach? No. You want to change the culture around there, change the top.”
Kevin Kietzman, 810 AM
GH: I don’t really care about “the culture.” I care about winning some damn baseball games. Ned Yost is a sourpuss who is absolutely petrified when it comes to doing anything but play small ball. He was the wrong guy when Moore hired him and he is even more wrong now.
“since 1994 (season after mr.k’s death) royals have had 2 winning seasons (’94-’03) they’ve lost 100+ four times/franchise is pathetic!!”
Frank Boal, @realfrankboal, Twitter
GH: That is just stunningly awful. It is amazing anyone still cares.
“It’s been awesome to hear boos out there some, because actually the fan base cares.”
Jeff Francoeur, Fox4kc.com
GH: Francoeur would never make it as a Royals TV analyst.
“Yost said no one is getting comfortable with the losing… I would argue the fans are. And that’s not a knock on the fans at all… Not many people I talked at the K tonight expected a win, that’s all I’m saying.”
Danny Parkins, @DannyParkins, Twitter
GH: Parkins couldn’t be more out of touch with Royals’ fans. He has confused genetic imprinting with comfort.
“If the fans are positive, I don’t know what they are positive about, we haven’t had a lot of things go our way.”
Billy Butler, Fox4kc.com
“Our Time, in our minds mostly was the All-Star game, the All-Star summer and the fact that it’s coming it’s getting closer and closer to us being a competitor.”
Toby Cook, Royals spokesperson, downplaying the implied arrogance associated with the Royals’ signature slogan for the 2012 season, Fox4kc.com
GH: So it’s Our Time for the All-Star game? Give me a swift kick in the Yost! Please, do not attempt to back off from this embarrassing moment in Royals’ marketing history. A campaign that I bought into and got juiced over has turned into a nightmare reminder of the organization’s decade after decade of incompetence and just how foolish we Royals’ fans are made to feel each spring.
“You know what this year feels like right now? 67-95.”
Nick Wright, 610 AM
“[Sunday] I found myself asking parents, ‘Are you going to do this to your kid? Are you going to raise your kid to be a Royals’ fan?’”
Nick Wright, 610 AM
GH: Do parents have much of an influence any more over what teams their kids follow and root for? Is it all about geography? Are we Royals fans simply because we live in or around KC? Was it because George Brett was drafted by the Royals and became our Babe Ruth? Why are you a Royals fan? Leave a note in the Comments section below.
“[Hosmer’s] on to something [quitting Twitter]. He’s right. I’m not sure I blame him. I can’t see anything positive that can come of it. Focus on baseball and forget about the goofy stuff. ”
Kevin Kietzman, after the Royals’ first baseman announced he was quitting Twitter, 810 AM
GH: Twitter is far more than “the goofy stuff.” When KK reacts to technology like he was Don Fortune, it makes me cringe. Tweeting is not why Twitter works. Twitter is an immediate news source for any and every interest known to man…and even a few women who know how to use a cell phone. KK probably would have thought Marconi’s invention was goofy stuff had he been around in the days of the cutting-edge telegraph.
“With a young team, it’s very important that they go through adversity too. You have to learn how to deal with that. I think it’s going to pay dividends in the long run.”
Ned Yost, somehow attempting to spin an 11-game skid into a necessary evil, 610 AM
GH: This is one of the most ridiculous statements a Royals’ manager can make. How could any Royals’ player be so unaccustomed to adversity that they would view an 11-game skid as a character builder? This same team lost 91 games in 2011. How much freaking losing does a young player need, Nedley?
“The way they are spinning it they are making it sound like this is good, this is part of the plan.”
Nick Wright, 610 AM
“It’s a great time to hit the road.”
Denny Matthews, after the Royals dropped their 11th in a row, Royals Radio
GH: Matthews has been droll and almost funny during this losing streak. It is as if he doesn’t really give a damn anymore and knows the Royals have no say in what he says. The radio broadcasts could become must-hear entertainment if this losing continues.
“In 1980 the Padres pulled Jerry Coleman out of the broadcast booth and made him the manager. Denny Mathews it is your time.”
Greg Schaum, @Greg_Schaum, Twitter
GH: Can you see Denny managing the Royals? He’d cut out all warm-up tosses between innings, have his hitters working as if they had an 0-2 count when they got to the plate and leave in the seventh if the game was over two hours old.
“I feel really, really bad for those guys. I really feel for those guys in the clubhouse. It’s not any fun to play on a losing team at all.”
Fred Patek, after the Royals 11th straight loss, 810 AM
GH: MLB players no longer are sympathetic figures to the fans. Sure, we know they hurt due to the losing but they’re all millionaires who don’t leave in our town or even our universe. How many current Royals even know who Freddie Patek is?
“It’s not the losing streak that wants to make me snap. It’s that the Royals apparently have learned nothing from an entire generation of losing. … Anyway, I’m bitter and angry and probably incomprehensible at this point, so I’m going to take a time out. I’m tired of being a dupe. I’ve tried to blend realism and optimism since I started covering the Royals 16 years ago, and it’s becoming increasingly difficult to argue that those two traits are reconcilable. Apparently, I was a sucker to suggest that the Royals might be a .500 team this year. … I’m angry with myself. I’ve spent literally thousands of hours writing about this team over the last four years, to say nothing about the time spent watching them, reading about them, thinking about them, perusing box scores of their complex league team…it’s not an exaggeration to say that the Royals have simply overwhelmed the free time in my life. If they continue to suck the life out of their fans, I’ll find something else to do with my time. I don’t need to let the Royals consume my life in order to be a fan. So I’m going to dial it back a little.”
Rany Jazayerli, RanyontheRoyals.com
GH: Rany’s post will send shockwaves through the Royals cyber fanbase. There is no one more loyal toward the Royals or more difficult to dissuade than Rany. If Rany goes, no fan is safe. Are the Royals listeneing?
“To be honest with you, we need to get out a can of whup-ass for about nine games and score a bunch of runs.”
Jeff Francoeur, 810 AM
GH: Somebody sign up Frenchy for the Royals’ marketing team.
“Down in Cleveland. Tomorrow is a new day. The season is young and I love my squad. Support thru this stretch has been 2nd to none. We got this.”
Danny Duffy, @dduffkc23, Royals pitcher, Twitter
GH: A glimmer of hope here. Just a glimmer, but at least a small sign of hope.
GregHall24@yahoo.com and Twitter / greghall24
We need a new owner. We need a new owner. We need a new owner. We need a new owner. We need a new owner. We need a new owner. We need a new owner. We need a new owner. We need a new owner. We need a new owner. We need a new owner. We need a new owner. We need a new owner. We need a new owner. We need a new owner. We need a new owner. We need a new owner. We need a new owner. We need a new owner. We need a new owner. We need a new owner. We need a new owner. We need a new owner. We need a new owner. We need a new owner. We need a new owner. We need a new owner. We need a new owner. I have to go pee but we still need a new owner.
What are you trying to say Smartman? Oh yes, the obvious. What you forgot is to take the idiot son with him.
Everybody wants to blame someone.
“Fire Ned!”
“It’s David and Dan Glass’ fault!”
“Dayton Moore did this to us!”
The bottom line is, the players are not performing. You can’t blame it all on Yost or Glass or Moore. Ned has made his share of questionable decisions but when a team is losing every decision is questionable. The manager isn’t making bad pitches, swinging at balls in the dirt or trying to steal bases when the GO sign wasn’ on. This team collectively has its head up its ass right now. Plow through it.
What do you think firing Ned is going to do? Flip the magic switch? When has firing a manager EVER turned this team around?
I’m in favor of firing Ned. I don’t think it’ll be a magical panacea, but I have to question why we’d keep him around at this point. We know what kind of manager he is, and it’s not a good one. He routinely makes bad decisions and rarely seems to make the right ones. Let’s move on and see what someone else can do for us. Personally, I’d like someone who take sabermetrics into account, but the Royals don’t seem to follow that theory.
The way this team is hitting, Whitey Herzog wouldn’t make a difference.
I’m a Royals fan because…
My dad died when I was very young and one of the few vivid memories I have of him is him taking me to Royals games. That is pretty much it. I have tried to quit them but I can’t. I keep coming back.
The Royals are 949-1,333 since my kid was born on opening day in 1998. I told him last night I wouldn’t blame him if he jumped ship as a fan. He said he’s still in, so I keep hoping against hope he’ll have a 1985 and a George Brett in his lifetime.
GH, you ask why we are fans? My father took me to 25+ games/yr when I was growing up in the ’80s. He took me to all four of the WS games in ’85. He let me skip school the day following Game 7. I am a Royals fan because of my father and the incredible memories we shared together. I’d venture to say a majority of the cronies on this board have similar stories/memories.
“You know, when you were a boy in your crib, your father looked down at you, he had but one hope – some day my son will grow up to be a man. Well look at you now. You just got your asses whipped by a bunch of goddam nerds. NERDS!!!! Well, if I was you, I’d do something about it. I would get up and redeem myself in the eyes of my father, my maker and my coach!!!”
Rany has left before.
http://www.ranyontheroyals.com/2009/09/im-done.html
He’ll be back. It’s darn near impossible to abdicate fandom.
Here’s an idea for next year’s Royals marketing campaign: they should make an animated Ewing Kauffman, kind of like KFC did a few years ago with Colonel Sanders. And instead of promoting the team on the field, he can just mention food and alcohol specials. That way the players won’t get too nervous about having to win baseball games. Plus, they’ll need some kind of special to get people coming back after this debacle.
Hologram Mr. K!!!!!!!!!!!!
another idea: toby cook fighting a bear at second base
I’m a fan because of my dad and being that I’m 28, he was about my age when they won the series and had all of those great teams in the 70′s and early 80′s. Now I’m a fan because of geography/habit and I’m not the type of person who can quit a team and follow a new one……as much as sometimes I’d like to
I haven’t cared about these jackasses for at least ten years now. Why do all of you keep supporting this shitty baseball team? I grew up loving the Royals. Frank White was the man! Hell, I even liked guys like Joe Zdeb and Jim Wohlford. But how many abortions do you fans need to sit through before finally saying enough is enough? I haven’t paid for a ticket to a Royals game for years and now routinely turn down freebies. It just isn’t worth it. Once this team hits .500 there’s a chance I’ll get interested again but until then I’ll just continue to laugh every time they lose a game.
“Why do all of you keep supporting this shitty baseball team?”
Supporting them how? I haven’t spent a dime on the team this year. I just root for them to win.
Rany has hit on it many times, but the biggest problem I see with the Royals right now is that they are so desperate to win that they are trying to do any little thing they can to score one run. And when you try to score one run, one is the most you are going to get.
When a guy gets a lead off double, you do not bunt him to third. Even if the bunt is successful, you have a guy on third with one out. The next guy has to get a hit or hit a deep fly. If he hits a ground ball or strikes out, the next guy has to get a hit. If the guy gets a hit instead of bunting, now you have a guy on first with no outs and a run already in.
Big innings win games. I think the Royals outplayed the Jays for the most part last night. The Royals had runners, lots of them. The Jays turned a walk and a bomb into two quick runs and that was that.
This team will soon win a game 10-3 or so. Then lose a couple more after that, and then play about .500 the rest of the year. The issue is that many casual fans have checked out and won’t be back this year. The die hards, like me, will be around no matter what. If the Royals were on the west coast tonight, I’d be up until midnight watching them even though I have early morning meetings tomorrow. I’m sick but I wouldn’t trade it.
I respect your opinion and admire your loyalty. To me the Royals are like your best childhood friend who one day turned into a meth smoking, heroin shooting, dog killing, pedophile…….kinda like Harley. You wanna help them but they don’t want help. They have become someone that you no longer recognize. They are toxic.
Insert Serenity Prayer
I’ll just cherish the memories and save myself a lifetime of aggravation and heartache.
Spot on Smartman, as usual.
I say kill two birds with one stone: As a precondition of Denny Matthews being allowed to become the new Royals manager, he must take along Rex Hudler as his bench coach.
I’m a fan because I was very fortunate to be a 7 year old in 1975 when it seemed like we had a chance against the A’s. Then it really did happen. In my formative years I was growing up with the BEST team in baseball. For 10 years the Royals were awsome. It’s all that we talked about. I went to 20-30 games a year. Playoffs. World Series. I was still a fan until 1994 and the strike. Since then I go to maybe 1 game a year. And it’s worked out quite well as the Royals have been the WORST team in baseball since then.
Why a Royals fan? Those hours spent from 1977-1982 are burned into my memory. I grew up in south KC and those games were the social event of each summer.
It was standing in line at the Jones Store Co at Blue Ridge when I was 5 to get my pic snapped with George Brett. It was Frank White coming to my school for a clinic. Those players were part of the tapestry of the town, a city scarred by the Flood of ’77, arenas that collapsed and the Hyatt tragedy.
It is a different era but I want to believe a team still matters. It is why I spent hundreds of hours writing a 400 page novel about the Royals (shameless plug) a few years back.
Sorry, I like baseball. Even shitty baseball. I like going to the ballpark. But I’m also a Cardinals fan. So, I have that going for me. Which is nice.
I’m a fan because I grew up with this team. I followed them, along with the Chiefs, Kings and Scouts at one point. We were a 4 sport town for two years. At any rate, I remember the good days and the good times at Royals Stadium. They were winning every year, playing exciting baseball. I have stuck with them, throughout the 90′s and the lost decade of the 2000′s, and it is getting tougher.
This has to be the worst homestand in Royal history. Absolutely dreadful, and they were seemingly in every game. How many times did someone ground into a double play in the 9th inning. Last night was a microcosm of this homestand. 0-6 with runners in scoring position and leaving men on 3d base seemingly every inning. At least they are out of town now. If they go 2-7 or worse on this road trip, it will be time for Ned to go watch his beloved NASCAR and get the hell out of KC.
Which happens first?
1. Royals Championship
2. Chiefs Championship
3. Apocalypse
I’ll pick the easy one:
4. Sporting KC Championship
5. JoJo writing something coherent
I agree with MrOlathe. Grew up at just the right time to be a Royals fan. Got into baseball in ’76 and was rewarded with playoff appearances five of the next six years.
My children, the oldest of whom is exactly the age I was in 1975, have ZERO interest in baseball. They see the stadium as a place where they might get custard or cotton candy if dad’s in a good mood.
Why this season’s bad start hurts so much is that we were led to believe the team would start to turn the corner. This makes me doubt this franchise will ever be competitive again.
… in 1994. Haven’t been to the K in … oh … 20 years or so… can’t believe it’s been that long… KC doesn’t have a ‘professional’ baseball team. They. Are. An. Embarrassment.
I’ve refused FREE tickets multiple times. Why go? If a Paper Sack Night (as in over one’s head) is organized , I MIGHT go back.
When family, friends, and business associates from out of town bring them up, I cringe. I change the subject ASAP.
And to remember, the late ’70s & 1980s … *sigh*
There are two kinds of pro sports owners when it comes to priorities. One is making money, the other is winning. There are more owners that care about money than winning, and there isn’t a dman thing a fan can do about it, except not give the owner any more money.
I’ve been a Blackhawks fan my whole life, and this is just like all those years with Bill Wirtz as the owner. Didn’t give a shit about the fans or winning, just about making money. In a strange turn of events, two years after he dies, his team won a championship.
Having grown up in this area, I’m a Royals fan because they are my hometown team. That’s it. I was watching the game last night and what pissed me off wasn’t the pitching, or hitting, or bunting, or play in the field, it was looking at the beautiful ballpark we paid to renovate absolutely plastered with advertising on every available space, like a giant “fuck you” from Glass himself…”You stupid ass idiots, I put this shitty product on the field every year and you still give me money…ahhh…why SHOULD I give a shit about winning? BWAAHAAAAAAA!!!!”
No more. They’ll get my time if my TV remote takes me there, but I refuse to give one more fucking penny to the shitstain that owns our baseball team.
Being a Blackhawks and Royals fan myself, (bummed on both accounts today I might add) if that scenerio happens where the owner dies and is handed down from father to son like in the Blackhawks one…my guess would be this one wouldn’t be as successful
Kind of a 2011 Chief-esque similarity going on with the Royals. Everyone wanted Haley gone after they started 0-3, then when the ripped off four wins in a row people were back in love with him again. As in all sports, the manager/coach gets way too much credit when the team is winning and way too much blame when the team is losing.
All you casual fans on the edge of the cliff ready to jump: Go ahead. Bail out.
We’ll be here when you decide to come back after things even out. And you will be back.