And while you are checking out articles about Buck O'Neil today, make sure you read this post over at Royal Authority.
Saturday, October 07, 2006
Buck O'Neil, Dead at 94
Yesterday was a sad day. Buck O'Neil died at the age of 94 in a Kansas City hospital and Kauffman Stadium will never be quite the same. I was always amazed by the man's love for baseball. Whether it was 44 degrees in early April or 102 in mid-August, you could always find Buck O'Neil sitting in the stands watching the game, and the team, he loved.
He fought hard to keep the memories of the Negro league players alive. And nobody can think of the Negro League Baseball Museum without thinking about Buck O'Neil. O'Neil never got to play one inning of major league baseball because of his skin color. But during the 1930's and 1940's he played Negro league baseball during its heyday. It's a shame that such a league needed to exist, but at the same time, if it hadn't, guys like O'Neil wouldn't have been able to play. He led the league in hitting twice as a Kansas City Monarch, hitting .345 in 1940, and .350 in 1946. He was a three-time East-West All-Star. And he managed the team from 1948-1955.
The baseball world celebrated as guys like Satchel Paige, Cool Papa Bell, and Josh Gibson were inducted into the Hall of Fame mostly because of what they did in the Negro leagues, but we were in shock when O'Neil was not one of the seventeen players elected into the Hall in February of this year when a special vote was held to consider former Negro league players. To say that Buck O'Neil doesn't belong in the Hall of Fame after he spent seven decades in the game (many of which he spent working in the Chicago Cubs' organization) and continued to be one of its biggest advocates up until the end is ludicrous.
He went to the induction ceremony anyway on July 30, 2006 and he opened it by sharing memories of the Negro leagues. That was the kind of guy he was. He didn't hold a grudge. He just showed up whenever baseball was being played or discussed.
According to this article in the New York Times, O'Neil said this in his autobiography about not getting a chance to play Major League Baseball: “Waste no tears for me. I didn’t come along too early. I was right on time. You see, I don’t have a bitter story. I truly believe I have been blessed.”
And we were blessed to have you as long as we did Buck.
Here are some links to stories about O'Neil:
- Buck O’Neil, Negro Leagues Pioneer, Is Dead at 94
- O'Neil, Negro Leagues player, dies at 94
- Buck O'Neil dies
- Negro League great Buck O'Neil dies at 94
- O'Neil mortal, but not his legend
- O'Neil bigger than game itself
- Negro League Great Buck O'Neil Dies
Technorati tags: Buck O'Neil, Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, Negro leagues, Satchel Paige, Cool Papa Bell, Josh Gibson
Monday, October 02, 2006
Royals Sweep the Tigers
Game Date: October 1, 2006
Game Score: Royals 10, Tigers 8 / Box Score
WP: Gobble (4-6), LP: Rogers (17-8)
Royal Home Runs: None
Royals Record: 62-100
We might have lost 100 games, but we just swept the Detroit Tigers in Detroit when they desperately needed to win at least one of those games to win the American League Central. The Tigers jumped out to a 6-0 lead after three innings yesterday and with the ball in Jeremy Bonderman's hands it was hard to imagine that the Royals could mount a comeback against him. But they did.
Esteban German walked to lead off the fourth inning. David DeJesus doubled. And then Emil Brown doubled them both in. Paul Phillips got him home with a sacrifice fly later in the inning, and it was 6-3 Detroit. In the fifth inning, German doubled in Angel Sanchez to make it 6-4. The Tigers added a run in the fifth to make it 7-4. But the Royals scored four runs in the eighth inning to take an 8-7 lead. Then Matt Stairs hit a solo home run for Detroit to tie it, and at that point, the irony was hard to not think about. Here was a guy who spent the majority of the season on our team coming back to hit a pinch-hit home run for another team against us to propel them into a division championship.
But the game went into extra innings, and neither team could score. Until the twelfth inning. With the bases loaded and one out, German singled to score Jeff Keppinger. And two hitters later, Emil Brown walked with the bases loaded to drive in Joey Gathright. Royals win. Tigers lose. And they were bound for New York by the end of the night to take on the evil Yankees. I say, "GO DETROIT!"
But what a fantastic way to head into the off-season. And to make things even better, the Devil Rays lost yesterday--which means the Royals didn't finish with the worst record in baseball. That didn't even seem possible in April and May. Yeah, it means we lost the first pick in the draft next June, but getting the first pick every year simply means you are the worst team in baseball every year.
Thanks for visiting Royal Reflections this season. Drop by during the offseason to continue to get links to and commentary about the latest Royal news. And I'm planning to break down our team by position and give players overall grades as well.
Sunday, October 01, 2006
Grimsley Named Names?
Looks like Jason Grimsley named names. According to this article running at ESPN, here's a list of players that he claims either took "athletic performance-enhancing drugs" or "anabolic steroids."
Technorati tags: Jason Grimsley
Big First Inning Leads to Win
Game Date: September 30, 2006
Game Score: Royals 9, Tigers 6 / Box Score
WP: Wellemeyer (1-2), LP: Miner (7-6), SV: Gobble (2)
Royal Home Runs: Sweeney (8)
Royals Record: 61-100
Playing the spoiler can bring a higher sense of satisfaction than one might think. If the Royals win today, they can keep the Tigers from winning the division. Although, if I had to pick between the Twins or Tigers, I'd rather see the Tigers win the division. I'm not a big Twins fan, but since we are playing the Tigers, it'd be nice to see us sweep them in Detroit while their in contention for the division title.
The game last night was odd right from the beginning. The Royals scored seven runs in the first inning. Our first four hitters got hits, including Mike Sweeney's two-run home run. After Paul Phillips singled a couple of hitters later, Zach Miner was removed from the game. Later in the inning, Joey Gathright singled to left field with two outs to drive in two runs. The Tigers never recovered after that.
Ambiorix Burgos pitched about as poorly as expected in his only start of the season. He gave up four runs, six hits, and a walk in 2.2 innings. Only one of this runs were earned (thanks to Esteban German's error), but he still threw 59 pitches and couldn't even get out of the third inning. Thankfully Todd Wellemeyer was able to throw four innings in middle relief to keep the Tigers in check.
We head into the final game of the regular season this afternoon. And it's a game the Tigers desperately need to win. Odalis Perez (6-8, 5.91) goes against Jeremy Bonderman (14-8, 3.99).
Saturday, September 30, 2006
Royals Win in 11
Game Date: September 29, 2006
Game Score: Royals 9, Tigers 7 / Box Score
WP: Greinke (1-0), LP: Walker (0-1), SV: Peralta (1)
Royal Home Runs: Brown (15), Phillips (1), Keppinger (2)
Royals Record: 60-100
Things didn't look good for the Royals early on yesterday. Curtis Granderson hit two home runs off of Runelvys Hernandez in the first three innings, and the Royals were down 5-3 after seven innings. David DeJesus made it 5-4 Detroit in the eighth with an RBI triple. And Shane Costa tied the game in the ninth with an RBI single.
In the bottom of the ninth, with Zack Greinke on the mound, Joey Gathright threw Brent Clevlen out at home when he tried to score after tagging up on fly ball to center field. After a scoreless tenth, the Royals erupted in the eleventh inning by hitting three home runs. Emil Brown led off the inning with a solo shot. Then Paul Phillips hit one. And with two outs in the inning, Jeff Keppinger hit a two-run home run to give the Royals a 9-5 lead. Good thing they scored so many runs because the Tigers scored two in the bottom of the eleventh.
A few nice things to note about the game:
- David DeJesus was 3-for-6 with a walk and an RBI.
- Esteban German was 2-for-6 with an RBI.
- Mike Sweeney was 3-for-5 with an RBI.
- Paul Phillips, hitting fifth (huh?), was 2-for-6 with his first home run of the season.
- John Buck was 2-for-6 and has his average up to .245.
- Joey Gathright was 3-for-6 and made the aforementioned good play to save the game in the bottom of the ninth.
- Jeff Keppinger was 2-for-5 with a home run and 2 RBI.
- Andrew Sisco went 1.2 innings without giving up a run.
- Zack Greinke pitched three innings, and while he was far from perfect, he didn't allow any runs.
- Joel Peralta picked up his first save of the season.
Tonight, Ambiorix Burgos (4-5, 5.60) will get the spot start, which will be his first start of the season. Zach Miner (7-5, 4.37) will get the start for the Tigers. Burgos has a 5.40 ERA against the Tigers this season in 13.1 innings. Miner is 0-1 with a 7.94 ERA against the Royals.
Technorati tags: KC Royals, Royals, Curtis Granderson, David DeJesus, Shane Costa, Zack Greinke, Emil Brown, Paul Phillips, Jeff Keppinger, Joel Peralta
Thursday, September 28, 2006
100 Losses and Counting
Game Date: September 28, 2006
Game Score: Twins 2, Royals 1 / Box Score
WP: Nathan (7-0), LP: Dohmann (1-3)
Royal Home Runs: None
Royals Record: 59-100
You just had to know that loss number 100 would be a heartbreaker. Such games are indicative of the entire 2006 season for the Royals. Blown saves, botched plays in the field, balls lost in the twilight--all just standard fare for us this season. Tonight, Joe Nelson blew a 1-0 lead in the top of the ninth when Justin Morneau hit a solo home run. It was Nelson's first blown save of the season.
Scott Dohmann came into the game for the tenth inning and just looking at the guy's ERA (7.83) tells you that he gives up an earned run nearly every inning he pitches. He did so again tonight and unfortunately, Luke Hudson didn't get a win that he deserved. He pitched seven strong innings and gave up no earned runs on four hits. It would have been nice if we could have provided a little more offense, especially since we were in the Twins' bullpen so early (the sixth inning), but it didn't happen.
In the big scheme of things, this loss wasn't the end of the world. This season was a wash anyway, but something about losing 100 games makes it look so much worse. And now we are off to Detroit where we'll end the season with a three game series. I don't expect things to get any easier there.
Tomorrow night, Runelvys Hernandez (6-10, 6.38) will go against Wilfredo Ledezma (3-3, 3.58). Hernandez is 4-3 in his career against Detroit with a 3.20 ERA. Ledezma is 2-1 against the Royals with a 4.95 ERA.
Brett is KC's "Hometown Hero"
This won't be a big surprise to Royals' fans, but George Brett won the Hometown Heroes award for Kansas City. The fans of each major league team had the chance to pick one player from the team's past or present "whose combination of on-field contributions, character and leadership make him stand out from the rest."
To read more about it, click here.
Congrats to George!
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Redman Solid in Royals Win
Game Date: September 27, 2006
Game Score: Royals 6, Twins 4 / Box Score
WP: Redman (11-10), LP: Silva (10-15), SV: Nelson (9)
Royal Home Runs: DeJesus (8), Sweeney (7)
Royals Record: 59-99
Well, we found a way to put off loss number 100 for another day. Redman was lights out again in the Metrodome. You'll probably remember that the last time he pitched there in August, he threw a complete game shut out. He changed speeds well again last tonight, and he hit his spots. He gave up three earned runs, and struck out four in eight innings. Joe Nelson finished out the game for his ninth save of the season.
With the score tied 1-1 going into the fourth inning, Mike Sweeney got things going for the Royals in the bottom half of the inning by leading off with a line drive home run over the left field wall. After Emil Brown made an out, Shane Costa doubled to left, and then John Buck doubled him in. Paul Phillips continued the hit parade with a single to left, Angel Berroa singled to center to score Buck, and Angel Sanchez hit a sacrifice fly to score Paul Phillips. The Royals didn't look back after that.
Although I did get a little nervous in the ninth after Nelson came in with a three run lead. Michael Cuddyer led off the inning with a home run. Two batters later, Shane Costa simply dropped a line drive to allow Jason Tyner to reach base--the tying run. But Nelson worked around it.
Tomorrow night, Luke Hudson (7-6, 5.49) will go up against Brad Radke (12-9, 4.46). Hudson is 1-1 in his career against the Twins with a 4.32 ERA. Radke is 12-10 against the Royals with a 4.20 ERA.
Royals Lose Eighth Straight
Game Date: September 26, 2006
Game Score: Twins 3, Royals 2 / Box Score
WP: Santana (19–6), LP: Peralta (1–3), SV: Nathan (36)
Royal Home Runs: None
Royals Record: 58-99
The way we lose games sometimes is mystifying, isn’t it? With the game tied 2–2 last night going into the bottom of the eighth inning, Justin Morneau hit a ground ball to Jeff Keppinger, who was playing first base. A relatively easy play if Joel Peralta covers the bag. Problem was, half of Morneau’s bat was flying at him, so Peralta stopped and ducked for cover. Morneau beat Keppinger to the bag, and you just knew it was going to come back to bite us. It did.
Torii Hunter singled, Paul Phillips allowed a passed ball, and then another ball got away—but Phillips was able to threw out Morneau at home. Hunter ended up on third and Luis Rodriguez lifted a sacrifice fly to center field and the Twins took the lead 3–2. Obviously the score held up and the Royals lost their eighth game in a row. They now need to win their remaining five games to avoid another 100 loss season. I’m not any more confident about such an outcome than I was yesterday.
The line up that Billy Doran put on the field last night was pretty close to atrocious. But he seemed to have very few options. Ryan Shealy broke out with hives, so he couldn’t play. That put Keppinger at first base—and in the number two hole (a .190 hitter). So German had to move to third base. No harm there. But moving German to third meant that Angel Sanchez had to play second base, and he held his own (even getting two hits). But Angel Berroa hit sixth, which should never happen. Predictably, he went 0-for4 with two strike outs. Paul Phillips hit seventh (Buck is still on the shelf), which isn’t ideal. Joey Gathright hit eighth—he should never be higher than ninth. And Sanchez hit ninth. It’s a miracle that we stayed in the game with Johan Santana on the mound.
Tonight Mark Redman (10–10, 5.83) goes against Carlos Silva (10–14). Redman is 1–3 in his career against the Twins with a 4.94 ERA. Silva is 3–1 against the Royals with a 3.63 ERA.
Technorati Tags: KC Royals, Royals, Joel Peralta, Paul Phillips, Ryan ShealyTuesday, September 26, 2006
RR Poll Results
Here are the final results of the RR poll that asked this question: Should Ambiorix Burgos be the closer of the future for Kansas City?
- No: 54% (20 votes)
- Yes: 24% (9 votes)
- Maybe: 22% (8 votes)
A new poll will be up shortly.
Blanco's Injury Update
Andres Blanco may be headed for surgery. He injured his subluxation in his left shoulder and he has some labrum cartilage damage according to this article. If he does need to have surgery, he’ll be out for six months and won’t be ready until the end of Spring Training.
Technorati Tags: KC Royals, Royals, Andres Blanco
Bell Resting at Home
The Royals received good news about Buddy Bell yesterday. Here’s a link to the story.
Technorati Tags: KC Royals, Royals, Buddy BellBonser Shuts Down Royals
Game Date: September 25, 2006
Game Score: Twins 8, Royals 1 / Box Score
WP: Bonser (7–5), LP: De La Rosa (3–4)
Royal Home Runs: Berroa (9)
Royals Record: 58-98
Well, I hate to say it, but you know it’s true. We’re going to lose 100 games again this season. I didn’t think that would be the case a couple of weeks ago—even though I knew we had a difficult schedule down the stretch, but we’re getting mowed down by playoff contenders like extras in an Arnold Schwarzenegger movie. The Royals need to win five of the remaining six games against the Twins and Tigers. Not likely.
Last night was the Twins turn to celebrate a playoff spot after playing the Royals. The Royals were in the game early, but couldn’t get the pitching they needed. De La Rosa only went 4.2 innings, giving up two earned runs and walking six guys. Six. Zack Greinke gave up three earned runs in what may turn out to be a horrible experiment. And Jimmy Gobble gave up three more earned runs to see his ERA soar to 5.29. Boof Bonser on the other hand was outstanding and he shut us down for 6.2 innings—giving up just one earned run.
Tonight, Odalis Perez (2–4, 5.28) goes against Johan Santana (18–6, 2.79). Perez is 0–1 in his career against the Twins with a 10.61 ERA. Santana is 10–3 against the Royals with a 3.71 ERA.
Technorati Tags: KC Royals, Royals, Minnesota Twins, Boof Bonser, Jorge De La Rosa, Zack Greinke, Jimmy GobbleMonday, September 25, 2006
Detroit Drubbing
I was out of town over the weekend, but I followed the Royals and wow, what a disaster the Detroit series turned out to be, huh? We were outscored 33–11, and put up little fight against the Tigers, who not only swept the Royals, but also clinched a playoff spot. Congrats to the Tigers. It’s nice to see a team turn things around so quickly.
And it was nice to see Matt Stairs back at Kauffman Stadium. The Rangers waived him and the Tigers picked him up recently. Stairs crushed a 436–foot home run to right field yesterday against Ryan Braun in the sixth inning. I’m glad that Matt is getting a chance to play for a team headed to the playoffs in what might be his last season.
Unfortunately, the Royals now need to win five of their last seven games to avoid another 100 loss season. We open a new four-game series in Minnesota tonight and then we travel to Detroit to finish the year. If we are going to avoid 100 losses, we’re going to have to do so against two very good teams.
Tonight, Jorge De La Rosa (3–3, 5.32) goes against Boof Bonser (6–5, 4.36). De La Rosa is 0–2 in his career against the Twins with an 8.25 ERA. Bonser is 0–2 against the Royals with a 7.56 ERA.
Technorati Tags: KC Royals, Royals, Detroit Tigers, Matt Stairs
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