Here's a couple of links to articles about Denny Matthews going into the Hall of Fame this weekend:
Missouri pair take similar paths to Hall
Knowledge, presentation earn Matthews Hall of Fame recognition
Here's a link to an audio interview with Matthews about the Hall of Fame on WJBC in Bloomington, IL.
Apparently Shawn Peters over on ESPN.com either hasn't been paying attention to the Royals or he thinks the past two months have been a fluke. Here's a little of what he said in this article: Grand Theft Roto: A bad time to deal:
"Royals' reliever Octavio Dotel is probably the most likely player in the majors to actually move at the deadline; as Kansas City realizes having a proven closer on that team is about as necessary as having a tanning salon for Goths. Someone will bring in Dotel to set up or even close in a pinch, and K.C. will have to choose another reliever to close the door on the rare occasions when it actually wins."
The Royals are 26-22 since June 1 and 7-7 since the All-Star break. So wins aren't exactly "rare" these days.
Sounds like Dayton Moore's phone is ringing off the hook regarding Zack Greinke. A week or so ago, the Cubs were believed to be interested in him. Now, the Diamondbacks, the Dodgers, the Braves, and the Cubs are interested. One Yahoo! story quotes a "rival executive" as saying that the Royals would be crazy to trade Greinke. I agree, and I just don't see it happening.
Game Date: July 27, 2007
Royals 6, Rangers 1 / Box Score
WP: Bannister (7-6), LP: Wright (3-3)
Royal Home Runs: Butler (4)
Royals Record: 45-57
Brian Bannister continued his solid season last night, pitching seven shutout innings--giving up just four hits. He lowered his ERA to 3.42 and he's only allowed one earned run in his last 14 innings of work. And finally, the opposing manager was praising our starting pitcher after the game rather than the other way around. Here's what Ron Washington said, "Bannister didn't give us much. We had a couple of opportunities, but he did not give in to it."
Bannister got an early lead when Billy Butler hit a three-run home run in the first inning. He got into some trouble in the early innings, but he found a way to keep the Rangers from scoring. The Royals on the other hand kept crossing the dish. Ross Gload hit a sacrifice fly in the third to score Mark Teahen. Mark Grudzielanek singled in John Buck in the seventh. And Alex Gordon doubled in Gload in the eighth.
And so, after a slight stumble against the evil Yankees, the Royals seem to be back on track. Unfortunately, our starting pitching is still on shaky ground. Tonight, Odalis Perez (5-9, 5.80) goes against Kevin Millwood (7-8, 5.56). Perez has never pitched against the Rangers. Millwood is 3-2 against the Royals in his career with a 3.13 ERA.
It seems that Octavio Dotel has fallen in love with Kansas City. So much so that he wants to remain in Royal blue rather than be traded to a playoff contender.
“I like it here,” Dotel is quoted as saying in the KC Star today, “because we can win here. I like how I see this club is trying to put together a group of players that can win in the future. I want to be part of that. I want to be in that group.
“You’ve got to be patient. You can’t expect everything from these players right away. It takes time, but it’s like we’re building a house. And after we have the house, I’m telling you, we’re going to have a party.”
Dotel wants a multi-year contract, somewhere in the neighborhood of $20 million for three years. The Royals can certainly afford that type of contract and it might make sense if it allowed Joakim Soria to join the rotation next season.
But Dotel is 33 years old and I can't help but wonder if we shouldn't sell high. The problem with that is, most teams don't seem all that willing to give up anything in return. And if that's the case, I'd rather hold on to Dotel because it might just allow us to strengthen our rotation as well as give us a solid closer--assuming he can stay healthy.
Game Date: July 26, 2007
Royals 7, Yankees 0 / Box Score
WP: De La Rosa (8-10), LP: Igawa (2-3)
Royal Home Runs: Gordon (7)
Royals Record: 44-57
Maybe this team finally has turned a corner. After the Royals lost the first three games of the series to the evil Yankees, Alex Gordon said that the team was upset because it was the first time they'd lost three in a row since June. And even after the Royals win last night, Gordon said that the Royals weren't happy with winning just one game in the series. I like to hear that.
Starting pitching cost us dearly in this series, but Scott Elarton is gone now. Leo Nunez will probably take his place in the rotation. Brandon Duckworth is getting closer to returning. And Billy Buckner was at least a consideration to replace Elarton. So, it would seem we might have a couple of options regarding the rotation.
Jorge De La Rosa pitched out of trouble often last night, but he always seemed to make the right pitch and the right time to wiggle off the hook. Zack Greinke was outstanding in relief, going 2.2 innings and not even allowing a hit. Joakim Soria threw a perfect ninth to close the game out.
The line up looked a bit odd. Ross Gload hit second. David De Jesus hit third. And in Frank White-like fashion, Mark Grudzielanek hit clean up. The odd order seemed to work. The Royals pounded out seven runs on ten hits and four walks. Alex Gordon had three hits, including a home run, and he has his average up to .245.
The Royals begin a new series at home tonight against the Rangers. Brian Bannister (6-6, 3.68) will go up against Jamey Wright (3-2, 4.15). Bannister has never pitched against the Rangers. Wright is 2-0 against the Royals with a 1.88 ERA.
Anybody noticing what Jeremy Affeldt is doing over in Colorado this season? He's got a 2.90 ERA with a 1.26 WHIP in 48 appearances. And opponents are hitting just .215 against him.
It's still way too early to say that we got the short end of the stick regarding the trade that sent Affeldt and Denny Bautista to the Rockies for Ryan Shealy and Scott Dohmann, but Dohmann was terrible for the Royals last season and ended up being designated for assignment. He's getting knocked around right now in Tampa Bay. Ryan Shealy can't stay healthy, and even when he does, he hasn't been impressive. He's hitting just .221 this season in 52 games. Denny Bautista has been even worse than Scott Dohmann was since the trade. He has a 19.06 ERA in seven games with the Rockies this season.
Right now, the only player involved in the trade who is doing anything at the major league level is Jeremy Affeldt.
Game Date: July 25, 2007
Yankees 7, Royals 1 / Box Score
WP: Mussina (5-7), LP: Meche (7-7)
Royal Home Runs: None
Royals Record: 43-57
I know that our bullpen needed a break, but did we really need to run Gil Meche out for the eighth inning tonight and did we really need him to throw 120 pitches--especially given the fact that he has struggled with endurance recently?
It just seems odd to me. He had a good game going until the eighth when Alex Rodriguez hit a two-run home run to stretch out the evil Yankees lead. But I guess it didn't matter in the long run. We still only scored one run and Meche gave up three even before the Rodriguez home run.
Tomorrow, Jorge De La Rosa (7-10, 5.61) will try to play the role of stopper. He'll go up against Kei Igawa (2-2, 6.67). De La Rosa is 1-0 against the evil Yankees in his career with a 2.57 ERA. Igawa has never faced the Royals. Neither pitcher is pitching well right now. Let's hope against all hope that the Royals can find a way to avoid the sweep.
Scott Elarton seems like a guy who has the type of attitude you want players to have, but attitude can only go so far. He's been dreadful this season and today the Royals waived him. Sounds like Leo Nunez will fill his spot on the roster. Nunez doesn't really seem to have the stamina to be a starter and he's only started four times in Omaha this season, but we are desperate for starting pitching, so let's see how he does.
Bob Dutton is reporting that the Mets are believed to be interested in Mark Grudzielanek since Jose Valentin broke his right tibia last Friday. Right now, the Mets are planning to platoon former Royal Ruben Gotay and Anderson Hernandez.
This would give Esteban German a chance to be the regular second baseman, but it would limit Buddy Bell's flexible line ups somewhat since presumably Jason Smith would become the utility man and he's primarily an infielder.
No word yet on what the Royals might be seeking from the Mets in return for Grudzielanek.
Game Date: July 24, 2007
Yankees 9, Royals 4 / Box Score
WP: Wang (11-5), LP: Elarton (2-4)
Royal Home Runs: None
Royals Record: 43-56
Let's be honest. Scott Elarton was bad last season (4-9, 5.34 ERA). He's been worse this season. Is there anybody in Kansas City who didn't see this train wreck coming? Seven earned runs in 1.2 innings of work took the Royals out of this one by the second inning.
Given how poorly Jorge De La Rosa and Odalis Perez are pitching, we only have two good starters right now in Gil Meche and Brian Bannister. I'm hoping that we see changes in this rotation by the time it makes it's way back around to Elarton's spot again. Matt Wright is putting up impressive numbers in Omaha (6-3, 3.82). And he's 25. Maybe it's time to give him a shot.
At least tonight we have Gil Meche (7-6, 3.63) on the mound. He'll go up against Mike Mussina (4-7, 4.97). Meche is 3-2 against the evil Yankees in his career with a 3.88 ERA. Mussina is 15-7 against the Royals with a 3.02 ERA.
In case you missed the comments in my previous post about Mike Coolbaugh's death, here are a couple of addresses for banks that are accepting donations:
Mike Coolbaugh Family Fund
c/o Frost National Bank
1250 N.E. Loop 410
San Antonio, TX 78209
Mike Coolbaugh Memorial Fund
c/o Spirit Bank
1800 S. Baltimore Avenue
Tulsa, OK 74119
I called both banks this morning and both funds are up and running.
Thoughts and prayers go out to the Coolbaugh family.
Game Date: July 23, 2007
Yankees 9, Royals 2 / Box Score
WP: Clemens (3-4), LP: Perez (5-9)
Royal Home Runs: Gload (3)
Royals Record: 43-55
Fresh from a winning road trip, the Royals came home to 30,000+ fans and battled to stay in the game, even after falling behind 4-0 in the second inning. But the wheels came off in the ninth when the evil Yankees scored five runs. The Royals made three errors. Tony Pena made a throwing error. Emil Brown made a throwing error. And Mark Grudzielanek dropped a pop up.
It looked like Odalis Perez was going to have to make another early exit. He gave up four runs in the first two innings, but then he settled down and kept the Royals in the game. He wasn't good, or even good enough, but he was better than I thought he would be tonight.
Clemens, on the other hand, was more than good enough, giving up just two earned runs in seven innings, but the Royals gave him some help. So did the umpires. At one point in the middle innings, Perez was getting squeezed by home plate umpire Doug Eddings. After giving Jorge Posada a forth and maybe even a fifth strike, he singled. None of that really mattered though since the evil Yankees scored five runs in the ninth.
Now we have to hope that Scott Elarton (2-3, 9.17) is better than he's been all season when he takes the ball tomorrow night. He's been awful so far. He'll go up against Chien-Ming Wang (10-5, 3.44). Elarton is 3-0 in his career against the evil Yankees with a 4.85 ERA. Wang is 1-0 against the Royals with a 5.79 ERA.
