7/31/11 Kansas City Royals 5, Cleveland Indians 3

Progressive Field, Cleveland, OH
Game 3 of 3


Ladies and Gentlemen, Royals fans across the stratosphere, I present to you: PULLED PORK

If you don’t know about Billy Butler, “Country Breakfast,” and the whole Royals nicknames thread, first read this post, courtesy of Fake Ned Yost via Rambling Morons for an explanation of the streetball connection, and then read this story by Greg Schaum at Pine Tar Press, via Ross Martin which explains the true origins of #CountryBreakfast and then you don’t have to wonder anymore, and also will have a better chance of getting my Danny Duffy joke above.

Needless to say, Duffy did a great job. I tweeted the “Pulled Pork” thing as I was participating in the nickname conversation on Twitter while listening to the game, and as Duffy was lifted by Yost with 1 on and no outs in the 6th, the name just popped into my head…and, therefore, into my feed.



A lot of firsts here, Jason Kipnis hits his first MLB tater, Fukudome hits safely for the first time as a Cleveland Indian, both Jeff Francoeur and Alex Gordon hit solo homers and Danny Duffy out-duels Fausto Carmona…on a day when Kyle Davies is scratched at the last minute to give Duffy the opportunity.

A very exciting game, both teams battled well (the Indians left a total of 10 on base) and personally, one of the most memorable radio games I’ve enjoyed all season…nice and hot outside, plenty of beer, #CountryBreakfast on the Twitter feed…even without Denny Matthews in the booth.

6/25/11 Chicago Cubs 2, Kansas City Royals 3

Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City, MO
Game 2 of 3

Chris Getz: from “Toad” to “Hero” in less than 24 hours…

In Game 2 of the “yin-yang series” (my post of Game 1 sheds more light on this) the ‘toad’ of Game 1, Chris Getz, becomes the ‘hero’ of Game 2…or is Jeff Samardzija really the ‘toad’ of Game 2?



Danny Duffy (who will later become better known as #PulledPork) faces Carlos Zambrano in the highest-attendance game at Kauffman Stadium since Opening Day 2011. Duffy stays in the game past the 6th inning for the first time in 9 career starts, but leaves the game in a no-decision deadlock with Zambrano, each allowing 2 runs apiece after 7 innings of work.

Alex Gordon makes a Gold Glove worthy outfield assist in the 3rd inning, allowing Matt Treanor to catch Reed Johnson at home plate…Johnson’s run would have been the first of the game, and probably would have been the difference for the Cubs later on.

The Royals get on the board first, with RBI singles by Eric Hosmer and Billy Butler in the 5th inning. Aramis Ramirez and Geovany Soto respond by touching Duffy for 2 back-to-back HR in the 6th; Soto’s blast will be important in later innings.

With the score tied at 2 apiece in the 8th, lefty John Grabow starts the inning in relief of Zambrano; Grabow only faces Gordon, with a one-pitch flyout to RF, and is lifted in favor of the Shark. Enter Jeff Samardzija, who offers bases-on-balls to Jeff Francoeur (pinch-hitting for Mitch Maier) and Mike Moustakas (Francoeur steals second during Moustakas’ PA)…with only one out in the inning, Jeff is unable to end it here, and faces Wilson Betemit (pinch-hitting for Matt Treanor). With the count 2-2, Samardzija lobs an 86-mph high and outside pitch to Soto that gets away; the doofus pitch is scored as a passed ball that allows Francoeur to advance to 3rd and suddenly, this game is on the line for the Cubs.

I still question the PB scoring, and only do so because of how high and how outside this potato was; Soto covered a great deal of ground to receive the pitch, therefore, one might disagree and have a valid basis for disagreement…however, let’s just stick with the PB ruling for now…

Soto’s passed ball might have been the move that cost the Cubs the game, but with Gordon’s earlier assist and Soto’s own solo HR to erase this run, the error (by no fault of its own) cancels that HR out and Soto’s game account is even. Technically, Baseball-Reference’s Box Score
credits Soto with a WPA of 0.073, higher than any other Cub in the lineup (even higher than Ramirez’ WPA of 0.052); despite the PB it’s hard to make a claim that Soto blew the game.

Let’s get back to the game…Betemit is still at the plate, and Samardzija strikes him out. 2 down, 2 on, and 2 in scoring position. Chris “The Toad” Getz works a 2-2 count from the Shark before hitting a dribbler that banks off Samardzija’s glove, allowing Francoeur to score. Getz’ WPA is 0.177, that of a “Hero,” not a “Toad,” and Joakim Soria strikes out the side in the top of the 9th, bringing the Royals a well-earned win and tying the “yin-yang” series 1-1.

Incidentally, Francoeur’s timely BB after working a full count, SB, and winning run scored yielded in the Royals’ highest player WPA for the game, 0.199.

Alex Gordon continues his consecutive hit streak at 12 games, Starlin Castro continues his at 9 games.




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6/15/11 RSS Feed Favorites, with 1982 Joakim Soria Topps Card

Today's pick o' the RSS Feed, featuring a great find from the internets…

Greg Schaum of Pine Tar Press tweeted about A Hair Off Square and I had to check it out…the site features the work of Clint Wiederholt who among other things, is whipping up some ultra-fantastic ‘custom cards’ of mostly current Kansas City Royals players with klassic collectors cards borders, designs, and the like. Great stuff, and do check out his “Just Fair” series as well. What you see leading off above is part of Clint’s “History of Joakim Soria” series, this entry being based on the 1982 Topps design. Clint does a great job of tying in the current players with the design being used and some ‘what was up then’ and personal analysis of the card design and related elements, all in just a few paragraphs. Awesome stuff, I’m really happy to add A Hair Off Square to my feed.

Clint’s also done some nifty custom cards for the St. Joseph (Missouri) Mustangs, of the MINK Collegiate Baseball League (Missouri Iowa Nebraska Kansas). What is MINK? Maybe I should write about it sometime, for now you can check out their website for more info…

So, without further ado, the rest of my ramble for today…

B3: Big, Bald and Beautiful:
Top 50 update by Jonathan Mayo
Mayo’s back after a brief hiatus (he’s probably been sleeping for 3 days plus after being awake for 3 days plus) with the return of the Monday Top 50 Update. By the way, did you know you can check on the status, signings, etc of this year’s draft and other drafts, all the way back to 19-hundred-and-65 on MLB.com’s MLB Draft History?? You didn’t? Consider it now known…

Kings of Kauffman:
Don’t Put Billy In A Corner by Kevin Scobee
HEAR HEAR…it’s good to hear (and read) such positive notes about Billy Butler. I almost want to write “Remember him? He was your favorite Royal last year!” but that’s just not funny. I love the Hosmer and Moose callups, I am enjoying the pitching this year more than I was told that I would, and I really love that Alex Gordon is doing better…but I still think Billy is a total baseball stud. And yes, Kevin, you are correct. Wanna complain? Call on Chris Getz!!

The Greatest 21 Days: 1990 CMC: by Steve78
The “CMC Error: Fox for a Diamond” Trilogy
First of all…if you aren’t reading this blog every day, why not? The best baseball blog EVER, hands down…I just can’t get enough of this, better (and bigger) than a book…this series of posts is just another reason why!!
My words and puny dissertation could never fully explain this series of posts, so I’ll do my best to provide a TV-Guide synopsis and outline and trust that you will find out for yourself…First, you must read CMC Error: Fox for a Diamond where the randomizer selects a Kerwin Moore (Appleton Foxes) card from the CMC set at and, as “the picture didn’t look right,” the author began to investigate and finds an error in the set…next in the Trilogy, Steve78 writes about Kerwin Moore, Away From Home - 873…and finally, Steve Martin, Strong Character - 878…as always, baseball stories just don’t get better than this stuff. No spoilers, but it is written: “The tipoff was the hat.”

I want to leave you with my favorite Manager Ejection of the year so far, as Gary Allenson of the Norfolk Tides is ejected for arguing a Home Run call reversed to a Ground Rule Double. The clip is over 7 minutes long, but be sure you watch all the way to the end as Allenson gets thrown out and then gets a little bit cantankerous. You go, brother…you don’t need to take that crap!

Be sure you have Tug Haines : Casual Fan in your feed…Tug has started to add game notes, and they are awesome. He really keeps building up his daily adventures to a point where I have a feeling we will end the summer with a countdown of “when is the book coming out?”

I should add that today is the 47th anniversary of the 1964 Lou Brock/Ernie Broglio Transaction. How you celebrate is up to you.

The current 2-game winning streak against the Brewers has been some very, very exciting Cubs baseball. I just love it. Go CUBS.

Eien no tomodachi,
Stevo-sama

4/5/11 Chicago White Sox 6, Kansas City Royals 7

Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City, MO
Game 1 of 2



Opening Week (and then some) was a particularly brutal one for the Royals. This game represents the 2nd of 3 consecutive extra-innings games during a course of four days. The short series with the White Sox wasn’t so short; both games went into 12 innings, the series was split 1-1. During this 3-game stretch-and-then-some, the Royals were 2-1.



The large hurrah after 3 hours and 32 minutes of play was certainly Melky Cabrera’s game-winning walk-off single in the bottom of the 12th, driving in Chris Getz. This is good, because many of us are still half-wondering how Melky’s going to fit into the lineup…especially now that the lukewarm SS the Royals got for last year’s cold SS in the Brewers trade has had a very good April; the downside being: one cold player displaced by another one. I call this the Che Guevara rule of Baseball, where instead of cruel leaders being displaced, teams are rewarded in trading expendable position players by sometimes more expendable position players. Cabrera did VERY WELL in this game (3-for-6 with 3 RBI).

Funny, how outspokenly concerned I was about the acquisition of Jeff Francoeur in the offseason, moreso than Cabrera, and how my mind has been changed about that…so far…

But, I digress. To me, what’s bigger news: Alex Gordon is FINALLY starting to show his baseball teeth. Who cares if it’s April…haven’t we been waiting for this Alex Gordon to take the field and show ‘em how? Yes, we have.

Gordon went 3-for-5 with 2R, 2RBI, and a scorching 1 on, 1 out HR to deep CF, right side of the ‘big green thing’ at the K, in the 1st inning. His first HR of the year. He scored in the 8th after getting on base with a 2B to left CF on Billy Butler’s HR blast in the same direction off of LHP Chris Sale, in relief for starter Gavin Floyd.

But, of course, Billy Butler…we really expect him to do this. Gordon, on the other hand…well, the suspense is starting to slowly kill some of us. So far in April, he is blowing away his previous season numbers and performance. This is a marathon…can it last?

And to that point…will Luke Hochevar, who left the game after 6IP with 6H and 5ER, be able to do something snazzy this year? Perhaps, something snazzier than Jeremy Jeffress’ successful and very snazzy pick-off of pinch-runner Brett Lillibridge…

BTW, since I do track these kinds of things:

Gordon broke two bats during this game (remember, that’s a “BLS” on my scoresheet, for “Broken Louisville Slugger”), one of them by Floyd and the other by Sergio Santos that fell for a broken bat double, not the first time I’ve scored such an event but notable just the same.

5/15/10 Chicago White Sox 5, Kansas City Royals 4

Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City, MO

After a nearly hour-long rain delay and some interesting but very blurry vintage White Sox footage, the game gets a rocky start for Jake Peavy (he's still one of my favorite pitchers, ever) as he allows 3 quick runs in the 1st. Luke Hochevar holds his own for nearly 7 innings, but Peavy hangs on after his early mistakes and the Royals pay the price.

CWS 5 8 0
KC 4 7 0

Of course, I like Luke Hochevar quite a bit. Between Trey Hillman and Ned Yost, 2010 was Hochevar's season to "hang in there" and help himself out...or not. He has to learn sometime, that time is now. Peavy was a beast tonight, no question about it.

A great game for Mike Aviles, who set the table for the 3-run first inning, Billy Butler, and even...heyyyyy...Alberto Callaspo and Yuni "Yunigma" Betancourt!! Unfortunately, when Hochevar does unravel in the 7th inning, it's not pretty. 4 runs on 5 hits not pretty. By the end of the 7th, the Royals are behind the White Sox 5-4 and that's where it sits.

Ah, yes...but wait, there IS more! The call to the bullpen in the 9th goes to none other than Kyle Farnsworth!!


This section of the post is for KYLE FARNSWORTH fans only, as we fire up the Official TBE Farnsworth PitchTracker 2010(sm). Here I present the details of Kyle's 9th inning workout against the White Sox, pitch by pitch:

Farnsworth vs. Ramon Castro (bats R)
1: 98mph (called strike)
2: 89mph (called strike)
3: 100mph (low, outside corner)
4: 99mph (fouled back)
5: 92mph (fouled back)
6: 97mph (popout to left fielder in foul territory)
ONE OUT
Farnsworth vs. Juan Pierre (bats L)
7: 96mph (bunted foul)
8: 99mph (outside)
9: 95mph (flies out to shortstop)
TWO OUTS
Farnsworth vs. Gordon Beckham (bats R)
10: 99mph (called strike)
11: 99mph (high)
12: 90mph (grounds out to first base, farnsworth covers the bag and makes the tag)
THREE OUTS, FARNSWORTH WINS (12 PITCHES, 9 STRIKES)
AVG. PITCH SPEED = 96.1mph




I scored this game on 3/5/11