R’s – Slipping Away
I didn’t mean to jinx the Royals a week ago when I wrote that the series against Boston would likely be the high point of the season. And while it remains to be seen if their glorious month of baseball has come to an end and they will scuffle through the remainder of the season, things certainly don’t look promising.…
R’s – Poor Timing
The Royals are doing it all wrong again. After a quarter-century of losing, they decide to rip off a hot streak just as this year’s trade deadline approaches. In the process, they’ve likely tricked General Manager Dayton Moore into thinking they still have a chance to sneak into the second Wild Card spot and thus stop any attempts to move…
2013 All Star Game
This year’s All-Star Game retrospective won’t be quite as exhaustive as some in the past have been. By the time S. was home from a meeting and the girls were in bed, it was the top of the third. Fortunately, it was still 0-0 so with the exception of Robinson Cano getting plunked, I saw just about all the best game…
Sports Notes
The promised thoughts on a few of the biggest sports news of the holiday week. Brad Stevens to the Boston Celtics. I was walking into a local brewery to fill growlers for the weekend last Wednesday when I got a text asking what I thought about the move. My first response was “Holy shit!” There were no rumbles here in…
Writing For Fun And Profit
All kinds of stuff going on today, not the least of which is another important mid-June anniversary that must be celebrated.1 I’ve been sitting on this magnificent ode to PNC Ballpark in Pittsburgh by Charles Pierce for a couple weeks. It seems like the perfect day to share it. If you offered me a first-class ticket to a decent paying…
Big Day
So I drafted this earlier today, before the news that the Royals have replaced their hitting coaches with George Brett and Pedro Grifo. So I guess something did happen. Whether that’s big news or not is another story. It feels like a big day for sports. Tonight, the Pacers take on the Heat in game five of the Eastern Conference…
Double Pisser
Wednesday was a great sports night. And an awful one. I spent most of the night covering a tremendous high school baseball playoff game.1 I got home in time to catch the last out of the Royals’ dismal loss to Houston. Losing two of three to the worst team in baseball is not cool. At all. Especially when they blew…
R’s – Three Weeks In
I guess it’s time to write about baseball. The Royals are in first place and begin a series with division favorites Detroit tonight.1 In years past this would be a moment for celebration and excitement. “Can they keep it going?” “Is this real?” Fun questions that present themselves as the first month of the season winds down and the standings…
Swing Batter
The columns always come this time of year. The celebrations of baseball’s return, somewhere in which each writer must suggest that Opening Day1 should be declared a national holiday so no one has to miss their favorite team’s opener. Apparently whoever makes the schedule at St. P’s is a baseball fan, because M. and C. were off yesterday. Oh, some of you…
The Trade
I knew it was coming. For two weeks, as rumors swirled, I expected that one night, probably late int the evening, word would come that the Royals had traded their top prospect, outfielder Wil Myers. Likely for a starting pitcher. Almost certainly for one that had value, but still was too flawed to be an ace for the Royals. So…