Thursday

Royals lose 18th straight in another squeaker...


Without MacDougal's ridiculous throwing error in the 8th, the Royals only would have lost by five.

Will the Royals ever win again? We're sure they will, but damn...When will it happen? RC is getting tired of waiting. Today's action featured a poor outing from D.J. Carrasco, who only lasted three innings while surrendering seven runs on eight hits. The bullpen wasn't much better, and the Royals lost 11-5. The only highlight came in the ninth inning, as the Royals loaded the bases on a series of walks (with a Chip Ambres double play mixed in), and backup catcher Paul Phillips slammed his first Major League HR, a four-run dinger to left field. But alas, it was too little too late, as the Mariners had already received their grand slam earlier in the day off the bat of Adrian Beltre.

Will the Royals break the American League record for consecutive losses (21)? We think they just might. After an off-day tomorrow, the Royals head to Oakland, where they'll meet up with one of baseball's hottest teams. Folks, it doesn't good.

  • RC was surprised today when we saw that Emil Brown was placed in the leadoff spot in today's lineup. Even though it hardly matters, we sincerely hope that today's lineup readjustment was just an experiment by Buddy Bell against a tough lefty like Jamie Moyer. If David DeJesus isn't back in the leadoff spot on Friday, we'll be concerned.


    "You want me to hit where???"


  • On a more uplifting note, today was the 25th anniversary of the day that George Brett raised his batting average above .400, generating one of the classic photos in Royals history:



    RC misses George.


  • Even though the Royals lost again, their minor league organization had a good night. Billy Butler drilled his first double-A HR, a grand slam in Wichita's 10-run sixth inning in the first game of their doubleheader. Luis Cota had a stellar start, carrying a no hitter into the fifth inning. On the night, Cota's line was 7.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, and 5 K.

    For more minor league news, make sure you sign up for RC's Daily Prospect Update. To do so, simply send a blank e-mail to Royalscorner-subscribe@yahoogroups.com and follow the instructions, which will require you to send a confirmation e-mail (Editor's note: you do NOT have to sign up for a yahoo ID).


  • With the off-day tomorrow, RC is planning a feature which will detail precisely what we think the Royals ought to do during this offseason to prepare for 2006 and beyond. We'll show you our updated anticipated roster, along with some ideas on which free agents Allard Baird might be wise to pursue. You don't want to miss it, so make sure you check in with us tomorrow night.
  • 10 Comments:

    At 8/17/2005 5:02 PM, Blogger Daniel said...

    Good on-base percentage for Brown, and he has the ultimate lead-off quality...

    ...he's not Angel Berroa.

    I think DeJesus is more comfortable in the 2nd spot, anyway. I don't imagine this will matter much, but whatever floats Buddy's boat.

     
    At 8/17/2005 5:04 PM, Blogger Daniel said...

    By the way...I saw someone refer to you as Skippy5...

    If you are Skippy5 on the Royals MB, then you ought to know me...I'm 9moon.

     
    At 8/17/2005 5:19 PM, Blogger Dave said...

    Yeah, I saw that, and my reaction was essentially, "OK, whatever."

    It can't hurt, but it probably won't help either. I still want DeJesus to be the long-term leadoff man, however, so as long as this isn't some kind of permanent move, I don't really care one way or the other.

    And yeah, I'm skippy5 on the MB, although I don't really post very often anymore -- almost all of my "Royals time" is spent on this site now.

     
    At 8/17/2005 7:08 PM, Blogger Kevin said...

    Okay, so who else besides me is pulling for the Royals to hit that magical 21st loss in a row?

    Anyone?

     
    At 8/18/2005 12:28 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

    DeJesus has long said he prefers to hit second. He is the Royals best leadoff hitter (read only good), but still more of a natural number two. I think he doesn't feel pressured to try to steal bases that way. Besides that power OFer, the Royals really need to also add a 2B or corner OFer who can leadoff as well.

    Weren't the Royals the team the O's beat in '88 in game number 22? I remember it was early Spring and I believe the Royals were the ones to lose to them. I could also be getting it confused with the horrible start the Hal McRae led Royals got off to in '92.

     
    At 8/18/2005 10:20 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

    Anyone see the Gordon article in the Star? He's enrolling in classes, which if he attends school he's automatically back in the 06' draft. Sure it's a negotiating ploy, but this is the worst possible scenario for this franchise, considering our current plight. We won't give him a major league 40 man spot??? Yet, we're littered with others on the current roster that don't deserve a major league contract any more than Gordon? I'm walking on a thin thread with this, and a long time of loyal, royal frustration is coming to a boil. We're in a youth movement, and Gordon is integral to this movement. We do whatever in the hell it takes to get this kid signed, or all of this crap from the front office is a bunch of baloney!! We've got the money, so what if he's not a sure thing? We lose more money on crappy free agents every year, than what we'd lose squabbling with the best player in the draft.

     
    At 8/18/2005 12:34 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

    cfos, i agree with you about getting attention from the current roster. while the names you mentioned aren't seasoned vets, they're certainly not rookies, and have tasted some winning in 03' so it's not like they don't know what it's like. affeldt frustrates me to no end. his comment about 2 nights ago was something like "the walk and steal, that happens.. but the really frustrating thing is the cheap infield hit between third and short". Huh? R u kidding me? a four pitch walk and allowing a runner to trot to third on a steal don't contribute to blowing the inning ang game? this kind of garbage needs removed from the clubhouse attitude.

     
    At 8/18/2005 1:47 PM, Blogger Dave said...

    Uncle J, believe it or not, I'm pretty much with you on Gordon. While I'm not at all worried that he's actually going to go back to class, I do think that if the Royals let him slip away because of quabbling over the size of his bonus, then that may just be it for me. As you said, the money is most definitely there, so if the Royals let the current $1.7 million divide drive Gordon back to class, then I'll be the very first person calling for the head of whoever was responsible, be it Baird or Glass.

    Now, as for the mlb contract business, I'm conflicted. Part of me wonders just who the hell this kid thinks he is by making such a demand, and I wonder what possible benefit he thinks he'll get from the major league contract. It's silly to want that guarantee from the Royals, because it's not like he'll have any problem getting himself promoted to KC within three years.

    Of course, the other part of me is frustrated with the Royals, because when I look at the 40-man roster, I don't have any trouble picking out 10 guys (and probably more, really) who we could easily boot off without suffering one bit on the Major League diamond.

    Oh well, there's nothing worth getting upset about until there's something to get upset about.

     
    At 8/18/2005 1:50 PM, Blogger Dave said...

    cfos, I completely forgot that I'm going up to Frederick tonight to see Mike Hinckley pitch (BA's #1 Nationals Prospect - 2005). I'll try to get something up tonight about 2006, but I can't make any guarantees at this point. Hopefully I'll get home early enough to get something done, but Frederick is over 50 miles away from my apartment, and if the game runs late, I might not be able to do it tonight.

     
    At 8/18/2005 5:57 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

    I leave tomorrow for 2 weeks of business in Australia. i hope to God we've broken this losing streak before I get back.

     

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