Royals Win, and A Long Winter Ahead for Collins and Harvey

First and foremost, congratulations to the Kansas City Royals for their four games to one World Series victory over the New York Mets.  They were clearly the better team, and they earned that Championship, and they did it in convincing and dramatic fashion.  So, good for them!

But let's talk about what everyone else outside of Kansas City will be talking about after that Game Five win - the decision by Mets manager Terry Collins to allow Matt Harvey, whose valiant efforts through the eight innings of that game cannot be overstated, to pitch the ninth inning, despite having reached what was most likely a prohibitive pitch count, despite having his closer ready to go in the ninth, despite this being a game that the Mets absolutely, positively HAD to win in order to extend the Series.  Actually, that was not Collins' initial decision.  He wanted to pull Harvey and go with his closer to start the ninth, but we all know what happened:  Harvey balked at being told he was through for the night, and talked his manager into letting him start the ninth, wherein he gave up a walk and a double, was removed from the game, a game which the Royals tied in the ninth and won in the twelfth.

Collins will no doubt be lambasted for sending Harvey back out there to pitch the ninth, but I put a big heaping helping of blame on Harvey himself for refusing to be pulled and insisting that he stay in the game.  On one hand you can say he was being a tough, determined, and gritty competitor, and on the other hand you can say that he was being an ego driven, selfish, me-first modern day ballplayer who was putting his own desires ahead of what was best for the team.  With the team's very existence in the World Series at stake, I come down in the latter camp.

Of course, Collins let himself be talked into sending Harvey back out there to pitch.  He is the Boss, nominally, and in the most critical decision of the season, he allowed the inmate to run the asylum.  That never usually works out well, and it killed the Mets.  And Collins compounded his mistake when, after Harvey walked the lead off batter, at which point Harvey should have been yanked, he let him pitch to still one more batter, Eric Hosmer, who promptly doubled and cut the Mets lead to 2-1.  As soon as that happened, I said to Marilyn, "The Mets are done, KayCee is going to win this game."  And that is what happened.

When I occlude writing this post, I am going to peruse the Internet to see what the New York writers have had to say about the bizarre maneuverings in the ninth inning.  I am guessing that it won't be pretty.  Collins will deserve whatever brickbats rain down upon him, but I hope that Matt Harvey gets roasted a bit, too.  He deserves it.

********

A four games to one World Series victory would make it appear that it was lopsided and dull Series, but that was not the case.  Three of the Royals victories took place after the Royals were trailing the Mets, in the eighth inning in Game Four and the ninth inning in Games One and Five, and those Game One and Five wins came in extra innings.  They never ceased putting pressure on the Mets, and once they grabbed the Mets by the throats, they never let go.  They were absolutely relentless in the way they went about their business in the World Series, and they are a most worthy Champion.

********

Okay, now for the "Hey, you kids, get off my lawn" segment of the post.  The Royals victories in Games One, Four, and Five were remarkable contests.  Thrilling and dramatic in ways that only baseball on the major league level can offer.  Game One ended after 1:00 AM in the east, and Game Five, the final game, ended after Midnight.  

So, how many people actually saw these marvelous baseball games?  Relatively few.  I did, and I only saw them because I'm retired.  If I had to get up to go to work in the morning, there is no way that I would have seen these games, and what a shame that is.  For sure, no school age kids saw them.  (Perhaps the fact that the "retiree demographic" was the only one watching these games explains the bewildering number of pharmacological products that were sponsors of the telecasts, but I digress.)

Anyway, this is an old and tired argument that has been taking place ever since MLB agreed to night World Series games, and we all know why - Television Money.  It's not going to change.  Too bad for everyone.

The World Series Is Here!!!!

The 2014 World Series begins tonight!!  Magic words, indeed.

Once upon a time, the World Series was THE biggest event on the sports calendar.  In the minds of many, it still is the biggest event in sports, but even the most die hard baseball fans have to concede that that is no longer the case.  The reasons for that are, as Chuck Noll might have put it, many and they are great, but that is the subject for another time.  For now, however, let's talk about this upcoming addition of the Fall Classic.

I cannot remember a time when the playoffs leading up to the Series have been as dramatic and exciting as the two wild card games and four series that have produced the Kansas City Royals and San Francisco Giants as opponents for the Championship.  (OK, I concede that one of those Wild Card games wasn't all that dramatic.  Traumatic, maybe, but not dramatic.) I can only hope that the World Series will continue serving the drama that we have seen thus far, and I am truly hoping that this one goes the distance and produces what to me is the greatest event in sports: a Seventh Game of the World Series.

I usually develop a rooting interest in one team or another over the course of a post season.  Oft times, that rooting interest is produced by a fervent dislike for one of the teams.  Not so in 2014.  In my mind, there a lot of reasons to root FOR either team, and not any compelling reason to root AGAINST either of them.  All things being equal, I will usually choose the National League team to root for, and the Giants give an additional reason, for me anyway, in that they are seeking to win their third World Series title within a five year period.  As I detailed on this Blog in post a few days ago, such a feat has been done before, but it is, apart from the New York Yankees, still a somewhat rare feat.  The last time it was done by a non-Yankee team was when the Oakland A's won three consecutive Series from 1972-74. So, the historical excellence of such a feat intrigues me.

The Royals, on the other hand, are a great story. A small market team that has been in baseball's wasteland for 29 seasons gets a wild card spot, and precedes to compile an 8-0 record in the Playoffs to make the Series.  I mean, who can't root for an underdog like that?

So let's just go to the Cliche Closet and just "root for a great Series".

Okay, you want a prediction.  I'll give you the Giants to win in six games.  The biggest reason for that will be the ace pitcher of the Giants, Madison Bumgarner.  He has been completely dominant in the post-season, and I believe that he will be the difference between the two teams.  I also believe that this simply amazing run of the Royals cannot sustain itself to produce another four wins, and there is the chance that KC manager Ned Yost will do something to screw things up.

One more thing.  There has been much gnashing of teeth among the baseball purists over the fact that, because the both LCS ended early, there has been a four and five day layoff for the teams, and that this will somehow cause the players to get stale and rusty leading up to the World Series.  Are you kidding me?  Both the Giants and Royals have played over 170 games since April to lead to this point, and in four off days, they have all gotten, fat, lazy, and unprepared?  Please, give me a break on that one, or should I just say...

PLAYYYYYY BALLLLLLLL!!!!!!

Hail to the Royals!

Congratulations to the Kansas City Royals for nailing down their first American League pennant in twenty-nine years after completing their four game sweep of the Baltimore Orioles last night.

This run that the Royals have put on in the post-season has been amazing.  I mean, 8-0!  Who does that?  Well, since this is the first time it has ever been done, I guess the answer to that question is "nobody".  The really amazing thing is how close the Royals came to elimination in the Wild Card game thanks to an amazingly dumb move by manager Ned Yost when he yanked James Shields in the fifth inning with the lead, which was promptly blown when he brought in a starting pitcher who had never pitched in relief, let alone in a lose-and-go-home playoff situation.  His team bailed him out that night, and has proceeded to boot out the Angels and Orioles without losing a game.  I look at Yost standing in the dugout and he just seems totally clueless to me, but, hey, what do I know?  Right now, he seems, to me at least, to be the luckiest guy in the baseball world.

I spoke with my brother Jim the other night prior to game three.  Jim follows the American League much more closely than I, and he frankly stated that the Royals "bubble would burst" that night and that they wouldn't win another game after that.  I'm hoping that he didn't bet on that one.  He also stated that there was no way that the Royals were a better team than either the Angels or the Orioles, and by any objective measure, he is no doubt correct, but here they are in the World Series.  Baseball is an amazing sport in that it takes 162 games to identify the best teams, yet the sport's championship is decided in short bursts: short series that can end in only three or four games.  Is that fair?  Maybe not, but in the words of Hyman Roth, "This is the business that they have chosen".

And speaking of managers, most of the so-called experts will tell you that Buck Showalter is one of the very best managers in the game (and in comparison to Yost, he is Miller Huggins and John McGraw rolled into one), yet I was intrigued by his demeanor throughout the series with the Royals.  I don't want to say he seemed disinterested, but he seemed almost emotionless in the dugout.  He seemed to make all the right moves, and despite being swept, his team was in every game and could easily have won any of this games with the Royals.  I guess he figured that Durocher- or Weaver-like tantrums weren't going to do any good, so I suppose we should salute him for bringing some level of maturity to the dugout.

********

Over in the National League, the Giants took a three to one series lead with another thrilling, come from behind win over the Cardinals, and could close it all out tonight.

None of the series played so far have been pushed to the maximum limit, which would seem to indicate a strict lack of drama in the MLB Playoffs this year.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  With the exception of our own Pirates' 8-0 loss to the Giants, these playoffs have been exciting and thrilling almost beyond compare.  Extra inning games, walk off wins, lead changes, come from behind wins, great pitching performances, all sorts of managerial strategies, both good and bad ...these playoffs have had them all.  They have been totally and completely compelling in my view.

Yeah, I know that they start too late, take too long to play (four hour, nine inning games are becoming the norm), and are telecast on fourth tier, backwater cable outlets, but if you have been watching them, you have been seeing some absolutely terrific baseball games.  I am sorry that I will miss the Bumgarner-Wainwright match-up tonight due to a date with the Pitt Panthers at Heinz Field, but I look forward to the balance of that series (no, I am not writing off the Cardinals until I actually see the the final nails pounded into their coffin), and the World Series ahead.

The Royals and the Pirates

Much like our Pittsburgh Pirates, the Kansas City Royals have become pretty much of an irrelevant franchise on the MLB landscape.  Aside from one outlier season a few years back when Tony Pena skippered them to a plus .500 season, thay have been pretty much the Pirates of the American League, but they were in the news this week when they traded super prospect and Minor League Player of the Year Will Myers and three other prospects to Tampa Bay for pitchers James Shields and Wade Davis.

I will refer you to this very lengthy article from write Rany Jazayerli on Grantland.com:

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/8732913/assessing-myers-shields-trade-royals-side-aint-pretty

As I say it is a lengthy article, well written and researched, but if you read it you will find some interesting parallels to the Pirates.

1. The Royals have been long time losers, but in recent years they have drafted wisely, and, unlike the Pirates, a number of those highly touted draftees have reached the majors and are making contributions on the major league level.
2. The Royals GM Dayton Moore has long espoused the concept of building a strong minor league infrastructure that would continually stock the Royals with talented players and assure long term success.
3. The Royals are doing this because their owner, David Glass, is seen as, shall we say, thrifty, and doesn't believe in large payrolls.
4. Despite all that, the fan base is getting tired of the Royals being continual bottom feeders in the American League.
5. Dayton Moore might be feeling the pressure and realize he is in danger of losing his job. 

Now, here is where Moore and the Royals have departed paths with the Pirates.  Moore has said, in action if not words, to hell with the long term future, we need to win now, in 2013, and he has traded not only HIS top prospect, but one of the top prospects in all of baseball in Myers.  And in Shields and Davis, he has taken on an additional $20+ million in payroll over the next two seasons in Shields alone, While sacrificing Myers, in whom the Rays now have the "years of control" that Neal Huntington and the Pirates covet so dearly.

Jazayerli in his article rips the Royals for making pretty much one of the worst trades in recent baseball memory.

How does this relate to the Pirates?

Well, Moore has done something that Huntington has steadfastly refused to do: he has traded "the future" for something that will help the team NOW, today, in 2013.  But, if you read the article, you will see that Shields' potential contributions to the Royals (if you buy the SABRmetric stuff) may be marginal at best, and certainly not the equal of what Myers might have contributed in KC over the next six to eight years.  And even if this trade lifts the Royals to something like 85 wins in 2013, will it be worth it if they never rise above that level in the 6-8 years following?

Something to think about for those of us who might have wanted the Pirates to trade, say, Starling Marte for Shane Victorino last July 31.

The other point that is made in the article is that Moore, who has been the Royals GM for six years, may be feeling the heat and be in danger of losing his job, and with this trade he is going all in in a last ditch effort to save his job. (Think Dave Littlefield dealing for Matt Morris in 2007)  If so, maybe it will work for a year or two, but if it doesn't, he'll be gone anyway, and some other young gun GM  will be left to pick up the pieces in KC, much like Huntington was asked to do in Pittsburgh in '07.

None of this is meant to be a defense of Huntington's Grand Plan (and as far as I know, the Royals have not been engaging in any paramilitary drills in their developmental system), which we all know hasn't quite worked out just yet, but it does give you food for thought.  IF any of those much bragged about, over-slotted draftees are the real deal - and so far, only one of them, Pedro Alvarez, has proven to be such - then perhaps Neal's course is the correct one.  And IF it is correct, and the Pirates WILL see the benefits at PNC Park some day, some time, will Neal feel the heat NOW and make a similar effort to save his job by unloading someone like Gerritt Cole for another version of Matt Morris?

As I said, food for thought.