Tuesday, August 10, 2004

Brutal Baseball

It's been no secret that the Royals have been AWFUL this season. Though I never thought it could get worse, it did. The last two nights in a row, the Royals held a lead going into the top of the ninth inning. They then gave both games away on poor defense, poor pitching, errors. It's been absolutely sad.

The team "captain," Mike Sweeney last night finally showed some of his true feelings about the team. Quoted in this morning's KC Star: "“We've definitely hit rock bottom,” Sweeney said. “This is a joke. It's Aug. 9, and we've got 39 wins. It's terrible. We're playing horrible baseball.

“We're not pitching, hitting or playing defense. Nothing. We're not running the bases right. We're playing brutal baseball in all aspects of the game.”"

"“I know we've got some young guys here who are inexperienced,” Sweeney said, “but 39 wins in the middle of August is unacceptable. All aspects of our game are horrible right now.

“It has nothing to do with the manager or the coaches. It has everything to do with us. We're not getting the job done; get us out of here.”"

Strong comments. Given the number of players on the current roster who have made their MLB debut this season, errors and some sloppy play is to be expected. But it hasn't gotten worse since they started playing the kids. Even with a roster full of veterans, the team played terrible baseball.

What started as such a promising season has turned into a nightmare. And I don't see it getting much better for a few years, given the lack of talent in the Royals' farm system.

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