Surprise is my favorite place on planet earth

Late last night (this morning actually), my son Joey and I returned home from our annual trek to Arizona to enjoy some warm weather and Cactus League baseball. My brother Harry also came and as usual, we met Dan Fox in the desert. My buddy Bill and his son Matt also joined us this year.

We arrived bright and early Friday morning and drove straight to the Surprise Recreation Campus where the Royals and Rangers train. We wandered around the practice fields, and watched as the Royals and Rangers played a “B” game on Field 1. The “B” game in spring training is interesting. The innings aren’t always 3 outs, as evidenced by Luke Hochevar’s inning where he allowed 2 walks and a hit, but got out of the inning when he hit his pitch count. We also saw a couple of 4 out innings. The “B” game featured some up and coming players like Billy Butler and Justin Huber (who isn’t really up or coming).

On Field 2, the other major leaguers did some bunting and fielding drills, and then took batting practice.

After a bit, we moved on up to the minor league fields where all four fields were filled with young players all trying to make an impression. We watched them work on several drills for a while and tried to grab some home run baseballs during batting practice.

We eventually made our way into Surprise Stadium where the Royals were about to take on the Colorado Rockies. I’ve always enjoyed watching games at Surprise. The stadium is small and comfortable, and they always have some great food. On this day, I decided to try the barbeque brisket sandwich. I’m not sure how much shredded beef the vendor put on my bun, but as I stood there holding the sandwich during the national anthem, it felt like a good 2 pounds.

The game finally got started and I eventually finished my sandwich. Brian Bannister started for the Royals. In what soon became the theme for our visit there, the Royals pitching was awful. The Rockies won the game 7-10.

After the Royals game, we found our hotel and then ventured downtown to take in a Suns-Jazz game. It’s been years since I’ve been to an NBA game, and while it was enjoyable, I must admit that I got tired of seeing the same play over and over. (Player A takes the ball, dribbles down the court, cuts through the lane and lays it up for 2. Lather. Rinse. Repeat. Where’s the defense?). Even from the rafters where we were, it was easy to see that Shaq is a very large man. We all noticed how he seemed to take about every other play off. I guess it’s just too much work to run up and down that court so much. The Suns fell apart in the fourth quarter and ended up losing the game.

By the time the basketball game was over, we were beat. We had gotten up around 4:00am KC time to make our flight, and it was now close to midnight KC time (about 11:00pm in Phoenix). The hotel bed was nice!

On Saturday, the Royals played the Brewers at Maryvale Baseball Park. We drove over to Maryvale at around 10:00am and enjoyed watching the various Brewers players warm up and take BP. The Maryvale complex is much more accessible than Surprise. We could stand within feet of Ben Sheets as he threw off a mound, with no fence between us. That’s a little harder to do in Surprise.

Lucky us: it was Reggie Weeks bobble head day in Maryvale. We made off with a 2007 bobble head doll, which we assume were leftovers from a giveaway last summer in Milwaukee. This time, I enjoyed traditional fare – hot dog and nachos – and again the Royals got beat. This time, it was John Bale who took much of the abuse.

After our busy day Friday, it was nice to just relax at the hotel Saturday night. The boys did some swimming and Bill and I chilled by the pool.

On Sunday morning, we headed back to Surprise. We watched the major leaguers for a while, and then went up to the other fields to watch the minor leaguers. They were struggling with the pop-up drill. The coach would launch a baseball straight up from a pitching machine. With a moderate breeze, the players had all kinds of trouble judging the ball, and struggled with having the correct player move to position, call for the ball, and make the catch. It was really quite comical.

My son Joey, who had been trying to get a player’s bat all weekend, stood by and watched as the minor leaguers took batting practice. When he saw first round draft pick Mike Moustakas break his bat, he moved in. He asked for the bat, and was rewarded. He was thrilled.

After watching practice, we moved over to the stadium where the Cubs and all of their fans were visiting. The stadium was as full as I’ve ever seen it in my 5 years of visiting Surprise. Those Cubs faithful were happy: the Royals stunk it up again and lost 13-1. Trey Hillman started what projects to be his regular lineup, including free agent acquisition Jose Guillen, but the results were poor. Bad pitching (the Cubs racked up 21 hits), bad defense (2 Royals errors plus a few others that should have been errors) and bad offense (2 hits). By the end of this one, we were ready to head home.

We stopped by Target to get some bubble wrap so we could check Joey’s bat, then headed to the airport.

In all, it was a great trip. The Royals were awful, but we enjoyed the sunshine and warm weather. It was also great to see my old friend Dan Fox again, and engage in some sabermetric conversations, most of which eventually ended up going over my head.

We can’t wait to get back to the valley of the sun next spring.

The Royals: Looking ahead to 2008

Spring is in the air.

Okay, it’s about 10 degrees outside, but still… The Royals officially report to Surprise, AZ tomorrow, which always gets me excited for the coming warmer months.

In just a couple of weeks, I will be heading out to Arizona, along with my brother and son, to get some sun and to fill my lungs with warm, desert air. As spring approaches, I have a few thoughts about the upcoming baseball season.

Over the last two off seasons, the Royals have been ready to spend money on free agents. Unfortunately, there haven’t been too many players available that fit the Royals’ needs.

Last year’s big signing, Gil Meche, turned out to be a valuable asset to the rotation. This year, the Royals were focused on acquiring offense. I heard an interview in which GM Dayton Moore admitted that they Royals wanted to sign both Torii Hunter and Andruw Jones. When they failed to sign either player, they settled on Jose Guillen.

Try to imagine the Royals with both Hunter and Jones along with DeJesus in the outfield. That would allow Teahen to move to first, and would have made the Royals a potentially great offensive team.

Instead, Guillen will take his spot in the cleanup role and will occupy right field while Teahen will move to left.

Young slugger Billy Butler will compete for a job at first, but most likely he will spend more time as a DH. Ross Gload and Ryan Shealy will probably share time at first.

Most of the other position players will remain the same. Look for Alex Gordon to blossom in his sophomore season. Tony Pena, Jr. will return to his short stop position, and is becoming somewhat of a clubhouse leader. Grudz returns for probably his final season at second, with newly acquired Alberto Callapso as the utility infielder and second baseman in waiting.

The catcher position is a curious one. John Buck is struggling to come into his own, and this year he will be competing with Miguel Olivo for playing time. Both Buck and Olivo are similar players, so I’m not sure what Moore is thinking.

The first three rotation spots are pretty much set, with Gil Meche, Brian Bannister and Zack Greinke. Bannister had a great rookie season in 2007, and hopes to continue his success in ’08. Greinke is emerging from his personal problems and showed last year that he is potentially ready to take on a more prominent role in the rotation.

Fighting for the other slots are a myriad of pitchers. Mike Moroth, Jose DeLaRosa, Brett Tomko, Hideo Nomo, John Bale, and others will be fighting it out this spring. Jimmy Gobble returns as a solid middle reliever, and Joakim Soria slides into the closer role.

Another newcomer this year is manger Trey Hillman. Hillman joins the Royals after managing in Japan for the last five seasons. Hillman’s signing is really the crown jewel for the Royals’ off season. Hillman is a well-regarded manager who was being courted by several other teams, including the Yankees. Hillman promises to bring a new level of fundamentals and a “pitching and defense” attitude to the Royals.

Lifetime Royal Mike Sweeney was not brought back, and Sweeney signed a minor league contract with the Oakland A’s. As a Sweeney fan, I certainly hope he can provide the A’s with a solid bat off the bench or as a DH this season, so he can finish his career on an up note.

Also exciting and new this season will be Kauffman Stadium. The “K” is well into a major renovation, and fans will experience both the excitement and pain of that renovation this season. Work will continue throughout the season, with quitting time set at 3 ½ hours prior to game time. This will allow a cleaning crew to sweep up the dust prior to each game. There will be temporary restrooms and concession stands in some areas of the stadium. The new video board will be operational. This new scoreboard replaces the famous crown scoreboard, and will be much larger than the old board. This huge high definition scoreboard will be the highlight of the new “K,” though the crown atop the scoreboard will not be installed until the 2009 season.

While it’s pretty certain that the Royals will not compete for the division title in 2008, there are signs of improvement. The Royals finished 69-93 in 2007, and I expect around a 10-15 game improvement in 2008, for a third place finish behind the Tigers and Indians.