Alex Gordon had to LEAP up over him!, originally uploaded by Minda Haas.
What an exhausting day. Please go enjoy the photos I took, while dwelling on your Off Day boredom!
Apr 06
The Y’Know Meter: Game 5
People on Twitter have been making fun of Royals players who say “Y’know” for as long as people have been talking about the Royals on Twitter. This season, I’ll be keeping track of the player interviews on the Royals postgame show on FSKC so we can see quantifiably who the King of Y’Know really is.
Sorry for the lack of a Meter on Sunday! I was in Omaha for work all day, and trying to DVR that postgame show would have proven fruitless, since the game was so long! Here’s tonight’s – after another breathtaking win, two prolific Y’Knowers squared off in the clubhouse. Starting pitcher Luke Hochevar took the slight edge.
I’ll be at the game tomorrow, so probably no Meter. But there will be photos!
| Game | Interviewee | Y’Knows | Time | YPM |
| 5 | Billy Butler | 16 | 1:30 | 10.6 |
| 5 | Luke Hochevar | 18 | 1:30 | 12 |
Apr 02
The Y’Know Meter: Day 3
I'm going to run out of Frenchy pictures.
People on Twitter have been making fun of Royals players who say “Y’know” for as long as people have been talking about the Royals on Twitter. This season, I’ll be keeping track of the player interviews on the Royals postgame show on FSKC so we can see quantifiably who the King of Y’Know really is.
Only two locker room player interviews today…and Frenchy is once again the winner.
| Game | Interviewee | Y’Knows | Time | YPM |
| 3 | Chris Getz | 6 | 2:00 | 3 |
| 3 | Jeff Francoeur | 9 | 1:15 | 7.2 |
Apr 02
Guest post: On-field Opening Day experience!
Matt got there so early, Crown Vision wasn't even on yet!
Season ticket holder and Royal Blues reader Matt B. is a Royals season ticket holder. This year, he had an enviable vantage point for some of the Opening Day pre-game festivities. I invited him to share his experiences here…
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Opening Day has always seemed more like a holiday to me than just the beginning of a long season. This Opening Day was even more exciting and special to me because the Kansas City Royals chose me and many others to take part in the pre-game ceremony on the field! If you were at the game, you saw a group of people flipping over signs to collectively make the Royals logo. That was us.
Earlier this month, the Royals sent out a mass e-mail asking season ticket holders and some charities if they’d be interested in this opportunity. All you had to do was reply that you would like to be considered and if they called you back in two weeks, you were in!
The practice was an amazing experience by itself. Getting to walk on the grass for the first time with nobody else in the stadium was awesome. It was something I never thought I’d ever get to experience! I did take some pictures with my phone just to get it all out of my system and to capture some vantage points that I will most likely never get to experience again.
The next day we were expected to arrive by 1 pm, but I couldn’t wait and got there before 12:30pm, I think. Once we found out exactly where to go, my friend and I went down to the grounds crew entrance by the visitor’s bullpen. When we got there, we were about five feet away from Sean O’Sullivan who was concerned about a police officer who had been injured during batting practice and bleeding pretty badly. Royals trainers helped him out and got the wound closed. Before the officer was taken from the ballpark, Jeff Francoeur came back to check on him. I know that being a good guy in baseball doesn’t mean much, but it counts to me so I’ll be rooting twice as hard for him all season.
After some last-minute preparations, we were finally taken out to centerfield. A few minutes after we were settled, Kila Ka’aihue ran up to where we were on the warning track. The group cheered him loudly, he smiled and said “Thanks, guys”, then turned and ran back. That was probably the single coolest moment of the day.
Next, the Angels’ lineup was announced. We all booed the first Angel and were shushed by the guy herding us around. It was kind of funny to me since they hadn’t mentioned we couldn’t boo them and they had chosen FANS to do this. What did they expect was going to happen? Finally comes our part and we try to walk together to shallow centerfield. In practice, people would get in a hurry and walk too fast, so I was anxious about that happening again. Didn’t need to worry, though, and our part was soon over.
I doubt most of us will get to watch warmups from this vantage point...
We were led back near the Angels bullpen where Jered Weaver was warming up. I couldn’t resist taking a few pictures since I’ll never get to stand on the same ground level as a Major League pitcher and get to watch them pitch! Then it was time for the Royals’ lineup, which was fun to see from that perspective. After the National Anthem, we were taken back through the grounds crew garage and up into the stadium to enjoy the game
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Big thanks to Matt for sharing his unusual(ly awesome) Opening Day experience. Were there any other Royal Blues readers on the field for that event?
Apr 02
The ‘On Pace for 162 Homers’ Club: Day 2
This is exactly what it sounds like. I’ll keep doing this until nobody is on pace for 162 home runs. All of the guys from yesterday are gone already, but of course, anyone could re-enter the Club by homering twice tomorrow!
JP Arencibia hit TWO today, plus a triple.
Jose Bautista
John Buck (Grand Slam, even!)
Nelson Cruz
Adam Dunn
Jack Hannahan
Ian Kinsler
Adam Lind
Jose Lopez
Andrew McCutchen
Miguel Montero
Logan Morrison
Mike Napoli
David Ortiz
Carlos Quentin
Carlos Santana
Justin Upton
Neil Walker
Ben Zobrist
Apr 02
The Y’Know Meter: Game 2
This man says Y'Know a lot.
People on Twitter have been making fun of Royals players who say “Y’know” for as long as people have been talking about the Royals on Twitter. This season, I’ll be keeping track of the player interviews on the Royals postgame show on FSKC so we can see quantifiably who the King of Y’Know really is.
Tonight’s Y’Know winner is Brayan Pena, who edged out Jeff Francis with one more YK in 15 fewer seconds on the air. Joakim Soria did not say it at all.
| Game | Interviewee | Y’Knows | Time | YPM |
| 2 | Joakim Soria | 0 | 1:30 | 0 |
| 2 | Brayan Pena | 15 | 1:15 | 12 |
| 2 | Jeff Francis | 14 | 1:30 | 9.33 |
Apr 02
Introducing…The Y’Know Meter
He's probably saying Y'Know right here.
People on Twitter have been making fun of Royals players who say “Y’know” for as long as people have been talking about the Royals on Twitter. This season, I’ll be keeping track of the player interviews on the Royals postgame show on FSKC so we can see quantifiably who the King of Y’Know really is.
If last night is any indication, Jeff Francoeur will run away with this. He dropped an unbelievable THIRTY Y’Knows in a 1:45 interview, for a “Y’Know Per Minute” (YPM) of over 17.
The way I see it, his competitors will be Bruce Chen, Luke Hochevar, Brayan Pena and maybe Tim Collins. Here is last night’s data. Google Docs is totally messing up right now, but I’ll make this publicly available as soon as it lets me save a spreadsheet. You’re welcome!
| Game | Interviewee | Y’Knows | Time | YPM |
| 1 | Luke Hochevar | 26 | 3:00:00 | 8.66 |
| Aaron Crow | 3 | 0:45:00 | 4 | |
| Jeff Francoeur | 30 | 1:45:00 | 17.14 | |
| Nate Adcock | 4 | 1:40:00 | 2.4 |
Apr 01
The ‘On Pace for 162 Homers’ Club: Day 1
Mike Aviles is in the club.
This is exactly what it sounds like. I’ll keep doing this until nobody is on pace for 162 home runs.
Mike Aviles
Ryan Braun
Pat Burrell
Jeff Francoeur
Carlos Gomez
Curtis Granderson
Ramon Hernandez
Jason Heyward
Matt Holliday
Toriiiiiiiiiiiii Hunter
Jeff Mathis
Cameron Maybin
Drew Stubbs
Mark Teixiera
Joey Votto
Rickie Weeks
Mar 31
Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack…
….not that I’ll be at The K or anything, but still! It’s almost time for some Royals baseball! (Is that how the song goes? I think it is.)
Mar 29
Link of the Day: 1985!
A while ago, I got an email from Rany Jazayerli. It was really vague and mysterious – it basically said, I need your help on a thing, but I won’t specify what that thing is until you assure me you can keep it a secret until the week of Opening Day.
I agreed to help with the Thing, which turned out to be an early draft of the song Rany presented on his site today: 1985, a song about the tortures of being a modern-day Royals fan, based on the Bowling for Soup hit of the same name.
Y’all are my witnesses: I kept the secret. Go enjoy the song as you count down the remaining 48 hours (!!) until the Royals play some for-real baseball.