This was Billy Butler receiving his Player of the Year award. He looks sheepish, or sad. And his tie…oh my goodness, I wanted to go re-tie it for him.
(Click on photo for original, and lots more from the Royals Awards ceremony!)
Jan 22
Everyone look over there!!
Lorenzo Cain, Mitch Maier, Alex Gordon and Jeff Francoeur answered questions from Tim Scott (right) and fans tonight. The questions ranged from ballparks to playoffs to Mitch Maier’s body (seriously) to whether Cain has any friends. No joke. It was way more entertaining than I thought it would be.
Thoughts:
-Cain is charming. He really worked the crowd.
-Someone asked the group who each would most like to rob of a home run. Francoeur, without hesitation, said AJ Pierzynski. The crowd went wild. Gordon was upset because that was HIS answer. So the crowd obligingly went wild again. MITCH said he’d rob Miguel Cabrera, and Cain said A-Rod.
-Apparently Frenchy is a 4-handicap golfer. That’s awesome.
-Gordon and MITCH still love football, and wish they could still play it.
-Cain doesn’t play any other sports, just a lot of video games.
Click on the picture for the full-size version, and to see more of today’s FanFest photos.
Jan 21
FanFest: Jeff Francoeur on leadership
The Bravest interview.
Over and over, Royals fans have been told that Jeff Francoeur is a great leader. But what does that mean? What does a leader DO in the clubhouse that is different from other players who have been around the game?
I decided to ask Jeff Francoeur about it, and he actually had some concrete examples for me!
I was laughing with Billy, I’ve heard stories that he wasn’t treated the greatest sometimes [as a rookie]. I was treated like a king. Chipper, Smotlzie, those guys, they took us everywhere. We never paid for a thing. They got honest, they put us in our place when we needed to, but they took us to dinner. First year and half, two years in the bigs, I never touch my wallet. I think that’s how it should be. Those guys should know that this is how baseball is. The one thing I always say is, I might have trouble at the plate, but I play the game the right way. I play hard every time I’m out there, and that’s what I think the young guys that come up, they need to see that this is how you play.
My favorite thing of being part of the team is doing that: when you get on a road trip, having a big team dinner, everyone going out, hanging out talking about the game or whatever. I think those things are important to grow as a team, and take it to where you want to be.
So, there you have it. He also mentioned that he was taking Mike Moustakas out for dinner and a beer. I would love to be a fly on the wall there, because those two are both very leadershippy.
Jeff was a very engaging interviewee. He occasionally spoke in baseball cliche, but he was mostly very candid about knowing his weaknesses, what he is working on, and his various forms of motivation.
When asked if he reads blogs, he said no, and also that “there’s nothing that I get knocked for that I don’t know that I need to improve.” He went on:
I don’t mind when someone criticizes me, I just don’t like when they attack me as a person. They don’t know if I’m working, they don’t know what I’m trying to do. You can ask anybody that’s around me, I work as hard if not harder than anybody. I’ll be the first one at the yard in spring training working with Seitzer every morning doing that stuff. I’m looking forward to having a big year this year, to help this team win, and I’d like to be here for a while. I don’t want to jump from one place to another. I’d like to be here from the beginning when things kind of turn around and see this thing through and hopefully be to the playoffs.
Overall, it was a very enjoyable interview. Of course, if his on-field production is not awesome, I will still say it’s not awesome. But I kind of get how GMDM and others in baseball are so charmed by this guy.
Jan 21
FanFest odds and ends
I’ve met bloggers in real life before, but never experienced anything quite like this! It is strange to say things about spending $11 at Taco Bell out loud, and have the person standing next to me understand what the heck I’m talking about. Or to stand around sipping beers and breaking down the swings of Royals minor leaguers. And by “strange,” I mean AWESOME.
-Today was just for season ticket holders, so it wasn’t insanely crowded.
Freebies!
-To the guy who exclaimed: “I love your blog!” to me as you walked by: You’re awesome. Thanks for that ego boost!
-Dayton Moore just roamed the floor for part of the evening. Whatever your opinion of him as a general manager…that is pretty admirable.
-Moore only mentioned the Gil Meche $12.4 million thing in passing, but it was easy to see in his face that he was still sort of reeling from the gesture. Seriously: athletes just don’t DO that. It was one of the first genuinely surprising things to happen in sports in a long time.
-There is a sculpture (?) on the wall in the OPCC that, when viewed from below, looks like golden bacon!
Golden Bacon!! OM NOM NOM
-There is also this painting, for some reason.
Click for larger...if you dare.
-Mike Swanson kept mistakenly referring to “real” reporters instead of using the more polite “mainstream” or whatever. It was funny.
Fame!
-I was interviewed about the Digital Digest experience by FSKC. Ben Hemmen (my boss!) tweeted this picture of me getting interviewed.
Jan 21
FanFest musings: the Dayton Moore interview
"Trust the Process"
Nobody told Dayton Moore that a room full of bloggers would be interviewing him. He was already sitting down at our table before anyone told him what we were.
We did not get many questions in – more on that in a moment – but I don’t think we asked him softballs. For example, Nick asked about all the low-OBP guys the Royals have acquired even after GMDM paid frequent lip service to OBP.
To that, Moore gave a loooong, drawn-out answer that started out in a VERY promising way: “You get the players that you can.” I got all excited, thinking Moore was going to talk about the market, or what is truly available to the Royals, compared to the market as a whole.
No, instead, the answer meandered to the draft, the Yankees, the baseball-centric mindset of the front office people, etc. etc. And a lot of it was perfectly interesting. What it was NOT, however, was an answer to Nick’s original question. Why continue to sign low-OBP guys while simultaneously talking about the merits of OBP? This was how our time with Moore went.
(I do think that first sentence is very telling: You get the players that you can get. In other words, it’s probable that the Royals have gone after some much more attractive players, but failed to get them. So the ones we do get? Well, they’re the best of what’s left, I guess.)
Here are some other quotes from Moore.
On Francoeur:
We want on-base guys. Jeff Francoeur, he’s not an on-base guy. We know what we’re getting, but what he IS, is somebody who has a lot of athleticism, was productive as a Major League player at 21 years old. That’s very, very difficult to do. You could fit them all in this room, in the last 50 years, [the players] that have been productive at 21 in the Major Leagues. But, he has different things: Leadership, energy, he’s gonna give us effort from Day 1, all the way to the last day.
On quitters:
The one thing, to be very candid with you, that we’ve had with guys is, they come here with the great expectations, and if things don’t go well, they shut it down. They shut it down and prepare themselves for the next contract and the next opportunity.
On aggressive swingers:
We all know that…the percentages of success of a hitter who’s swinging at the first pitch is about .100. We make guys take until they get strikes in their first at-bat. We work on all those things in the minor leagues, we work on all that stuff in instructional leagues. In spring training, we may have guys that, we don’t let them even swing the bat until they get two strikes for the first week of the season. Trust me, we’re always analzying it, and trying to put development plans in place for every single player, because they’re all different and they all have different skill sets.
On trading DDJ:
The deal that we had for Dave was the best deal that we had in place. David DeJesus was coming off the best year of his career, and he was performing at his best level at the deadline. Obviously, he got hurt, but the deals that we had proposed to us weren’t even close to what we got in return with Oakland. You’d be surprised. If you all had the same information, if anybody had the same information we had, you’d all probably do the same thing. …David DeJesus is a very good player, but the market is what it is for him. What are people going to give up in talent for one year, AND they’re going to have to pay $6 million?
On right-handed pitchers:
They’re a dime a dozen. But left-handers always have value.
——————-
Overall, Moore was more candid than I thought he would be. Really, the fact that he was OK with an audience of bloggers is the story. I already knew he was a nice person, one who truly cares about the people he meets and players he signs. I’m not about to start brown-nosing or anything, but it was good to get that face time with him.
I have so many more questions for Moore, but it was refreshing to hear him say some of the things that he did.
Jan 19
Last call: Questions for FanFest
Tomorrow is the bloggy portion of the Royals FanFest. I’ve been gathering questions for the last week, but most of them are for Dayton Moore.
So, I’ll put this out there: What do you want me to ask of Ned Yost, Jeff Francoeur and Billy Butler?
I’ll gather questions until about 11:30 Thursday morning, when I leave Lincoln. Bring it on!
Jan 18
Gil Meche to retire
Gil Meche in Omaha last summer
According to Mike Swanson, Gil Meche is announcing his retirement from baseball today. My computer time is limited right now, but I had these initial thoughts:
1) Daaaaaaamn.
First and foremost, I’m bummed for the guy. I will always cherish Gil’s very first start in a Royals uniform, a 7.1 inning gem against Boston on Opening Day of 2007. I was there, and it was one of my favorite days of my entire life. And he followed that by throwing two seasons where he was worth well above what the Royals were paying him. I think some people may forget this now, but Meche in 2007 and 2008 was a really, really good pitcher.
Beyond that, Gil seemd like a likable, classy human being. Or at the very least, he was smart enough to keep quiet and stay out of people’s way.
2) Money in the bank!
Even with Gil on the roster, the Royals were heading into the 2011 season with a teeny-tiny payroll. Now, lots of money is suddenly freed up. I’m not sure if I want GMDM to go out and spend that $12 million just because he can, but the money is THERE. That’s ultimately a good thing, I think.
3) Roster space!
From now through the end of Spring Training, lots of guys will be vying for one of those few roster spaces in the bullpen. Gil’s departure will give an opportunity for someone to log more time – and earn some rent money – for an extended period in the Majors. If nobody’s ready, Item #2 allows Moore to grab a veteran reliever during Spring Training to hold down the fort until a prospect like Tim Collins or Louis Coleman or Blaine Hardy is ready to come up.
________________________
Though I’m sad to see Gil go, ultimately this is a good thing for the Royals. The empty roster space and freed-up money will likely provide more value than Meche would have as a $12 million bullpen arm.
Here’s the incredibly classy statement from Meche. I wish him the very best in whatever he does next. It can’t be easy to walk away.
Jan 18
Werner Park grand opening
Just passing this along from the Storm Chasers:
I’m 99% sure I will not be there, because I’ll be in Kansas City for FanFest. But if I happen to come back early, I’ll see you at Werner Park!
Jan 14
Five Foto Friday: The Mike Jirschele edition
Every Friday* of the baseball offseason, I will highlight five photos I’ve taken in the past year. Hopefully this will help us all get through the harsh, cruel winter.
*except the weeks where I don’t realize it’s already Friday until it’s too late.
This week, we’ll look at Omaha Storm Chasers manager Mike Jirschele, who is being immortalized in the Central Wisconsin Baseball Hall of Fame in a few weeks. Yes, immortalized. Click any image for larger version(s).
Awww. Here's Jirsch with the Kid of the Game.
Adorbz. But don't tell him I said that.
THIS is the Jirsch we know and love. Arguing with umpires!
With Kila. "No, YOU'RE awesome!"
Having his butt pointed at. Yeah, I don't know either.
Jan 14
A note on Anthony Lerew
The More You Know
Every day, people have been finding this site by Googling “Anthony Lerew girlfriend” or similar things. So I’ll just go ahead and put this out there for those of you who keep searching: Anthony Lerew is married. He and his wife have a young daughter, who is something like 2 years old. My source for this information is Anthony Lerew himself.
So, there’s that. Carry on.