Red Sox & Royals Series Q&A With Kings of Kauffman
The Kansas City Royals are coming to Fenway Park for a four game set starting Friday night. While this may not make major headlines given that both teams are below .500 and struggling for respect in the game, it will present an outside element of intrigue.
The series wraps up on Monday afternoon with a scheduled start time of 1:35pm. This series isn’t exactly a rivalry of sorts and when you factor in the lifeless play the Red Sox have displayed lately, it’s hard to imagine that this game would be a sellout. Dare we even think about questioning the owners precious little streak of seven hundred and some straight games of lying to the fans and even Major League Baseball about selling every ticket for every game? Yeah sure, why not. It might be different if the Sox were in the hunt for the division but at this point they’re all but out of that race and now the Wild Card hopes continue to diminish with every passing loss.
None the less, we hooked up with Mike from Kings of Kauffman to actually discuss baseball and he answered a few questions for us about the Royals. I couldn’t help but ask him in particular about the all-star game and how Robinson Cano was booed relentlessly. Thinking back on it, it reminds of a certain Red Sox pitcher who has been booed, but by his home crowd. Anyway, enjoy the Q&A.
1. How are Royals fans taking another disappointing season? There was much hope and promise heading into this year that they might be able to be a competitive ball club and make strides towards the right direction given their youth and some off season signings? Or is a third place showing in the division considered a step forward?
Injuries seemed to take the wind out of the sails with closer Joakim Soria getting hurt which was followed up with Salvador Perez and then Lorenzo Cain the first week of the season. Those three guys were suppose to contribute but and Perez and Cain are back while Soria is out with Tommy John surgery, he’s since been joined by Felipe Paulino, Danny Duffy and Blake Wood going in for that operation. Royals fans were optimistic they be competitive this season but realistically next year and 2014 will be the best chances but a third place finish would be in the right direction for the franchise given the talent in the system.
2. The Royals signed Jonathan Broxton this winter with the hopes of being their long-term closer. Then they dealt him to Cincinnati at the deadline. Did this move make sense to you and was the return adequate to justify the trade?
Broxton was signed to be the set-up man for Soria and happened to be great insurance for the club. I started calling Broxton Mr. Excitement because he had few easy saves while in KC and getting something for a guy on a one year contract is better than nothing. While the returns haven’t had the best start they are still young but again turning him into pitching which the club needs satisfy’s Royals fans.
3. Eric Hosmer, the highly touted rookie last season, is seeing a big drop in his numbers this season. Is this another case of the sophomore slump or is there something behind his dip in production at the plate?
Over the last week he’s improved from where he was at but his sophomore slump has been a case of poor plate discipline. Another factor is clubs have a book on him which wasn’t the case last year and hitting coach Kevin Seitzer continues to work with him. Royals fans are hoping for a strong finish and that he gets going again in 2013.
4. At this year’s all-star game, the Royal faithful booed Robinson Cano relentlessly over him passing on Billy Butler for the home run derby. Every Red Sox fan would have been smiling and chuckling and then Cano goes homerless. A wonderful script if you’re a Red Sox fan. Is Cano now public enemy number 1 in KC for year’s to come and will he hear about it when the Yanks come to town? Or have the Royals fans moved on?
This is a common enemy for both franchises, Boston fans see New York more often given they play in the same division but for Kansas City this Yankee hate goes back to the mid-70’s. I was at each day of the All-Star Game festivities at the K and it was fun with everytime Cano was on Crown Vision. Given how Robinson still doesn’t seem to get why he was booed I expect him to get booed next year at the K but similar treatment for KC when they go to the Bronx. Since the Royals see Cleveland and Chicago more Chris Perez and AJ Pierzynski are ahead of Cano in my opinion. The issue of moving on stems from the fact that fans here felt lied to after he said twice he’d take our hometown guy so expect this for a few more years.