Going Fourth

With one game left to be played tonight between the Chicago White Sox and the Minnesota Twins to determine the final playoff spot in the American League, I'll hold off on my post-season review of my pre-season predictions.

Except for this one: The Kansas City Royals did not finish last.

Sure, in September they had the best month of baseball since what is now referred to as the fluke season of 2003. They won 13 of their last 16 games and finished September with an 18-7 record. They made up at least nine games on the Detroit Tigers in the final weeks of the season, including a three-game sweep in the Motor City last week.

And sure, maybe the Tigers had given up on their season long ago. But that doesn't change the fact that I was practically glued to the radio and the internet to see how the final three games of the season turned out.

After leaving Detroit and taking three in a row from the home team, the Royals took sole possession of fourth place in the American League Central division, leading the Tigers by a half-game. Detroit followed up with a four-game series versus playoff bound Tampa Bay, and the Royals flew to Minnesota for their final series with the Twins. I was fairly certain that the Rays would easily dispose of the Tigers and that the red-hot Royals could steal a game or two from the Twins.

The Royals took two of three in Minnesota, but going into Sunday, the Tigers were looking to sweep the Rays, having won the first three contests. Watching games via MLB.com's Gamecast is agonizing, but I do it anyway. The Tigers had a lead mid-way through Sunday's finale. But, the Rays rallied to take a two-run lead into the ninth inning -- a lead they squandered on their way to extra innings. A Tampa Bay homerun in the top of the 11th inning gave them back the lead and they finished off the Tigers in the bottom-half, securing their last place finish, still a half game behind the fourth-place Royals.

Or, so I thought.

As it turned out, there was a game during the season that was not made-up that had bearing on who would win the AL Central. After Sunday, the Twins held a half-game lead over the White Sox. So, the White Sox had to make-up their game with the Tigers Monday. If the White Sox could win, it would force a tie and a single game playoff with the Twins. If the Tigers could win, they would have tied the Royals for last place.

Thank goodness the White Sox came through. Fourth place isn't much to shoot for, but when your team is the Royals you take what you can get. Besides, I'd rather be a Royals fan today, reveling in the fact of having finished one game ahead of the big-spending Tigers, than a New York Mets fan, facing the cold fact of being eliminated from the playoffs on the final day of the season for the second year in a row.

New Look for the Perfect Game

I'm pretty happy with how this new theme turned out. As far as I can tell, there's a bug in some Internet Explorer 7 browsers where the header is bumped to the right and out of alignment. But if you're still using IE, you deserve it.

As the 2008 season comes to a close, I'm going to review my brilliant pre-season picks, and share my thoughts on the playoffs. For now, I hope you like the new threads.

**UPDATE: I figured out how to fix the layout bug in IE7, so it should render fine for you people now too.

Seriously, finishing fourth means something…

www.kansascity.com | 09/21/2008 | Royals notebook: KC giving fans something to cheer about

40 for the Mexicutioner

Joakim Soria, affectionately known 'round these parts as the Mexicutioner, earned his 40th save of the season last night, becoming only the third Royal to reach that mark. With ten games left to play, it's not entirely impossible for him to tie or break the all-time number at 45. Then again, that would mean that the Royals will need to go at least 5-5 in the final two weeks, so there's definitely no guarantee that will happen.

Currently, there are only two pitchers with more saves than Soria this season: Francisco Rodriguez (58, which broke the single season saves record), and Jose Valverde (42). What amazes me are the big names he's ahead of: Jonathan Papelbon (38), Joe Nathan (36), Mariano Rivera (36), B.J. Ryan (30), and Trevor Hoffman (28, and the all-time saves leader with 552 saves in his career).

We were at the game on Monday night and witnessed Soria's 38th "Mexicution." The Royals were hosting the Seattle Mariners, so not much motivation around town to go out to the ballpark, so, as you'll see, the crowd was a little sparse. The video doesn't do it justice, but it is electric when the eighth inning ends and Soria jogs in from the bullpen. Usually the Hotdog race in between innings gets the biggest crowd response. Soria's entrance, however, has overtaken Relish, Ketchup, and even Mustard. When he's introduced there's a feeling of invincibility that has been rare in Kansas City. And that's a welcome change. Here's to the next 40, Jack.

Why I Love This Game

We're half way through the final month of the regular season. My Kansas City Royals have been out of playoff contention for nearly five months. But, I still can't get enough baseball talk. I'm hoping for a very active off-season to give me plenty of new information to digest while everyone else is talking about the NFL.

When I was four, my parents signed me up for the YMCA tee-ball program. I remember throwing that soft Incredi-Ball to my coach as hard as my little arm could throw, and his pretending that it hurt catching it bare-handed. That’s when I knew I loved this game.

When I was seven, playing coach-pitch, I got the chance to be the catcher. It was finally my turn to put on the mask, the orange chest protector, and the shin guards, all of which were four sizes too big, making it hard to move. After each pitch I waddled back to get the ball that had just been thrown. Each time there was a group of older kids laughing at me because I couldn’t catch the ball, and I looked funny trying. I made up my mind, and I was going to prove them wrong. I was going to catch that next pitch. In it came, the batter swung, made contact, and popped it up ten feet in the air and just behind where I was crouched. I caught it. The crowd cheered. The laughing on the other side of the backstop stopped. That’s when I knew I loved this game.

When I was eighteen years old, I was a high school senior playing for the state championship. We were down by four runs, we were the home team, and we had three outs left. We started off with a solid single, then a blooper dropped in right field. A double off the wall, another single, a fielder’s-choice, followed by another double off the left field wall tied the game. A ground ball through the left-side hole might have been able to score the winning run from second, but he was held up at third. Our backup catcher came to the plate to pinch-hit. Our every-day catcher was going to be drafted, so the backup didn’t see much time that season. When he drove the ball over the heads of the shallow outfielders the game was over. There was a dog pile on the man that scored the winning run. Parents and students rushed the field and joined in the celebration. That’s when I knew I loved this game.

When I was older, and playing in a collegiate summer league after my final season with the local junior college, I was a starting pitcher. I pitched well that summer. I would be attending a university in the fall, and was planning to tryout, but wasn’t sure I’d make the team. I started our final game that summer. I pitched well, but lost. I took my time after the game, raking the mound, removing my cleats, gathering my things, and packing my bag. As I walked across the infield the sun was setting behind the scoreboard. My coach stopped to say goodbye. I looked over his shoulder at the field in the evening twilight and was overcome with emotion. That’s when I knew that I would always love this game.

A Better Bat?

Much thanks to Sam Mellinger for some inspiration for this post. Near the bottom of one of his recent posts there was a link to a story about a new type of wood bat designed by an MIT graduate. I don't know about you, but I think MIT grads are pretty smart, and I like seeing what they come up with. I followed the link and dug a little deeper to find out about Radial Bats.

If you haven't heard by now, there is some growing concern about the safe use of maple bats in the Major Leagues. In junior college I played in one of the nation's only wood-bat conferences, and it was about the time that maple was becoming the wood of choice. I've used both maple and the traditional white ash, and can say from experience that the maple bats seemed to have more 'pop' in them. The ball jumped off the maple bats more than the others. However...

I can also say from experience that the only bats I ever saw explode were also maple. The ash bats would usually just crack, and you would have to tap the handle on the ground to be sure it had. But there was hardly a doubt as to whether a maple bat had broken. The were often liable to shatter, splinter, and sometimes even break in half. That's why there are safety concerns. And, that's one reason that MIT graduate Ward Dill has designed a better bat.

Near as I can tell (and trust me, I don't have time to completely read all of the things I link to either), the bat is ingenious. Any wood bat that comes with a one-year limited warranty deserves closer examination. According to the article in the Sporting News, this bat was just unveiled about a week ago, so it will probably be a while before these start showing up on TV in the hands of your favorite players. But, hopefully the League will take a look at them, and consider allowing them in games.

But, having played in a wood-bat conference in college, and having seen my fair share of Division-I collegiate baseball games (where metal bats are used), I'm really hoping that the durability and performance of the Radial Bat will finally give the NCAA the chance to discontinue the use of those metal clubs, replacing the "ping" of a College World Series homerun with the "crack" of a wood bat -- the way it was intended to be. And who knows... If it also makes the game safer, I don't think many people will complain.

Baseball Explained

Though I would love to take credit for this genius, I can't. According to my brother's email, the original author is unknown, but I had to share this.

This is a game played by two teams, one out, the other in. The one that's in sends players out one at a time, to see if they can get in before they get out. If they get out before they get in, they come in, but it doesn't count. If they get in before they get out it does count.

When the ones out get three outs from the ones in before they get in without being out, the team that's out comes in and the team in goes out to get those going in out before they get in without being out. When both teams have been in and out nine times the game is over. The team with the most in without being out before coming in wins unless the ones in are equal. In which case, the last ones in go out to get the ones in out before they get in without being out. The game will end when each team has the same number of ins out but one team has more in without being out before coming in.