Quote:
Originally Posted by Wallymo
I started watching the Royals in 1981, when I was ten years old. Though I was too young to appreciate it, those were the golden years when our team wasn't vastly outspent by the bigger markets.
2014 and 2015 were nothing short of a miracle. Outside of the HDH bullpen and Cain in center field, those were not dominant teams with elite players. But they played team-oriented Royals-style baseball and broke through. Glorious.
It seems every other year of my fandom the season is over by June 1. I'm not a stats guy, but I'd have a hard time believing there is any other team in baseball that has had such horrific starts every year. Then the out-of-contention-by-June team seems to always inject hope by finishing strong every September. It's a depressing cycle we've seen over and over.
The 1-6 White Sox record is what I've come to expect from the Royals every sesaon. So I very much appreciate the .500 record -- even in early April. And I fervently hope it lasts at least until summer comes. And, who knows, if the team can stay around .500 all season it might help change what is currently a terrible public perception of the club.
|
The 2014 rotation was really good. Shields was good, Duffy had a great year, and Ventura was outstanding. Guthrie and Vargas were really effective.
The lineup had holes, but the pitching and defense were just so excellent.
The 2015 squad was pretty balanced and effective offensively. Lots of hard contact, low Ks, no glaring black holes in the lineup once they added Zobrist.