“I,
I, I, I, I?
Can't
get you out of my head!
God
knows I've tried --
But
I just can't forget,
Those
crazy nights
And
all the things that we did.
I,
I, I, I, I?
Can't
get you out of my head!
I
keep trying to sleep,
But
I’m lying awake;
I’m
thinking about the love
That
I threw away.
But
it won’t let me go,
And
I need you to know,
That
I, I, I, I, I?
Can’t
get you out of my head!
God
knows I’ve tried –
But
I just can’t forget!
In
my whole life?
I’ve
never had it this bad!
I,
I, I, I, I?
Can’t
get you out of my head! …”
--------------------
The
Only Two Numbers That Matter:
Royals
Magic Number for a Playoff Berth: 5.
Royals
Magic Number for a Division Title: 8.
Standings
As I Post:
Tigers
+1 on Royals.
A’s
+1 on Royals.
Royals
+2 on Mariners.
Royals
+3 ½ on Indians.
--------------------
This
is a phrase I've used a time or two in starting a Chiefs GameDay recap, but
damned if this phrase doesn't apply today to the Boyz N Blue.
That? I'm supposed to recap that?
I'm
supposed to recap Danny Duffy last night?
Making
his first start in three weeks, and making it after lasting a whopping one
pitch in that start, Mr. Duffy took to the mound last night, and I don't think
it's an exaggeration to say that the freaking season was on the line. Like it's going to be every night, for the
next six weeks, or however long this magical mystery tour continues.
The
Royals dropped the suspended game. They
did make a game of it -- they had the tying run at second before Omar Infante
was, well, Omar Infante, and popped out.
Now it was getting serious. The
Royals, in ten days, had gone from leading the AL Central, to being two back,
only one up in the wildcard, and the Indians still had three more cracks at
them (and the Indians at that point only sat 4 1/2 out in the division, 2 1/2
out in the wildcard. Stranger things
have happened.)
So,
after loading the bases via a walk and two singles, up to the plate strolls
Carlos Santana (doo doo doo do doo), who as was pointed out last night -- a lot
-- has owned the Boyz N Blue this year.
He's just owned us. Hitting over
.350, seven home runs, and now here he is, bases loaded, nobody out, and as
Royals fans, we know what comes next.
For
thirty years, we've known exactly what comes next. We may not know exactly how what comes next is going
to, uuh, come, but we know it is going to be, in the words of that chick on
"Seinfeld" back in the day, we know it is going to be "real and
spectacular".
Because
what comes next, is Chip Ambros dropping a fly ball. It's a single to left, and Ken Harvey getting
drilled in the back with the throw. It's
a grand slam on the most anticipated Opening Day of my lifetime by Sam
Horn. It's Jose Rosado or Runelvys
Hernandez blowing out their arm trying to get that extra oomph on the
curve. It's Mike Moustakas failing to
catch the cut-off throw. It's anything
and everything Albie Lopez. It's ...
well, you get the picture. "Real
and spectacular" is not a phrase Royals fans are used to enjoying.
And
so, here we stand, at the beginning of the biggest week this team has played in
a generation, at the finish of the biggest season of a generation, and it's
opening like this? A loss in the opener with the tying run at second, and now this? Bases loaded, nobody
out, a tremendous power hitter at the plate, his team just as desperate to win
this game and stay in contention as Mr. Duffy and our Royals are?
In the words of Mousy McDermott*, "you have GOT to be kitten me!"
--------------------
(*: seriously, how epically awesome is Sunday come 8pm CT going to be, when "The Simpsons" and "Family Guy" merge as one for an hour? And as if that isn't epic enough, I've got five words that might cause my universe to explode. "Peter. Homer. Ernie. Chicken fight." Now that's some three-way action (rimshot!))
--------------------
One
pitch. One harmless fly ball behind
second base. One out.
Nine
pitches. One of the most jaw-dropping
curve balls of your life for strike three.
Two out.
Nine
pitches. A routine can o' corn to
right. Three out.
Folks? That never happens to us. That's what Yankees do. That's what Red Sox do. That's what Cardinals do. That's what Giants or Dodgers or Braves or
Tigers or (insert perennial playoff contender here) do. That's not what Royals do.
Until
last night.
Because
last night was real, and it was spectacular, and it was even more than that.
It
made Tom Hanks a liar. It made him
wrong. It made him completely freaking
wrong. It made his Jimmy Doogan
character one hundred freaking percent wrong.
Because
last night, there was crying in baseball.
At
least at the Casa de Stevo.
--------------------
Tonight's
Key Matchups:
*
Mariners at Blue Jays, 6:07pm CT. There
aren't many declarative statements you can make about how the AL postseason
race is going to shake out, but I think it's fairly safe to say this: if the
Mariners lose tonight, with King Felix (14-5, 2.07), they're in deep, deep
trouble. The Jays counter by sending RA
Dickey (13-12, 3.82) to the hill. The
way the M's rotation is set up, Felix Hernandez would pitch the season finale,
so if they're within a game entering Sunday, they've got a very credible shot.
The
Royals got a pretty solid assist from Toronto last night, who blew the Mariners
out of the Dome, dropping fourteen runs on them (and most importantly, putting
some strain on the bullpen). I would be
stunned if that happened again. Still,
for the second time in a week, we are all Canadians. At least in terms of a baseball team we root
for.
*
White Sox at Tigers, 6:08pm CT. Speaking
of getting a solid assist last night, let's hear it for the Southsiders! A winless rookie, with an ERA Ricky Bottalico
thinks is hideous, goes into Motown and shuts out the Tigers. Sometimes, you get really, really lucky. That was about as lucky as it gets.
Tonight,
this is what the Tigers made the trade for.
David Price (14-12, 3.37) goes for Detroit, and again, there aren't many
declarative statements you can make about the race to October at this point,
but if Detroit can't win this game, it's not a good sign. The Sox counter with Scott Carroll (5-10,
5.01), who actually sports a lower ERA entering this one, than last night's
starter for the Sox. I'm not expecting
much help from Motown tonight ... but I didn't expect any last night either.
*
Angels at A's, 9:05pm CT. Can't say last
night was a complete stunner, but I certainly didn't envision CJ Wilson getting
tuned for six runs in the first. The 8-4
win keeps the A's a full game ahead of the Royals for the right to host the
Wild Card game.
Like
the other two games, I'm not expecting much help tonight. The A's throw Sonny Gray (13-9, 3.28) out
there, and while he hasn't won in six weeks, he's still gotta be a much more
viable option than Wade LeBlanc (0-1, 5.24), who is making his second start of
the season for the Angels. Which I guess
is why they don't play these things on paper.
--------------------
Boyz
N Blue Tonight:
at
Indians, 6:05pm CT.
Royals:
Yordana Ventura (13-10, 3.19)
Indians:
Danny Salazar (6-7, 4.02)
For
the second straight night, one of the home-grown pitchers takes the mound, to
try to continue to push the Boyz N Blue (linkin park voice) one step closer to
their first playoff berth since "Hip To Be Square" was, uuh,
hip. For the Indians, this is as close
to must win as it gets. They're 3 1/2
back of the Royals with 5 to play. If
they lose tonight, they are eliminated from AL Central contention, and their
elimination number drops to 1 for the wild card.
I
mean, let this sink in folks, but sh*t's bout to get real up in here. If the Royals and Blue Jays do tonight what
they did last night, then the Royals literally have to close 0-5 to completely
miss the playoffs. That's how damned
close it is. Just one more win, or one more Mariners loss, would clinch a tie for the second wildcard. That's how damned close it is.
My
way of saying, if a fly ball to right gets the Casa de Stevo a lil' dusty, what
the hell is tomorrow night potentially going to do to it?
To say nothing of the potential of Thursday?
Tonight's
lineup, via Twitter:
SS
Escobar
RF
Aoki
CF
Cain
1B
Hosmer
DH
Butler
LF
Gordon
C
Perez
2B
Infante
3B
Moustakas
If
you need any further proof of how bat shit crazy this season has been? Can you think of another team in Major League
Baseball history, that has batted its' third baseman ninth?
--------------------
Final thought of the day: I have a standing meeting at 4pm every Tuesday. It is the worst 60 plus minutes of my week, every week. It's gotten a lot better since Wendy took over running it, but it's still a 60 plus minute tug-of-war between different priorities, different viewpoints on what has priority, and what has legitimate funding to get fixed, and what we're scraping together on the side, to rig it to work.
I got an IM while I was at lunch today, from two of the four people here that are in the meeting. (There's also folks in other sites on the call). Both of them asked the same thing, albeit in slightly different phrasing.
Their question?
Why hadn't I asked to cancel this week's meeting, to ensure everyone gets home by first pitch tonight?
The reason I note this? Is that neither of the two people who asked me that question, could identify two players on the Royals roster. And even they are caught up in this.
This, being the single greatest thing this city, this metropolitan area, this fanbase has experienced, in a damned long time.
It only gets better from here folks. And I for one, am going to enjoy this like I have rarely enjoyed an experience before ...
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