Another Day... Another Win for the Royals!

Kansas won today 4 - 3 against the Arizona Diamondbacks.  Kansas City improved to 5 - 3 in Spring Training.  Can you believe it?  OK, seriously, when did this last happen that KC actually won games in Spring Training?  I do not recall a time when they were winning in Spring Training.  Can someone tell me when the last time they were over 500 before the season started?  I know it does not matter, but still it makes a fan happy after having losing seasons the past few years.  Oh, I should also point out that the Royals are on a four game winning streak. 

 

What I feel good about is that the Royals are producing with the bat in Spring Training.  They have posted high scores many of the games and while they did not score a lot of runs today, they hit two homeruns.  Billy Butler and Ryan Shealy hit solo homeruns in the game today.  It was Ryan Shealy's second homer of the spring and it was Butler's first homerun.  Both of which are promising if those trends can continue into the regular season.

 

OK, I need to settle down and remind myself that this is Spring Training.  This is a trend I am telling myself over and over since we started winning in this not-so-important Spring Training "season".  Oh, but it feels so good to see that the Kansas City Royals are 5 and 3 in Spring Training.  It gives me hope that following them this Summer will not feel like a waste of time when the end of the season arrives and they are just a few games shy of 100 losses.

 

I can hardly wait for the Royals to start appearing on television.  I heard that Fox picked up their broadcasts this year, so hopefully we will see a lot more games this year.  Basically, Fox picked up the Royals Television Network (RTN) from what I read.  I have not heard officially that this was taking place, but hopefully it means that their games will be available no matter where I am visiting.  Previously, RTN was only available in certain areas and through certain cable companies.  Of course Cox and Sunflower both carried the games and that will continue.  It is simply that before RTN had to be fit in on other non-sports channels; now the games will be on Fox Sports Network as far as I can tell.  More information on this later when I go and look for it.

 

KC plays again tomorrow at 2:05 pm CST against Colorado.  We will wait to see how they play tomorrow.

 

Go Royals!

 

Royals Go to 4-3 in Spring Training

The Royals win another day in Spring Training.  They improve to 4-3 on the short Spring Training season.  They won today over San Fran 3 - 1.  Another good day of hit production and the picthing appears to have held through nine innings.  Actually, the Giant got their only run in the bottom of the eigth inning, so that is not bad at all.  The bases were loaded and only one run was let through.  That is not bad at all!

 

I did not have a chance to check who they play tomorrow.  I still continue to be excited for them to start the season.  I did read a good article on Alex Gordon who was supposed to have a great rookie season last year (see:  Gordon Attempting to Put Difficult Rookie Season Behind Him) and ended up struggling.  He is expecting great things from himself this year and so far it appears that it might just happen.

 

I know, I cannot get excited about Spring Training, but I just cannot help it.  Lets go Royals!

 

Kansas State Wow!

Kansas State tried to lose the game late.  I just finished watching the game and thought that they were going to blow it and let Colorado win the game (see Kansas State Has Problems) that I posted with six minutes left in the game.  It was not a pretty finish to the game when KSU had a double digit lead in the first half.

 

Granted, Colorado has something to prove and was not going to roll over and give up.  I did not think that it was going to end with a six point different (78-72 KSU).  I thought it was going to be at least a double digit win for the Wildcats.

 

The Wildcats have work to do in their next road game against Iowa State on Saturday.  Iowa State is in second to last place of the Big Twelve, but you can bet it will not be a cake walk.  Another win is needed for KSU to make a strong case for making it to the tournament.

 

Kansas City Spring Training Day Six

OK... OK... I know that Spring Training does not amount to a hill of beans.  However, I am once again excited for the season to start with another win by Kansas City today against the Colorado Rockies.  Kansas City is now 3-3 in Spring Training games with another impressive scoring drive winning 11 - 5.

 

The Royals play tomorrow at 2:05 against San Francisco.  Not even half-way through the spring training games, but again I am feeling excited about this team.  I have only had a chance to listen to two of their spring training games; I hope that the run production carries on through into the the regular season.  I believe I have stated this in earlier posts.  However, I think back to last season and recall losing games because we do not have the run production.

 

Could it be that we finally get rid of Mike Sweeney and we start being productive?  Mike was on the Royals team for the past twelve years and it was time to move on.  Back in February, Mike struck a deal with a minor league team (see Mike Sweeney reaches minor league deal with A's).  After being injury prone the past five seasons, Mike "DH" Sweeney has left the Kansas City Royals.

 

Maybe it is a new manager that is energetic that is helping this team to be productive.  I am not sure!  I do know that I am excited for the regular season to start and see how this team does this year.

Kansas State Has Problems

Kansas State was blowing out Colorado by double digits in the first half.  The game appeared to be over.  Suddenly with seven minutes left in the game, Colorado is back within 5 - 10 points.  This was a game that KSU was supposed to dominate.  Not only do they have their key player Beasley, but it is also senior night in Manhattan.  Yet, K-State is struggling against Colorado who sits in last place of the Big Twelve (11-17 overall and 3-11 conf).

 

Wow!  This is not what I was expecting.  I was expecting a blow out like we had last night with the Jayhawks.  This type of game cannot be helping the case for KSU to make it to the Big Dance.  With a little over six minutes left in the game, KSU needs to turn it up and finish this game strong.  If Colorado is within five at the end of this game, that hurts KSU's case for getting in the NCAA tourney.

 

KC Royals Spring Training 3/3

Kansas City played in their fifth Spring Training game of the 2008 season.  Kansas City won today 7 - 6 with a double to center that scored two runs.  The Royals are now 2 - 3 in Spring Training.  If my memory is correct, I believe that is a better start than they had last year in Spring Training.

 

I still feel the excitement with the new manager (Trey Hillman) leading the Royals.  From the few games that I have had a chance to listen to and from the radio discussion, it sounds like Trey has a completely different style of managing this team.  I sure hope so, because we need something new and different to put the Royals in a position to be a contender come September.  Trey is involved in all areas of the team and from what I have heard from announcers on 810 WHB, it sounds like the team has taken to Trey very well.

 

Carrie and I have already started talking about getting tickets for this season.  We received a notice that pre-sales take place this Wednesday prior to opening to the general public and is going out first to those that have ordered previously.  Yes, I am interested, but I also remember the second game of the season last year and freezing my butt off bundled up in the cold.  Oh, and KC lost the first and second game of the season....  They might have lost the first 10 - 15, I do not recall, but it was a bad bad start and season.

 

Kansas City takes on Colorado at 2:05 in Surprise, AZ.  While a lot of people say that Spring Training means nothing at all, it does give some hope when a team that has not produced does well in the pre-season.  Hopefully the hits (12 runs Friday, 7 runs Saturday, 7 runs Sunday, and 7 runs today) and runs will continue the rest of the March as well as into the regular season.  I would also hope that the excitement that I am feeling as well as the sports call-in shows will continue.  Time will of course tell.

 

Monday Night Tex. Tech vs. KU

Wow!  75 - 34 Jayhawks with more than 12:20 minutes to play.  Kansas was predicted to win by 20 plus points in the game against Texas Tech who just came off of a huge win against Texas on Saturday.  This has to be frustrating for first-time head coach Knight to have a huge game and then go up against KU on Big Monday on ESPN, not to mention that it is senior night in Lawrence, for a loss.

 

Kansas is getting production from every player with relative ease.  Texas Tech is not hitting their free throws, rebounding, and basically appear to be standing around watching the KU buckets drop. Twenty point favorites, this was completely predicted.  I did not think going into this game that we would beat them by this much, but senior night in Phog Allen Field House is no place where any team wants to play.  Tonight is no different!

 

It is good to see some of the players that help improve the starters on the floor and playing well.  Every player on the Kansas team scored tonight.  A well balanced attack from the starters and the bench.  Final score 109 - 51 Kansas with the second half basically a free for all with KU hitting everything they threw up at the basket.   Up next for Kansas is Texas A&M at 3 pm on Saturday, March 8.