Joakim Soria is the part of the Royals that strikes fear in opponents. If a team is trailing the Royals in the 9th they know they have a tough road ahead. I’m not trying to be over the top and say “GAME OVER” needs to be on the scoreboard or anything but Joakim Soria is as consistent of a closer as there is in the game right now.
The Royals need Soria for so many reasons. Before Mr. Soria arrived via the Rule 5 draft, the Royals had a lot of trouble closing out games. Now we just have to worry about the setup man, middle relief and starting pitching. Soria has the perfect demeanor for a closer as well. He comes in the attitude and intimidation factor that I believe is a very real quality you need in a closer.
Nick Scott from brokenbatsingle tweeted a good little Soria stat a couple days ago; “ERA from 2007-2010 : Soria 2.01 Rivera 2.05” That gives you a great window into just how good Soria has been for the Royals. He may very well be the best relief pitcher in baseball right now.
Another reason the Royals need Soria so badly is his consistency. Consistence is something the Royals are lacking, really everywhere as of last year. For Soria, this especially applies to the bullpen and starting rotation. The pitching shows glimpses of being good but will have an occasional blowup that us Royals fans are so used to seeing at this point.
People talk about the future coming to KC but Billy Butler and Joakim Soria and possibly even Luke Hochevar and Alex Gordon are still so young that there is no reason they can’t be cornerstones in movement of great talent coming to Kauffman Stadium.
This is the last of my spring training 2011 Topps set. I think it went really well. A couple holes never got filled that I would have liked to have seen in the set(Opening Day catcher for instance.) I was hoping to break 50 cards; I didn’t but did finish with a very strong 47 card set. Many card of players that might never have a proper Royals card. I like the set for the fact that I was able to include the likes of Danny Duffy, Eric Hosmer, Wil Myers, Mike Montgomery and Mike Moustakas. These players will likely have Topps cards in the next couple years but I consider this a sneak preview. Now that spring training is over I can wrap up the set and figure out what to do next.
A Hair Off Square 
How do I order a 2011 Topps Joakim Soria Custom Card
Unfortunately you can’t, I didn’t take the photos nor do I own them so I can’t sell them. I just do them to amuse myself and hopefully entertain other web dwellers.