Archive for the ‘Royals Review’ Category
Kansas City Royals placemat: left to right: Steve Busby, UL Washington, Joe LaHoud, Larry Gura, John Wathan, Pete LaCock, George Brett
There are a couple things I failed to mention on my first post. First of all the measurements of these placemats are 17″ x 10 7/8″. They are coated with a nice thick matte laminate, this has really helped the condition of these to last over 30 years. The first mat I posted had 6 players but the other 7, including this one will have 7 players on each. This first set is all action shots, the next set is a little different which I will be posting in a couple days.
So as a huge Kansas City Royals fan and an enormous nerd I collect most Royals memorabilia. This includes the obvious, baseball cards but goes far beyond to magazines, programs, bats, autographs, posters and so on. One of the absolute coolest things I have stumbled across are dinner placemats from the late 1970’s.
These were the golden years of the Royals franchise, yeah there was 1985 but the late 70’s were the golden age. They featured usually 7 Royals players per placemat and they were given away once a week at Pizza Hut restaurants in 1978 and 1979. They had a plain ornate design on the back like you would normally see on a dinner placemat and the Royals players on the other side. Each year featured a set of 4 placemats, making a total of 8 placemats. The pictures of the Royals were drawings. They were done by acclaimed portrait artist John Boyd Martin. Martin has also done all of the Royals hall of fame plaques I believe. The hall of fame plaques are oil paintings, these Royals are more line drawings in full color and they are simply striking. They are extremely good. You can view Martin’s other artwork at his website here.
I have labored through garage sales, auctions and the halls of countless antique malls to put together a collection of these placemats. I am happy to say on October 14th I completed a full set of 8 of them for my brother. Now to work on my own set… but that is another subject. These were released before I was even born, so any information on them has been passed on to me. I have dug into the history of the Royals to seek these out and provide information on them.
The bottom line is that there is barely a sniff of these things on the entire internet. No pictures, no mentions, none available on ebay auctions, they are just damn hard to find. My goal is to rectify this. I am attempting to write a thorough article on them to provide a background on these endlessly cool pieces. I will post a good picture of each of the eight here on my site, the first of which is below. I will detail them providing any information that I can. I strongly encourage anybody with additional information to provide it to me so it will be publicly available.
Here is the first of the eight:
Kansas City Royals placemat: left to right: Frank White, Darrell Porter, Hal McRae, Al Hrabosky, Fred Patek, Whitey Herzog. All drawings by John Boyd Martin.
Here is the second half of my 2011 Royals report card (aka the pitchers) If you missed Part 1 here is the link. I will reiterate that these are my options I have drawn from watching games and following the team from the outside. I have the same or less access to the team than anyone reading this.
Luke Hochevar – Grade C+
The Royals “Ace” progressed this year. He is still not pitching like a #1 guy, probably more like a 3-4 in the rotation guy. He was finally more consistent. He stayed healthy all year but the Royals still need more out of him.
Jeff Francis – Grade D+
He was coming off a major injury but the expectations were still higher than what he gave. He led the team with 16! losses and opponents hit .301 against him.
Bruce Chen – Grade B
He led the team in wins again and was a solid arm every fifth day. He isn’t going to impose the other team much on the mound but remained solid all year.
Sean O’Sullivan – Grade D-
O’Sullivan showed that he is likely a 5th starter at best. It appears he might just be another Kyle Davies; if that is possible. His 7.25 ERA was not major league worthy.
Kyle Davies – Grade F-
I know F- doesn’t exist but the Royals may have employed one of the worst pitchers of all-time. Luckily the Harim Davies days are officially over.
Vin Mazzaro – Grade F
His ERA is inflated from being thrown to the wolves in Cleveland one game but he still was inconsistent and unimpressive. You can’t shake the feeling that if he wasn’t “who we got for Dejesus” he would be gone and a non-factor.
Felipe Paulino – Grade B
His numbers weren’t great but a 4.11 ERA on this staff is actually pretty good. Considering he was a gift from the Rockies; he was great. He showed signs of being a solid starting pitcher and has a good shot at the rotation in 2012.
Danny Duffy – Grade C
Duffy’s 5.64 ERA was high for how he pitched. He had a standard rookie start but showed progression in many games. His curveball is great and when he learns how to pitch a little more he should be a front of the rotation guy.
Everett Teaford – Grade B-
Teaford had a very good rookie year. Because he is left handed he should be a Royal in the future. He pitched strong in 2/3 starts he made in September but really looks to be more a bullpen guy to me where he was very solid in 2011.
Luis Mendoza – A-
Fantastic in 2 big league starts and was AAA Omaha pitcher of the year. Short look in Kansas City but has a good shot at the rotation next year.
Nate Adcock – Grade C-
Long relief guy made a couple starts. Never impressed too much and wouldn’t have remained with the club if he wasn’t a rule 5 guy. He has a sinker good enough to get ground balls and be a Jamey Wright type of pitcher.
Joakim Soria – Grade C+
Despite horrible early season struggles he managed to put together an average year for a reliever, not great for a closer though. He ended up 27/35 saves/opportunities and with a 4.03 ERA. Those aren’t great numbers but indicate it may have been just a down season.
Aaron Crow – Grade C
Crow was the Royals All-Star in 2011. You would never know it by his second half performance. He had a great first half and was dominant. He lost a “baulk off” in Chicago and wasn’t the same pitcher after that. He should get a shot at the rotation next year but is where he belongs in my opinion.
Tim Collins – Grade C
Collins was the lefty specialist for much of the year despite not being very good against lefties. He had a 3.68 ERA and .211 batting average against but walked way, way too many. If he cuts down on the walks he could be a big part of the 2012 bullpen.
Jeremy Jeffress – Grade C-
Jeffress is a fireballer. He showed spots in KC of being dominant but ultimately walked 11 batters in 14 appearances. He will get a rotation shot next year but once again I think he is better suited to be a setup man getting groomed for a closer spot.
Jesse Chavez – Grade F
The fact that Chavez wasn’t released after 2010 angers me still. He isn’t effective and needs released.
Blake Wood – Grade B
Wood was surprisingly good in his 54 games. He was a rare guy out of the pen the Royals could count on. If the Royals got the same season out of him next year they should be happy.
Greg Holland – Grade A-
The most surprising Royals pitcher of 2011. A sub 1.00 WHIP and under 2.00 ERA over 46 games was fantastic. He has potential to be a centerpiece of the middle relief for the team next year.
Robinson Tejada – Grade F
Tejada had big expectations after showing real flashes the last couple seasons. He and Soria were the only locks for the bullpen coming into 2011 and Tejada only pitched 9 games for the team. The Royals wanted to deal him at the deadline for somebody but he diminished his value so bad nobody wanted him.
Kanekoa Teixeira – Grade C+
Just another middle relief guy the team parted with. His ERA was under 3.00 but opponents hit over .400 against him.
Louis Coleman – Grade A-
Coleman pitched great out of the bullpen all year. In 48 games he limited teams from getting a big inning and posted a sub 3.00 ERA. He showed great poise in his rookie season and should be a valued member of the bullpen in 2012.
Kelvin Herrera – Grade D+
Herrera didn’t have a fair shot to prove himself only pitching 2 innings but showed good stuff despite getting roughed up in his debut.
So this is my Royals report card. I realize that this is nothing original, The Kansas City Star does it every year I believe. This will be my perspective and it would be cool to measure up my grading against theirs. This is strictly subjective and I took into account expectations, performance, stats and even attitudes that I have noticed from my limited perspective. I am going to do this in 2 parts; pitchers and hitters. I’ll start with the offensive side of things(also accounting for defense of course.)
Matt Treanor – Catcher: Grade B
The Royals bought Treanor from the Rangers and have since sold him back. All things considered, Treanor did exactly what the Royals wanted him to do, he was a veteran catcher and provided some experience to a really young team. His offense was alright, defense was great. I hope Brayan Pena was paying attention.
Brayan Pena – Catcher: Grade D
Pena wasn’t paying attention. Pena solidified the perception that he can never be a starting catcher in the major leagues this year. He is below average offensively and defensively in my opinion. He is a stop-gap backup catcher and he shouldn’t be on the team next year. Royals fans will always remember his falure to get tags down that directly cost the team a couple games this year.
Manuel Pina – Catcher: Grade B-
Pina was a spark when Treanor went on the DL. He got a very short look while the team waited on Salvador Perez. Pina did nothing wrong but didn’t wow fans the way Perez has. He should be a solid backup for Perez.
Salvador Perez – Catcher: Grade A
How can you complain about Salvador Perez? He has a cannon arm and has showed it. He is also hitting a not-so-modest .333 at this point. He has showed great power the other way and the ability to hit at the major league level. Expect a drop offensively next year but not defensively.
Kila Ka’aihue – 1st Base: Grade D
Kila just didn’t cut in KC. He only had 23 games to strut his stuff and had a big walk-off home run but only hit .195. He was surpassed by Eric Hosmer’s performance in every aspect.
Billy Butler – 1st Base/DH: Grade B+
#CountryBreakfast can flat out rake. He had a slow first half but really kicked it up after the break. He has pushed over 90 RBI now (career high) and had a power surge in the early second half. He was pushed to strictly the DH role by Hosmer and has now embraced it.
Eric Hosmer – 1st Base: Grade A
Eric Hosmer has been nothing short of spectacular in his rookie season. He has hit for power, average and been a very good at first base (no matter what certain stats say.) He is a very strong rookie of the year candidate and in less than one season has become the face of the franchise.
Chris Getz – 2nd Base: Grade C-
Chris Getz has a lot of haters. He doesn’t hit for a high average or extra base hits. He is good defensively and very good on the basepaths but these thing don’t redeem his insecurities at the plate. The team would likely be better off with Navarro as a utilityman than having Getz on the roster in 2012.
Johnny Giavotella – 2nd Base: Grade C+
Hasn’t been great defensively and has been average at the plate. He has had a typical half rookie season.
Alcides Escobar – Shortstop: Grade A-
Escobar is great in the field. He makes fantastic plays that most shortstops don’t. After a couple seasons of Yuni at short for the Royals, Escobar is a godsend. He is a .250 hitter and doesn’t really project to be a whole lot better. He doesn’t have much power but that should improve. With his defense he could hit .250 for the remainder of his career and remain a starter.
Mike Aviles – 3rd Base: Grade F
Aviles was the Royals starting third baseman on opening day. This is hard to believe now. He was terrible in the field and at the plate. He then proceeded to whine about playing time after Moustakas’ callup. He has been good for the Red Sox but contributed almost nothing to the Royals in 2011.
Wilson Betimit – 3rd Base: Grade C+
Betimit was trade bait from opening day on. His value never really got any higher than that day either. He had an average year and didn’t fetch much in a trade.
Yamaico Navarro – 3rd Base: Grade B-
In my opinion a fantastic trade. Aviles was dead weight and couldn’t play the field. Yamaico hasn’t played much for Kansas City. Navarro isn’t great but should be a solid utility infielder for the team in 2012.
Mike Moustakas – 3rd Base: Grade B-
He was no Hosmer in 2011 but still ended up having a respectable rookie campaign. He got hot at the end of the season and raised his average about 50 points. He started driving the ball and stopped popping out to 3rd base. He showed many encouraging signs for 2012.
Alex Gordon – Left Field: Grade A
After a few years of being a borderline major league player he lived up to his immense talent and had a just-off MVP type season. He was great in left field, had a ton of assists and has an outside shot at a gold glove. He showed good power and the ability to drive in runs which was my biggest concern in the past for him.
Melky Cabrera – Center Field: Grade A
For what Melky was expected to do how could you possibly complain? 201 hits? Nobody would have guessed that, not even Melky. He hit for good power, stole bases, scored runs and was the exact type of player this team needed. I hated this signing but he proved me wrong.
Jarrod Dyson – Center Field: Grade C
Dyson is good and field and has amazing speed. He is a liability at the plate and until he can get on base consistently will contribute very little in the big leagues. He is super fast and is worth carrying as a pinch-runner but needs to hit.
Jeff Francouer – Right Feild: Grade A
Francoeur was another signing I didn’t like. He didn’t walk and would swing at anything. He resurrected his career this head and had an amazing season. He never failed to impress in right field and has a cannon. He didn’t swing at junk as much as the past and maintained a good average. He was a great clubhouse guy and showed he will be a great leader for this young team.
Mitch Maier – Outfield: Grade B-
Maier never got a lot of playing time because of A) no injuries and B) great outfielders ahead of him. When he got a spot start he did admirably but never really got a chance to impress this year.
Lorenzo Cain – Outfield: Grade B
Cain tore up AAA Omaha and never got to the Royals until the last week of the season. He is ready to go but has no place to play. He would be very good trade bait for a starting pitcher if packaged with another high-end prospect.
Here is the 12th and final installment of the Major League Debut cards for 2011. Having 12 players make their major league debut is a pretty amazing statistic. The Royals are so young that this really wasn’t too surprising however. I plan to continue these cards next year with hopefully a few more(Mike Montgomery, Clint Robinson, David Lough, it is hard to tell.)
Kelvin Herrera has great stuff but his major league debut didn’t really reflect that fact. On his first major league pitch he hit a batter. Things didn’t get a whole lot better after that. His final line was 1 inning, 2 hits and 3 earned runs. He has the dreaded ERA of 27.00 for right now and received the loss in his very first game. Still a major milestone making it to the biggs for Herrera. Hopefully he will get opportunities to redeem himself in the bullpen in Kansas City next year.
Luis Mendoza pitched a great game tonight for the Royals. This the only storyline September baseball has had in Kansas City for a while but it is interesting still. Mendoza is a guy who has pitched in the big leagues before but never to any level of success. This year he was the pitcher of the year for AAA Omaha Storm Chasers and earned the opportunity to get this start and he delivered. His line was 7 I innings, 1 earned run and 6 hits. He got a big win too. It will be interesting to see his second and last start for Kansas City; it could have a lot to do with Mendoza’s off-season.
The Royals basically bought Matt Treanor from the Texas Rangers a couple days before the season began in 2011. Or so we thought; it turns out they just rented him. They sold him back today, both deals between the Royals and Rangers for Treanor this year were for cash. Either way Treanor was good for the Royals this year and it appears that Salvador Perez is here to stay now so there is now longer room for Treanor with the Royals.
The shame of this is that Treanor’s last play as a Royal was getting hammered in a collision at home plate in Cleveland. He was knocked out cold and put on the 7-day disabled list. He played in the Royals minor-league system but never made it back to Kansas City.
I cringe when Jesse Chavez enters a game for the Royals. This has apparently happened only once this year. In Chavez’s one appearance he gave up a couple runs before being shipped right back to Omaha. His ERA for the Royals this year is 18.00, it should go down but we will have to see.
Chavez has a career ERA of 5.18 but half of his appearances were in 2009 with Pittsburgh were he put up a 4.01 ERA, his major league ERA since that year is aorund 5.90. Finally a trustworthy arm in the Royals bullpen.
It’s funny how baseball works sometimes. It appears that all in the same week Manny Pina will get demoted to AA Northwest Arkansas from the AAA Omaha Storm Chasers and now be called up to the Kansas City Royals. Matt Treanor got hammered in a collision at home plate in Cleveland and was almost immediately put on the 7 day disabled list meaning the Royals needed a second catcher.
Manny Pina reportedly left his AA game in Springfield minutes later indicating that he was trying to catch a plane to Cleveland for the series finale between the Royals and Indians. I’m excited to see him at the big league level even though it appears Salvador Perez has passed him in the chain of players ready for the Royals at the catcher position. Pina is already on the 40 man roster so it makes perfect sense that he will be joining the team.
So apparently tonight the Royals minor-league system attempted another no-hitter and it looks like this one is going to count. Will Smith threw 7 innings of no-hit ball tonight against Arkansas. Kevin Herrera finished the last two innings to complete the no-hitter. A big congratulations to Herrera and Smith.
According to Naturals outfielder Wil Myers’ twitter account there was a triple play as well.
This comes just a day after the Omaha Storm Chasers had a no-hitter taken away by the official scorer minutes after the game ended. Luis Mendoza pitched 8 no-hit innings for the second straight time Monday before giving up a hit in the 9th inning. It was initially ruled an error but later changed to a hit to take away the accomplishment from Mendoza.
A Hair Off Square 