I had the unexpected pleasure of watching today's opening day game between the Kansas City Royals and the Detroit Tigers. The only reason this game was on TV is that the Yankees game was in a rain delay, and luckily I have nothing better to do than sit and watch the game. Pitching for the Royals is Gil Meche, who I've always known would be a great addition and be worth every penny the Royals are paying him. Anyway, I have a few comments about the new baseball season:
1) This morning I woke up to about 4 inches of new snow on the ground in South Dakota. That means if I decide to leave the house today, I'll likely have to de-ice my car, and maybe even shovel the driveway if the sun doesn't come out. I wonder how many baseball players shovel their own driveways?
2a) The Royals have a new manager this year in Trey Hillman. Hillman has never managed in the majors, and spent the last 5 years managing in Japan. Rumor has it Hillman's former team auctioned off the right to negotiate a contract with him, and the Royals took the "Price is Right" strategy of bidding one dollar. I'm actually cautiously optimistic about this guy. Of course, I'm extremely concerned that Jose Guillen will end up missing 65 games due to suspension, another 40 due to injury, and will come back from the all-star break to hit .240.
2b) In the top of the first inning, Kansas City reached first base on an error, then immediately stole a base. The announcer said something about the Royals playing "small ball" and "advancing runners" under their new manager. If I read about "clutch hitting" or "manufacturing runs" on kcroyals.com, I'm going to start a letter-writing campaign to have sabermetrics taught in Kansas City high schools.
3) Apparently, Miss America sang the national anthem and threw out the first pitch in this game. I didn’t see how she did, but can you think of anything more terrifying than throwing out the first pitch? You only get one chance! I would practice for weeks if I had this opportunity.
Predictably, the Royals got shut out
Shockingly, the Royals played very well, got some good breaks, and had great relief pitching on their way to a 6-5 11th inning win.
On a related note, the Royals play the Yankees in New York on Monday, June 9. It's the last season for Yankee Stadium, so I might not have another opportunity to go to a game there. If anyone wants to go, email me. Tickets are pretty reasonable on stubhub.com.
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