GO ROYALS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[shinatoo]

Approaching a sellout today. Hopefully it inspires our boys to get back in the groove.

[Chris Stritzel]

I think the boys are letting recent injuries, and the losing streak, damper the mood for the entire team. While they still have a few games left in the season, and are still in the Wildcard race, it’s time for management to start looking at the changes they can do for next season. How do you build off of a good season like this one and go all the way next year? This is a major turnaround from last year and building a winning team takes time. They hit number 1 in the division twice this season. Not bad. They’ve been in a race for second for weeks now and they could still finish at second before the post season if they shake off these losses.

[Rusty Irish]

Went along tonight. Team was well beaten by an unspectacular Cleveland who were there for the taking and the attendance was atrocious. Announced as 14k which I'd say was about right. I paid $10 for 400 level tickets and they really pushed it promotions wise with bark at the park and dollar dog night. Feels like the season is just peetering out. It hits me every time I'm in that area how much of a massive shithole it really is.

[Anthony_Hugo98]

Went along tonight. Team was well beaten by an unspectacular Cleveland who were there for the taking and the attendance was atrocious. Announced as 14k which I'd say was about right. I paid $10 for 400 level tickets and they really pushed it promotions wise with bark at the park and dollar dog night. Feels like the season is just peetering out. It hits me every time I'm in that area how much of a massive shithole it really is.

It’s really hilarious to me that the “save the K” crowd thinks so highly of the stadium that they don’t even attend the games but once or twice a year. Big airport fight vibes from these folks

[Rusty Irish]

Went along tonight. Team was well beaten by an unspectacular Cleveland who were there for the taking and the attendance was atrocious. Announced as 14k which I'd say was about right. I paid $10 for 400 level tickets and they really pushed it promotions wise with bark at the park and dollar dog night. Feels like the season is just peetering out. It hits me every time I'm in that area how much of a massive shithole it really is.

It’s really hilarious to me that the “save the K” crowd thinks so highly of the stadium that they don’t even attend the games but once or twice a year. Big airport fight vibes from these folks

Weather was great and I know that the team has hit the skids form wise but it was still 2nd v 1st, team in playoff contention, best hitter in the game on show and all that.

Sooner the team stops this musical chairs stadium location bullshit and just picks somewhere the better. They need out the K asap.

[dukuboy1]

I just think a lot of people, despite the season long success, have yet to really buy in. I think there are people who are excited but just do not really believe they can make the playoffs. Obviously this skid is not helping things and comes at the worst time in the season. But regardless fans & the city have been very slow to embrace what is happening. I 100% get it. You come off the worst season in franchise history in 2023. 2018, & 2019 were 100 plus loss season. 2020 was COVID but under well under .500. 2021, 88 losses. 2022, 97 losses. Are we seeing a trend here? Since 2018 the team has performed terribly, and the new owner caught a bum deal with buying team then COVID hit. Had to ensure to right the ship but again slow to spend until the 2023/2024 offseason. All of this means fans were left to see what happens and this year exceeded expectations but beyond Bobby and Salvy everyone else was a yeah but. You can make the case for Vinnie, Regans, Singer, but really how could you be sure. Basically the same bunch of "chumps" from 2023 were back in 2024 and you added some really unknown FA pitchers. Nothing to get the fans excited about. The moves they made were great and smart, MLB has lauded their offseason, but nothing to move the needle with fans before the season.

SO I get why attendance has lagged all year long fans are waiting for the "yeah but" moment. It's kind of happening now during this skid. They have played great and made an amazing turnaround since last year. Just a shame that being 10 games over .500 only gets you a "maybe" spot as a Wild Card team in the AL.

[shinatoo]

Was just thinking last night that I'll be disappointed if they don't make the playoffs, but I won't be mad. We were on our knees praying for 500 baseball at the start of the season. This has been a treat.

Myself and all my friends felt like the season ended when Pasquantonio got hurt. Seems like it felt that way for the team too. Hope they turn it around but not counting on it. Tough road still ahead.

[phuqueue]

I think there is a big difference between a 56-win team improving to ~.500 in the abstract, which is obviously a huge leap, and a team that was in first place (granted, a first place tie, but still) on August 28 missing the playoffs entirely. The latter case, in my opinion, isn't excused by the fact that that team only won 56 games the year prior. If on April 1 you told me that this team was going to win, say, 80 games, I'd have been thrilled. If after the season they've had up until now they only manage to win 80 or 85 and miss the playoffs, yes, I will be mad. The postseason was right there for them, just one week ago Fangraphs gave them 91% odds to make it in (I don't dare even look up what their odds are now [edit: actually I dared and apparently their competition for the third wild card has thus far largely failed to capitalize on their struggles so their odds are still pretty good for now, but I stand by my hysteria because every time I post that maybe the Royals are actually kind of good they make me look like an idiot, and I don’t need more help with that]), and they are choking it away, first against a Houston team they previously swept and then against a Cleveland team where they had already clinched the season series.

It doesn't help that they're primed for major regression next season (though any real prediction there turns on whatever changes they make in the offseason, so it's too early to really say). The starting pitching might still be solid next year (seems like we've seen enough to say Ragans is for real, Singer might finally have settled in as a serviceable middle of the rotation guy who occasionally flashes something greater, and I think Wacha is on a three year contract, though I think Lugo is only one year so is probably gone after this). Hard to see the dumpster fire of a bullpen going anywhere but up next year, but as a not-so-great Royal once said, "I never say it can't get worse," so who knows. But the offense is gonna be a problem. Aside from BWJ, the sum total of hitters on this roster who have been above league average are: Pasquantino and Fermin (both just barely), Salvy (a 34-year-old catcher with a lot of mileage on him, would be great if he can keep playing at this level but not a safe bet), and DeJong (who I think is on a one-year contract). Everybody else has been a below average hitter. They've been fortunate as a team to hit .289/.356/.463/.819 with RISP, which is an OPS nearly a hundred points higher than they hit overall. That's not a repeatable skill, that's just chance. Again, a lot rides on what they do in the offseason, but there's a pretty realistic chance that this turns out to be a 2003 season and next year is 2004, which makes squandering this opportunity all the more frustrating.

[aknowledgeableperson]

Was able to score some free tickets to Wednesday's game. First game been to for 20 years or so. Before Wednesday every game I attended the team lost so I felt like a jinx. The Royals managed a win somehow. 3 double plays helped, plus one caught stealing. Melendez had a rough night in Left Field. Lugo pitched a solid game. They started the game with 4 players batting less than .250 (of course Cleveland did also), including the cleanup batter. I know that MLB in general seems to sacrifice BA for HR but to me that is too many players hitting below .250.Team still has a good chance for a playoff spot so it will be interesting to see the attendance numbers for playoff games.

Overall this present team will not be remembered as one of the best teams through the years but some way, somehow the team is finding ways to win.

[Cratedigger]

Overall this present team will not be remembered as one of the best teams through the years but some way, somehow the team is finding ways to win.

Our memories of this season will likely be:

1. BWJ having one of the best seasons a SS has ever had and ascending to superstardom
2. The incredible play of our SP rentals

[phuqueue]

I think Wacha is on a three year contract, though I think Lugo is only one year so is probably gone after this

Think I had this backwards: Lugo is on a three year deal and Wacha could walk after next season (but for what it's worth, Bleacher Report thinks they'll re-sign him). Hanging onto Lugo (and Wacha, if they manage to) definitely bodes well for next year's pitching staff, though the bullpen is still going to need a complete overhaul.

I think it is too early to say how we will remember this team. If it is in fact a 2003-like flash in the pan, that's how it will be remembered, but if it is the start of a sustained run of respectability, it'll be more warmly remembered regardless of what specifically happens from here on out this season. Until we see what changes they make in the offseason, my money is still on flash in the pan (though if this rotation holds together, it at least shouldn't be an immediate regression to 100-loss seasons like occurred after 2003), but fingers crossed!

[aknowledgeableperson]

Besides sacrificing BA for HRs it may appear, with regards to pitching, MLB may be sacrificing accuracy for speed. According to Whit Merrifield.
"Whit Merrifield, after becoming the latest Atlanta Braves player to get hit by an errant fastball, blasted the "pathetic" current state of pitching in Major League Baseball, saying "something terrible is going to happen" if the sport doesn't reintroduce repercussions for throwing wildly inside.
"It's bulls---; it's driving me nuts," Merrifield said Tuesday after being hit in the head by a 94.5 mph fastball in the Braves' victory over the Colorado Rockies. "I hate where the game is at right now with that."
Merrifield left the game in the seventh inning after rookie right-hander Jeff Criswell's fastball plunked the part of the helmet just behind his left ear. Merrifield wobbled on one knee, yelling angrily toward Criswell while he was down, before finally walking slowly to the dugout.
"It's just ridiculous," he said. "Where the game is at right now, it's just ridiculous. ... The way pitchers are throwing now, there's no remorse or regard for throwing up and in. Guys are throwing hard as they can and they don't care where the ball goes.
"It's bulls---. You can't hit a guy anymore back. There's no fear that, 'Oh if I hit this guy, then our guy is going to get hit.' That's not the game anymore. Pitchers don't have to hit anymore, so they don't have to stand in the box."
Merrifield is a player representative on MLB's competition committee and said he planned to have a "long conversation" with other committee members during a meeting Wednesday.
"Teams are bringing pitchers up that don't know where the hell the ball is going," he said. "They throw 100 miles an hour, so they're like, 'All right, we'll see if he can get the guys out. Just set up down the middle and throw it as hard as you can.' And it's bulls---."
Merrifield became the fourth Braves player in less than a month to get hit by a high-and-tight fastball."

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/mlb/br ... ngNewsSerp

[GRID]

^ KC will always sell out playoff games.

But not even being able to draw 15k to two nights against Cleveland, would have drawn 14k on Monday too if it were not a holiday.

This weekend's series does not look great based on tickets sold, but Twins fans should help push crowds into the mid 20's.

KC people don't go to Kauffman anymore, so the save Kauffman crowd need to sit down.

[beautyfromashes]

^ KC will always sell out playoff games.

But not even being able to draw 15k to two nights against Cleveland, would have drawn 14k on Monday too if it were not a holiday.

This weekend's series does not look great based on tickets sold, but Twins fans should help push crowds into the mid 20's.

KC people don't go to Kauffman anymore, so the save Kauffman crowd need to sit down.

Playoff tickets are huge money makers in Kansas City and other towns. I paid for five years of season tickets just by selling my 2014 AND 2015 playoff tickets. So, to increase attendance, you have to have enough hope in the marketplace at the beginning of the season that people will buy in. They haven't had that in several years and it's decimated their season ticket base. Put a team on the field EVERY YEAR with a chance in April and the attendance will grow. The media rights will grow. Costs to acquire players will drop. I don't know why that's been so hard in the past. It takes money to make money.

[GRID]

^ KC will always sell out playoff games.

But not even being able to draw 15k to two nights against Cleveland, would have drawn 14k on Monday too if it were not a holiday.

This weekend's series does not look great based on tickets sold, but Twins fans should help push crowds into the mid 20's.

KC people don't go to Kauffman anymore, so the save Kauffman crowd need to sit down.

Playoff tickets are huge money makers in Kansas City and other towns. I paid for five years of season tickets just by selling my 2014 AND 2015 playoff tickets. So, to increase attendance, you have to have enough hope in the marketplace at the beginning of the season that people will buy in. They haven't had that in several years and it's decimated their season ticket base. Put a team on the field EVERY YEAR with a chance in April and the attendance will grow. The media rights will grow. Costs to acquire players will drop. I don't know why that's been so hard in the past. It takes money to make money.

Correct, but KC being very small media market AND having a very old stadium which has a fraction of the revenue producing streams that modern stadiums have makes that difficult.

The Royals need a new stadium for so many reasons. It's not 1990 anymore. MLB is very different now.

[Cratedigger]

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/572744 ... ankruptcy/
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/574307 ... al-action/

Amazon backed out of the Bally Sports investment and MLB is claiming in court that spending this winter will likely be down again. Going to be difficult for the team to predict 2025 revenues and figure out payroll... but also a potential opportunity for the Royals to step up and compete in Free Agency while the farm rebuilds

[Chris Stritzel]

I went to the game tonight. Attendance was 29,160. Royals rallied in the 8th inning to take the lead and that got the place loud and energetic after a pretty uneventful game (up to that point). This is the most full I've seen the stadium since going to games this year and two years ago. The weather was perfect tonight too, so I wish attendance was higher. Guaranteed this would've been a sellout crowd in a Downtown Stadium (as we all know it would be).

Royals are now firmly in 2nd place in the AL Central and regained a 1.5 game lead over the Twins in the division. They're 4 games behind the Guardians. At the time of me writing this, they're also now 5.5 ahead of the Tigers and Red Sox for the final Wildcard spot (1.5 over the Twins).

Only 19 games left in the regular season and a few tough series coming up. Those 19 games are crucial to at least getting us to the Wildcard. The better we do, I believe the better prepared we are for whatever team we'd face.

My final comment for the night is an observation. Some of the players seemed to act out of desperation at the plate during their times up at bat. Swinging at every pitch, including the wild ones. Paul DeJong in particular was bad about this tonight. I do think that if some of the players cooled off a little bit, there would've been a few more walks issued tonight. Onto the next one.

[Rusty Irish]

I went to the game tonight. Attendance was 29,160. Royals rallied in the 8th inning to take the lead and that got the place loud and energetic after a pretty uneventful game (up to that point). This is the most full I've seen the stadium since going to games this year and two years ago. The weather was perfect tonight too, so I wish attendance was higher. Guaranteed this would've been a sellout crowd in a Downtown Stadium (as we all know it would be).

Royals are now firmly in 2nd place in the AL Central and regained a 1.5 game lead over the Twins in the division. They're 4 games behind the Guardians. At the time of me writing this, they're also now 5.5 ahead of the Tigers and Red Sox for the final Wildcard spot (1.5 over the Twins).

Only 19 games left in the regular season and a few tough series coming up. Those 19 games are crucial to at least getting us to the Wildcard. The better we do, I believe the better prepared we are for whatever team we'd face.

My final comment for the night is an observation. Some of the players seemed to act out of desperation at the plate during their times up at bat. Swinging at every pitch, including the wild ones. Paul DeJong in particular was bad about this tonight. I do think that if some of the players cooled off a little bit, there would've been a few more walks issued tonight. Onto the next one.

How many Minnesota fans? I went to a Chiefs Vikings game at Arrowhead a few years ago and the whole upper deck was packed with Vikings fans. As a sports market, it's not one I ever assumed travelled well but It's an easy enough drive on i35.