Kansas City Baseball Vault: Recent Episodes
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Proud Royals fans bringing you the best live web radio on the planet. A member of the @EKOHNetwork, our weekly podcast covers the Royals, Kansas City sports and a lot of other goofy stuff. Check out kingsofkauffman.com for back episodes and outstanding articles on the Royals. The Royalman Report is the number 1 Royals podcast on the internet and has spawned celebri-fans like @KCRoyalman @TheFakeNed and #CountryBreakfast (before it was cool.)
The Royals have been unable to develop much starting pitching with Dayton Moore in charge, but that doesn't mean there aren't bright spots. To talk pitching, we brought on Kevin Scobee, former Park University pitcher and former instructor at Regal Athletic, to discuss the evolution of pitcher training and philosophy, specifically focusing on how it relates to the Royals and prospects Kyle Zimmer, Danny Duffy, and others.
We also talked about Duffy and Twitter specifically. Duffy's been one of the more active Royals players on Twitter and sometimes it's caused some furor with followers. We got into what his involvement there might mean for expectations from fans and what to expect for him in the future.
While the All-Star Game was starting up, we got to talking about the second half and our frustrations with the way the Royals finished the first half.
Most of our time was spent answering some listener questions about the podcast, the Royals, and baseball in general.
That led us down the path of talking about the Royals player evaluation approach and the blindspots they run into when looking at players, including Irving Falu, David Lough, Johnny Giavotella and others. We also talked about some roster moves and the Royals use of their minor leagues to keep the bullpen fresh.
And we also talked about the promotions of Kyle Zimmer and Lane Adams to Double A. That led us to talk a bit about Bubba Starling as well (who, along with Adams and Jason Adam formed a group called "The Tripod" in spring training before last year).
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We decided to start recording right as All-Star Game rosters were announced and while Troy thought James Shields or Ervin Santana would be the Royals All-Star representative, I thought it would be Greg Holland.
We were both pleasantly surprised to find that we weren't close and two Royals - Alex Gordon and Salvador Perez - would be going to Citi Field for the mid-summer classic.
Following that discussion we talked about the rosters in general, including the validity of Yasiel Puig's All-Star case, Miguel Cabrera's run for another Triple Crown and the crazy season of Chris Davis.
We turned it back to the Royals by covering the Alex Gordon injury and return, Billy Butler haters, and what might happen the rest of the season. We finished up with a quick look at the minors and brought up Danny Duffy's continuing comeback in Omaha and where he might fit down the line.
There were plenty of ideas tossed around on this week’s Vault.
We open by talking about Jeff Francoeur, his legacy, his reputation, and his time with the Royals after the team designated him for assignment. We also talked about his replacement on the roster, Johnny Giavotella, and reacted to Sunday’s game.
Then, we discussed the rehab progress of Felipe Paulino and what contributions he might make this year. That also led to a discussion of Danny Duffy‘s potential addition this year. Tommy John surgery rehab is tricky and while some pitchers come back within a year, some don’t get fully comfortable until much later. Paulino’s had some setbacks, so we had to consider that in assessing his potential role this year.
Of course, the rotation is full right now, so that’s another question. How to get Paulino or Duffy on the roster if there’s nowhere to put them? One way might be to trade Ervin Santana. What would he return? What about James Shields? We weighed the pros and cons.
We continued by discussing June for Eric Hosmer and Alex Gordon, as well as what July means for the Royals. Then we finished up by talking about Brooks Pounders‘ no-hitter and a good start from Kyle Zimmer.
As always, we’ll take your email questions at kansascitybaseballvault@gmail.com or via Twitter at @KCBaseballVault.
I AM STOPPING USING PODOMATIC. LISTEN TO THE EPISODE FOR DETAILS!
May was a tough month. So tough. Grueling. But May is over, and all that was left was to talk about the aftermath and pick up the pieces.
We talked about the changes to the coaching staff and what trading Jack Maloof for George Brett means for the team going forward and if it means anything other than window dressing and a PR cover.
We also discussed Yordano Ventura's promotion, Danny Duffy's rehab starts, and other moves recently. That led to a discussion about whether fans are setting themselves up for disappointment about Duffy whenever he returns. The concern came from Duffy's activity in social media, his previous work in the big leagues, and the expectation that he's going to be back to form right away.
Then we covered the weird rain delay game, delved into the PED controversy, and hoped for better days for the Royals.
As you may have heard, Northwest Arkansas Naturals General Manager Eric Edelstein has taken a job that will land him in Reno, and he'll be leaving the Royals organization. But before he left, Troy Olsen caught up with him to talk about the move and to learn a bit more about some Double A prospects.
Then we talked about the latest Royals action, including the kneejerk reactions from social media. We tried to make sense of the noise, take a deep breath, and reflect on the long slog of the baseball season.
We wrapped up by picking a player from each full season minor league level to focus on. We discussed David Lough, Yordano Ventura, Kyle Smith, and Miguel Almonte this week, some of the top performers in the Royals system so far.
Things are not going well for the Royals. They're stuck in a 4-16 nosedive that has fans angry, players pressing, and seats heating up.
So what better way to get the anger out than to talk about it!?
Troy and Michael fired up the podcast machine to talk about what's gone wrong, what's potentially going to happen next, and what we'd do. We discussed potential demotions and other moves, potential firings, and considered alternatives to current front office personnel.
More specifically, we talked about Chris Getz at leadoff, Alex Gordon batting third, Johnny Giavotella taking balls at third base, Danny Duffy getting rehab innings and wondered just what the heck the Royals have to do to get a win around here.
Turns out, the Royals went 4-14 since our last podcast recording. Maybe this show was just what the team needed. You should check it out.
How about a bonus Kansas City Baseball Vault episode?
While most of our time is focused on the Royals, we're not limited to the big league team and its affiliates. We're still baseball fans overall. So when we were contacted about an event in Omaha to unveil a statue of Bob Gibson (Omaha native), we wanted to check in.
So to help us cover the event at the Storm Chasers Werner Park, we sent Kings of Kauffman's Mike Vamosi and Hunter Samuels to check out the festivities.
Included in this episode, you'll hear from Hall of Famer Bob Gibson, Tim McCarver, Joe Torre, and Bill White during a press conference/banquet and then there's more from the statue unveiling ceremony itself the following day.
This week on the Kansas City Baseball Vault, we discussed the young season and the Royals early success in 2013 and shared the elements that stood out to us in the first place start.
Then we cycled in some great guests, starting with Bob Kendrick, president of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. Kendrick's spirits were high following a successful Red Carpet premiere of "42", which saw a packed AMC Theater show the Jackie Robinson biopic. The event featured an collectibles auction and many Royals made appearances, as did the stars of the film, Chadwick Bozeman and Harrison Ford. We spoke about the movie, the event, and the lasting impact of sharing a story like Robinson's through film.
We could talk to Bob for hours to hear all the stories, but we had to move on. We then talked with Brad Cook from OOTP Developments about the newest edition of Out of the Park Baseball and the new features of the highly-addicting baseball simulation game.
We finished up by talking with Jason Parks of Baseball Prospectus. He wrote an article detailing concerns about Bubba Starling and we brought him on to ask him a bit more. He had an interesting take on some of the circumstances that may hold Starling back and while it's not uplifting, it's also important information to think about in evaluating the local prospect.
After a long winter, baseball is finally back, and after a week off, we're back talking about the Royals. We gave our first impressions about the first four games of the season and discussed any performances we're worried about yet (stressing that it's only four games so far).
We talked about the reactions on social media, both positive and negative, and everyone agreed that there was a lot of overreaction to the Royals first two losses of the year. There's a lot more baseball to go, and it's satisfying to project how things will go, and even more so to be right about it, but there's a point where it cuts into the enjoyment of the game.
Then we brought on Aaron Stilley (@Royal_Heritage) who talked about an upcoming talk he's giving at the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum about Jackie Robinson and the Kansas City Monarchs. The event is April 13 at 10:30 am. Aaron can also be found at his blog: http://kcbbh.blogspot.com.
We finished off with a wraparound of the Royals minor league affiliates, with some games in progress. Add this after the first sentence of the last paragraph:
In the process, we talked about Bubba Starling and how likely it is that he'll pan out or if he'll start looking at other avenues if he struggles this year or down the line.
That will be a regular feature of the show from here on.
The regular season can't get here soon enough. While the Royals cruise through spring training, we covered a few of the remaining battles while also discussing the final second base decision to keep Chris Getz over Johnny Giavotella. We also talked a bit goings-on in Omaha and brought up the idea of a platoon (or replacement) for Jeff Francoeur and tossed out an idea of trading for David DeJesus.
Most of our time this week, however, was spent talking with Curt Nelson, director of the Royals Hall of Fame. We talked about his vision for the exhibits and artifacts within the Hall of Fame and what he tries to present to those who visit the stadium and want to dive into the history of the franchise. Of course, we also had to bring up the question of "How does Emil Brown end up eligible for the Royals Hall of Fame?"
Curt walked us through the process of nomination and how they've revamped the voting to include fan votes and we looked at a few specific cases on the current eligible ballot as well as other names from the past that may be revisited. It's interesting stuff to think about, especially as other players like Mike Sweeney, Johnny Damon and Carlos Beltran are nearing eligibility for the team honor.
The Royals were busy trimming the roster and the latest Kansas City Baseball Vault discussed any surprises or disappointments in the cuts as well as what it means for the roster and any position battles going on. Along with that, we talked about the demotion of Luke Hochevar to the bullpen and its impact on the fifth starter race.
Eric Hosmer came up and inspired a discussion about concern, worry, and panic. His early spring numbers were strong, but his World Baseball Classic performance was not. He's still the biggest question mark for the 2013 season.
Also, look for a friendly wager should Donnie Joseph make the opening day roster. While both Michael and Troy like his potential, Troy likes it a bit more. Don't be a surprised to see a Kelvin Herrera vs. Donnie Joseph board bet...
Dayton Moore has talked about "the Process" of building a contender. It's taken a rebuild of the farm system but now it's time to get results. After trading Wil Myers for James Shields, the Royals are closer than they've been in a long time, but what's the actual window for contention? With most of their lineup made up of young players, what can we expect for the franchise in 2013 and ahead?
To answer those questions, we talked with Jason Martinez of MLB Depth Charts, Baseball Prospectus and ESPN.com about his article discussing all of those ideas. He went through his process of determining a team's best year for being a World Series contender and the factors he had in mind while lining up the next few seasons.
We also talked about the Royals spring performance, the second base job and adding versatility, and the World Baseball Classic.
http://insider.espn.go.com/mlb/hotstove12/story/_/id/8850218/kansas-city-royals-window-contention-mlb --- Jason Martinez link.
The Royals start out undefeated in Cactus League play and we decided to figure out if it meant anything. Or even a little bit of anything.
Does it improve the team's confidence? Is it a sign of good things in 2013? How did we think the rotation did the first time through?
We covered all of those topics and marveled at the Chris Getz homer and what it means for the second base battle. We also talked a bit about what the World Baseball Classic means for the rest of spring training. Paul McCartney even showed up.
Paul McCartney did not show up. It was just a poor impersonation.
The best part of the week, though, was our discussion with Anthony Seratelli of the Omaha Storm Chasers. He shared his story of how he got to be a part of professional baseball and the twists and turns that landed him in the Royals organization. He's an easy guy to root for.
Its season preview season which means we have to get the opinion of our main man Greg Schaum on the Royals 2013 season.
Also on this episode Aaron Bentley of Baseballinstincts.com gives us his evaluation of the Detroit Tigers system.
While snow fell in Kansas City, the Royals were busy getting spring training underway and taking the field against the rest of the Cactus League.
We did our best not to overreact to the action so far, but did discuss Luis Mendoza's potential as a starter, John Lamb's comeback and velocity (as well as that of Noel Arguelles) and Alex Gordon's day off.
Then we welcomed the voice of Kauffman Stadium to the show. Mike McCartney's a name you might not know but if you get to see the Royals at home, you'll know his voice. We caught up with him to talk about the All Star break, his philosophy behind how to work within the game and the crowd in calling up a player, what he does with the weird names (and we tested a few with him), and what it's like to work at the ballpark all summer.
After a brief interlude to talk about the Chiefs and their search for a quarterback (we try not to go there unless it's a big story), we talked with Elliot Johnson, the newest Royal in camp.
Johnson shared a lot about his climb towards the big leagues, including the disappointments of being kept in the minors, bad timing, and his dustup with Francisco Cervelli (and he had a nice take on the overreaction to that 2008 collision). He also talked about the leadership the Royals should expect from former-and-once-again teammates James Shields and Wade Davis as well as his adjustment to a new clubhouse and coaching staff and playing every position on the diamond.
The Royals are gathering in Surprise, Arizona right now for spring training and taking stock of their talent as the 2013 season starts.
Who better to discuss that talent than one of the men who's helped acquire it?
Royals Assistant GM JJ Picollo talked with the Vault about a number of prospects and their expected paths to the big leagues, including John Lamb, Kyle Zimmer, Jason Adam and Yordano Ventura. He explained the organization's approach to advancing Bubba Starling and talked about the input he gave Dayton Moore prior to the Wil Myers/James Shields trade.
He also gave us an idea of how things shift from a scouting and development standpoint and adjusting to the circumstances and skills of each player.
Prior to talking with Picollo, Troy, Jeff and Mike talked about some of the early news out of spring training including Jeff Francoeur's reaction to criticism, the middle infield and utility player battles, and what to take away from Tuesday's intrasquad game.
Royals 2011 draftpick Kyle Smith talked with Clint about his stellar 2012 season, his training regiment and what his goals are for 2013.
Also on the show Keith Elkins of the Lexington Legends spoke about the new partnership with the Royals at the Single A level, the towns great support for the team and upcoming promotions for the 2013 season.
Former major league third baseman and Royals hitting coach Kevin Seitzer joined the program to talk about hitting approach, the struggles Eric Hosmer encountered and the differences in his approach and that of manager Ned Yost.
Quote from Seitzer on Yost - "I wanted the guys to take one pitch the first time through but Ned wanted them to be aggressive which isn't what I like to teach." "It was a rough seat for me but it didn't matter as it came back as a reflection of me."
Also Aaron Bentley of BaseballInstinct.com joined the podcast to talk about the Chicago White Sox minor league system.
Follow us on Twitter @ClintScoles and @DBLesky
You can email the show at Podcast@Pinetarpress.com or listen to past shows at RoyalsPodcast.com.
You either love him or hate him. He's either an annoying cheerleader or wrapped up in passion for the game. There's not always a lot of gray area when it involves Royals television analyst Rex Hudler.
Hudler took time to talk with us at the Kansas City Baseball Vault about his passion for baseball, his attitude as a player and how it has framed his daily approach as well as how he responds to criticism. We discussed optimism, getting over losses, and what he's said to players since joining the Royals.
The Wonderdog also shared some of his personal stories of raising a child with disabilities and the ways his family has embraced the challenges and blessings involved.
This was a very forthright Hudler and a different side from what you'll see on the Fox Sports Kansas City broadcast. Love him or hate him, he's got something to say.
Bob Dutton has been covering the Royals to some extent since 1987 and became the primary beat writer covering them for the Kansas City Star in 2003. He's seen his share of bad Royals baseball and, on occasion, some good as well.
Dutton took some time out of his schedule to talk with us at the Kansas City Baseball Vault about the Royals in 2013. We made sure to nail down who's going to play right field, asked about the fifth starter spot and sought insight into the 2012 struggles of Eric Hosmer and Mike Moustakas. We also checked on the status of some prospects who might make it to Kansas City in 2013 including Yordano Ventura and Kyle Zimmer. We also talked about the second base battle and factors in the search for a utility infielder.
We finished off with some hypotheticals about what might happen if Kansas City is near the playoff hunt later in the year.
We're getting anxious for spring training to start, but we can't match the anticipation of Danny Duffy. Duffy took time out of his rehabbing to talk with the Kansas City Baseball Vault about the work he's putting in to get back, his hopeful timetable, and his mindset as he looks to return in the middle of 2013. Last spring, Duffy was the most excited player in Royals camp. This year, he has to hang back while he continues to train after last June's Tommy John surgery. He talked about that need for patience and dealing with frustration.
He's also talked about his return to Twitter and interacting with fans. His new Twitter handle is @DannyDuffy805 and he's looking to regain all of his old followers. And since he's a California kid, we had to see if he's rooting for the San Francisco 49ers in Sunday's Super Bowl. Spoiler alert: that's a yes.
Also, you might stick around for some outtakes at the end of the episode. Mike may or may not have sang.
Rob Neyer was lucky. He started his Royals fandom in 1976 while the Royals were just beginning the first of three straight playoff appearances. That passion for baseball led him to Bill James, then to ESPN.com and now to SB Nation.
He talked with us about growing up a baseball fan, the current state of the Royals, the Wil Myers/James Shields trade and if Kansas City is a baseball or football town.
We also talked with him about writing and the gaps between old school fans and those who dig into some of the stats and how that came out during the MVP and Hall of Fame discussions. We even added some questions about blogging, traditional media and the interaction between the two.
In this week’s Kansas City Baseball Vault, we were joined by our pals Clint Scoles and Dave Lesky from the Pine Tar Press podcast.
We discussed the Hall of Fame vote and the factors that led to nobody being elected, as well as the process of voting. Lumped in with that was a discussion of steroids and other such issues that dozens of BBWAA members were writing about leading up to the final ballot counts.
In other baseball news, we answered a listener question about adding cell phones in dugouts to communicate with the bullpen.
We finished up by talking about projections for the Royals in 2013. Lesky explained some of his problems with the ZiPS system while we talked in general about the players who looked like they might be able to meet those projections, or even beat them.
After the discussion, Troy spoke with Joe Bonsall of famed band the Oak Ridge Boys. I know, “what does that have to do with baseball?”, you might ask. Bonsall is a big baseball fan (of the Phillies to be exact) and the ORB sang the national anthem at then-Royals Stadium before Game 7, so he shared his stories of being a baseball fan and cheering for Kansas City during the Royals dramatic Game 6 win and their series-clinching victory.
Download the full mp3 here or listen in the embedded player above.
The Kansas City Baseball Vault is a weekly podcast that covers the Royals, their minor league affiliates and other aspects of baseball in Kansas City.
The big news in Kansas City wasn't another Royals acquisition but rather the Chiefs signing Andy Reid to be their next head coach. We briefly covered the biggest local story of the day before moving on to the Royals latest moves. We talked about the minor league free agent signings of the last week, including Miguel Tejada and Endy Chavez and our listener question this week dealt with those kinds of deals as well which allowed us to talk a bit about Dayton Moore, intangibles and the Royals approach to building a roster.
Then we brought on Chris Kamler to talk about what's new in his world and to talk about a big pre-spring training event at the Screenland Armour in North Kansas City on February 10th at 4 p.m. We're looking forward to helping out with the event and seeing everyone out to watch a screening of Major League and to take part in other trivia and shenanigans.
The Royals have been quiet since the James Shields trade, but there's nothing wrong with a little speculation, right?
We responded to some listener comments, starting off discussing how well (if at all) the Royals match up for a Giancarlo Stanton deal That got us in a position of evaluating the Royals crop of prospects in relation to other teams. Obviously, we'd all like to have Stanton on the Royals, but what would it take?
That bridged into a conversation about whether we'd trade the last 20 years of Royals baseball for the on-again, off-again, fire sale prone Marlins. It seems like being a Marlins fan isn't the best place to be, but maybe it's not so bad in some ways?
We also talked about international free agents, Eric Hosmer's struggles, and tossed in some outtakes at the end.
Ever since the James Shields trade, the question has turned from "what can the Royals do to get better?" to "how do the Royals win the division?"
To help answer that question, we talked with Mark Simon of ESPN's Baseball Today podcast about his article that addresses that second question. A lot has to go right, Mark admitted, but it's not outside the realm of possibility. He took us step by step through what it'll take to get Kansas City back into the playoffs. There will have to be a couple of leaps, though, and nobody's allowed to get hurt.
Following the discussion with Mark, we talked a bit more about other happenings in the league, including a comparison of the Royals trade and the trade that sent R.A. Dickey to Toronto. While not exactly comparable, they're similar enough that it seemed to be two team going for the same goal in their quest for pitching. We also discussed optimism, pitching staffs and the gap between the Royals and the Detroit Tigers.
After the blockbuster trade of Wil Myers (plus) for James Shields and Wade Davis, we had to go out and get another opinion on the trade.
To do that, we consulted Joel Goldberg of Fox Sports Kansas City. He's excited about the deal and feels that James Shields is a strong pitcher at the top of the rotation and his argument is laid out pretty well. He also touted the clubhouse abilities of Shields and how he may work with Jeremy Guthrie and Jeff Francoeur in that role as leader.
It's an interesting discussion about aces, prospects, Twitter reactions, stats vs. scouts and all sorts of baseball topics tied into one transaction.
Jason Parks of Baseball Prospectus recently released his top ten prospects report for the Royals minor league system and was kind enough to talk with the Kansas City Baseball Vault about the rankings, the Royals development process and the level of talent in the Royals system.
He also offered his opinion on the potential of a Wil Myers-for-James Shields trade, and the philosophy behind trading prospects in general. Parks offered a long-term look at each of his top ten prospects, including telling us about the two names he felt like he could have placed higher.
Parks sees a lot of the Royals players as his initial work in baseball writing was in regards to the Rangers system, a team which shares a spring training complex with the Royals. He also weighed in on the Royals training methods, management, David Glass and gave an update on life at BP after Kevin Goldstein.
As the hot stove warms up, it was time to cover the latest roster moves by the Royals in advance of the Winter Meetings in Nashville.
We covered all of the moves the Royals made to clean up their 40 man roster and the arbitration offers they made to their eligible players. We also discussed the Jeremy Guthrie deal and the value behind it, both as a contract and in relation to the Royals staff in 2013 and beyond.
In light of David Glass's latest comments, we had to discuss the payroll for 2013 and Glass's idea of what the Royals can spare this year. The numbers don't seem to add up...
Oh - but we didn't stop there. We talked about Wil Myers, James Shields, R.A. Dickey and trade rumors, as well as what to look for during the winter meetings this week.
At the end, we have an interview with J.J Cooper of Baseball America who compiled his list of the Royals top 10 prospects to get his take on the state of the Royals system.
In the wake of the Miguel Cabrera vs. Mike Trout debate, Jeff and Mike responded to the apparent eyes vs. numbers argument put forth by Mitch Albom. Spoiler: Neither were very pleased with Albom's characterization of the sides of the debate.
We also talked about some of the Royals recent moves, including the signing of Brandon Wood and how the former prospect might fit within the organization, as well as the trades of Tommy Hottovy and Jeremy Jeffress. Additionally, we talked about Joakim Soria and bidding wars, the Royals and player development and reclamation projects, and then brought up some trade ideas - including offering opinions on the infamous Jeffrey Loria fire sale trade between the Marlins and Blue Jays last week.
"We have a couple of interviews for you this week. Troy talked with Jason Adam about his year in Wilmington, what comes next season and his preparations this offseason while hard at work in Arizona.
Troy also talked with Ryan Verdugo about his being held back when September callups came around, fans at his major league debut, and what might happen this offseason."
The Royals were busy this week, making a trade to get Ervin Santana and shuffling players to get the roster down to 40. We discussed the implications of the Santana trade, what it signifies for the rest of the offseason, and what kinds of players might be in competition for the starting rotation this year.
We also looked at other moves in the league, including the Mike Aviles trade and lamented the slight return the Royals got for him in 2011.
Finally, we finished up talking about some listener comments.
Even though the Royals haven't played for a while, there's still news trickling in (and more to come once the offseason is upon us). The Royals added two hitting coaches to the staff, so we discussed their experience and what it may mean for the Royals offense next season, including the Royals trend towards internal hires rather than going outside of the organization for coaching positions.
We also covered the claim of RHP Chris Volstad and considered what he might add to the Royals next season - but we had to touch on comments from Dayton Moore about how free agency may not be the option he uses to rebuild the rotation.
Finally, we wrapped up with more discussion of our seasons on Out of the Park Baseball and added a little bit of nonsense before wrapping it up.
This week, we looked at some of the dates the Royals will have to work around this offseason in setting their rosters for 2013. That meant we had to guess at who may or may not be offered arbitration or added to the 40 man roster. That put Chris Getz, Brayan Pena and others on the line.
We also covered the free agent compensation rules in the new CBA and what it may mean for the Royals this offseason. Before checking in on our Out of the Park leagues, we also checked on the Royals that are playing in offseason leagues like Justin Marks, Brian Fletcher and Jorge Bonifacio
With the season over, we decided it was a good time to wonder about the Royals front office, focusing on the way David Glass runs the team, and the difference between running a team to win and running a team as a business.
Of course, Glass has said he's willing to pay up to upgrade the starting rotation, so with that in mind, we bounced ideas around as to who the Royals may target, what kind of trades may be necessary, and also took inventory of the Royals pitching prospects just in case any of those could be contributors (or at least to guess at the timetable for when they might be).
Finally, we delved into pure baseball nerddom while discussing our experiments as GM of the Royals on the baseball simulation game Out of the Park Baseball. (http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/index.php)
This week Jeff and Troy get back together to talk, Chiefs, booing, cheering, idiot national reporters, idiot national reporters from KC, and College Sports.
Check out EKOHNetwork.com for all your Sports and non sports blogging entertainment.
A goodbye and Thank you from Troy "KCRoyalman" Olsen. Full story on KingsofKauffman.com
This week on the Kansas City Baseball Vault, we covered a little bit of everything. There were a few bright spots about the Royals play this year, though how much matters and how much is just spin was a question we tried to answer. There are still big holes to fill, especially starting pitching, and that led us to discuss the future rotation and who may be a part of it. Of course, that led us to the question of Luke Hochevar.
Comments in the Royals post-season press conference suggest that they'll bring Hochevar back. That same conference also unleashed a whole other set of questions about the organization and how it's looking to fix the problems.
On a brighter note, we got to talk with an Orioles fan - Neal Moorhouse - who you know as Carne Cabeza or the LuchadOriole from the final episode of the Royalman Report. He talked about Baltimore's response to their playoff win against Texas and the feelings within the city going into the next series.
Finally, we talked with Brad Cook from Out of the Park Baseball. The new version of the game simulator is out and all the different things you can do with it.
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We gathered a handful of Royals bloggers together to discuss the Royals in a roundtable format in the latest Kansas City Baseball Vault.
The discussion ranged from the Royals inability to develop pitching and what it means for next season and the offseason, as well as what moves or pitchers might be necessary to go after to turn things around, to the 40 man roster and who might be left off and who might stay on, and finally, wrapped up with a discussion on the Royals as an organization and their hesitance to adapt to new media, their approach to traditional and new media, and how a little adaptation might benefit everyone.
We'd really like to thank Dave Lesky (@DBLesky) from Pine Tar Press, Jeff Parker (@RoyallySpeaking) from Royally Speaking and Matt Whitener (@CheapSeatFan) from I-70 Baseball for joining us in the discussion.
If the Royals aren't going to be in a playoff race, the least we can do is talk about it with someone whose team is.
Nick Schaefer from FanSided's Southside Showdown joined us to talk about the White Sox division lead and their struggles against the Royals this year. In 18 games, the White Sox only scored 52 runs, leading to a 12-6 head to head advantage for the Royals. Nick had his theories.
We also talked about some of the Royals needs this offseason and continued to guess at the solutions for pitching next season. Nick offered his insight on Jake Peavy and his concern that the White Sox will try to keep him. We brought up Jeremy Guthrie, Edwin Jackson and Brandon McCarthy as potential options.
We finished up with some discussion of the Royals successful months (yes, there were some), and if it means anything. To his credit, Nick assured us that it'll all be better soon. We'll see about that ...
Well we had some internet gremlins make recording interesting but Jeff (Herr) and Troy (Olsen) managed to take you through the last 2 weeks and the upcoming week for the Chiefs, KU, Mizzou, KSU and Nebraska. What do you want to talk about? Have comments on the show? Hit us up. RoyalmanReport@gmail.com
As the title suggests, we had to talk about the Royals latest approach to fixing Luke Hochevar and his spot in the organization. We considered the price to keep him, what he might have left in the tank and what the alternatives might be.
We also talked about Lorenzo Cain's injury, Omaha's quest (in vain) to repeat as PCL champs and which players might get dropped from the 40 man roster this winter. Salvador Perez was also a key figure in our discussion, as he had just matched Darrell Porter's team-record hitting streak for a catcher.
To finish up, we tossed out all the cliches and phrases we always hear as Kansas City sports fans. I think we've really turned a corner with this one...
Troy and Jeff went around the horn with Nebraska, Kansas, K State and Missouri. Then they talked about the top 25. After a break they talked about the Big XII contract followed by more Chiefs talk and an around the Horn with the NFL games. Due to technical difficulties this was posted late. Our apologies.
In the latest episode of the Kansas City Baseball Vault, we tried to settle on the value of Jeremy Guthrie, the fate of Luke Hochevar and discussed why Wil Myers isn't going to be called up this September.
That led to discussion about service time, the Rule 5 draft and Super Two status as well as what to look for this offseason as the Royals figure out their 40 man roster and who to offer arbitration. We also checked in on the playoff status of the Omaha Storm Chasers, Wilmington Blue Rocks and Burlington Royals.
Check us out on Youtube. Youtube.com/RoyalmanReport
Last week The Royalman Report Ended, then the KC Baseball Vault ended on 1510, then we changed how we record things and reinvented the KCBBV Podcast. This week the new Vault of Jeff Herr, Mike Engel and Troy Olsen took to google hangouts and talked about the great August the Royals had, how much different the new additions have made and how much the removed players took away from this team. Then they talked about Kevin Goldstein going to the Astros and Kent Babb to the Washington Post and wished well to both of them.
Then the KCBBV switched to the EKOH Sports Report. Jeff and Troy talked about the Chiefs preseason and what it means for the regular season before switching to Mizzou, KU, KState and Nebraska Football talk.
We are looking for a studio or someone to host our studio. If this is you or someone you know, please email RoyalmanReport@Gmail.com
We dropped the final curtain on the radio portion of the Kansas City Baseball Vault this week with nothing less than perfection. Not us, of course, we spent the hour discussing the ownership troubles of the Royals and our favorite segments from past shows. The perfection I refer to was our guest, none other than 1956 World Series MVP Don Larsen. Larsen spent two years also as a member of the Kansas City Athletics. We talked with him about his time in Kansas City, the famed World Series Perfect Game and the state of pitching in the Major Leagues today. He politely declined our offer to come back and pitch a few innings for the Royals.
Even though this was our last show on 1510 AM, you can still catch us EVERY week with here with the new and improved Kansas City Baseball Vault LIVE SATURDAYS at NOON Central time on KingsOfKauffman.com/Podcast and downloadable on EKOHNetwork.com, RoyalmanReport.com and KCBaseballVault.com and of course Stitcher, Tunein Radio and iTunes - Thanks for everyone's support this season! We look forward to being back next year!
The Royalman Report welcomed a kindred spirit this week as we brought LuchadOriole, A.K.A. Neil Moorhouse to the program. Neil is an Orioles SuperFan and spoke about the genesis of his character, how it's been embraced by Baltimore and the Orioles and the chances for the O's this season. We also talked about Jeremy Guthrie's near no-hitter Sunday and gave a BIG announcement about the future of the show. Make sure to stay tuned to EKOHNetwork.com for more information about changes in dates, times and name for this podcast!! Thanks to everyone for their continued support. We're coming back bigger and better!
As season one of the Kansas City Baseball Vault comes to a close, we spent our second to last show wondering what it was like growing up in Kansas City as a baseball fan in the 60's when Kansas City was home to such stars like Mickey Mantle, Lou Pinella and Diamond Jim Gentile. We spoke with Randy Herr, Jeff's father about just that. We also spoke with former KC A's First Baseman and six time All-Star Jim Gentile about his time with Kansas City, being a member of the Orioles Hall of Fame and the famed summer of 1961, when he went toe to toe with Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle. Tune in next week for our final episode (on the 1510 side, at least) of the Kansas City Baseball Vault!
The Royals just had a decent road trip but still came away with a loss on Sunday, so the Royalman Report tried to hearken back to better days, then tried to come up with how to bring those good days back.
We talked with Kevin Scobee of Kings of Kauffman about the Royals hints about converting some relievers into starters. The conversation led to talking about Luke Hochevar and what's gone wrong, Kyle Zimmer and what's going right and what attributes of some relievers work best if they were asked to become starters.
We also talked about Billy Butler's power surge in 2012 and marveled at his consistency even in the middle of a breakout. Then we set our sights on Steve Balboni's record - and wallowed in the fact that we're still Royals fans, left behind while other small market teams challenge for playoff spots. Year Six...
The Kansas City Baseball Vault has always been dedicated to bringing you the best from the past, the present and the future. Tonight we had all three in the same show. We started off the show walking about the recently resurgent Royals, but has anyone noticed? Next we talked with 3-Time All-Star and Royals Hall of Famer, Short Stop Freddie Patek. We talked with him about the best Royals teams in history, what it was like to play for Mr. K and what he'd do to fix the current Royals. Next we talked with a future Royals outfielder, David Lough of the Omaha Stormchasers about what it's like to have a Magic Number, what it's going to take to break into the Kansas City outfield and how lounging by the pool makes up a day off. Finally we talked to Lough's roommate, Stormchasers Second Baseman Johnny Giavotella who has also spent time in Kansas City this season. We talked about what he's working on, what he's attributing his offensive success to and what he's doing to get better defensively. There you go, the best of the past, the present and the future, every week on the Kansas City Baseball Vault. Join us each week on ESPN 1510 am, Thursday's at 6pm.
Following a sweep-saving, extra-innings win by the Royals over the Rangers witnessed by the Royalmen from a Kauffman Stadium suite, we talked about Ned Yost's ultamatum and the DFA'ing of Yuniesky Bettancourt and the firing of Doug Sisson. Seems that the entire team is fixed now, right? Might've been a bit of sarcasm there. Regardless, we talked about it all and caught up with the rest of the minor leagues and reset several other storylines around the team. Join us every Sunday at RoyalmanReport.com or EKOHNetwork.com.
Jeff Logan and the Royalman Report guys were stood up by Joe Randa but they battled on. They looked around KC Baseball, Talked about Jason Adam, Ranted about closer mentality, talked about who, if anyone, should be put in the Royals HOF the next few years, talked about the resergance of Luis Mendoza and of course Frenchy, Yuni and Wil Myers.
Join the KC Baseball Vault every Thursday at 6pm on ESPN 1510AM and 1510.com.
Join the Royalman Report every Sunday from 6-7pm on RoyalmanReport.com
After a sweep by the Seattle Mariners and a "crap for crap" trade, the Dog Days of the Royals season are definitely here. Making not attempt to put lipstick on this pig, Troy and Chris talked about the doldrums the team is in and then during the second segment, were pleased to talk to a future Royal (we hope) Jason Adam of the Wilmington Blue Rocks. Jason talked to us about being the subject of trade rumors, his favorite parks to play in and even gave us a little impression of his favorite vendor at Blue Rocks stadium. Catch the Royalman Report every Sunday night live at royalmanreport.com and podcasted every Monday at royalmanreport.com and ekohnetwork.com as well as iTunes and Stitcher Radio.
On tonight's episode of the Kansas City Baseball Vault, the boys were faced with the harsh reality that the dog days of summer brings to the City - losing Royals Baseball. We were also joined by 65 year Professional Baseball veteran and former Kansas City Athletic, 81 year old Bill Fischer who also serves as the Senior Pitching Advisor to the Royals. Bill joined us from Burlington where he was scouting the likes of Bubba Starling. To close the show, Chris challenged the rest of the crew to point to one shining light for the rest of the season. And then for some reason a Karen Carpenter song played.
This and much more is in this week's edition of The Kansas City Baseball Vault heard every Thursday at 6pm on ESPN 1510 am and on demand at RoyalmanReport.com
They say "never say it can't get any worse". We've already tried to get through the tough 12 game losing streak but a good stretch of play just got everyone's hopes up. The Royals aren't very good right now, and in this episode we tried to figure out why and what can be done.
With that in mind, we talked about pitching development, the next wave coming and what kind of things might go down as the trade deadline approaches.
(Also, technology was a bit down in the dumps too during recording, as we almost lost the first half of the show. We blame Frenchy.)
The Royalman Report guys joined Jeff Logan of the KC Baseball Historical Society for another KC Baseball Vault.
This week the guys welcome Director of Player Personnel for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Tyrone Brooks. Tyrone was a part of the BP event and worked with Dayton Moore for several years in Atlanta. Tyrone gave us some insight to how the Pirates have became a winning team this year in a small market.
We were then joined by former KC/OAK A's Captain Sal Bando. Sal held nothing back when talking about Charlie Finley and Bud Selig. He also told us about his time with Milwaukee as a GM and his years as a player.
The guys then got into a heated discussion about the current Royals and what has to happen. They calmed down to have a little fun before the weekend.
Tune into the KC Baseball Vault every Thursday on ESPN 1510 or 1510.com at 6pm.
Tune into the Royalman Report Sundays at 7pm. www.RoyalmanReport.com
Basking in the Post-All-Star Week Glow, the Royalmen met up in a newly redesigned Fake Ned's Man Cave to talk Royals Baseball. We talked with Curtis Kitchen about the trials and tribulations of Eric Hosmer and what the Royals should do to fix him. Then, we spoke with Author Marc Normandin about his new book project "The Hall of Nearly Great" a collection of essays about "nearly great" baseball players. We spoke about his essay on Bret Saberhagen as well as what an incredible lineup of authors who contributed to the project including Jason Parks, Joe Posnanski and Bradford Doolittle. The show then turned to the RMR press tour where Michael Engle was on National Public Radio and Troy Olsen was on KCTV Channel 5. We wrapped up the show with a cameo by Chris's son Brett who talked about Fan Fest and what we liked. Join us every week here at RoyalmanReport.com for the best Royals talk through the rest of the year and beyond.
The guys wrapped up All Star Week with a star studded, action pack show! Mike, Troy, Chris and Jeff Herr were joined in studio by Curt Nelson, proprietor of the Royals Hall of Fame. (Jeff Logan was out on assignment.) The guys talked about the All Star experience with Curt but were quickly joined by Mayor Sly James.
The Mayor discussed what it took for the city and the success that this All Star Week was. Then the guys were joined by NFL Hall OF Famer and future Royals Hall of Famer George Toma who helped prep Kauffman Stadium's field. He told his story of catching the 1st pitch from Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson with a little help from Joe Mauer of the Minnesota Twins.
Finally the guys were joined by the Voice of Kauffman Stadium, Mike McCartney. Mike and Curt paired up to exchange stories of this week and weeks gone by. They told us how a ball hit violently by Mark Trumbo ended up on top of the Royals Hall of Fame and then inside the Royals Hall of Fame. Mike talked about how hectic the booth was and what it was like working with the networks.
This and so much more await you inside this weeks Kansas City Baseball Vault! For more tune in Sundays 7-8pm at www.RoyalmanReport.com for the Royalman Report and Thursdays from 6-7pm on ESPN 1510 for the Kansas City Baseball Vault.
In our second show of All-Star Weekend, we find the Royalmen in the epicenter of All-Star Festivities right outside of the Power and Light District at The Flying Saucer. We started out show with a bit of a scare as we went on the air right as a bomb threat occurred. Once that was cleared, we turned to happier topics such as what the All-Star festivities meant to Kansas City and Fan Fest. The first half of the show, Chris is joined by Rambling Morons cohorts Laurie Kunkel and Chris Atkins. The second half of the show focused on the Futures Game and features reaction from Michael Engel and Troy Olsen.
All-Star Sunday continues our coverage of All-Star Week and this show was a panel during a Baseball Prospectus event held at the Historic Gem Theater in the 18th and Vine District. Troy, Michael, Jeff and Chris along with Craig Brown of Royals Authority were all on the panel so we just decided to tape it and share it with you. We talked a little about how our podcast got its start, then talked about the Royals, their troubles, and their future. Thanks to all who came out, asked questions and participated at the entire event.
The motto of our new Radio Show on ESPN 1510 has been "You never know what will come out of the Vault." Well, this show stayed true to form as The Baseball Vault opened this week to kick off All-Star Weekend. We started off the show with a recap of the FanFest preview that Michael Engel and Chris Kamler attended. We talked with Toby Cook and some Hall-of-Famer named George Brett about Fan Fest and what holding the All-Star Game means to Kansas City. The usual cast of characters, Jeff, Jeff, Michael, Chris and Troy welcomed Bud Daley, two-time All-Star and two-time World Champion. He was also the Kansas City A's All-Star representative in 1960 when the All-Star Game was held here in Kansas City. Bud talked about his time in Kansas City, his appearance in the All-Star Game (he faced Roberto Clemente) and the fact that he was not, in fact, a knuckleballer. We were then joined by Bob Kendrick, the President of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum and all the amazing events that will be held over the All-Star Weekend. We finished the show with the usual sillyness and a spot-on impression of Yankee's announcer Suzyn Waldman. A whole lot of stuff crammed into a one hour show. Check it out, then enjoy YOUR weekend Kansas City. Go enjoy the All-Star Weekend in your city.
While Chris Kamler was hanging out in 100 degree heat watching little league and Jeff Herr was on assignment, Troy Olsen and Mike Engel had an afternoon discussion about the Royals weekend problems and their bipolar play lately.
They covered the Billy Butler all star announcement, guessed at his odds in the Home Run Derby and talked about other All Star selections.
The plight of Jonathan Sanchez came up as well, and they agreed that he's been about as bad as possible since coming to the Royals.
Things wrapped up by talking about upcoming all star events and there's an interview that Mike did with Craig Brown (@RoyalsAuthority) of Royals Review (formerly Royals Authority) to talk about the Royals blogosphere, Royals in contention and the fans' reactions and the Baseball Prospectus event.
Tickets to the BP event are still available http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=17278
**Note quality a little off from normal.
We took our normal look around the Royals system and checked in on the Tbones. We had a great look into the Vault with Jim Jumbo Nash and then talked to The guys from Biking for Baseball who are looking to see all 30 stadiums this summer by bicycling across America. We also talked about the PCL All stars and All Star week events. Then the guys got heated talking potential call ups including Wil Myers. Troy finished the show by ranting on Jon Sanchez.
The KC Baseball Vault can be heard Thursdays 6-7 on ESPN 1510 AM and 1510.com.
Check out www.RoyalmanReport.com for all your audio and print Royals needs.
One hundred degree temperatures and a crappy showing against the Cardinals melted the Royalman Report team down to just Chris and special guest Dave Darby. We talked about a miserable series against the Redbirds and where the team goes from here. We also talked with Kansas City Star columnist, Sam Melliger about Jerry Sandusky, Sal Perez, Twitter Tuesday and the Olympics and finally finished up the show with Royals Bullpen catcher from 1984 to 2003, Bill Sobbe. Bill is currently the bench coach for the Kansas City T-Bones.
The guys were joined in studio by member of the 1985 World Series Champion Kansas City Royals, Greg Pryor and on the phone by current Royals Catcher Brayan Pena. Greg told stories about 1985 and was the target of our trivia question. Brayan told us why he loves the Royals, America, what he thinks of Sal Perez and Humberto Quintero and much much more! The KC Baseball Vault is on EVERY Thursday from 6-7 PM On ESPN 1510 AM in KC, World wide at 1510.com. Don't forget to join the guys Sundays from 7-8pm for the Royalman Report at RoyalmanReport.com.
All four of the members of the Royalman Report were in the Man Cave on Father's Day to celebrate a series win over the Cardinals, and in the shadow of a 15 inning victory over the Redbirds. We spent some time in the first segment recapping that series and a great week of exciting games. In our second segment we all got a little sappy talking about our favorite Father's Day and Baseball stories. As is usually the case, the talk turns to what to do about our rotation and when we're going to call up Wil Myers. In our third segment, we fought a few technical gremlins and the conversation again turned to what prospects we're going to call up. Our fourth segment features an extended interview with radio personality Nick Wright of Sports Radio 610 KILT in Houston, TX. You might recall Nick just finished his run at 610 Sports here in Kansas City and he had quite a bit to say about the state of radio in KC and how he got his position in Houston. (The Nick Wright segment starts at 57 minutes.)
Jeff Herr, Troy Olsen and Jeff Logan took over the hosting duties while Michael Engel and Chris Kamler were out on assignment. They were joined on the phone by Betty Caywood-Bushman and Monte Moore, the original announcers of the KC A's. We then talked about the Brewers series, the minor leagues, the T-Bones and the upcoming Royals Series. We then talked about the recent moves for the Royals. Next Week We have Danny Jackson and Greg Pryor in studio. Join us every Thursday, 6-7pm on ESPN 1510.
Jeff Logan and the guys from the Royalman Report returned to the ESPN 1510 studios with a fresh Royals draft behind us, Paulino being hurt and hopes of returns of some of the DL'ed Royals Players.
They were joined by Buddy Biancalana who was funny and real about his career and the amazing 1985 Championship run.
The guys talked about the minor league All Stars, Clint Robinson being called up, the Royals Major Announcement and the Draft Picks.
The Royalman Report also announced the details of the major event with Baseball Prospectus on Sunday of All Star Week.
They ended by talking about how to fix the starting pitching woes for a team that has shown troubles in the 1st and 5th.
The Baseball Vault is sponsored by the Kansas City Baseball Historical Society and brought to you EVERY week on THURSDAYS from 6-7pm Central time on ESPN 1510AM and 1510.com.
The Royals had a great start to the homestand, taking 2 out or 3 from the Athletics and we were joined by KCTV 5's Brad Fanning to break down the series. Brad also talked to us about his story on the Royals Baseball Academy that graduated MLB'ers such as Frank White and Texas Manager Ron Washington. Then we were joined by Wilmington Blue Rock's starting pitcher Jason Adam who talked to us about needing run support and Twitter. We finished the show with Royalman's Rant and what may or may not be a picture of Fake Ned underneath a Kansas flag.
Chris, Troy, Mike, Joff H and Jeff L kicked off another week of their show on ESPN 1510. They were joined by former KC A's catcher and current Colorado Sky Sox Hitting Coach, Rene Lachemann. He told us about his days with the A's along with other stories from his 50 years in baseball.
They were also joined by Andy from HighHeatstats.com as High Heat made their Royals Mount Rushmore.
The guys also did their normal banter talking about Wil Myers, Jason Adam, Melky Cabrera, and more. They took a look at all teams effecting KC baseball and even gave away a pair of Royals Suite tickets.
Pretty slow week with the Royals taking a 3-game series from the Orioles, but losing a series earlier in the week to the Yankees. So we did what we do best... yammer about stuff. On this week's Memorial Day episode, we were joined by podcast veterans Laurie Kunkel and Chris Atkins and hit such topics as in-stadium proposals, the Royalman NASCAR sponsorship. We also recapped the soap opera that Danny Duffy quitting twitter has resulted in. We also recapped the all-star event that the Royalman Report will be a part of during All-Star Weekend. We'll be throwing out some more details soon, but it's going to be BIG.
In our third episode of the Kansas City Baseball Vault, we had the pleasure to speak with legendary groundskeeper George Toma. Toma shared stories of working the grounds at Municipal Stadium when the A's were in Kansas City, working with Charlie Finley and an incident with monkeys let loose in the ballpark. No, really.
We also got to talk with John Sadak (@johnsadak) the voice of the Wilmington Blue Rocks. Sadak discussed the progress of Jason Adam, Yordano Ventura, Cheslor Cuthbert and gave us his insight into the Royals High A minor league affiliate.
This episode also featured a rant from Troy Olsen regarding the reaction to the Will Smith start on Wednesday in Yankee Stadium. Chris Kamler, of course, egged him on. We also covered the plight of Johnny Giavotella, Eric Hosmer's continuing slump and other Royals-related topics.
Our intrepid reporter, Fake Ned, also known as Chris Kamler, spent last weekend in Omaha with the Storm Chasers. We present to you a short show compiled of interviews with members of the Storm Chasers staff. You'll hear an interview with Martie Cordero, the GM of the Chasers about Werner Park and what a great option it is for a short summer trip. We also talked to Park Hill South alum Tommy Hottovy about his tour with the Royals earlier this year and some advise he has for Danny Duffy. Finally, we ended with some post-game sound after Jake Odorizzi's AAA debut. We talk with Jake and his manager Mike Jirschele. Don't forget the Royalman Report is on every Sunday at 7 and catch our new show, The Kansas City Baseball Vault on ESPN 1510 AM Thursday's at 6.
After a series loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Royalmen focused this week on the pitching woes of the starting staff and what type of help might be available in the minor leagues. Fake Ned produced some sound from his recent trip to Omaha as he talked to Pitchers Tommy Hottovy and Jake Odorizzi as well as Storm Chasers General Manager Martie Cordero. The boys finally focued on what's going right with the team as the bats of Billy #CountryBreakfast Butler and Mike Moustakas are carrying this team right now.
This week on the Kansas City Baseball Vault, we jumped right into the future of Royals baseball, welcoming Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus and ESPN.com and discussing Wil Myers, Jake Odorizzi and their potential to reach the big leagues this year, Eric Hosmer's slumps, Mike Montgomery's trouble, Mike Moustakas's success and a few other prospects down the pipe. Goldstein and the Baseball Prospectus crew will be in Kansas City July 8 for an All-Star Weekend conference at the Negro League Baseball Museum where the KC Baseball Vault team will be co-panelists.
We also talked with former Kansas City Athletic Joe Rudi. The three time All Star and Gold Glove winner talked about coming up through the minors, dealing with Charlie Finley, and world championships.
Jeff Logan discussed upcoming events from the Kansas City Baseball Historical Society, including the monthly meeting this May 24 at the Westport Flea Market and the upcoming Kansas City A's reunion on June 8. We also gave away Kansas City T-Bones tickets to three lucky callers in our weekly trivia contest.
We'll be back next week with more discussion of Kansas City baseball, past, present and future on ESPN 1510 Thursday at 6 p.m. CST.
We were out last week while we prepared for the debut of the Kansas City Baseball Vault but came back with plenty to talk about, including Danny Duffy's injury and his potential replacements in the rotation. We all figure he'll see DL time (and at time of the episode's upload no announcement had been made by the team), and we discussed the Royals injury problems this year and how it impacts the rest of the year.
The team's been playing better, though, so we brought up the possibility of a resurgence.
Much of the episode focused on two different trips to Northwest Arkansas to see the Naturals. Troy saw them a few weeks ago and Fake Ned went down for the weekend and, wouldn't you know it, ran into controversy. You may have seen the video on Youtube of Springfield Cardinals manager Mike Shildt getting ejected and tossing his helmet in frustration. It hit an umpire, though it was deemed inadvertent. He gave his side in an apologetic interview.
There's also an interview with Naturals GM Eric Edelstein that includes an interesting tale about the Glass family.
We announced our guests for Thursday's KC Baseball Vault - "Doc" Edwards, formerly of the Kansas City A's and Baseball Prospectus and ESPN writer and podcaster Kevin Goldstein. The Kansas City Baseball Vault will be on ESPN 1510 AM and 1510.com Thursday evening from 6-7 central time.
Well kids we made it to the radio!
1 year ago KCRoyalman made a podcast called the Royalman Report hoping to take it to the radio airwaves.
Enter Jeff Logan and the Historical Society who asked us to help host his new show, The Kansas City Baseball Vault.
This first episode we talked about the current Royals along with the history of baseball in Kansas City. We were joined by Mike Hershberger of the KC A's and Clint Robinson, 1b/DH for the Omaha Stormchasers.
Listen live every Thursday 6-7pm on ESPN 1510 and www.1510.com.
Also join us Sunday for the live Royalman Report at www.RoyalmanReport.com 7-8pm.
Mike, Troy, Chris and Jeff would like to thank everyone who has supported us since the beginning and along the way. We wouldn't have done it without the fans!
The powers that be decided to let Jeff "airquotes" Herr run the show this week and he put together a doozy. After opening with the end of the Royals losing streak and how bad it actually got. In our second segment, we were joined by Alan Jaeger of Jaeger Sports. Alan is an expert in pitching mechanics and trains the "long toss" program. We spoke with him about the pros and cons of Minor Leaguers using long toss and how that training program is sometimes squelched by Major League clubs. We examine those issues in great detail. Then, in our third segment Jeff has some very strong opinions on how the Royals handle their pitching. Finally, we let the cat out of the bag on what our "Big" announcement is. This is an exclusive to our great listeners so you'll hear it here first. We really appreciate the support and look forward to you hearing us (maybe in some other places?) in the future.
The Royals' losing streak hit ten games and the Royalman Report went into therapy mode. We spent some time discussing the streak, but then we focused on the silver linings and we were able to find a few. Mixed in we had Jeff laying on our "therapy couch", we had talks of naked batting practice, Cool Runnings and Kelly's Westport Ben. This streak has been rough on all of us, but hopefully this episode will be a nice distraction until our next win.
We spent the morning of Royals Opening Day dodging raindrops and podcasting from an undisclosed location that may or may not have been near or in the Truman Sports Complex. We spent 90 minutes at a wonderful tailgate in anticipation of what would be a beatdown of Luke Hochevar and the Royals. However, before that happened, we talked with hosts Troy Olsen @kcroyalman, Michael Engel @michaelengel and Chris Kamler @thefakened about Opening Day memories, favorite tailgates and booze. We were joined by Chris Luhning, Justin, the Guys from Shattered City Entertainment and some guy named DJ Bob. Catch the Royalman Report every Sunday night (when we're not live on location) at royalmanreport.com
The bunting was out for the Royals 2012 Opening Day, only the fourth being held by Major League Baseball this week. But the Royalman Report checked the schedules and confirmed the day. We broadcast live from our great sponsor, Kelly's Westport Inn for an Opening Day pre-game show. The "B" team of Chris Kamler and Jeff Herr let things off with our predictions for the upcoming season. Then we took it around the room to many of our favorite listeners (and even Mrs. Fake Ned). Listen closely, as you'll even hear a cameo from KC Royalman himself! Spring is no more. This is OUR TIME now!
We were pleased to feature a trio of local sports commentators on the latest Royalman Report.
Curtis Kitchen covers a bit of everything at CurtisKitchen.com but primarily focuses on the Big XII and Kansas State sports. He also works with 610 sports. He joined us to discuss the Frank Martin escape from Manhattan and the state of KSU basketball.
We then jumped into Royals baseball with Nate Bukaty, who you’ll recognize from his reporting during the Royals pregame and postgame shows. We covered a bit of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship game beforehand but then got to talking about the starting rotation, particularly Luis Mendoza‘s potential to continue the success he had last season in Omaha.
Finally we were joined by Robert Ford, who handles the pregame and postgame shows for 610 sports. A key topic was the Yuniesky Betancourt/Chris Getz/Johnny Giavotella second base drama.
We finished up with the usual crew talking about the Alex Gordon contract extension.
It was great to have the trio on the show.
A programming note: We don’t have a show scheduled for Sunday night as usual but will be out at Kelly’s Westport Inn on opening day April 6 for a tweet up among Royals fans, Kings of Kauffman readers and Royalman Report listeners. Anyone (21+) in the KC area can hang out and talk some Royals baseball before the Royals take on the Angels, then stay and watch as the season finally gets underway.
Join us LIVE Friday 7pm at Kelly's for the RMR and OPENING DAY for the Royals! Game on with sound at the bar.
The Royalmen celebrated the First "podiversary" of the Royalman Report. What once started as two Royals fans trying to organize their thoughts has now turned into this... The best podcast in Kansas City. To celebrate, we recorded live from Kelly's Westport Inn and were joined by dozens of our closest friends in our biggest tweetup yet. During this episode, you'll hear about tattoos, the burning of Peyton Manning, the Royals closer situation as well as Fat Billy Joel. You'll hear young Zachary, a Royals fan since 1990 talk about the 5 years he spent in the womb. You'll hear from young Michelle, flip cup "dominator". We also talked to some more knowledgable people in the form of Curtis Kitchen and Dave Darby. And then we balanced that with talking with Jenny and Lance Otto and Laurie "Moose Knuckle" Kunkle. It was a tremendous afternoon and helped accent a great year. Thank you for continuing to listen and help make us the number 1 podcast in Kansas City.
We weren't in the Man Cave, but we still got it together to have a full discussion on the Royalman Report.
It was a busy week for the Royals and we covered the Salvador Perez injury and his potential replacements after surgery. Alcides Escobar signed an extension and we covered the importance and the symbolic gesture behind it. We dug into the pitching staff, particularly the final two starting spots, the enigma that is Luis Mendoza and the overstocked bullpen.
We even tossed in a bit of Chiefs free agency talk.
Along with the discussion there are two interviews within this episode. First we talked with Jeff Montgomery about the coming season and other aspects of Royals broadcast team. After that, Michael Engel interviewed John Dewan, the author of The Fielding Bible and owner of Baseball Info Solutions. He offered insight into the methodology and significance of detailed defensive statistics.
Join us on March 24th as we have a full day of events scheduled at Kelly's Westport Inn. From 2-6 pm we'll hold a fantasy draft with a group of listeners. After that we'll have a remote broadcast and from there we'll help host the @TweetupKC crowd. More details about the event can be found here: http://www.facebook.com/events/232681986827462/
With Senior Editor Michael Engel out on assignment this week, the Royalmen were joined by Justin Ivey of The French Quarter fan club. The men were educated for the majority of the hour by Jason Parks (@ProfessorParks) from Baseball Prospectus and the Up and In Podcast. We talked with Jason about his impressions of Royals Spring Training, who he saw that was "awful" and who impressed him. We also talked Jeff Francouer, Yuniesky Bettancourt and his flagrant man-love for Eric Hosmer. Make plans to join the Royalmen on March 24 at Kelly's for an afternoon and evening of baseball, basketball and booze as we will be doing a live show around 6:00 and then enjoy a March Madness tweetup. Plus, this gives us a chance to have everyone come out to visit our incredible sponsor, Kelly's Westport Inn. It's the place where you buy beer!
On the day before the first Royals spring training game, we gathered on a Saturday night for an episode of the Royalman Report where we discussed the Royals camp news to that point, the addition of Bruce Chen (@ChenMusic) and Willie Aikens (@WAikens) to Twitter and some of the best tweets from Royals players this spring. We also talked at length about Salvador Perez, his extension, and his potential on the team now and going into the future.
We also got minor league pitcher Brooks Pounders on the line and asked him about his experience of being traded, the differences in approach between the Pirates and Royals, and his training with Alan Jaeger and long-toss regimen. Of course we had to talk about the relationships and friendships between players in camp and the enthusiasm that seems to be carrying from the big league team all the way to the lower levels of the minors. And the name - Fake Ned wouldn't let him go without asking him about the name.
A random meeting in the Kauffman Stadium Team Store led Troy "Royalman" Olsen to meet Royals Assistant General Manager J.J. Picollo. After a brief conversation, J.J. agreed to join us on the Royalman Report and this is the result.
Picollo discussed the things the Royals are looking at in Surprise during spring training, who he expects to bounce back, and who the Royals hope to see big breakouts from. The team's thoughts behind the Yuniesky Betancourt signing and reflections on negotiations with Roy Oswalt and Edwin Jackson were also addressed. He also discussed the impact of the new CBA on the Royals draft strategies going into 2012.
We also checked in with Joel Goldberg about what the players are doing down in Arizona. He gave us his insight into what the players are doing, the internal competitions and keeping spring training from getting boring (especially when it's all drills early on). He also talked about how some of the pitchers looked and who might sneak into the rotation.
This week's Fake Ned Minute is a little blue, so we'll call it not safe for work, but he redeemed himself by producing a fantastic bit with Mike McCartney that takes off of a famous scene from a famous baseball movie. Definitely look for that after the Goldberg segment. Fake Ned also paid off a lost bet.
With Fox 4 taping us in studio, we celebrated the official start of Royals spring training with a Pitcher and Catchers edition of the Royalman Report. Joining us first was Jay Brinkley of Three Guys in a Garage who discussed such matters as the Royals expectations and starting rotation, the Border War and going from a chilly garage to 810 in Kansas City.
We also talked with Jason Adam about what he's working on in spring training and his goals for 2012. We also discussed his friendship with other Royals farmhands including Lane Adams, Matt Ridings and Bubba Starling. Jason's a funny guy and we're always glad to have him on when he has the chance.
We wrapped up by catching up on the latest news and looking at what lies ahead for the Royals.
We were excited about our guest lineup going into this Sunday's podcast, and they did not disappoint.
The Royalman Report was glad to have Danny Duffy and Gar Ryness (The Batting Stance Guy) on the show in what turned out to be a guest-exclusive show.
We talked with Duffy about his goals for spring training, adjustments he had in mind, his idea of the team as a whole and their enthusiasm and what pushes him every day to improve. He also admitted that he thinks he's not a bad dancer.
Gar Ryness took a quirky skill and turned it into fame. He talked with us about his love of baseball, the development of his multiple batting stance impersonations and why he thinks his "least marketable skill in America" strikes a chord with so many baseball players and fans.
This was a very fun show to record and we hope it's even more fun to listen to. We couldn't have asked for a better combination of guests.
Sunday before Roller Derby, Troy Olsen, recorded an interview with CBSsports.com Award Winning Columnist, Gregg Doyel. (@GreggDoyelCBS, http://www.cbssports.com/columns/writers/doyel) Before that, Chris and Troy talked about a conversation Troy had with JJ Piccolo in the Royals Team Store on Wednesday. Get your baseball feel in the first 10 minutes then stick around for 40 minutes of everything with Gregg Doyel. Thanks again to Gregg.
Royalman was out for the Roller Derby opener and Jeff Herr wasn't around to keep the train on the tracks, so you get a rare glimpse into the Odd Couple that is Michael Engel and The Fake Ned (and Laurie Kunkel of Rambling Morons.com).
LISTEN - as Engel tries to discuss Alex Gordon's 2012 one year agreement.
LISTEN - as The Fake Ned starts doing Kermit the Frog impersonations.
LISTEN - as Laurie Kunkel rambles about... well we aren't sure.
LISTEN - as Engel tries to talk about the Royals scouting and investing in Latin America.
LISTEN - as The Fake Ned tries to talk about burritos.
LISTEN - as Engel actually gets The Fake Ned and Laurie Kunkel to talk about the Royals New Broadcast Team.
LISTEN - as Laurie tells how she dated a pro baseball scout. Then names him....
All in all, there was a mix of nonsense and baseball as I think everyone can agree, we're ready for the first pitch.
Next week, join the full crew for an interview with Gar Ryness, better known as The Batting Stance Guy (as well as a special mystery guest LIVE 6pm Sunday www.RoyalmanReport.com).
The boys took the week off from a live show for the Superbowl but that doesn't mean we don't get you new and high quality content. Chris interviewed Rany since he was the most famous person he could find in 10 minutes while Dave Darby (@DaveDarby46) got us an interview with Kevin Seitzer and then Mike interviewed Dave as well. We also have your normal Fake Ned Minute and Holding Court but also something from @spantasy who sings a song about Yuni from the Brewers perspective. Check out his youtube here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9IDHRKePI0&feature=colike
Give us your thoughts at royalmanreport@gmail.com and on twitter @RoyalmanReport. Gregg Doyle from CBS joins us next week!
We've had a number of guests on the Royalman Report, but none have had as tumultuous a journey as Willie Mays Aikens.
Aikens was a star in the 1980 World Series, hitting two homers in Games 1 and 4, as well as winning Game 3 with an RBI in the bottom of the 10th inning. Within five years, Aikens would be out of baseball and battling addictions to cocaine and alcohol. In 1994, he was convicted on drug and bribery charges.
In describing his fall from stardom and his return to normalcy, Aikens provided us with an intensely honest and personal account of his journey back to baseball and fatherhood
Here at the Royalman Report, we're not 100% Royals, we like to do our best to cover the other big stories in Kansas City sports and there is currently no bigger story than the scandalous charges going on at One Arrowhead Drive. With Troy and Michael "on assignment," we had the JV squad of Jeff Herr and Chris Kamler manning the submarine tonight. We had the author of the Kansas City Star article "Arrowhead Anxiety", Kent Babb in the Man Cave to discuss the current state of the Kansas City Chiefs. Kent also spent time recapping his article and then had strong words for the Kansas City Media, whom he called "corrupt." Kent was very opinionated and pulled no punches when it came to TV and Radio Stations and the Chiefs. He also shot a couple towards fellow KC Star columnist and friend of the program, Sam Mellinger.
On the latest Royalman Report, we mixed a bit of past, present and future.
Past because we talked with Jeff Logan about Kansas City baseball history and upcoming events for the Kansas City Baseball Historical Society. If you're a fan of the old KC A's or other old teams, you'll want to hear his segment. He also shared with us the fact that George Toma doesn't stop moving (probably why he's going into the baseball Hall of Fame).
Present because we talked about who might be the face of the Royals franchise, as well as expectations for the team going into next year.
Future because we put a couple of youngsters into the show's spotlight, as 7-year-old J.P. ("Little Frenchy") gave an interview with 9-year-old Brett. Baseball really is a kid's game, after all.
Due to some scheduling coordination, we were unable to have Willie Aikens on the Royalman Report as we had hoped (he is working with us to reschedule an appearance), but the show must go on. On this week's show, we talked about the players who are heading to Arizona and those who've already arrived, new Royals arrivals to Twitter, and a recap of Fake Ned Yost's night at the Challenge Your Fashion auction, the annual event coordinated by Mark Teahen and Luke Hochevar to benefit the YMCA Challenger Athletic Complex.
Our evening wasn't without a special guest though. Two loyal fans of the show and huge Royals fans stopped by - literally HOURS after their wedding. The new Mr. and Mrs. Lance and Jenny Otto (@NorthMoRoyal and @Future_Mrs_A1) had a seat on the couch and talked marriage, weddings, the Royals and we were glad to have them join us.
This episode is really too good for a long winded description. We had Mick Shaffer (@Mick_Shaffer) of @MetroSports in the new man cave for the 1st live episode of 2012. This show was so good 1 hour couldn't contain it. (@Scobes15 you may have a LONG run Tuesday morning) We talked Playoff football, Mick on the Royals, Mick on Mick, Mick on EVERYONE ELSE and some other fun. Listen in and join us live next Sunday 7-8pm as we are joined in studio by WILLIE AIKEN!