I apologize for back-to-back posts filling up your inbox, but Sidd Finch had to be on April 1 and Opening Day (Night) is April 3. I promise to then pause for at least a while. Although the Hot Stove Season is now at an end, some posts will likely boil over to your inbox during the regular season.
It is so hard to let go of the 2015 Royals. So before we do, here are some recent posts that will make you smile:
The sports page headline of this morning’s New York Times: “A Front-Row Seat. To Misery.” You have likely seen the photo that goes with this headline – it shows the fan reaction to Hosmer’s slide into home to tie Game 5 in the 9th inning. The Times reached out to find some of the fans for a follow-up. Nine Mets fans responded. The Times also contacted two Royals fans in the photo – George and Leslie Brett. The photo is priceless and so are some of the responses. This online version of the story also has audio clips (like George Brett admitting he yelled “No! No! No!” when Hosmer took off).
ESPN did a detailed story on “Hosmer’s Mad Dash” with comments from Mets and Royals players, managers and coaches dissecting every move on the field that led to the score.
On the Gordon homer, the Star’s Yael Abouhalkah tweeted a reminder yesterday, saying he could watch Joe Buck’s call all day long: “Gordon in the air to center. Back at the wall. This game is Tiiiiiied” (click here). I agree with Yael and just watched it a couple of more times.
But now, for the 2016 season.
Relay the Way: The World Champion Royals begin a new season on Sunday night against their 2015 World Series opponent, the New York Mets. Rita and I plus eight others from the family are “Team Shalton” taking part in “Relay the Way” as we join the chain of 2,500 fans tossing the opening night baseball over nine miles from Union Station to Kauffman Stadium. We will cover our part of the route at Linwood and Chelsea at about noon on Sunday. Our team of ten plus three great-grandchildren coming along to watch will make this a 4-generation affair. Yes, to answer the question that just popped into your head, I have three great-grandchildren.
Peanuts and Pop-Ups: As more evidence of a hyperactive mind for baseball trivia, my first reaction to the cartoon above had little to do with the Peanuts characters. I immediately thought of Pete Rose and Bob Boone. You remember, the 1980 World Series against the Phillies. The Royals were behind 4-1 in the top of the ninth of Game 6, but they had the bases loaded. Frank White was up and hit a twisting pop-up toward the Phillies dugout. First baseman Rose and catcher Boone ran for the ball and Boone almost caught it, but it bounced out of his glove. Rose was there and the ball popped into his glove. A very big play with the bases loaded and a chance for a Royals comeback. Willie Wilson then struck out and the Series was over. Boone has said Rose was slow getting to the ball and so was not really a hero – but it sure looked that way at the time. Here is the video – Boone playing Charlie Brown and Rose playing Snoopy.
In a strange turn of events, the next time the Royals were in a Game 6 of a World Series, they got the benefit of a misplayed foul pop-up near the dugout. That was in 1985 against the Cardinals. The Royals were behind 1-0 in the bottom of the ninth with a man on first (Orta, as a result of the notorious Denkinger call). Steve Balboni hit a pop-up near the dugout that should likely have been caught by either the catcher or first baseman, but Darrell Porter and Jack Clark were no Charlie Brown and Snoopy. After his pop-up was not caught, Balboni singled. Jim Sundberg then bunted into a force-out, but the runners moved up to second and third anyway on a passed ball by Porter. Hal McRae was then intentionally walked, setting the stage for Dane Iorg to knock in two runs to win the game. The next day, the Royals won Game 7 and the Series. A result not likely if there had not been a missed catch on a pop-up. I could not find a short clip of the pop-up, but it is at the 3:30 point of this video of that 9th inning.
And of course you all remember the pop-up by Ben Zobrist in the 2015 ALCS that fell between Jose Bautista and Ryan Goins, leading to six runs to overcome Toronto’s lead. Not a foul ball, but still a memorable pop-up (click here).
Opening Day 1940 – Bob Feller: On April 16, 1940, a trivia question was born. In what situation will each member of a baseball team have the same average at the end of a game as at the beginning of the game? Answer: When it is opening day and the team is on the wrong end of a no-hitter. This has only happened once in Major League history. Hall of Famer Bob Feller opened the 1940 season for the Cleveland Indians and no-hit the Chicago White Sox. The White Sox batters were all hitting .000 before the game and also .000 as of the end of the game.
Opening Day 1947 – Jackie Robinson: On April 15, 1947, baseball was changed forever when Jackie Robinson took first base at Ebbets Field for the Brooklyn Dodgers. I have already set our DVR for the new Ken Burns documentary on Jackie that will run for four hours on PBS on April 11 and 12. Burns was interviewed this morning by Bill Littlefield on NPR’s “Only a Game” (click the red button on this link, 11 minutes).
Opening Day 1955 – Kansas City A’s: On April 12, 1955, I was in the 8th grade at Northeast Junior High School. I played hooky that day and joined my classmate Jay DeSimone to line up early for tickets for the first major league game in Kansas City. The A’s had move from Philadelphia to take up residence at 22nd and Brooklyn. We scored tickets ($1.25) and cheered the A’s to a 6-2 victory. Some nostalgia for you, the A’s starting lineup: Power, Suder, Finigan, Zernial, Renna, Wilson, DeMaestri, Astroth and Kellner (for Detroit, Kuenn and Kaline).
Lonnie’s 1955 and 1969 Ticket Stubs
Opening Day 1969 – Kansas City Royals: On April 8, 1969, I was in the crowd for the first Royals game in Kansas City. My ticket price had doubled to $2.50. The stadium had been dark in 1968 after Charlie Finley moved the A’s from KC after the 1967 season. More nostalgia and trivia: The Royals’ starting lineup – Piniella, Adair, Kirkpatrick, Foy, Harrison, Oliver, Rodriguez, Hernandez and Bunker. Minnesota’s team included Carew, Oliva and Killebrew. The Royals won 4-3 in 12 innings. Moe Drabowsky was the winning pitcher.
Opening Day 1988 – Annie Savoy: In the opening monologue of the great 1988 movie Bull Durham, Annie Savoy (Susan Sarandon) describes the joy of the upcoming season as she gets ready to select a seasonal boy-friend from the roster of the minor league Durham Bulls. Please watch this video (click here, 2 minutes) which starts with vintage photos of early-era baseball and ends with a great entrance into the stadium on opening night that reminds me of Roger Angell’s description of entering a ballpark: “…pushed and jammed, laughing at the crush, through the turnstiles and into the damp gloom under the stands; and out at last to that first electric glimpse of green outfield and white bases.” A little of that glow this year might be dampened by “through the turnstiles and metal detectors.”
Opening Day 2016 – Chicago Cubs: The Cubs last won a World Series in 1908. They have won seven pennants since then, but lost the World Series each time. In the 50’s, after about a half-century of such futility, Cubs’ pitcher Moe Drabowsky lamented “We came out of the dugout for opening day and we saw a fan holding a sign: ‘Wait ‘Til Next Year.’” Ouch. I got this anecdote from Joe Posnanski’s article on how the Cubs just might have put the pieces together to go all the way this year (including signing our Ben Zobrist).
Opening Day (Night) 2016 – Kansas City Royals: A new trivia question may be born. What two pitchers started consecutive games against each other? That would have to be unusual since starting pitchers rarely (if ever) pitch in consecutive games. If the projected lineups do not change, the answer will be Matt Harvey of the Mets and Edinson Volquez of the Royals. They started the final game of the World Series and are slated to start on opening night in KC. With 5 months rest between the back-to-back starts. Here is Posnanski on the key moves that built this championship team. I think a Cubs/Royals World Series would be awesome.
Opening Day – Dan Quisenberry: 1988 was the last year that Dan Quisenberry was in a Royals uniform for opening day. He pitched another couple of years before retiring in 1990. From 1979 to 1988, the submarine-style pitcher saved 238 games for the Royals. He did it with style and wit and was one of the most quotable players in baseball. Unsurprisingly, his second career was as a poet, but that came to a sad close when he died of brain cancer in 1998. Later that same year, his book of poems was published – “On Days Like This.” Roger Angell had this to say on the back cover of Dan’s book: “Like his pitches, Dan Quisenberry’s poems come at you unexpectedly, rising from a different part of the field, clear and unthreatening in their intentions, and then startling you with a late swoop or slant: What was that? Disarmed, your defenses checked, you watch the next one with refreshed attention as it skims by, its work quickly done, and then, shaking your head, shift your thoughts to the man out there, who has surprised you once again.”
Here is Dan’s poem “Opening Day”:
the event
like the playoffs, all-star game, world series
a shared excitement
of fans, players, umpires, management
all in first place
no negatives
yet
all stars
on the good side of hope and glory
high hopes
soon fade
as rotator cuffs fray
knees grind with age
morale falters
but not on opening day
bodies are sound
towels fit around firm waists
dreams float in place
air is crisp, alive
the ball snaps
into leather
ash bat cracks the ball
into gaps between gazelles
sharp two-hoppers to sure-handed
six-footers
and lazy fly-balls are high
below powder-blue skies
all is well
in a world of war
between white lines
Thank you Quiz. For everything.
Play Ball!