Hot Stove #187 – St. Patrick’s Day Special – Baseball, Pendergast and Guest Contributor Pat O’Neill

This post is not about the end of the MLB lockout. Anything I write would be eclipsed within a day by news of free agent signings, spring training news, roster moves, Bobby Witt Jr. hitting a homer, etc. A whole winter’s worth of baseball coverage is being compressed into the relatively few days before the season opens on April 7. I can’t keep up. Royals pundit Rany Jazayerli captured this in a clever tweet and photo: Continue reading

Hot Stove #186 – Kansas City Royals – The  John Sherman Years (To Date) – Covid to Lockout

Kansas City Royals owner John Sherman, left, and general manager Dayton Moore walk between practice fields during spring training baseball practice Monday, Feb. 17, 2020, in Surprise, Ariz. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

In November of 2019, John Sherman and a group of local investors purchased the Kansas City Royals for $1 billion. Everyone was happy. The new buyers. The seller. The players. The fans. The sportswriters. Sherman and his investors were ingrained in Kansas City – the business sector, civic affairs and philanthropy. We celebrated our good fortune. Continue reading