As a Kansas City native, Royals fan and Joe Posnanski fan, I feel I have a certain obligation to post something witty or important here. I read this column when it came out, I visit his site several times a day and I have met Joe a couple of times.
On Joe: Any journalist or writer or blogger can only hope to be as good on a consistent basis as JoePo is. His ability speaks for itself. If you haven't read The Soul of Baseball, then run to the nearest bookstore and buy three copies (one for yourself, one for your dad, and one for a good friend). When I think about him, I think about someone who is at the pinnacle of their career and is doing exactly what they love as best as they can. No matter who it is in whatever field, that is something to be admired.
On the other hand, I'm a Royals fan. I moved to KC when I was 12 from a city that did not have a baseball team and therefore adopted the Royals as my hometown team. I have seen the Kerry Robinsons, the Dee Browns, the Chip Ambres, the Neifi Perez trade, the Angel Berroas, and the Tony Pena Jrs. I have also seen the Carlos Beltrans (I was at the over-the-wall catch he made as a Royal), I saw Greinke pitch at Kauffman this season, I have followed the rise of Billy Butler. I was in high school during the inexplicable and completely random 83-79 2003 season that was entirely smoke and mirrors. It's not been an easy decade. I have a feeling the next decade will be just as difficult. My wife knows I love the Royals but cannot figure out why I love them so much. Sometimes, neither do I. But then I see the powder blues and I smile. I see the boys trying so hard but failing so miserably, like a team full of Charlie Browns (another lovable loser). I see the trades and signings that make no sense and I still hope against hope that maybe, in the face of overwhelming odds and inarguable obvious statistics, this could work despite it all. I visit and post at the surprisingly robust www.royalsreview.com and know that I'm not the only one out there who follows this group of ne'erdowells, of neverwases, of maybeonsomeotherteams. I cling to the success stories, as rare as they are, like Greinke's dominance on the mound, like Billy Butler's hitting, like Joakim Soria's deadly curveball. Baseball's not dying in Kansas City, it's surviving in spite of itself. But someday, some far off day when I may be old and my children (or grandchildren) may be growing old, too, I will attend a Royals playoff game. Because that's what it means to be a Royals fan: the slogging through the muck of despair to get to the gleaning hope of a better someday. Or, more succinctly, we are Andy Dufresne still crawling through our river of s*** to come out clean on the other side. It's just a long, long, long, long river.
If Posnanski isn't the greatest general baseball writer working right now, he must be close to it. He has a command of the game's history, its traditions, its feel, its personalities, and its analytical (i.e., statistical) nuances. He has a comparable command of the English language, unlike many other sportswriters and analysts (even the insightful ones). I think he suffers sometimes from his friendliness toward the people he covers, but that can be a wash, because it also gets him the access he needs. I do think, for example, that he bends over backward to say, over and over, that Dayton Moore is an extremely intelligent and analytical baseball man, when the facts are that Dayton Moore does extravagantly stupid baseball things like trading for Yunieski Betancourt. But that is a tiny complaint. Anybody who can get me to read a nine-thousand-word essay about a franchise who I do not care about in the least (except that they took Yuni Betancourt off my team's hands) is a master of his craft.
As a Kansas City native, Royals fan and Joe Posnanski fan, I feel I have a certain obligation to post something witty or important here. I read this column when it came out, I visit his site several times a day and I have met Joe a couple of times.
ReplyDeleteOn Joe: Any journalist or writer or blogger can only hope to be as good on a consistent basis as JoePo is. His ability speaks for itself. If you haven't read The Soul of Baseball, then run to the nearest bookstore and buy three copies (one for yourself, one for your dad, and one for a good friend). When I think about him, I think about someone who is at the pinnacle of their career and is doing exactly what they love as best as they can. No matter who it is in whatever field, that is something to be admired.
On the other hand, I'm a Royals fan. I moved to KC when I was 12 from a city that did not have a baseball team and therefore adopted the Royals as my hometown team. I have seen the Kerry Robinsons, the Dee Browns, the Chip Ambres, the Neifi Perez trade, the Angel Berroas, and the Tony Pena Jrs. I have also seen the Carlos Beltrans (I was at the over-the-wall catch he made as a Royal), I saw Greinke pitch at Kauffman this season, I have followed the rise of Billy Butler. I was in high school during the inexplicable and completely random 83-79 2003 season that was entirely smoke and mirrors. It's not been an easy decade. I have a feeling the next decade will be just as difficult. My wife knows I love the Royals but cannot figure out why I love them so much. Sometimes, neither do I. But then I see the powder blues and I smile. I see the boys trying so hard but failing so miserably, like a team full of Charlie Browns (another lovable loser). I see the trades and signings that make no sense and I still hope against hope that maybe, in the face of overwhelming odds and inarguable obvious statistics, this could work despite it all. I visit and post at the surprisingly robust www.royalsreview.com and know that I'm not the only one out there who follows this group of ne'erdowells, of neverwases, of maybeonsomeotherteams. I cling to the success stories, as rare as they are, like Greinke's dominance on the mound, like Billy Butler's hitting, like Joakim Soria's deadly curveball. Baseball's not dying in Kansas City, it's surviving in spite of itself. But someday, some far off day when I may be old and my children (or grandchildren) may be growing old, too, I will attend a Royals playoff game. Because that's what it means to be a Royals fan: the slogging through the muck of despair to get to the gleaning hope of a better someday. Or, more succinctly, we are Andy Dufresne still crawling through our river of s*** to come out clean on the other side. It's just a long, long, long, long river.
That was me.
ReplyDeleteIf Posnanski isn't the greatest general baseball writer working right now, he must be close to it. He has a command of the game's history, its traditions, its feel, its personalities, and its analytical (i.e., statistical) nuances. He has a comparable command of the English language, unlike many other sportswriters and analysts (even the insightful ones). I think he suffers sometimes from his friendliness toward the people he covers, but that can be a wash, because it also gets him the access he needs. I do think, for example, that he bends over backward to say, over and over, that Dayton Moore is an extremely intelligent and analytical baseball man, when the facts are that Dayton Moore does extravagantly stupid baseball things like trading for Yunieski Betancourt. But that is a tiny complaint. Anybody who can get me to read a nine-thousand-word essay about a franchise who I do not care about in the least (except that they took Yuni Betancourt off my team's hands) is a master of his craft.
ReplyDeleteI love you for posting this.
ReplyDeleteAnd I love, love, love Joe Posnanski (...his most recent SI forays have been equally stellar)
But most of all and God help me, I can't help but absolutely love my Royals.
Yay! There's another Royals fan!
ReplyDeleteWhoa. We have a baseball team here in the Kansas City?? *sigh*
ReplyDelete