We are already a month into the baseball season. It seems to be flying by again, as usual. There are a few surprises thus far into the season, but can they hold onto the magic, or will they go in the tank, making way for the traditional powerhouses to come in a clean up the mess. Most years I would say that to be the case, but this season has a different feel to it.
But before I get into my analysis of the first month of the season, I want to bring up somthing I forgot to mention in my last blog about my experience on opening day. I can't believe I left out probably the most thrilling experience of the game. I feel embarrassed and ashamed that I left this part out, so I want to mention it now. As I said, there was a flyover at the end of the national anthem. The jets were from an airbase in Homestead, which is just outside of Miami. Later in the game, they brought the pilots who flew the jets onto the field in between innings. We all hear about the people who speak out against the wars, but we don't always hear the stories of how we support our troops. The people of Miami showed their support in an extraordinary way. When they showed the pilots on the screen and announced them as the pilots for the flyover, that stadium erupted. They gave them a 5 minute standing ovation. They cheered louder and harder for those pilots then they did when John Buck hit his grand slam home run. I can't explain how amazing that was. Goosebumps doesn't even come close. It was by far, hands down, unequivocally the best experience of the night. We don't express our thanks and gratitude to the men and women in uniform enough. The people of Miami have been criticized for not supporting their teams, Marlins included, but one things for sure, they support our troops.
Now, on with business. Probably the biggest surprise so far is the American League Central. It is completely flopped from the way we, myself included, expected it to be. With the changes the White Sox made in the off season to an already good team, we expected them to be on top, with Minnesota trailing closely behind. I expected the standings to be Chicago, Minnesota, Detroit, Kansas City, then Cleveland. Well, one month into the season, just flip those around. Who would have thought Cleveland would be leading with Kansas City and Detroit trailing closely behind, and Minnesota and Chicago at the bottom of the division. Another surprise is the slow starts of a few teams we expected to start at the top and never look back. Tampa Bay, St Louis, and most notably the Boston Red Sox, got off to a very slow start, but as of the last week or so, all 3 of those teams have returned to the form we expected from them, getting back into the thick of things. Another that is a surprise to most people, but not to me is the Florida Marlins. The Marlins are winning the old fashioned way, with solid pitching and good defense. Each time Josh Johnson and Anibal Sanchez take the mound, they flirt with a no no. Sanchez took a no hitter into the ninth inning against the Colorado Rockies, one of the hottest hitting teams in baseball. The game I saw on opening day, Johnson took a no hitter into the seventh inning. They don't have the power hitters like Pujols, Fielder, Howard, or Tulowitzki, but with pitching like that, you can win without them. This team will be in the thick of things, come September. There are a few things we are sure of. Come September, the Yankees, Red Sox, and Phillies will be in playoff contention. What I wonder though, is can the Cleveland Indians, and Kansas City Royals keep their early season magic going, or will they go in the tank as they do every other year and make way for the Twins and White Sox to battle for the division as they usually do? I don't know anything about the Indians this far. I have not seen them play, or even followed them much, other than looking at the box score. I am not as familiar with the Royals this season as I usually am, but I have followed them as much as I can. I don't know about anyone else, maybe it's the fact that I'm a third party observer this season, but the Royals have a different feel this year. Midway through last season the Royals canned manager Trey Hillman, and promoted long time Brewers manager Ned Yost as the skipper. His firing in Milwaukee was somewhat controversial as he had the Brewers, who were the Royals of the NL Central, finishing in the basement most seasons, in playoff contention. It caught people off guard to say the least. Yost has plenty of experience as a manager, and he was a good choice for the position. Dayton Moore, the Royals general manager is hoping this move is successful, or it could be his final as manager of the Royals. The problem in KC hasn't been lack of talent. The Royals have THE best farm system in the major leagues. You can watch almost any game and see someone who has at one point in their career, wore a Royals uniform. Their two main problems have been lack of leadership at the Manager position, and the tight wad of an owner, David Glass. He expects the Royals to win with the lowest payroll in baseball. But Ned Yost, as he was forced to do in Milwaukee, is making the best of the situation. The Royals have had solid starts in the past, and faultered, so what makes this solid start different from the others, you ask? Well, I could be wrong, and the Royals may go in the tank as usual, but there are a few stats that stand out for me. The biggest one is the fact that the Royals went 10 games without allowing a single homerun. Considering the pitching woes the Royals have had in recent years, that's a pretty impressive stat. 10 games and not a single homerun. Another stat is the fact that, the first series loss comes in the final weekend of April, to the AL West leading Rangers. Until this weekend they had no lost a series, either winning or tieing every series so far this season, against teams like the Indians, White Sox, Twins, Tigers and Angels. Most managers will tell you that if you win series at home and play .500 ball on the road and you will be in playoff contention 95% of the time, and in the wide open AL Central that is a very likely possibility. Alex Gordon, whose status as a Royal was very much in question last season, spending most of it in the minor leagues, has started the season on fire and currently has an 18 game hitting streak going. The Royals fan inside of me wants this to be for real. But the Royals fan inside of me has put up walls of defense as people do with the opposite sex. They have repeatedly broke your heart, so you come to expect nothing but that, not getting your hopes up in hopes of not getting hurt again. The hopeful, or hopeless romantic Royals fan in me wants this to be for real and wants to see them in the playoffs, but the realistic Royals fan inside me is expecting them to go into the tank any day now. They may not finish in playoff contention, but I do believe they have shown more improvement in these first few weeks than they have shown in the past several years. It may not be the finish we all want, but I do believe we will get something we haven't had in a very long time, the concept of "looking forward to next year." From what I've seen so far makes me believe the Royals do have a positive future. The Rays of a few seasons ago, going from worst to first, doesn't happen very often, so the playoffs may be wishful thinking, but if they can get through the month of May, and still be where they are, it may go from wishful thinking to a slight possibility. Go Royals...
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