Glad that football is here but sad baseball is going

I am pumped that football season is here. There’s nothing better than Friday night high school games, Saturday college games, and Sunday/Monday pro games.

However, I must say that I will miss baseball. I had a super baseball summer. I was able to watch the Royals at home at least a dozen times winding up with the four game Yankee series last week; visited the Royals AA team in Arkansas; saw Minnesota against the Yankees in the new Minnesota stadium;  caught a couple of Cardinal games against the Atlanta Braves; and also visited Atlanta with a two game series against the Royals.

 I now feel stronger than ever that the Royals should be able to field a competitive team. I don’t care to hear the excuse any longer that the Royals are a small market club. Minnesota, Tampa Bay and Cincinnati are small market franchises that are very well run and are very competitive.

I agree with Zack Grienke that the young talent in the Royals farm system will need to be competitive early in order for the team to continue in the right direction. After seeing some of the young players, I do feel that the organization seems to have a bright future. I was really impressed with Bryan Bullington, who threw a two-hitter against the Yankees on Sunday.

The starting pitching looks solid. O’Sullivan might be a fair fourth starter in the rotation. Blanco can play centerfield and is quick. Gordon looks better defensively in left field and is beginning to hit the ball the other way. DeJesus, Aviles and Maier can be solid.

The Royals star player right now seems to be Billy Butler. When I was out of town in Alaska I heard that he was doing a little complaining that when they team called up Ka’aihue he might have to spend some time at DH. Billy Butler is NOT good enough to make demands! He is a 1.5 tool player. Let’s break it down...

He is a good hitter, definitely major league caliber.

He has worked hard to become an average major league first baseman (I’ll  give him .5 on that).

Speedwise he is the slowest and worst base runner in the major league. He  leaves the door open for an automatic double play when he hits a ground ball.  He leads the majors in hitting into double plays.

The speed would not be a horrible issue if he had power numbers but he has  only 11 homeruns right now so he doesn’t exactly get points for power.

His arm is terrible so the only place for him to play is first base of  DH.

I don’t believe that a franchise can rise to the top if their version of a super star is a mere 1.5 tool player. Therefore, the young guys are going to have to become players quickly. Many of the guys in the Royals farm club are at least 4.0 tool players.

A major league roster needs several players of that caliber to stay competitive. It is going to be difficult for the Royals to dig out of their 25 year hole. Kansas City has always been a great baseball town and if the franchise can become competitive again one of the best places to spend time would be Kaufman Stadium.

I will be making a trip to St. Louis the end of September to see the  Cardinals play at home. If they end up in the World Series with the Yankees I  will be looking for tickets FOR SURE!

I am sticking to my guns and predicting the Chiefs to finish their season  8 - 8. The main reason is the improved team speed.

The PGA tournament showed that the young guns are beginning to make some  noise in the PGA tour. Tiger, Els and Mickelson better bring their A game.These young guys can go LONG! My quote of the day is from Scottish  historian, Thomas Carlyle, “The greatest of all faults is to be conscious of  none.”