#SaveOurRoyals

I had to stop writing about the Royals lately. Not because I was too busy or I was not watching their games. Not because their offense is atrocious or because Yordano Ventura’s season was in jeopardy or because Kyle Zimmer will not see the majors this year. Not even because I am preparing to move to Houston in a week and I am trying to get ready to be surrounded by more terrible baseball. 

No, I have not written about the Royals because I have been hurt. I have been heart broke. I have been in pain watching Alex Gordon smack two home runs followed by recording only 4 RBI’s in the 8 games since. I have languished as the Royals waited too long to send Mike Moustakas to the minors. I have been frustrated as I watch Billy Butler seemingly groundout or strikeout at every single at-bat. I have been in agony as the Royals have barely even come near to hitting a home run, as Royals fans explode in sarcasm whenever the Royals hit a ball that merely reaches the warning track, as SINGLE PLAYERS are hitting more home runs than the Royals as a team.

I do not want to write another post about their offensive ineptitude. I would like to avoid more criticism of the players’ pathetic stats. I refuse to discuss this season is a horrible roller-coaster (or to be more “Kansas City-like” – it is a horrible waterslide at Schlitterbahn), which is only marginally better than being outright terrible. But one thing that I do not want is to stop caring about this team.  

And right now, it is incredibly hard to care about them. I wish I could say that they are not trying so we could just say “TRY HARDER,” but they are clearly battling. I wish I could say that we should fire Ned Yost and Dayton Moore but everyone knows that a regime change in the middle of a season for a team that is not even rebuilding would mean another several years of futility, which would undoubtedly result in the Royals setting the professional sports record for most consecutive seasons without a playoff appearance. 

I am tired of having long losing streaks and more losing streaks than winning streaks. I hate that as soon as the Royals get behind by a run I feel that the game is over. I despise how teams like the Astros and Twins and Rays have all been crappy at times but have put together teams that challenge for division titles without needing a decade to do so. 

When the Kansas City Chiefs hit rock bottom and Jovan Belcher committed horrific acts and we suffered through Scott Pioli and Matt Cassel and games where we only threw 4-5 passes, we banded together and SAVED OUR CHIEFS. We got rid of Pioli and Cassel. We brought in new life. We filled the stadium and set a record for loudest crowd and MADE THE PLAYOFFS. We brought back a team that was left for dead by a crappy general manager and coaches who had no control over their team. We demanded that owner Clark Hunt put a quality product on the field and he listened and WE SAVED OUR TEAM. 

Let us band together now and SAVE OUR ROYALS. Whatever it takes. Send letters to David Glass. Fly banners demanding a change. Start wearing black to games to signify the funeral of the old Royals, so we can usher in the new Royals. Do something, anything, so we can SAVE OUR ROYALS and avoid being the city with the longest playoff drought.