Now that the drama of the
K-State men’s basketball team finally seems to be coming to a settle, we can
change our discussion to the good sport: baseball. No drama, no crap. Just our
favorite boys in blue, doing that thing they do….
Well this is rather violent. |
Not even Salvador Perez can keep this peace. |
Some days you're just the guy getting his face smashed... |
"What the hell is Anthropology and why is it a Gen Ed?!" "I don't know man! I don't make the rules!" |
That’s right, the Mets
have been the surprise of the season. As I am typing this blog, they are
getting ready to go head to head against the Yankees in the Subway Series.
The new good guys? |
The Mets are playing like
the Royals did last October. Which is great news to me because for the past
four years I’ve kept blue and orange on hand just in case the Mets decided to
have a breakout season. I picked them to be my National League backup team
about four years ago, and they’ve been the biggest disappointment of my life.
But they're making up for it. AND LOOK HOW CUTE THAT MASCOT IS!!!! |
In fact, a lot of people
used to say if you wanted to learn how to play baseball, you just watch the
Mets and then do the opposite of that. Not this year though! The Mets currently
have the best record in baseball and they lead the NL East. If they keep this
up, I might actually have to have an in-depth post about them with real numbers
and stats or something.
But for now… back to this.
SPOILER: he missed the punch. This is not as bad as it looks. |
So the boys in blue have
been getting a bad rep for being a little scrappy this season. A vast majority
of the country thinks these guys are looking for a fight. The Royals and their
fans are basically screwed now. ESPN labeled us as the most despised team in
the MLB, and you’re basically dealing with a marketing disaster that has
exploded on social media. You can read the article here. Face
the music Royals fans. We’re all in this together.
Once you go viral, there
is no turning back.
Dammit Twitter.
There seems to be a
consensus that the other teams in the MLB don’t like the Royals because they
are enthusiastic, chest bumping, high-fiving, hand shacking, and you know…
having fun.
FUN?!? |
OH MY NO NOT THE FUN!!! |
THEY CANT HAVE FUN! THEY CANT DO THAT!!! |
I’m going to take you back
to your days playing Little League softball/baseball. This may be scary for some
of you, but just hang in there, this is going to be good… probably. Every year,
some coach ended up with a stacked team. The most athletic kids all ended up on
the same team. They were the stat leaders.
Damn Yankees... |
Then there was the Bad
News Bears. This team was made up of a bunch of misfit random kids, some of
whom had never thrown a baseball in their lives. And a girl.
"Hey Yankees, you can take your crappy trophies and shove them right up your @$$3$" |
They were scrappy, and that
little blond kid started fights all the time. They lost in the championship
game, but they had made it to the championship game despite everyone’s
expectations.
EVERYONE FREAKIN LOVED
THIS MOVIE!!!
I FAIL TO SEE ANY
SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HOW THE ROYALS PLAY AND THE BEARS PLAY!
Except we have no girl
pitchers.
Having fun wins games. Do
you honestly expect Florida Gulf Coast would have made it to the Sweet 16 in
the 2013 NCAA Tournament if they wouldn’t have been having fun?! Doesn’t every
small-ball Cinderella team win by HAVING FUN?! THEY’RE WINNING WHO CARES?!?
They are having fun, and
the Royals are also good this year. Really good. They’ve started off the season
almost as hot as the Mets are. Here’s some handy charts with some quick stats.
(Stats as of 4/24/15 7:00
PM)
(Source: ESPN Stats)
(Stats listed are chosen
based solely off of what I believe to be important)
(The Third Column exists
solely to make my team look better.)
Batting: Ranked
4th in MLB – 3rd in AL
Batting Average (AVG)
|
.301
|
Highest in the MLB
|
On Base Percentage (OBP)
|
.364
|
Highest in the MLB
|
Hits (H)
|
169
|
Most in the MLB
|
Pitching: Ranked
5th in MLB – 2nd in AL
Earned Run Average (ERA)
|
3.08
|
2nd Lowest in
the AL
|
Walks (BB)
|
36
|
Lowest in the AL
|
Strikeouts (SO)
|
110
|
… we could use some more
|
Fielding: Ranked
6th in the MLB – 4th in AL
We have Golden Glove winners and Lorenzo Cain. Your point
is invalid.
The only thing standing
between the Royals and the top spot for batting is that they need to score more
runs. Toronto (94), the damn Yankees (85), and San Diego (85) are ahead of the
Royals (84) in runs scored.
Listen up America, these
kids are just looking for a little R-E-S-P-E-C-T and they just want to have fun
and play baseball. Even Brett Lawrie said “This is a game.” Games are fun,
right?
And he got hit by a pitch and he still believes "This is a game!" |
I think everyone just
needs to chill out and let the Royals be themselves. Look at how much fun they
are having! Just keep doing your thing and winning games, boys.
QUICK POINT TO ANY ROYALS
BANDWAGONERS LEFTOVER FROM OCTOBER:
First of all, welcome to
our happy fun-loving baseball team and fandom. You’re stuck with us forever
now, according to the Geek’s Guide to Bandwagoning, which can be referenced here.
So if you don’t like the
way the Royals are playing right now, and if you don’t like the way we start
fights almost every game, and if you don’t like the way the rest of America
hates us and seems to want to talk crap on us, TOO FLIPPING BAD! You’re stuck
with us now, so it’s time to suit up and back our boys in blue, because I feel
like another Blue October.
DISCLAIMER: These photos aren't mine, and I've borrowed them. But I'm not getting profit on them. So please just leave me alone and allow me to have fun. Some of you hate that. Too bad.
Live updates on my freaking life: @SaxophoneLizard