TroutBaseball

When I was 4 years old I discovered baseball for the first time. My family lived in Olathe, Kansas. We were going to Worlds of Fun and I needed a jacket, my dad just happened to buy me a KC Royals jacket. I remember the EXACT moment. I was sitting on a bench next to an old man, he asked me if I went to the baseball game and I told him I didn't know what that was. He pulled out some novelty map of the city and showed me where the stadium was. Shortly after that we moved to a part of Oklahoma that was in the Royals broadcast area. Being one of the most dominant teams of the era probably helped too (playoffs in 7 of 10 years).

I was telling my wife that I might need to buy tickets just so I don't have to watch TBS. She responded "I was just thinking that these guys don't sound very good."

I'm certain this can run us aground into a never ending debate about what it means to be "a fan". I don't want to set a definition for everyone across all space and time, but for me, it means something particular. It means I'm going to devote my time and emotional energy into exploring all the facets of the team. I'm going to forgo some activities and money so that I can experience the game with the players. It means the team has my loyalty, devotion and emotional capital. I'm not simply hoping they win, I'm willing to be deeply disappointed if they lose. The 2001 Jermaine Dye/Neifi Perez trade utterly destroyed me. It was clear that the Glass family did not respect me and I was giving the team more than they would ever give me. I still hung in there for another 3 years (man crush on Mike Sweeney). Did I just decide to become an Angels fan? In a word, "yes". I decided to give myself a 2 year transition period to root for both teams and then I forsook the Royals. I stopped checking box scores. I didn't care who was starting. I moved on. I didn't burn my George Brett signed World Series ball or anything. I still own my cap and I reserve the right to put it on any time I want. But I'm not going to live or die with them. I went from being an active fan to a passive fan (although in 2006 I probably felt hate for them). I experienced all the emotions of a breakup with a girlfriend. It just so happens that my ex-girlfriend is now in a beauty contest with my wife.

I grew up a diehard Royals fan and "converted" to the Angels in 2005. Last night I was swirling with emotions because, as you can imagine, this is a dream come true, a nightmare scenario for me. Or perhaps it's a nightmare scenario a dream come true. I can't make up my mind. I'll spare you the 10,000 word post that would express everything I have to say about this series. But I will leave you with this: Ned Yost represents EVERY reason why I'm no longer a Royals fan. There are too many limitations placed on this team to have the extra burden of mismanagement and stupid baseball decisions. The old demons came back to haunt around the 6th inning last night for me and it wasn't pretty. As much as I don't like the cognitive dissonance from this match up, as an Angels fan I'm thrilled we are playing KC. The Royals not only have to beat the best team in baseball but they also have to beat the worst manager in baseball. I like our chances. Ned Yost literally cost them the Division Title. That's hard for a manager to do. If the Royals do happen to advance I'll find myself in the uncomfortable position of being something akin to an ex-Mormon rooting for BYU.

I noticed that the site was letting me buy more than 4 total after I bought my set. But I think they might revoke them later if you try to cheat. I'll wait until tomorrow to attempt to buy more.

I just won a winners-only league. Don't know if I should be proud or ashamed.

I'm thinking of describing Trout's year as the best chili dog ever. It was amazing and better than any other, but it still wasn't the filet mignon we're used to him offering.

I like the simplicity of his formula. It's cool that it relatively works. The pundits keep rejecting us, so I figure that's a good thing.

Yeah, pouring booze all over Adenhart's jersey should have caused somebody some cognitive dissonanse.

I'm sure most teams win when they are able to score 5 in an inning. There's a way to look it up on Baseball-reference.com but I don't have those skills.

agreed. I really appreciated that the Rangers did it that way. He might have given them permission to party without him but I like to see people proactively looking to include someone in his situation by limiting their own freedoms.

They aren't covering the Orioles or the Nationals either. Take is as a compliment. There is nothing dramatically compelling to non-Angel fans about us crushing weak teams. Oakland having a historic collapse after trading away their clean up hitter on the other hand, that's interesting. Did I mention that Brad Pitt starred in a popular movie about how savvy that team is? Of course they are talking about the A's. We'll get our spotlight as soon as we make ourselves interesting to people in Florida and Delaware.

If only there were a hundred years of data we could collect from to figure out if maximizing your own offense and limiting your opponent's could be correlated to winning . . .

Teams always do better immediately after firing dysfunctional managers.

Time to get the MVP campaign going.

Oooooh, the prestige! Make me an offer I can't refuse. (please note, I do not own a horse)

I'll take the unpopular position of defending Beane on the trades. When they were winning their 3 catchers were over performing and giving them the equivalent of 2 Freddie Freemans. Beane knew that they weren't going to be able to keep producing those kinds of numbers and the offense was going to come back to earth soon and in a hurry. Based on the jump start he decided to go all in and the only way sustain it was through pitching. Cespedes was not the key to their offensive explosion. It was Moss and the Catcher Trio. They suck now and Yoenis in the lineup wouldn't have done anything to fix that. Moss is a windmill and the catchers are all hurting (not to mention Donaldson too). I'm glad they're dying on the vine but it's the wrong idea to hang an albatross on Beane's neck for trading Cespedes.

Baseball Prospectus is projecting us to win 15 of our remaining games and Oakland to win 14 of theirs.

Getting in the umps ear is part of the game. You don't think Ted Williams earned himself some deference for not swinging?

Dickey can eat innings which is THE most important thing our new #5 can do. Not to mention his faith connection with Hamilton might really be beneficial. Not saying he's the answer, just that he's an answer.

What are you trying to do? Give him Ebola!?! Stomach cancer?!?