At this point in the season, it is not uncommon for Kansas City Royals fans to jump ship and follow other, more exciting things like... golf. and chess. However, this year, the year the Earth will end as predicted by the Mayan calendar, has the Royals starting at the top of the AL Central. Yes, the Kansas City Royals are in first place... hell has frozen over and pigs are flying. Last season, the best the Royals could muster was three wins in a row occasionally on their way to a finish of 67-95. Well... that consecutive wins cap is no more and the Royals are sitting at a comfortable 4-1. That is a .800 winning percentage. People in Boston are salivating at the idea.
What the heck happened?
When the Royals had a walk-off win over the Bad Guys from Chicago, the Royals became the third team in the past 20 season to have its first four wins come in the final at-bat and the first team to do it since the 1989 Royals. I don't know what to make of this strange season... but while I crack a Mich and think it over, let's just break down what has happened so far:
- Aaron Crow (the Royals' first-round draft pick in 2009), Tim Collins (someone not EVEN drafted), and Jeremy Jeffress (Brewers' first-round pick in 2006) compose the winning pitches of Kansas' last three games. They are all Rookie relief pitchers.
- Alex Gordon of Nebraska is hitting .379 after going 11-for-21 with 5 RBIs. The last two seasons he batted .232 and .215.
- Melky Cabrera still has a cool name. And as far as his talent goes, is batting north of .290 along with his teammates Alex Gordon, Jeff Francoeur, Billy Butler, and Chris Getz. (if anyone is interested, Joe Mauer, a candidate for last years' MLB batting championship, is batting .077)
Those are the facts. I just don't know how to interpret them. Something weird is going on and I expect someone to get to the bottom of it. Let me know how it goes.
