Post by MizzouTiger on Jan 19, 2008 14:09:05 GMT -5
www.kansascity.com/sports/royals/story/451330.html
Things are good at Royals luncheon
By SAM MELLINGER
The Kansas City Star
Over Royals pitcher Brian Bannister’s left shoulder, through the window of a back meeting room at the Muehlebach Hotel, you can see the snow fall upon downtown Kansas City. No, this is not the kind of day when even Ernie Banks would want to play one. Let alone two.
Gil Meche talks of spending this offseason in Kansas City, a decision he won’t be making again because he had too much snow and not enough golf.
Later, manager Trey Hillman walks in, bushy goatee all grown in since he was hired three months ago. He talks about the conversations he’s had with players and coaches and how every time he hangs up the phone he thinks, “Man, I can’t wait to work with that guy.”
Once the annual forecast luncheon is over, Royals owner David Glass is shaking hands, making jokes, talking baseball.
“I’m tired of all this football and basketball,” he says. “I’m ready to get baseball started. What’d they say, 27 days left, right?”
Yep. Twenty-six days now until pitchers and catchers report to spring training in Surprise, Ariz.
•••
Bannister spent the offseason moving from Scottsdale, Ariz., to San Francisco, and moving is a big enough pain. Bannister will tell you he’s rested a lot this offseason, but that’s not entirely correct.
He took up golf, and if you know Bannister at all, you know this means he did more than buy a set of clubs and go to the driving range a couple of times. He wanted a full-time hobby to replace photography, since the move took him away from his studio in Phoenix.
So to Bannister, “taking up golf” means lessons, it means books, and it means spending time thinking about the connections he can make between golf and pitching. He likes that it keeps his mind active, his competitiveness sharp, his aggressiveness flowing.
He studied the golf swing and found similarities to the baseball swing, which he thinks will help him analyze hitters. He thinks his biggest weakness is pitching when his tempo is interrupted, and that golfing behind a slow group is a good way to work on that.
“I see why guys play golf now,” he says. “I think it’s really going to help me. There’s a reason why good pitchers are good golfers. It’s the tempo, it’s the balance, it’s the hand-eye coordination. The creativeness, the shot-making. I see what it is now.”
•••
This is not the time or place to make big announcements. This is the time for a feel-good fan gathering, where Mark Grudzielanek (Royals player of the year), Meche (pitcher of the year) and Bannister (special achievement) pick up awards and, later in Overland Park, for the team to hold its first ever fan fest.
But in the middle of his talk with a handful of reporters, Royals general manager Dayton Moore says, “We’ve done all we can do at this point in time given the opportunities we’ve had. We’ve improved our team, and ultimately that’s what you expect to do.”
That may be an acknowledgement of starter Jon Lieber, whom the Royals had interest in, signing with the Cubs. Or it could be a nod to the obvious lack of remaining impact free agents available.
But you have to ask, right? Does “all we can do” officially close the door on Mike Sweeney returning?
“As soon as I say, ‘No, Mike Sweeney’s not coming back,’ there could be something that occurs that we do get him back,” Moore says. “But it would require us trading a younger, controllable player for us to do that. Maybe there’s a trade out there that happens that I’m not aware of right now, but that’s the truth of where we are with Mike Sweeney right now.”
•••
Gil Meche is dressed in a tailored black suit with black shoes and belt and that’s important, by the way. Just the other night, at Mark Teahen’s charity fashion show, Meche realized shortly before going on stage that he had on black shoes and belt with a brown suit.
That’s the kind of fashion faux pas Joan Rivers just lives to crush. And Teahen didn’t pass up the chance, either.
“I actually gave him that to say,” Meche says. “I was like, ‘Hey, make fun of me.’ ”
When the subject turns to baseball, Meche talks about what everyone else talks about. He hopes that the addition of Jose Guillen, the expected bounce back of Teahen, and the development of Alex Gordon and Billy Butler will help improve an offense that finished 15th in the American League in runs scored last year.
But Meche knows the Royals improved seven games in large part because of the pitching, which improved in large part because of Meche’s presence. And Royals fans will like to hear this:
Meche says he’ll enter the 2008 season even more focused on what he can provide for the Royals than he was a year ago, when he mostly wanted to just quiet everyone trash-talking his contract.
“It’s a different feeling,” he said. “I can’t wait to get going. Hopefully everybody feels the same way, because I think we’re going to be a much better ballclub.”
Things are good at Royals luncheon
By SAM MELLINGER
The Kansas City Star
Over Royals pitcher Brian Bannister’s left shoulder, through the window of a back meeting room at the Muehlebach Hotel, you can see the snow fall upon downtown Kansas City. No, this is not the kind of day when even Ernie Banks would want to play one. Let alone two.
Gil Meche talks of spending this offseason in Kansas City, a decision he won’t be making again because he had too much snow and not enough golf.
Later, manager Trey Hillman walks in, bushy goatee all grown in since he was hired three months ago. He talks about the conversations he’s had with players and coaches and how every time he hangs up the phone he thinks, “Man, I can’t wait to work with that guy.”
Once the annual forecast luncheon is over, Royals owner David Glass is shaking hands, making jokes, talking baseball.
“I’m tired of all this football and basketball,” he says. “I’m ready to get baseball started. What’d they say, 27 days left, right?”
Yep. Twenty-six days now until pitchers and catchers report to spring training in Surprise, Ariz.
•••
Bannister spent the offseason moving from Scottsdale, Ariz., to San Francisco, and moving is a big enough pain. Bannister will tell you he’s rested a lot this offseason, but that’s not entirely correct.
He took up golf, and if you know Bannister at all, you know this means he did more than buy a set of clubs and go to the driving range a couple of times. He wanted a full-time hobby to replace photography, since the move took him away from his studio in Phoenix.
So to Bannister, “taking up golf” means lessons, it means books, and it means spending time thinking about the connections he can make between golf and pitching. He likes that it keeps his mind active, his competitiveness sharp, his aggressiveness flowing.
He studied the golf swing and found similarities to the baseball swing, which he thinks will help him analyze hitters. He thinks his biggest weakness is pitching when his tempo is interrupted, and that golfing behind a slow group is a good way to work on that.
“I see why guys play golf now,” he says. “I think it’s really going to help me. There’s a reason why good pitchers are good golfers. It’s the tempo, it’s the balance, it’s the hand-eye coordination. The creativeness, the shot-making. I see what it is now.”
•••
This is not the time or place to make big announcements. This is the time for a feel-good fan gathering, where Mark Grudzielanek (Royals player of the year), Meche (pitcher of the year) and Bannister (special achievement) pick up awards and, later in Overland Park, for the team to hold its first ever fan fest.
But in the middle of his talk with a handful of reporters, Royals general manager Dayton Moore says, “We’ve done all we can do at this point in time given the opportunities we’ve had. We’ve improved our team, and ultimately that’s what you expect to do.”
That may be an acknowledgement of starter Jon Lieber, whom the Royals had interest in, signing with the Cubs. Or it could be a nod to the obvious lack of remaining impact free agents available.
But you have to ask, right? Does “all we can do” officially close the door on Mike Sweeney returning?
“As soon as I say, ‘No, Mike Sweeney’s not coming back,’ there could be something that occurs that we do get him back,” Moore says. “But it would require us trading a younger, controllable player for us to do that. Maybe there’s a trade out there that happens that I’m not aware of right now, but that’s the truth of where we are with Mike Sweeney right now.”
•••
Gil Meche is dressed in a tailored black suit with black shoes and belt and that’s important, by the way. Just the other night, at Mark Teahen’s charity fashion show, Meche realized shortly before going on stage that he had on black shoes and belt with a brown suit.
That’s the kind of fashion faux pas Joan Rivers just lives to crush. And Teahen didn’t pass up the chance, either.
“I actually gave him that to say,” Meche says. “I was like, ‘Hey, make fun of me.’ ”
When the subject turns to baseball, Meche talks about what everyone else talks about. He hopes that the addition of Jose Guillen, the expected bounce back of Teahen, and the development of Alex Gordon and Billy Butler will help improve an offense that finished 15th in the American League in runs scored last year.
But Meche knows the Royals improved seven games in large part because of the pitching, which improved in large part because of Meche’s presence. And Royals fans will like to hear this:
Meche says he’ll enter the 2008 season even more focused on what he can provide for the Royals than he was a year ago, when he mostly wanted to just quiet everyone trash-talking his contract.
“It’s a different feeling,” he said. “I can’t wait to get going. Hopefully everybody feels the same way, because I think we’re going to be a much better ballclub.”