Bobble Head Debacle: How Out of Touch are the Royals

Bobble Head Debacle: How Out of Touch are the Royals?
I try to give the Royals the benefit of the doubt. I understand better than most, the difficult economic landscape in which they work. The labor deal in 1995, after the strike, was a raw deal for the Royals and all small market teams. Some of them have overcome it; the Oakland Athletics and the Minnesota Twins for example, were able to compete despite the economic climate. It should be noted that the smallest market team in the last several years to win a World Series is the St. Louis Cardinals and they are certainly a middle of the road team, market and payroll wise. I want to make it clear; I understand that for a long time the Royals would have had to be better than the rest of the teams. They were not, but in many ways, they were working against a stacked deck. The house had the advantage and the house won every time.

A few years ago, revenue sharing entered Major League Baseball. Still there are certainly inequities in the landscape of baseball. However, there is no doubt economic equality is better than it was a few short years ago. Since, MLB will not release their economic records; no one will ever know what the economics in baseball are. Reportedly, when David Glass bought the Royals it was for around $90 Million and the team is now valued now at almost $400 million. This is a staggering financial success anyway that one looks at it. Is there anyone that would not take that kind of investment return?

While the fans of Kansas City have suffered, David Glass has been just fine in the pocket book. At this point, I would like to thank David Glass and his family for buying the Royals and keeping them in Kansas City. I would rather watch bad baseball than no baseball. Probably many people do not see it the same way, but that is how I feel.

This is not a new topic. What does this have to do with the current Kansas City Royals? Anyone who is interested in the Kansas City Royals might have wandered to there official sight today. www.kcroyals.com The previous weekend was fun and exciting, especially yesterdays game. When one wanders over to the Royals official site, one might expect the lead story to be about, Mike Aviles (another clutch it), David DeJesus, the game yesterday, a retrospective on other great Royals come-from-behind wins (what a great time to link the Royals present with the Royals past, The New Blue Tradition), Billy Butler (how he is raking in Triple A), Joakim Soria (making hitters look silly, just plain silly). Do the Royals use the goodwill of the last few weeks, no! What do the editors and writers of the official site of the Royals decide to publicize as their top story, “Pena Provides Royals with Fresh Infield Options”. What a great way to kill the good feelings that might be permeating around Kansas City! No one in there right mind should put Tony Pena and “fresh” in the same sentence or even in the same paragraph and I will say even in the same story, unless it is to say “Tony Pena is not fresh. I do not want this to come off as a bashing of Tony Pena article, but sports is a performance-based business and say whatever you will about potential or what a great guy he is, he is not producing. I have already elucidated the porous numbers that Tony Pena was putting up.

I have a real problem with an official site just being a mouthpiece for the team. I realize this may not be realistic expectation, but I have it nonetheless. Anyone who went to the Royals site and expected a feel good story was inundated with the failure in the acquisition of Tony Pena. Then to have the audacity to still not admit it is a failure is sickening by the organization. The fans in Kansas City and around the area, the few that have not defected to St. Louis are being treated as, unimportant, ignorant, or unaware. This must be the case, because the organization has said that in order for the payroll to go up they need to draw 2.5 million fans this year. What a travesty!

The blind-emphasis on blind-allegiance to Tony Pena illustrated by the latest headline article on their site is unfathomable. One almost has to wonder, what does the Pena family have on the Royals. That is tongue-and-cheek comment, but there is some truth in it. I cannot understand why the Kansas City Royals feel they need to prove the value of Tony Pena, an almost impossible feat even for the greatest writer. When the evidence makes it so blatantly clear, he is not an asset to the Kansas City Royals. When one has a light hitting short stop, who hit around .260 during a career year, better than any he put up the minor leagues, should that not be a red flag? Why would you make Tony Pena the model for a bobble head? From a public relations standpoint, that just makes no sense. I understand it is Mexican Heritage day, hmmm is there anyone on the Royals from Mexico of Mexican heritage, playing well, whom had more than just a somewhat ok season last year? Has the Royals PR department ever heard of Joakim Soria, apparently not?

There is an adage in baseball, which many Latin American players prescribe to, “you do not walk your way off the island, you hit your way off”, well one may not be able to walk their way off the island, but apparently for the Royals, one only has to play okay defense and hit a soft-soft-soft .260, to not only get a bobble head, but be the lead headline, on the official site, after a great improbable win. Is there any question why this organization has not sniffed the playoffs in 23 years? If I were Mike Aviles, I would watch my back. Tony Pena got a hit yesterday and he has a bobble head, he must be great, right, the Royals have to put him back in the starting lineup sometime, right? Sadly, it would not surprise me if my prediction came true.