Sunday baseball

I’m watching the Brewers and Phillies tonight. … Corey Hart just hit a bomb to cut the Phillies’ lead to 3-2 in the bottom of the sixth inning.

I watched the Cubs beat the Pirates this afternoon. On WGN. During what appeared to be a beautiful sunny day at Wrigley Field.

I wish we had been blessed with that brand of weather here today. I had plans to go to the Royals game today with my friend Tom. I’d been looking forward to it for weeks … But it’s been raining and dreary all weekend here, and when we woke up to more cold, overcast skies this morning, we decided to call it off.

Not only was I looking forward to attending a major league ball game and getting my first look at the new and improved Kauffman Stadium, I was excited to watch the new and improved Royals …

For me, the most exciting news I received all week was that Ned Yost had been tabbed to replace Trey Hillman as the Royals skipper. I was in a meeting late Thursday afternoon when I checked my Blackberry for messages and saw the breaking news alert from the Kansas City Star. I smiled at the headline and then had to quickly snuff out my excitement for the rest of the meeting.

With Ned Yost as manager, I suddenly feel like I have a stake in the Royals, besides being a mere local. Sure, I’ve watched Jason Kendall and Scott Podsednik play close by in recent years, and you couldn’t be a baseball fan last year without knowing at least a little about Zack Greinke. But for six years in Milwaukee, we watched Yost help mold the Brewers into a contender. (Looking back on his exit from Milwaukee, it was too bad it had to end that way, but it felt like the right move at the time.)

With Ned Yost as manager, I feel like the Royals have a decent chance of turning their woeful franchise around. The Royals have a budding farm system just like the Atlanta Braves did on their way to becoming the best team of the ’90s, just like Milwaukee Brewers did on their way to becoming a postseason contender in the latter part of this decade.

Ned Yost has a proven record and intensity that could suit the Royals really well.

Good reads ...
aRoyals' leadership takes tough action, but Hillman hardly the root problem
aRoyals players excited for Yost's arrival