Royal Blues

It's easy to be humble when you are a Royals fan. After winning the 1985 World Series our Royals tanked it in. You can’t even say they fell into mediocrity because they are a long way from even being mediocre. They Royals are just plain lousy!

As fans we have had our moments where we see a ray of hope, only to have the dark clouds of reality sweep over us. Most notably was the 2003 season when the team finished above .500 for the first time since 1994 and Tony Pena was named manager of the year. If the Royals were ever going to turn the corner it was going to be now. Wrong! After signing some veteran free agents Royals fans suffered through the worst season in team history.

This season seemed to be going in the same direction. On May 10 Tony Pena resigned as manager of the Royals after leading the team to an 8-25 record to start the season. Then came the ray of hope for the 2005 season. Under interim manager Bob Schaefer the Royals won their first home stand of the season taking three of four games against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

Riding this streak fans knew that the true test was coming last night when the Baltimore Orioles came to town for a three game series. Baltimore leads the AL east and taking that series would scream improvement for these young ball players. Things started perfectly for the Royals as they led 8-2 at the end of the second. Things were suddenly great for the Royals! The season was turning and they were gaining confidence and momentum. Then came those dark clouds of reality that we Royals fans know so well. After scoring a run in the third the Orioles exploded for six runs in the fourth on their way to a 12-8 victory.

Last month My Opinion on Sports declared the Royals to be the worst team in baseball. Since then they have done very little to prove us wrong. In spite of that, we as Royals fans are going to continue to watch the games, listen on the radio, and check the stats on the internet. Why? Because the Royals are our lovable losers! We get excited at the first pitch of every game because it could be the game that starts the run that changes the season. We understand that there is plenty of young talent and when they develop the Royals should turn into a contender. We have arrived to the point where we are no longer frustrated with losses. When our team walks the bases full and then walks in two runs to lose the game, we just shrug our shoulders and say, “It’s the Royals. What did you expect?”

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