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Monday, July 12, 2010

Sports

Ned Yost will have to wait for Royals' 'good week'

Posted by David Martin on Mon, Jul 12, 2010 at 8:45 AM

click to enlarge The Royals' new bench coach, John Blutarsky.
  • The Royals' new bench coach, John Blutarsky.

Early last week, Royals manager Ned Yost announced that his club was in the division race. Anyone who didn't believe him was encouraged to take their frowns and go sit under a blanket at Arrowhead and wait for Chiefs season.

Yost seemed to inspire the boys, who promptly swept the Seattle Mariners. Then they went to Chicago and got their asses drummed by the White Sox. The Royals head into the All-Star break in fourth place, right where they were when Yost made his "Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?" speech.

Yost's comments about the Royals being "a good week and a day" out of first place appeared in a story written by beat man Bob Dutton. Yost, Dutton's piece began, "looks at the math and sees possibilities."

The "math" actually hates the Royals' possibilities. The think factory Baseball Prospectus has developed a post-season odds calculator, which simulates the remaining games in a season a million times. The calculator says the Royals have a less than 1 percent chance of winning the AL Central. That's not math. That's a miracle wrapped in a Twinkie.

click to enlarge This computer is skeptical about the Royals' chances.
  • This computer is skeptical about the Royals' chances.
The Royals' problem is that they're in fourth place. To make up real ground, they need every team in front of them to lose, a somewhat difficult proposition when the Tigers play the Twins, as was the case this past weekend.

Of course, Yost wasn't hired to wield an abacus. He's there to put his players in a position to win, and if that means corking the bat of statistical probability, well, so be it.

The most interesting thing about Yost's battle cry was people's reaction to it. Old-school baseball observers, like Jeffrey Flanagan, read Yost's quotes and think "Why not?" A younger generation, weaned on Bill James' data-driven understanding of the game, know that Yost's good week would need to resemble the one described in Genesis 1.

Licking the Spork: Man, does Yost love him some Willie Bloomquist. Sweet Willie found his way into the lineup as the designated hitter on Friday night.

click to enlarge Willie Bloomquist. Seen enough?
  • Willie Bloomquist. Seen enough?
Bloomquist's career .333 slugging average says he was miscast for the role. Radio broadcaster Steve Stewart didn't see it that way, however. "Willie can truly do it all," Stewart said during one of Bloomquist's at-bats, drunk of the "utility" Bloomquist provides by fielding multiple positions and hitting like a future manager.

In other developments, Anthony Lerew continues to be exposed, hating on the 2012 All-Star Game has begun, and blogger Will McDonald found a poet equivalent for each Royal (fun!).

Next up: The All-Star Game, then Oakland comes to town.

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Royals good week? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

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Posted by gd on 07/12/2010 at 1:57 PM
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