Subject: American League (Baseball)

• A KC Councilman wants $30 million for Kemper Arena. What’s reality got to do with it?

  March 26, 2009

• Royals' TV Crowds Small, Too

  July 9, 2008

• It's Fundamental: The Royals Don't Have Enough Talent

  July 14, 2008

• Catching Up With Posnanki's 'Experts'

  July 11, 2008

• T-Bones Remember the Forogtten Kansas City Athletics

  July 28, 2008

• KC Fans Bid Boys In Blue Adieu

  August 6, 2008

• KC = Sixth-Worst City to be a Sports Fan

  August 27, 2008

• Come October, Royals Don't Need All Those Seats

  August 31, 2008

• Trey Hillman: Jerk

  August 29, 2008

• Stealing Time: Monday, November 3

  November 3, 2008

• Jazz is back on Troost, a teacher may be on his way out, and the Royals are in last place for nicknames

  June 4, 2009

• GM picks up Royals' discarded notes

  General Motors still has money to advertise. A recently aired TV commercial touting red-hot savings at your local Pontiac dealership should sound familiar to Royals fans.GM is using a song the Royals leased from a New York music house for two years. The song, "Summer Highway," provided the soundtrack for the "This Is Kansas City" campaign the team waged in 2005 and 2006.The Royals let their rights to the song expire. GM picked the tune off the waiver wire, added some jingle bells and (presto!) i

  December 12, 2008

• The K gets a bowl lift

  The Blue Ridge Cutoff is not one Kansas City's most desirable addresses. What the Royals and Chiefs lack in location, they make up for in acreage. With room to grow, the teams are using the $625 million renovation of the Truman Sports Complex to bump out the stadiums' concourses and add new shops, concession stands and, in the case of the Royals, a barbecue stand beyond right field.The Royals invited the media to take a hard-hat tour of Kauffman Stadium yesterday. Some of the most dramatic chang

  January 8, 2009

• One Kauffman Stadium tenant confirmed: Sheridan's Frozen Custard

  Flickr: Duluoz CatsSheridan's Frozen Custard has been available at Kauffman Stadium for a couple of years, but only from concession carts with custard made off-site. Now, the redesigned stadium will feature a 600 square foot store that, according to a Royals' press release, will be "the only frozen custard store to operate in a professional sports venue in the country."I talked to founder Jim Sheridan who said the new store, which was designed by 360 Architects, would be featured in the Outfield

  March 26, 2009

• Slideshow: Kauffman Stadium preview

  The Royals opened the gates of Kauffman Stadium yesterday and allowed fans to explore the refurbished ballpark. The largely taxpayer-financed $250 million renovation expanded the concourses and created new attractions (batting cages, a carousel) in the outfield. Click here for a slideshow.

  April 6, 2009

• Royals lose season opener

  The New York Times may have picked the Royals to win their division (no, the Times really did), but the boys in blue are already in the hole after losing the season opener to the Chicago White Sox. Thanks, Trey Hillman. Thanks, Kyle Farnsworth.This one's on you guys. For more insight, check out Royales with Cheese, a newish blog covering the team. Anyone who's friends with Arrowhead Addict is a friend of ours. Other recommended reading for Royals fans: Rany on the RoyalsRoyals AuthorityRoyals Re

  April 8, 2009

• Hey, Batter

  April 9, 2009

• The Old Turf

  April 16, 2009

• Yes, notable Kansas Citians really said these stupid things in 2008

  January 1, 2009

• KC: Big Small Town

  Though it’s a city of nearly 2 million people, the metro can feel a lot like Mayberry.

  September 25, 2008

• Kansas City Royals vs. Oakland

  August 28, 2008

• Kansas City Royals v. Boston

  July 31, 2008

• Purty Hat Night

  July 24, 2008

• Despite swine flu, Cinco de Mayo still on

  What happened to New York City? I thought it was supposed to be a city of tough guys, vicious models and determined immigrants. Yet they cancel a Cinco de Mayo parade over a little swine flu scare. Fortunately we have thicker skin here in the Midwest (plus, more experience with pigs alive and dead). So swine flu be damned! There are still several events taking place around town today.A couple of these were featured in our dining newsletter Pitch Forks, and a couple I found out about today:The Ma

  May 5, 2009

• Off a Cliff

  May 14, 2009

• A tale of two Hochevar headlines

  On Tuesday, the Royals' Luke Hochevar's self-assessment, "he's clicking."Today, he's ugly.Eight runs in two innings. To the Oakland A's. Welcome to the show.In other Royals news:The Onion reports that the team, unable to find themselves in the standings, has filed a grievance with Major League Baseball.David Glass is still one of the worst owners in baseball. And Friday's game, with golden goose Zack Greinke pitching, is almost sold out. 

  May 13, 2009

• Help us, Zack Greinke. You're our only hope

  The Royals are on a six game skid (ah, reality) and in a three-way tie for first place in the AL Central (unreal). Tonight, David Glass' golden goose, Zack Greinke, takes the mound before a damn-near sold out crowd. Will Zack Greinke pull the Royals out of their rut?And remember Royals fans, the first 20,000 fans at Saturday night's game get a replica stadium. Try not to chuck them on the field if the boys in powder blue lose. We don't need a "disco demolition night" flashback.

  May 15, 2009

• Give to charity. Meet the Royals' wives

  Always giving back. Rest in peace Quiz.Somewhere, there is a great joke involving the word "cans" and Royals' wives but I'm not going to write it. Instead, I'll just mention that starting on Monday and lasting until May 30 is the 27th annual Royals' wives food drive to benefit Harvesters and the St. Jame's Place soup kitchen.All next week, drop off cans and other non-perishables in marked barrels outside each of Kauffman Stadium's gates. Harvester's especially needs include peanut butter, canned

  May 22, 2009

• Nicknames need to improve, uh, Hilly

  FlickrIt was exciting to glance at Bob Dutton's recap of the Royals' come-from-behind win Tuesday night and see the name "Zeus." Finally, a Royal with a cool nickname!But then, upon closer reading, it became evident that "Zeus" had not been assigned to a player who, say, has white flecks in his beard. It's simply a truncated form of DeJesus, as in David.The Royals are an improved ballclub, and it's high time the players and coaches put more thought into the names they use for each other (at leas

  May 21, 2009

• Royals prepare to spend for stars of tomorrow

  FlickrAaron CrowThat squishy sound you heard last night was the Royals taking a seat in on the Naugahyde couch in the basement of the American League Central Division. But all is not lost, baseball fans. The Royals appear to have done splendidly in the amateur draft.Kansas City took Wakarusa native Aaron Crow with its first pick. The Washington Nationals selected Crow, who pitched at Mizzou, with the ninth overall pick in last year's draft. He became available after failing to reach a contract w

  June 10, 2009

• Talk about bad timing. Right to Life night at the K is next Friday

  The Kansas City Royals will host the St. Louis Cardinals next Friday night at Kauffman Stadium. It won't just be any other night at the K. It'll be Right to Life night at the K."Come cheer on the Royals as they play the St. Louis Cardinals and support the Missouri Right to Life," says a line on the Royals' Web site promoting the June 19 night game. The timing seems awkward given that not even three weeks will have passed since abortion provider George Tiller was slain in a Wichita church. But th

  June 12, 2009

• Royals remove Right to Life ticket sales from Web site

  Late last week, the Kansas City Royals were still advertising Friday's showdown with the St. Louis Cardinals as a way to "support the Missouri Right to Life." The link for what we were calling "Right to Life night at the K" disappeared shortly after we ran this piece Friday morning, about the awkward timing of such a promotion in light of the assassination of abortion provider Dr. George Tiller. Besides, as a part-time season-ticket holder told us, it's just bad business to mix politics and spor

  June 15, 2009

• Missouri Right to Life claims the Royals 'discriminated' against it

  I didn't make it to Friday night's Royals-Cardinals game, but I've been wondering about the fallout from the unofficially named "Right to Life night at the K."A week and a half ago, I wrote about the objections of  season-ticket holder Scott Hartley (who just happens to be Missouri state Sen. Jolie Justus' district aide) to an ad on the Royals' Web site urging fans to "come cheer on the Royals as they play the St. Louis Cardinals and support the Missouri Right to Life."After the story appea

  June 22, 2009

• Royals looking to deal ... but Greinke isn't going anywhere

  David Glass' golden goose Zack Grienke isn't going anywhere. But you other guys might not be so unlucky to remain in the American League's cellar. An unnamed AL exec told Fox Sports that "Kansas City will talk about anyone outside of their core players." Making the list of untouchables with Greinke: Gil Meche, Joakim Soria, Alex Gordon and Billy Butler. Sounds like Mark Teahen and David DeJesus may want to hire a real estate agent. No word on rumored deals, though.

  June 26, 2009

• Power & Light vs. Westport

  July 24, 2008

• Zack Greinke is an all star

  Cue that shitty Smash Mouth song -- or not. David Glass' golden goose is an all star. Zack Greinke's peers voted him on the team -- more than any other player.  They should have given his record (10-4) and his ERA (2.00) and a whole bunch of other things that stat geeks would freak over. Oh, and the Royals won yesterday, which means they're only nine games back. Ugh.Photo courtesy of Chris Vleisides/Kansas City Royals

  July 6, 2009

• Watching the Royals is like reliving the presidency of George W. Bush

  July 16, 2009

• Fractured Pastime

  July 16, 2009

• A remodeled delight

  July 23, 2009

• Is Horacio Ramirez the reason health care can't get fixed?

  ​There's a parallel between the health care debate and the Royals, and it has nothing to do with boos and hisses.James Surowiecki, who writes about business and finance at The New Yorker, posits that resistance to the Democrats' ideas for reforming health care has a psychological component. The skittishness, Surowiecki explains, is partly a reflection of biases that make people resistance to change."Most of us, for instance, are prey to the so-called 'endowment effect': the mere fact that you

  August 26, 2009

• Dime: Kansas City deserves an NBA team

  ​Don't get too excited. The future looks like nothing but exhibition games (basketball and hockey) at the Sprint Center. But basketball magazine/Web site Dime lists nine cities that deserve NBA franchises, and yeah, Kansas City made the list. Here's what Dime says are the pros and cons of pro hoops returning to KC: Pros: Decades ago, Kansas City was home for Kings. The city is also home to two major sports franchises in the Royals and Chiefs. Seems like every time a team is relocating, Kansas

  August 27, 2009

• Beer prices and a ballclubs' records

  ​Beer tastes better when the home team is winning. It's colder and the Beer Man is always around when you want him. The steps don't seem as steep and hot dogs go down like shrimp cocktail. But when the Royals are losing, the beer can be as stale as a bar floor the next morning. There may be one saving grace to the Royals' recent run of poor seasons -- the beer is likely cheaper. The Wall Street Journal decided to see whether there was a correlation between winners and higher beer prices: A tea

  September 14, 2009

• East Coast Unbias

  September 17, 2009

• Fútbol

  September 24, 2009

• Breakfast Buffet: Wednesday, October 21

  Thumbs up for Shatto cheese, which is now available at the Whole Foods at 91st Street and Metcalf in Overland Park. [Hot Blog on a Stick]A visit to the regional offices of the Seattle Fish Company and a look at fresh fish in Kansas City. [Making of a Foodie]Whatever you think of the Royals, at least you're not paying $10 a cup for hot cocoa at Kauffman Stadium. [Consumerist]The Burger King Double Cheeseburger is officially available, and it's $1. [So Good]

  October 21, 2009

• Someone please let Mark Teahen know if he's been traded

  ​No one has told Kansas City Royals outfielder Mark Teahen that he's been traded to the Chicago White Sox, but several reports say he's gone. The New York Daily News gets credit for announcing the deal: Teahen to the White Sox for second baseman Chris Getz and third baseman Josh Fields. Getz told ESPN's Chicago branch that so far it's just a "rumor."Could someone let these guys know if they've been traded? Thanks.Photo via the Kansas City Royals' Web Site.

  November 5, 2009

• Puck Off

  November 12, 2009

• The Onion clowns on the Royals ... again

  ​Kansas City is shaking free of our suffering Royals -- at least, in the world of fake news.Does it get any better than The Onion making up quotes for Mayor Funkhouser? Observe:"It was time to move in another direction," Kansas City mayor Mark Funkhouser said at a press conference. "There were some vested incentives that would have automatically kicked in if the Royals had finished higher than last place, or won more than one championship in their existence. But we just couldn't afford to make

  November 17, 2009

• Royals' Zack Greinke wins AL Cy Young Award

  ​ The headline says it all. Photo courtesy of Chris Vleisides/Kansas City Royals

  November 17, 2009

• Friday Book Review: Jeffrey Koterba's Inklings

  ​Picture the young artist, dreaming of becoming an editorial cartoonist. He's working hard: drawing for a weekly newspaper in the Omaha suburb of Bellevue, placing his pieces in a few small-town papers around Nebraska, constantly submitting his work to the Omaha World-Herald, only to be rejected. With encouragement from Kansas City Star cartoonist Lee Judge, at the time practically just a kid himself, our artist has started doing an occasional sports cartoon for the Star. Until now he's had a

  November 20, 2009