Thursdays are the new Friday!
Ed note: Yes, I know, it’s not Friday. But when we get down to OT, this will make sense. Greg was gracious enough to switch when I realized the game today fit with the topic. For those of you who skip Friday Rumblings... shame on you. Or not. But this is the wild and boring ride we usually get to end the work week. Welcome aboard!
We’ll lead off with The Star. Blair Kerkhoff writes about Dayton Moore watching the Royals from afar:
Executive vice president and general manager J.J. PIcollo, whose career has aligned with Moore’s for more than three decades, “is doing a great job with leadership,” Moore said. “I’m really proud of those guys. They play to win, they play for each other. Those guys came up together in the minor leagues, struggled at the major league level, which brought them closer together and made that bond really tight.
“Now that that their talent level is catching up to the league, that bond they have, that togetherness and unity that was developed through the losing is going to propel them to do something special again in Kansas City.”
Anne Rogers writes about how Alec Marsh wants to be more consistent:
“I was ahead in counts, or at least 2-2 counts, where we’re in the driver’s seat,” Marsh said. “So just put them on their heels, and it just happened we got three strikeouts. If it was like that the whole game, it probably would have been a better situation, different game.”
Getting ahead and throwing first-pitch strikes is when Marsh is at his best. He feels his fastball and breaking balls play better. It’s why he dominated the Yankees last Thursday.
AT MLBTR, Steve Adams wrote about what J.J. Picollo talked to Jayson Stark and Doug Glanville on their podcast:
“Some of our relief corps is starting to pitch to the capabilities and abilities we’ve seen in the past,” Picollo said of his relief corps. “That’s going to be helpful, which will help put pieces of the puzzle together, but getting deeper in our bullpen to come alongside of those guys, I think, would be great. Whether or not it’s a closer — that’s going to be very difficult for anybody — there’s only going to be so many of them, and the competition will be steep. But if we can get deeper and be more reliable in our bullpen, that would be great. I’ve talked in the past about strikeouts. We’re more of a matchup bullpen without necessarily the big power. Now, we do have a couple guys we think might fit the bill internally but haven’t done it quite yet.”
...“Offensively, you always want to add a bat somewhere — lengthen your lineup,” the GM explained. “…We have three or four guys that are in the lineup every day, and we mix and match a lot, so it doesn’t necessarily have to be an outfielder, but somebody who could play outfield and infield would be ideal. Just another bat that we could lengthen our lineup out and get a little more production in the back half of our lineup.”
Blog time!
The Royals Reporter, Kevin O’Brien asks “Is Will Smith Ready for High Leverage Opportunities Again?”
Both Zerpa and Long have better sliders than Smith on a PLV end. However, their four-seamers are much worse offerings, which could soon result in some regression for Zerpa and Long, especially when their command on that pitch wanes (or when opposing hitters adjust). I think Royals fans are justified in celebrating what Zerpa and Long are doing. They have obviously come through in some key moments, and it seems like Matt Quatraro trusts using them in those high-leverage spots as well (especially Zerpa).
It wouldn’t be surprising to see Zerp and Long’s performance stagnate a little in the coming weeks and/or months. The stuff is still dicey for both of them, though Royals fans can be more encouraged about Zerpa’s outlook than Long’s (which makes sense considering Long signed as a Minor League free agent in the offseason).
...Smith is trending in the right direction this month, and his stuff and track record should keep him in the hunt to gain more high-leverage opportunities soon, especially as other Royals relievers like John Schreiber and James McArthur have struggled lately in those spots. If his progress continues, Royals fans shouldn’t be surprised to see Smith back to pitching in setup or closing situations by the end of June or the start of July.
Craig Brown wrote about the game on Tuesday and then segued into talking about Willie Mays (hey, that segue is going to come in handy in a few moments):
I have two outfield action photos hanging on the wall of my office. One is the Alex Gordon catch from Game Four of the 2014 ALCS against the Baltimore Orioles. The other is the iconic Mays over the shoulder catch at the Polo Grounds in the 1954 World Series. A massive part of my enjoyment of the game comes from its history. I collect old baseball cards. I have ancient Strat-O-Matic seasons on-hand that I’ll play from time to time. Guys like Mays and Mickey Mantle and Duke Snider and Roberto Clemente and Hank Aaron and Frank Robinson all came before my awareness of the game, but their accomplishments are touchstones to the past. That Gordon catch in ‘14? Nobody compared it to Mays’ grab in ‘54, but there’s a link there. That’s something that I love about baseball. Somebody in today’s game does something extraordinary and it can immediately evoke a great play or player from the past. The memories of these legends will never fade, even among those of us who never saw them play.
For the record, Phys did make a Mays comp on the second of the three amazing Royals plays in 2015 that broke webgems. Is this just an excuse to link to that play? Maybe.
Blog roundup and then we’ll make use of that segue we were talking about:
Our MLB section today is all about tonight’s MLB at Rickwood Field game between the Cardinals and Giants.
Rickwood Field, the oldest professional ballpark in the United States and former home of the Birmingham Black Barons of the Negro Leagues, will be the site of a special Regular Season contest between the St. Louis Cardinals and San Francisco Giants on June 20, 2024.
In case you missed it Monday, Bradford had an excellent story about the game, its history, and, as always, a Kansas City angle.
Dayn Perry at CBS Sports also writes about the “iconic field”:
It is older than both Wrigley Field and Fenway Park – indeed it is the oldest venue for professional baseball in the United States. It is one of two remaining Negro League parks. It has – in a testament to its historical breadth – hosted within its walls 181 of the 351 total Hall of Famers, whether players, managers or operators of teams. On the playing side, the list includes true pantheon dwellers of the sport: Willie Mays, Satchel Paige, Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Honus Wagner, Cool Papa Bell, Ted Williams, Joe DiMaggio, Rogers Hornsby, Reggie Jackson, Stan Musial, Ernie Banks, Dizzy Dean, Rollie Fingers.
Of these, Mays, perhaps the greatest baseball player in the annals of baseball players, is the Hall of Famer most linked with Rickwood Field. Mays, who died Tuesday, was a native of the Birmingham, Ala., area, and so he was on his hometown field when he suited up for the Birmingham Black Barons in 1948. It was Mays’ first season as a professional and the start of a career that would tower over that of almost any other player. It’s fitting, then, that when Mays’ former team, the Giants, takes the field against the Cardinals on Thursday in Birmingham, it’ll be a celebration not only of Mays but also of the setting – the living museum that is Rickwood Field.
Major League Baseball’s foray into Rickwood also marks the latest initiative to embrace – or co-opt, if you find that term more accurate – the history of the bygone Negro Leagues. For MLB, it’s a complicated needle to thread, which, frankly, it should be. Only because of organized baseball’s racist and segregationist policies did the Negro Leagues ever exist, just as only because of those policies was Jackie Robinson tasked with shattering them. However, ignoring the Negro Leagues, even if done so out of a sense of institutional modesty or chagrin over MLB’s foundational moral failings, probably wasn’t tenable.
One day was also not enough for the passing of Willie Mays so I’m going use this as a segue to add some more news today in conjunction with his “home field” in Birmingham.
Taking a look back at some of the most memorable moments in the life and career of Willie Mays. pic.twitter.com/xUDfQgZztv
— MLB (@MLB) June 19, 2024
Rany posted a story over on the Ringer, his first baseball column in years: Willie Mays Was the Greatest Baseball Player Who Ever Lived
Joe Posnanski wrote a non-paywalled one, too: “Isn’t Willie Mays Wonderful?”
The sky seems a little less bright today. The music sounds just a bit bluer. The stars feel farther away.
Willie Mays is gone.
He stopped playing baseball more than 50 years ago, and yet you can see him, even if you never actually saw him. He’s chasing a fly ball, and he will never get there in time. Sayers was effortless. Orr was effortless. Griffey was effortless. But Mays? He runs like he’s racing after a missed bus. He exerts every muscle, each limb seems to have a mind of its own, and he moves with such speed and abandon that his baseball cap holds on for dear life until it cannot hold on and goes flying off his head like a rodeo cowboy getting bucked off a bull.
Joel Goldberg took a visit to San Fran while the team is in Oakland:
Took a walk over to Oracle Park this morning to pay a visit to the Willie Mays statue. The quote from Leo Durocher at the base of the statue is so perfect. “Willie has two weaknesses - a pitch thrown behind his back and a fly ball twenty rows into the stands.”
— Joel Goldberg (@goldbergkc) June 19, 2024
RIP to a legend pic.twitter.com/jGC7RfFQ9v
Kurtis Seaboldt on 810 retweeted a story from Daniel Brown at The Athletic (read the whole thread):
A lighthearted Willie Mays story ...
— Daniel Brown (@BrownieAthletic) June 19, 2024
I was among the beat writers who came across him outside the Giants' clubhouse before a 2002 World Series game in Anaheim.
It seemed Mays didn't have a photo on his badge, so the security guard wouldn't let him in.
NLBM President Bob Kendrick gets the last word today:
For baseball fans of a certain era, all you had to do was say the name WILLIE MAYS, and it elicited unbridled joy! My heart is heavy with his death, but we owe it to him to celebrate his life with the same zest and zeal that he brought to the game! His spirit and legacy plays on! pic.twitter.com/OTatBQNixI
— Bob Kendrick (@nlbmprez) June 19, 2024
Today’s Rumblings OT is going to be some lazy crowdsourcing. It’s also going to be about baseball (oh noes). I know it’s a Thursday and not a Friday, but this topic works with the Royals game today.
I’m going to be going to an A’s game in Oakland in a couple of weeks. Why, you (obviously) ask? I’m one of those people trying to go to every stadium in the majors - this will be #29 - and I’m not going to get another shot, it seems. After all, Max’s preview for the series asked if this was to be the Royals “last visit to Oakland”. Yes, I know it’s universally agreed upon as one of the two dumpiest parks in the majors, but there’s something unique and, dare I say, charming about that. Well, until the sewage leaks onto your feet. You know, it’s probably not ideal when there’s an entire section on your Wikipedia page entitled “Sewage”.
Aside: I also haven’t been to Tropicana Field, which is the other dumpy park, by reputation. I’m also missing 4 others: Chase Field (Diamondbacks), Safeco Field (Mariners), Citi Field (Mets), and SunTrust Park (new Atlanta stadium). I’ve also been to a couple of defunct stadiums: Astrodome, Metrodome, old Globe Life Park (as well as current Globe Life Field), and Turner Field. So if you do that math: 30 (teams) + 4 (old stadiums) - 28 visited stadiums = 6 to go (including Oakland and Tampa).
Today’s OT challenge is “which tickets should I buy”. Which seems like it should be simple, but I want to throw some wrinkles into it. Because nothing is ever simple when it comes to my thought processes. Also, we’re going to use this as a chance to highlight some of the tools you can use when looking for a seat in a stadium.
First off, when I’m looking at seats for a day game, I want to know where the sun is. At your average tourist destination, you will see two types of people from points south: those with a leathery tan and those who skitter from shady spot to shady spot like a lizard. I’m in the latter category as I don’t need to be sitting out in the sun all day. Sure, the temperature should be wonderful and maybe even chilly, well below the usual Houston summer thermometer reading of “armpit”. But even that “weaker” sun can burn, so I need to decide if I want to lather up with sunscreen or stay in the shade.
It goes without saying that the Coliseum is an old stadium on borrowed time. It has the stupid Mount Davis in the outfield and I feel a certain parallel between Oakland baseball fans and Houston baseball fans. Al Davis tarnished their baseball stadium much in the same way Bud Adams did to the Astrodome. For those that don’t remember, the Astrodome had the world’s first animated scoreboard. It was big and it was glorious. However, Adams insisted it be torn down for 15K more football seats. But that didn’t sate his greed and he moved the team less than a decade later.
All this is to say, there’s not much shade during day games. I’ve looked for day game pictures and also tried to watch game on MLB.tv. However, there’s not a lot of wide crowd shots during games, especially in a stadium that’s mostly empty. I’m going to the game on Sunday, July 7 at 1:07pm local time. The Royals game today starts at 12:37 - close enough. I’ll be watching today’s game a little closer but, again, there probably won’t be a lot of crowd shots to work off of.
Instead, there are a couple of websites I’ve looked at with regards to shade. All of them are partnered with ticketing sites so that once you look at the information, you click on the affiliate links on their page so they get a commission on tickets. Honestly, I feel like this business model is how the internet is supposed to work: “Hey, I give you some info and, if you think it’s good, kick me a couple bucks from my sponsor”.
Shaded Seats, gives a good one page summary for most major stadium. It has stadium orientation and a couple of pictures. For instance, here is a paragraph from their writeup about “Kauffman Stadium Afternoon Games”:
At the start of a 1:10 p.m. game in Kansas City, the sun will be high above first base. This position makes almost every seat in the 100-level of the stadium vulnerable to the sun for the first few innings. The exception is the handful of rows farthest from the field that are covered and may receive a bit of shade from the overhang. 400-level sections that aren’t under direct cover, such as sections 401-407 and 433-439 are also highly exposed to the sun. The limited outfield seating will be in full sun with no shade available.
Rate Your Seats also has a guide similar to Shaded Seats with a “Shaded/Covered Seats” section for each stadium. For Oakland, it feels like there’s slightly more information on RYS vs SS, but it’s close. Both of these sites are partnered with Seat Geek, which is now the official MLB resale partner. Rate Your Seats also has a pair of links at the top of the stadium page. One says “Help me find shaded and covered seats” and it opens up a link to SeatGeek that only offers shaded/covered seats. The other is a neat little tool under “Are my seats shaded/covered?” Enter in the game day, section, and row and it will tell you if your seats are shaded and/or covered, making a distinction between the two.
A View from my Seat is the old guard of stadium seat picture sites. I’ve been going there for years. It’s simple - pick your stadium, pick the type of event (many venues have pictures from concerts vs games so you can look at your seat depending on the stadium configuration), and then go to your section and look at pictures. If you like raw data like I do, it’s just a giant database of stadium pictures. They have a number of tags like “overhang” or “padded seat”, but not everyone uses those. That’s the weakness of a fan-sourced site: it’s not consistent, people can put in bad pictures (though those are usually weeded out), and some of those pictures are more than a decade old, changed by renovations. But, generally, it’s a great site and I love using it. They’re partnered with the venerable Stubhub and also Ticketcity, which I’m not familiar with. They’re even trying to branch out with entries for theaters and music venues. Their story on the “About” page doesn’t surprise me one bit as that’s what the site feels like:
In 2010, we had a dilemma while trying to buy a season ticket package for the Philadelphia Phillies. Our only resource to make this pricey purchase was an online stadium map. That gave us the idea - what if everyone shared a picture when they attend an event? Then everyone could benefit from everyone else’s experience.
Beyond shade, there’s a second consideration. I’ve never caught a ball at an MLB game. I can give exact details of 142 MLB games that I’ve been to. I know I’ve also been to couple (few) dozen more, but don’t don’t have a ticket stub or program or scorecard so I don’t have exact dates. The long and short is that I’ve been to well over 150 MLB games and I’ve never been close to catching a foul ball (or home run).
I have a batting practice ball that was thrown to me by an Orioles player warming up in the outfield. Actually, it wasn’t thrown to /me/ - there were 4 guys a few rows ahead of me yelling at the player to throw the ball up into the upper deck at Kauffman. His throw was long and I caught it. I offered it to the guys who did all the shouting work, but they didn’t want it since they didn’t catch it. That ball now sits in a place of honor in the baseball section of my game room. Sadly, I don’t know who threw it since it all happened so quickly. I like to pretend it was Adam Jones since he’s always seemed like a good dude and he was in the game that day, but I have no idea.
I have a Spring Training batting practice home run ball. I don’t know if it’s still the case, but back in 2014, the Royals used to take batting practice in the mornings on the back lots in Surprise. We found a nice spot under a tree to watch and talk baseball with random fans. Billy Butler got in a groove and mashed at least a half dozen over the fence. I caught one and pocketed it. Before the game, Butler was signing autographs and he signed that ball so that’s another awesome keepsake. EDIT: Dang - I guess I’ve already told these stories before. But that was like 10 years ago. Thanks for humoring forgetful me.
As I have never caught a ball from an MLB game, if I catch a foul ball, I’m keeping my foul ball. No, I’m not giving it to someone else. The whole “kid runs up to someone else who caught one, begging for a ball” thing just needs to stop. It’s one thing if you’re that db Zack Hample, who has thousands of balls and pushes people out of the way for another one on the pile that he’ll never remember. But this is a lifelong dream of mine, crazy as it is.
I know it’s folly to expect to get one, but maybe this is a higher percentage play than most. I’ve never really been close - a few rows or a section over is as close as I’ve gotten. However, a lot of my time at Kauffman was in those $5 Hy-Vee seats. The chance of catching a ball there was slim to none. Also, there’s not a lot of information out there about the best spots for foul balls for any stadium, though Five Thirty Eight looked into it a while back in the context of injuries. The question was posed to the Oakland subreddit and they seemed to think the 215-219 sections are best - basically the second deck above home plate.
I have my pick of seats - none are terribly expensive - and the crowd will be light. Their last three Sunday home games have drawn 12K, 10K, and 11K. Let there be no mistake: this isn’t the fault of A’s fans. I said it at the time and I say it again, screw Manfred for his asinine comments on the reverse boycott: “it is great to see what is this year almost an average Major League Baseball crowd in the facility for one night”. It’s a tale as old as time: owner buys team, owner makes tons of money from team, owner wants to get even richer on the backs of his fans, owner holds city hostage, owner gets sweeter deal from another city that has yet to be in this abusive relationship, owner finalizes move, owner complains about lack of support after he’s already said he’s moving.
Along with the low crowds, I could use this as a factor. How much money do I want to put in John Fisher’s pocket? Yes, this gets into the “ethical business” question and whether you should be “voting with your checkbook” (Answer: In some cases, yes). Yes, you could ask “Is he any better or worse than the Seat Geek CEO” (Answer: I couldn’t tell you in this instance). But, suffice to say, any ticket that I buy from secondary market is a ticket that likely won’t be bought from the owner. So if I want to project my childhood trauma from Bud Adams moving the Oilers onto John Fisher for moving the A’s, you can take that up with my inner child.
Lastly, before we get into specific seats choices, one other (minor) factor here is the protective netting. In Oakland, it goes from foul pole to foul pole. I think MLB was right to (finally) make that call across the league but it does make premium seats somewhat less desirable from a “foul ball” point of view. I don’t think the netting gets in the way of watching the game, but it does guarantee we’re not getting a foul ball. Then again, I will be there with my elementary school aged son and any plans that involve paying attention for 2+ hours to avoid injury is probably a bad plan.
* * * * *
Now that we’ve meandered out way through the main factors (price and view, sun, and foul balls), let’s look at some specific sections.
“Best of All World?” - In that 215-219 section, it looks like the back row or two is covered by an overhand. Just taking a random row (218 Row 12), RYS says “not covered” but “in the shade”. It only says this for rows 11 and 12. From 1-10, it says “Sorry, your seats may be in the shade for part of the game, but not all of it”. That meshes with what I’ve seen in some pictures - there’s a little overhand that gives shade to the last two rows and that’s it. There are some decent aisle seats available in the top 2 rows and the “360 view from the seat” from the MLB website appears to give some shade and a decent view. They have a face value of $39 a ticket and the total cost for 2 tickets and fees is $96.
“Cheaper?” Let’s say I wanted something a little cheaper. For some games, including this one, the A’s have a deal that you get 2 free kids tickets for every adult ticket. I wonder if I could just get a 2nd “kid” seat for the extra legroom, not that we’d really need it. However, it’s only for specific sections: 103-106/128-130 (outfield lower deck) and 205-210/224-229 (outfield upper deck outfield) for prices ranging from $30-$50. There’s also the Treehouse Plaza section (i.e. the higher levels in the outfield) for $19 - that looks like a bar with open seating and I think I’d rather pay a bit more for a better seat. In the lower deck, you have two options: sit under the overhang that starts at row 30 or be in the sun for a decent bit of the game. It’s not as good a view as above and we’re not going to catch any foul balls out there, either, but it’s still a respectable location. Two seats in section 128 row 32 aisle seat for $51, including fees. Alternatively, the overhangs in the upper deck outfield seats start at row 12-13ish, so we could do two seats in 226 row 14 for $40 with the deal. I think I prefer the lower deck ones for a little more.
“Best Seats?” Ok, these won’t be the best seats in the house but let’s start looking at Seat Geek and see what the resale market holds. The foul ball isn’t likely going to happen and we’ll be wearing a hat and can slap on some sunscreen before the game. Stop worrying about all that other stuff - you’re there to enjoy a ballgame. Seats here are cheap so you could sit much closer to the game than many other stadiums (if you look past the giant foul area).
Here’s some options from Seat Geek with the total price, including fees:
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We also get some bonus bits as part of our Sunday at the ballpark. First off, my son picked this game because kids get to run the bases after the game (and it’s also why our Alcatraz tickets got moved to Monday). We also get a Rollie Fingers Bobblehead for “early arriving fans” - I like (or “it’s sad”) how they don’t even limit it to 10K or something - just “early arriving” because it’s iffy whether they even get to 10K fans in attendance. Again, I really feel for Oakland fans. They’ve been dealt a crap hand.
Lastly, there’s this little bit as part of Alumni Sundays that has me really excited:
Autographs: Rollie Fingers and Dennis Eckersley will sign autographs starting at 11:35 a.m. in the Eastside Club. Autographs are free and on a first-come, first-served basis. This session will last approximately one hour. One autograph per person. Personal items will not be autographed. Alumni will sign pre-produced 5x7 autograph cards. Autographs and appearances are subject to change.
Here’s a bonus decision for the wisdom of the crowds: which autograph should I get? I know the crowds are light, but I went to a lot of 10K and 15K games at the K in the 00s where the choice for autographs was between Jeremy Affeldt and Alberto Castillo and we still only had time for one.
FYI: the obvious choice that time was Castillo and it was the correct choice, in retrospect. My then-fiance now-wife and I had just gotten engaged and were getting married that summer and he told us that when we had kids, we would have twins. It turned out not to be true, but we still think about it to this day. The reason the answer wasn’t “Affeldt” was because he was great to fans after the game in M lot and often took time to sign for fans. A friend of mine who I refer to as my “baseball life partner” had a baseball that he took to every game to get signed and I think he had three different Affeldt signatures on three different parts of the ball. He apparently runs a brewery out past San Antonio and I should pay it a visit at some point.
Back to today’s question. Both are Hall of Fame relievers and I’d love to get autographs from both. But should I go for the one who was more a contemporary that I watched growing up (Eckersley) or one that was a little before my time but, because of his iconic facial hair, has a bit of baseball mythology to him. I think I lean towards Fingers, but I could be swayed either way.
What say you, RR commentariat?
Lord of the Rings was re-released that last couple of weekends and I was among the folks who went and saw it again. It was fun - I don’t think I had seen it theaters since the original release. There was a fun camaraderie in the audience. After Fellowship finished, a bunch of people clapped and cheered. Then, one guy near the front turned around and said “see you all tomorrow night for Two Towers”. It was also the first time showing my son the movies (except we had shown him the intro scenes in Hobbiton previously and then sent him off to be before Weathertop). We’ll talk a bunch more about this trilogy at some point but, seeing as we’re already approaching 6000 words, that’s not going to be today.
I was happy that when I did a search for “Howard Shore” on RR*, I only turned up one hit - this Rumblings from Minda. That leaves me free to use any other song. Today, we’ll go with “Théoden Rides Forth”, which is a great scene to see in a theater. Until next Friday...
*(FYI: If you didn’t know, you can Google “site:www.royalsreview.com Howard Shore” and it will just show hits from RR).
