Royalties & Cardinalate

Way to go, Denny

I don’t remember the first Royals’ game I ever listened to on the radio. But I know who was calling it. Somehow the name Jim Colborn sticks in my mind, not as the announcer but as the guy pitching for the Royals. That would put it in 1977, the year the Royals set a franchise record with 102 victories. I vaguely remember watching the 1976 ALCS but 1977 was the year that the world opened up and I started taking in sports, understanding them, and collecting memories that are still with me.

It has now been 27 years that I’ve been listening to Denny Matthews call Royals games. As it is with so many, for me his voice is synonymous with the Royals and, thus, a reminder of so many summers that have piled up on me. In the early 1980’s, when Brian and I would play basketball in the driveway or football in the front yard, we listened to Denny and Fred White on KMA out of Shenandoah. During the dreadful years of the early 1990’s, when I was struggling with questions about my future and working at a circuit-breaker factory, I was able to listen to the Royals as I assembled my 168-breaker-per-shift quota. In the mid-1990’s, I moved to Chicago and felt born again. But the one thing I missed from Missouri was listening to the Royals until I discovered the internet and managed to sometimes pick up a tinny-sounding Webcast from a station in Oklahoma. A lot has changed in 27 years but more than anything else, Denny Matthews has been a constant and a source of reassurance.

Of course I bring this up because tonight Denny is being enshrined into the Royals Hall of Fame. It’s a well-deserved honor and I offer my congratulations – and thanks.

I have never known much about Denny Matthews from a personal standpoint. Even after I moved to Kansas City, I never heard anything about him. He’s a private, semi-reclusive guy. And as a private, semi-reclusive guy myself, I can certainly appreciate those qualities. When I went to work for the Star, I met Matt Fulks, a local author who was working part-time on the sports copy desk. Matt has written a string of books about sports, primarily concentrated on memories from the fan’s perspective. He co-wrote a book with Denny last year. Matt told me that Denny is a heckuva nice guy, fun to be around and always full of great stories. Maybe someday, I’ll break bread with Denny and, if I do, I’ll tell him how much his body of work has meant in my life. But, of course, it’ll sound like a hymn from the chorus to his ears - he hears those kind of comments all the time. When you’ve been calling games for one team for three ½ decades, you’re talking about generations that have grown up listening to your voice.

I don’t know what the criteria is for a broadcaster to be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. I’m sure there are a lot of politics involved. Nonetheless, I think Denny Matthews deserves a spot in Cooperstown, and not just because of his longevity. Denny is a connsumate professional broadcaster in the classic mode. While you always have it in the back of your mind that he is rooting for the Royals, he still manages to call every game with a modicrum of objectivity. He doesn’t yell or scream at every little flair that falls into the gap. His voice raises or falls as the situation dictates and if the crowd noise is ample to carry the drama of the moment, he simply makes the call then shuts his mouth. Not many announcers do that anymore.

For whatever reason, his reputation in Kansas City has been sort of mixed these last few years. Too many people conditioned to too much Fox-style media, whose collective attention span falls a few meters shy of diminutive, have hung the label of ‘boring’ on Denny. Shame on these people. I have always feared that the people of this city will not realize what they had in Denny Matthews until he was gone. So I’m hoping that the people will turn out in droves tonight and will rally to show the support to Denny that he so richly deserves. (If I didn’t have to work, I’d be there for sure.)

I feel sorry for people who grow up rooting for teams that don't have a constant as their radio voice. I'm glad the Royals have had that continuity and I'm glad it was Denny Matthews that they stuck with.

Way to go, Denny.

Larry Walker, baby!

Brad broke the news to me at roughly 8:15 pm Friday. I was fumbling around with my Budweiser and raisins (yes, I prefer Schlafly ... and raisins are underrated) when I felt a vibration in my shorts pocket indicating that my phone had a message. I promptly bombarded Amanda with exuberant gibberish and irrational guarantees of STL baseball dominance. I was on my first beer so she seemed to listen and take me seriously, but it will take awhile for this scenario to sink in - for both of us. One discomfort: what was hopefully a misguided soul mentioned on local sports radio that there are players to be named involved in the trade, including Yadier Molina. No!!! That is not acceptable. He is our franchise catcher as of 2005. It will soon be all clear. The Rocks are paying 7.5 mill. for us to take Walker. Such a tasty linuep. Can't wait for the standing O on LW's first AB ... Just saw Larry cry at his presser. He seems really pained to leave Denver.

A fine place to be

At 7:10 tonight it will be 73 degrees, sunny and clear in downtown St. Louis. I will be at Busch Stadium ($8.25 Budweiser in hand) watching MLB’s best 3-4-5 combo try to roll past the Mets. Nearby, Branford Marsalis will be playing a free show by the Arch as part of this summer’s RiverSplash series. Free concerts from Medeski, Martin and Wood, Steel Pulse, Taj Mahal, BB King, Liz Phair, Cardinals fanatic Bruce Hornsby, Wyclef Jean, Paul Oakenfold etc. Great move to do this by the city of STL - a great city to be in on this Friday. Mike Shannon is a big fan and friend of Hornsby and said that Bruuuce will be in town again this weekend just to catch a couple of games. Sure, Hornsby had made a couple of crappy pop songs, but he also has toured as part The Grateful Dead, so he is eternally cool for that. Good baseball surname as well.

Also, an intriguing pitching matchup tonight. Mellow Matt Morris continues to confound and is going against 38-year-old Tom Glavine. Despite an 8-9 record Glavine is having a great season. He has a WHIP of 1.16 in 153 innings and averages 103 pitches per start. Who will be the hero tonight? My guess is Edgar.

Mental exercise for the playoffs

I currently have the Cubs WGN broadcast on and I just cannot get use to Chip and Stoney referring to Nomar. But it’s very cool to have him in the NL – as long as he signs with the Cubs and does not become a rent-a-player. Edgar Renteria is better right now. . I have been having flashes of playoff heroes lately. Perhaps the neatest thing about the postseason is how magnified everything is and each season there inevitably are a few unlikely heroes (like Dane Iorg in 1982). I’ve had visions of Yadier Molina’s first career HR coming in the playoffs, Mike Matheny hitting a game-winning single following an IW and, of course, thoughts of Marlon Anderson heroics. The games against the Giants sparked many of these joyous thoughts since it represented a viable playoff matchup. Much fun, though I also have allowed my mind to drift to the dark side of playoff action. Sudden injuries (Vince Coleman, Scott Rolen) and fluky losses and other buzz kills can always smear a dream season and I feel I need to start mentally preparing so I can avoid going on a murder spree in mid-October. Every time I see Tony Womack I am reminded of how painful the postseason can be.

Not only did John Mabry raise his average (4-for-4) to .326 on Wednesday, but he is now 11-for-18 (.611) vs. Expos starter Livan Hernandez. Assuming Reggie Sanders will soon be healthy and taking care of RF, it sure is a nice time to try a Mabry-John Gall platoon in LF. So Taguchi should be in AAA when the team is healthy and Marlon Anderson playing LF is scary (though fun, like Lonnie Smith). Roger Cedeno could still spot start.

Days of Ankiel: I love Rick Ankiel. I had company seats by the STL dugout for a Cards-Indians game a few years back (2000?) and saw Ricky strike out 8 batters in the first three innings. It was mind blowing. The batters were helpless against his wicked curve and his fastball was blowing by everyone. It was sheer domination.

Streak ends for Math: Mike Matheny’s record (for C’s) errorless streak of 252 games ended on Wednesday on a bad throw, but at least it did not end a few weeks ago when he was originally charged with an E before it was changed to Tomack for not covering 2nd. That would’ve been bogus.

Around Cardinal Nation: A couple good recent Cards blog posts:
Dan on Jim Edmonds vs. Dale Murphy and Josh on potential emerging competitive edges.

Edmonds carries Cards into August

Despite Mellow Matt Morris’ two recent blow-up starts, Jeff Suppan’s 10-walk game (how ridiculously tight was that strike zone?!) and seemingly more baserunning and defensive miscues than we’ve seen most of this dream season, July turned out just fine. STL finished the month 20-5 and it has the hottest hitter in MLB. Jim Edmonds will be the July NL Player of the Month (has to be; 13 HRs, 27 RBI and a 1.427 OPS in July) and if he stays hot he will creep into the MVP debate. Edmonds is now at .300 and his OBP is now. 401. With a slugging percentage of .644, he compares well with Albert Pujols’ line of .319/.409/.625. The 'Birds' 3-4-5 hitters are what make games like Saturday’s 8-7 loss still enjoyable. When the game was 8-0, I had zero inclination to skip ahead, though I did FF through some San Fran ABs.

Man, it seems that Danny Haren has been rejuvenated. His start at Wrigley was a potential fluke since it was an unplanned start. In two appearances last week, Haren pitched 5.1 innings, allowing 0 runs and 1 hit. Nice to have someone to turn to in case an injury (inevitably?) occurs. Will Clark commented this weekend that if it was his decision that he’d take Morris out of the rotation for the playoffs. After Morris’ Saturday outing most Cardinals fans would agree. But my only concern at this point is that all five starters stay healthy. If the team has five starters to choose from, then all options are pretty sweet. Currently, I’d bet Chris Carpenter would be STL's Game 1 NLDS starter.

So, what?:Why did So Taguchi swing at a 3-0 pitch with the Redbirds trailing 8-1 with one out in the 3rd inning and a runner on second? The dude is 35 and has little power. He knows better. Frustrating.

Marlon's struggles: As much as I have enjoyed the dramatic, game-winning hits this season from Marlon Anderson, he is still slumping. His line stands at .237/.282/.395 after Saturday following a July in which his OPS was .432. Jason Marquis has an OPS of .683 in 45 ABs in 2004; Anderson is at .577.

Mabry a hitting machine: July was much kinder to John Mabry. Mabes had 38 ABs in the month and produced a line of .395/.478/.658. He is up to .318/.392/.519 on the year and should get plenty of PAs the rest of the way.