Monday, April 26, 2010
Where are the Scorecards?
Good morning readers. I left home early yesterday (4am), and will be on the road for a few weeks. I'm still doing the scorecards while on the road, but scans of them might be a few days in between. Not sure if anyone will miss them, but I will do my best to get them online in batches every few days. I have to track down some way to get them scanned, as taking my home scanner with me on the plane wasn't really an option. :) Was good to see the Royals get a win against the Twins at the "K" yesterday, even though we should have won Saturday also. 6 blown saves by the Royals so far this year. /sigh
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Scorecard - 23APR10 - Twins V Royals
Another one bites the dust. I hope I'm wrong, but I've been saying since before opening day that something was wrong with Gil Meche. The longer he pitches like he did in this game, the more I'm inclined to thing I'm actually right. 5 walks in 3 and 1/3rd innings. David DeJesus did get an in-the-park homerun in the 6th inning. Highlight of the game for Royals fans I think.
At least the Royals made some changes to the bullpen. We will have to wait and see if they work any better than the guys they are replacing. Bruce Chen and Brad Thompson are coming up to replace Juan Cruz (released outright) and Luis Mendoza (designated for assignment). They can't do much worse, but I'm hoping for good things. We need it.
Minnesota Twins:
Kansas City Royals:
At least the Royals made some changes to the bullpen. We will have to wait and see if they work any better than the guys they are replacing. Bruce Chen and Brad Thompson are coming up to replace Juan Cruz (released outright) and Luis Mendoza (designated for assignment). They can't do much worse, but I'm hoping for good things. We need it.
Minnesota Twins:
Kansas City Royals:
Friday, April 23, 2010
Scorecard - 21APR10 - Royals V Blue Jays
Finally, a win in Toronto for the Royals. Yet another no-decision for Zack Greinke though. If I were him I think I'd have a private sit-down with the bullpen. Greinke pitched great, striking out 8 and only issuing 1 walk. A far better appearance then we saw against the Twins on 16 April when he gave up 5 walks. The only other high point in this game was seeing Alex Gordon hit a 10th inning homerun to win the game. Hopefully his thumb is good-to-go and we will see something out of his bat this year.
Kansas City Royals:
Toronto Blue Jays:
Kansas City Royals:
Toronto Blue Jays:
Scorecard - 20APR10 - Royals V Blue Jays
With another good start by the Kansas City Royals starting pitching ending in a loss, I don't have a whole lot to say. So I'll talk abit about the Rogers Centre. Do people even go to games in Toronto? That was an empty stadium, it looked like a ghost town for this series with the Royals. I thought it was particularly funny when Mitch Maier went for a foul ball in deep left field and lost his glove into the seats. A fan must have come from 20 rows away to toss it back to him since there wasn't a single person sitting in that section, heck, he was jumping up on the wall to go into the seats to get it himself. Anyway, was a close game, but the Royals came out with the short straw again.
Kansas City Royals:
Toronto Blue Jays:
Kansas City Royals:
Toronto Blue Jays:
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Fun with Numbers Pt. 2
I finished scoring the game from the 20th this morning. I had to listen to it online in order to get it finished, and won't be able to get that one, and the game from yesterday, scanned until I get home tonight. So, since I can't post anything scorecard related, I thought I'd do a little number crunching.
Sure, this is all just a bunch of number junk, anyone can manipulate numbers to say whatever they want, but I enjoy playing with numbers, so bear with me. :) I had a mini-rant the other day about all the balls and walks I've been seeing from the Royals, in particular the bullpen, this year. I figured, lets make up some new stats to prove my point... well, not really make anything up, just twist the numbers a little differently to try and generate relevant data to my observations.
Here they are, I broke down the Royals pitching squad and gave them a ranking based upon P/BB (Pitches per Walk), %STR (percent of strikes thrown), P/Out (Pitches per Out), and P/BF (Pitches per Batter Faced). This is what the numbers look like after my simple calculations.
To give these numbers abit more perspective, I took the pitching stats for two additional teams, and compared them to the Royals. I grabbed the numbers for the Twins, who at 11-4 are doing pretty well, and I got the numbers for the Cubs, who have the same 6-9 record as the Royals. I didn't break them out by pitcher, just a team-as-a-whole stat line.
Now, these numbers are fairly simplistic, but I think if I calculated this out for every team they wouldn't look overly wrong. I think I'll go work work on that right now actually. See if that tree bears any fruit. Enjoy.
Sure, this is all just a bunch of number junk, anyone can manipulate numbers to say whatever they want, but I enjoy playing with numbers, so bear with me. :) I had a mini-rant the other day about all the balls and walks I've been seeing from the Royals, in particular the bullpen, this year. I figured, lets make up some new stats to prove my point... well, not really make anything up, just twist the numbers a little differently to try and generate relevant data to my observations.
Here they are, I broke down the Royals pitching squad and gave them a ranking based upon P/BB (Pitches per Walk), %STR (percent of strikes thrown), P/Out (Pitches per Out), and P/BF (Pitches per Batter Faced). This is what the numbers look like after my simple calculations.
To give these numbers abit more perspective, I took the pitching stats for two additional teams, and compared them to the Royals. I grabbed the numbers for the Twins, who at 11-4 are doing pretty well, and I got the numbers for the Cubs, who have the same 6-9 record as the Royals. I didn't break them out by pitcher, just a team-as-a-whole stat line.
Now, these numbers are fairly simplistic, but I think if I calculated this out for every team they wouldn't look overly wrong. I think I'll go work work on that right now actually. See if that tree bears any fruit. Enjoy.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Cracking the Gibson, or something like that
So, I decided it was time to gamble with the Topps Million Card Giveaway, and see what my codes would get me. I had 6 codes to enter, below are the cards they revealed.
First code entered and I get a 2008 Series 2 Ryan Spilborghs from the Colorado Rockies, card #607. Could be worse, maybe the next one will be a Royal.
Next, I get this 1975 Series 1 Roy White, #375. Why is it that I'm always getting Yankees and Red Sox cards? Don't they know I'm a Royals fan and could give a flip about those teams? Anyway, moving on.
My third code goes into the system and spits out... wait for it. No, not a Yankee, a 1976 Denny Doyle Series 1 card. Yankees - Check, Red Sox - Check. This is annoying, maybe I should have listened to my dad and never gambled.
Who am I kidding, of course I'm going to put the last three codes into my personal Yankee/Red Sox card generator. In goes code number four, and out comes Dale Murphy, #210 from the 1989 Series 1 set. Ok, I can live with that, I remember seeing the Braves play a few times in the 80s.
Come on number 5! What is this card, looks pretty odd to me, but also kinda cool. It's Eddie Murray and a 1988 Record Breakers Card from Series 1. Can't help myself from thinking Eddie Murphy when I look at this one, what with the multiple Eddies on the card, looks like something Eddie Murphy would do. Well, if one of them was 500lbs+, could talk to animals, and had an alien in its head. Moving on.
Lucky number 6 goes into the Million-Card-Giveaway-don't-give-kcscorecards-any-royals-blackbox. I can just hear the Gibson chunking away at Topps HQ, trying like hell to deny me what I want. Then suddenly... Woohoo! A Royals player, and none other than Bo Jackson. I thought he was the MAN back in the 80s. Maybe gambling does pay off. Nah.
First code entered and I get a 2008 Series 2 Ryan Spilborghs from the Colorado Rockies, card #607. Could be worse, maybe the next one will be a Royal.
Next, I get this 1975 Series 1 Roy White, #375. Why is it that I'm always getting Yankees and Red Sox cards? Don't they know I'm a Royals fan and could give a flip about those teams? Anyway, moving on.
My third code goes into the system and spits out... wait for it. No, not a Yankee, a 1976 Denny Doyle Series 1 card. Yankees - Check, Red Sox - Check. This is annoying, maybe I should have listened to my dad and never gambled.
Who am I kidding, of course I'm going to put the last three codes into my personal Yankee/Red Sox card generator. In goes code number four, and out comes Dale Murphy, #210 from the 1989 Series 1 set. Ok, I can live with that, I remember seeing the Braves play a few times in the 80s.
Come on number 5! What is this card, looks pretty odd to me, but also kinda cool. It's Eddie Murray and a 1988 Record Breakers Card from Series 1. Can't help myself from thinking Eddie Murphy when I look at this one, what with the multiple Eddies on the card, looks like something Eddie Murphy would do. Well, if one of them was 500lbs+, could talk to animals, and had an alien in its head. Moving on.
Lucky number 6 goes into the Million-Card-Giveaway-don't-give-kcscorecards-any-royals-blackbox. I can just hear the Gibson chunking away at Topps HQ, trying like hell to deny me what I want. Then suddenly... Woohoo! A Royals player, and none other than Bo Jackson. I thought he was the MAN back in the 80s. Maybe gambling does pay off. Nah.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Scorecard - 19APR10 - Royals V Blue Jays
What is the problem with all the balls and walks thrown by the Royals this year? It seems like the entire pitching staff has contracted whatever illness has been hanging around the bullpen. I'll call it "Balls" because it seems I'm not seeing anything else. Just lots of "Balls", and I'll be honest, it's not really something I enjoy looking at. Just isn't my thing... at all.
Here's the outcome from the first game of the Royals three game series with the Blue Jays. I sure hope the next two games don't have as many "Balls" splashed across my new HD television. HD "Balls", double ugh. I love you guys, just please, enough "Balls" on my screen ok?
Kansas City Royals:
Toronto Blue Jays:
Here's the outcome from the first game of the Royals three game series with the Blue Jays. I sure hope the next two games don't have as many "Balls" splashed across my new HD television. HD "Balls", double ugh. I love you guys, just please, enough "Balls" on my screen ok?
Kansas City Royals:
Toronto Blue Jays:
Scorecard - 18APR10 - Royals V Twins
Callaspo had a great night with two homeruns, giving the Kansas City Royals their first win at the new Target Field. I enjoyed watching this game, not just because the Royals won, but Target Field looks pretty incredible. I'm going to have to make my way up there to see a game in the near future. Hopefully I can plan it around a Royals road trip there. Here are the scorecards, enjoy.
Kansas City Royals:
Minnesota Twins:
Kansas City Royals:
Minnesota Twins:
Monday, April 19, 2010
Scorecard - 17APR10 - Royals V Twins
John Parrish finally comes back to Earth. Rick Ankiel on the other hand looked pretty good hitting 2 homeruns in back-to-back at-bats. Royals lose another one but you can't put the blame solely on the shoulders of the bullpen this time. Gil Meche still doesn't look like the $55 million man, and I think it's just a matter of time before his shoulder goes kablooey and he is done for the year. I hope I'm wrong.
Kansas City Royals:
Minnesota Twins:
Kansas City Royals:
Minnesota Twins:
Scorecard - 16APR10 - Royals V Twins
Not sure what is going on with Zack Greinke so far this year. He hasn't looked as sharp as hoped, and still doesn't have a win this year in his 3 starts. Greinke gave up 5 walks in a 10-3 loss to the Twins, I don't think I've ever seen Greinke give up 5 walks in one game before. The bullpen, in what is getting to be a normal occurence, couldn't stop the bleeding and the Royals got stomped. I sure hope things get figured out soon, as I'm starting to get nervous about Zack and Gil. Still no wins for our top of the rotation.
Kansas City Royals:
Detroit Tigers:
Kansas City Royals:
Detroit Tigers:
Scorecard - 14APR10 - Royals V Tigers
Got a little behind on the scorecards due to circumstances around here. Spent most of Saturday night getting caught up on the games, made for a late night watching almost 3 games back to back to back heh. Anyway, here is the scorecard from 14APR10. Couple of items of note on this one. When Adam Everett scored off a (former Royal) Johnny Damon double in the 5th inning, that gave Damon 1000 RBI's for his career. Jose Guillen also got his 200th career homerun in the 7th. Enjoy.
Visiting Kansas City Royals:
Detroit Tigers:
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Fun With Numbers
Anyone want to take a stab at the following number sequence and guess what it means? Hint, it isn't my Lotto numbers.
7-4-3-6-25-48
I'll give you a minute...
Ok, here it is. In inning 7 yesterday, it took 4 Royals pitchers to get 3 outs, giving up 6 runs. In doing so they threw 25 balls out of 48 pitches. As if it wasn't ugly enough, Juan Cruz managed to walk home a run during this debacle. The Royals bullpen should be embarrassed, hell I'm embarrassed.
Here we are 8 games into the 2010 season, and the Royals starting pitching rotation has a combined record of 1-2. The bullpen gave up leads in 2 games against Detroit in the season opening series. They also blew a chance to beat the Red Sox on April 10, giving up 6 runs over the final three innings, blowing any chance at a come back. And then there is yesterday. By my count, the bullpen has cost the Royals a chance at 4 victories. Even if they only win 2 of those, they are sitting at 5-3. I just don't know what else to say. A good start by Brian Bannister was flushed down the toilet and the bullpen looked inept.
On the bright side Jason Kendall stretched his hit-streak to 8 games and I still think the DH role is suiting Jose Guillen as he hit another homerun. The offense as a whole looked pretty decent yesterday, but if getting a five run lead for your starter isn't enough to bring him home a win... the Royals are going to lose alot more games.
7-4-3-6-25-48
I'll give you a minute...
Ok, here it is. In inning 7 yesterday, it took 4 Royals pitchers to get 3 outs, giving up 6 runs. In doing so they threw 25 balls out of 48 pitches. As if it wasn't ugly enough, Juan Cruz managed to walk home a run during this debacle. The Royals bullpen should be embarrassed, hell I'm embarrassed.
Here we are 8 games into the 2010 season, and the Royals starting pitching rotation has a combined record of 1-2. The bullpen gave up leads in 2 games against Detroit in the season opening series. They also blew a chance to beat the Red Sox on April 10, giving up 6 runs over the final three innings, blowing any chance at a come back. And then there is yesterday. By my count, the bullpen has cost the Royals a chance at 4 victories. Even if they only win 2 of those, they are sitting at 5-3. I just don't know what else to say. A good start by Brian Bannister was flushed down the toilet and the bullpen looked inept.
On the bright side Jason Kendall stretched his hit-streak to 8 games and I still think the DH role is suiting Jose Guillen as he hit another homerun. The offense as a whole looked pretty decent yesterday, but if getting a five run lead for your starter isn't enough to bring him home a win... the Royals are going to lose alot more games.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Scorecard - 13APR10 - Royals V Tigers
No long post this evening, its my 14th anniversary, and just thought I'd post these scorecards before spending the rest of the evening with my wife. If you are a Tigers fan, you will probably enjoy these... I'm a Royals fan. I did not. Tune in tomorrow for my comments if interested.
Kansas City Royals:
Detroit Tigers:
Kansas City Royals:
Detroit Tigers:
Favorite Card Designs... So Far
As I said a couple days ago, I got a bunch of Royals cards from gcrl in the mail. I scanned in a few of my favorites, and thought I'd share them here with you. Now, these are my favorites as far as design goes, sure I like Luke Hochevar and Joakim Soria, but I didn't pick these cards out because they were on them. Now, on to the cards.
First up, Topps Heritage. This card just reminds me of cards I used to see when I was alot younger. The layout of the back of the card with the cartoon, stats, and highlights just "looks right" to me. I also love the front of this card. The large closeup picture of the player with a smaller near-full-body shot, just looks cool.
Next, Upper Deck Series 1/2. Not a whole lot to say about the front of this one, I love the nice big picture that takes up the entire card. Clean, understated logo and name at the bottom. The back of the card using a cropped version of the front picture, while abit lazy, doesn't detract from the card. the only thing I don't like about this one... I wish the team logo filled the square its in, instead of having a white bar on the right side.
My favorite of the cards gcrl sent me, has to be this one. Classic, classy, just a very, very cool card in my eyes. Not alot needs to be said in my opinion, it speaks for itself.
My absolute favorite cards that I've gotten so far has to be the Allen & Ginter's. Everyone here knows what they look like, I haven't scanned of those yet to show you exactly. But those cards also speak for themselves, just gorgeous little pieces of cardboard art.
I've stated before that I'm a completist. After looking at alot of the card sets out there, I'm going to have to revise my want list. I still plan to concentrate on all 2005-present Royals that I can find, but will be adding a few sets to my list of things to collect. I'll mainly be after base cards sets, maybe working on a few short prints.
Right now, these are the sets that are intriguing to me:
Topps Series 1/2
Upper Deck Series 1/2
Topps Heritage
Topps T206
Allen & Ginter's
I'm sure that is far more than enough to keep me looking for cards for a long time to come heh.
First up, Topps Heritage. This card just reminds me of cards I used to see when I was alot younger. The layout of the back of the card with the cartoon, stats, and highlights just "looks right" to me. I also love the front of this card. The large closeup picture of the player with a smaller near-full-body shot, just looks cool.
Next, Upper Deck Series 1/2. Not a whole lot to say about the front of this one, I love the nice big picture that takes up the entire card. Clean, understated logo and name at the bottom. The back of the card using a cropped version of the front picture, while abit lazy, doesn't detract from the card. the only thing I don't like about this one... I wish the team logo filled the square its in, instead of having a white bar on the right side.
My favorite of the cards gcrl sent me, has to be this one. Classic, classy, just a very, very cool card in my eyes. Not alot needs to be said in my opinion, it speaks for itself.
My absolute favorite cards that I've gotten so far has to be the Allen & Ginter's. Everyone here knows what they look like, I haven't scanned of those yet to show you exactly. But those cards also speak for themselves, just gorgeous little pieces of cardboard art.
I've stated before that I'm a completist. After looking at alot of the card sets out there, I'm going to have to revise my want list. I still plan to concentrate on all 2005-present Royals that I can find, but will be adding a few sets to my list of things to collect. I'll mainly be after base cards sets, maybe working on a few short prints.
Right now, these are the sets that are intriguing to me:
Topps Series 1/2
Upper Deck Series 1/2
Topps Heritage
Topps T206
Allen & Ginter's
I'm sure that is far more than enough to keep me looking for cards for a long time to come heh.
Scorecard - 12APR10 - Royals V Tigers
Luke Hochevar and Max Scherzer squared off again, this time at Comerica Park. When they squared off against each other last week, both pitchers walked away with a no-decision. Kyle Farnsworth picked up a win, and Jose Valverde got the loss in the 3-2 11 inning win by the Royals. This time, would be a little different.
Finally, a break-out day for the bats. The Royals really put things together, with help from the 4 errors committed by the Detroit Tigers, getting 10 runs on 15 hits.
Neither pitcher really had great stuff today, but Hochevar (1-0) had better run support, and only 1 error behind him. The failing of the Tigers defense attributed a fair amount to the loss for Scherzer (0-1) today, and he didn't help himself much either. A throwing error in the top of the 5th inning allowed David DeJesus to score to make it a 5-3 Royals lead.
Jose Guillen, and Carlos Guillen oddly enough, homered today for his third in the last two games. Maybe playing DH is helping him out more than he would like to admit. The Royals bullpen also had a decent day, if you ignore the trouble Kyle Farnsworth got himself into and then out of in the 9th inning. The past couple of games the bullpen has done a fair to decent job, far better what they were showing the first 5 games of the season, I only hope it continues. John Parrish had two hitless and scoreless innings behind Hochevar, and is starting to get folks around here talking about him.
Royals win 10-5 in Detroit, here is the scorecard, enjoy.
Visiting and winning Kansas City Royals:
Click Picture to Enlarge
Hometown Detroit Tigers:
Click Picture to Enlarge
Finally, a break-out day for the bats. The Royals really put things together, with help from the 4 errors committed by the Detroit Tigers, getting 10 runs on 15 hits.
Neither pitcher really had great stuff today, but Hochevar (1-0) had better run support, and only 1 error behind him. The failing of the Tigers defense attributed a fair amount to the loss for Scherzer (0-1) today, and he didn't help himself much either. A throwing error in the top of the 5th inning allowed David DeJesus to score to make it a 5-3 Royals lead.
Jose Guillen, and Carlos Guillen oddly enough, homered today for his third in the last two games. Maybe playing DH is helping him out more than he would like to admit. The Royals bullpen also had a decent day, if you ignore the trouble Kyle Farnsworth got himself into and then out of in the 9th inning. The past couple of games the bullpen has done a fair to decent job, far better what they were showing the first 5 games of the season, I only hope it continues. John Parrish had two hitless and scoreless innings behind Hochevar, and is starting to get folks around here talking about him.
Royals win 10-5 in Detroit, here is the scorecard, enjoy.
Visiting and winning Kansas City Royals:
Hometown Detroit Tigers:
Monday, April 12, 2010
Scorecard - 11APR10 - Red Sox V Royals
I've got this game scored, but didn't get it scanned in last night. Check back here later tonight if you are interested in seeing it. Sure hope Jacoby Ellsbury is ok, hate to see anyone get hurt, and he took one heck of a knee to the ribs.
Boston Red Sox:
Kansas City Royals:
What to my wondering eyes should appear...
But mail from Gcrl, in a manila bubble mailer.
The mail on Saturday brought a pleasant suprise. Gcrl had posted that he would send me some cards a little while back to help out a newbie collector. What a wonderful mailer full of cards he sent. Since I've stating I'm going to start my collection by gathering up Kansas City Royals cards from 2005 to present, plus my fantasy team, he sent me 52 different Royals cards from various sets and two for my fantasy team. Since I'm completely new to this addiction, I might not get all these sets named correctly, but I'll try to detail what he sent me, and tonight I will scan a couple of my favorites to share.
This post is as much for me as it is anyone else, finding out what sets these cards are in was an education for me. I found that between http://www.teamsets4u.com/ and http://www.checkoutmycards.com/ I was able to find every one of them and attribute them to the correct set (I hope).
The list is pretty long, 54 cards in all, enjoy.
2006
Upper Deck Update:
1090 - Buddy Bell
2007
Topps Series 1:
27 - Joey Gathright
146 - Luke Hudson
184 - Gil Meche
262 - Ryan Braun
303 - Mark Grudzielanek
Upper Deck Masterpieces:
83 - Billy Butler
Goudey Red/Green Backs:
137 - David DeJesus (Green)
144 - Mike Sweeney (Red)
Upper Deck Series 2:
123 - Mitch Maier
131 - Todd Wellemeyer
735 - Octavio Dotel
748 - David DeJesus
2008
Upper Deck Timeline:
43 - Alex Gordon
Upper Deck Series 2:
524 - Shane Costa
526 - Mark Teahen
776 - Jose Guillen
Topps T205:
TCP4 - Luke Hochevar
Topps Chrome Refractors:
183 - Billy Butler
Bowman:
37 - Gil Meche
Topps Stadium Club:
101 - Luke Hochevar
Topps Heritage:
86 - Alex Gordon
236 - Mark Grudzielanek
239 - Zack Greinke
Topps Series 1/2/Update:
46 - Zack Greinke
189 - Esteban German
208 - David Dejesus
210 - Mark Teahen
222 - Mark Grudzielanek
577 - John Buck
585 - Brian Bannister
UH109 - Alberto Callaspo (1060/2008)
2009
Upper Deck Series 1/2:
494 - Joakim Soria
678 - Zack Greinke
Topps Chrome Refractors:
26 - David DeJesus
167 - Joakim Soria
Upper Deck Goudey:
84 - Joakim Soria
Topps Heritage:
108 - John Buck
135 - Devon Lowery
196 - Alex Gordon
308 - Zack Greinke
353 - Luke Hochevar
367 - David DeJesus
413 - Kansas City Royals Team Card
2010
Upper Deck Series 1:
240 - Jose Guillen
248 - Miguel Olivo
Topps Heritage:
148 - Chris Getz
Topps Series 1:
69 - Kansas City Royals Team Card
117 - David Dejesus
182 - Coco Crisp
Fantasy Team (The Whippets)
2010 Upper Deck Series 1:
188 - Todd Helton
2010 Topps Series 1:
295 - Kevin Youkilis
Thanks again gcrl, I'll keep any extra Dodgers cards I find set aside for you. Now I have to go back through these sets and see what else I need to track down. I can feel a cardboard addiction settling into my completist brain already, and this list gives me a great jumping in point!
The mail on Saturday brought a pleasant suprise. Gcrl had posted that he would send me some cards a little while back to help out a newbie collector. What a wonderful mailer full of cards he sent. Since I've stating I'm going to start my collection by gathering up Kansas City Royals cards from 2005 to present, plus my fantasy team, he sent me 52 different Royals cards from various sets and two for my fantasy team. Since I'm completely new to this addiction, I might not get all these sets named correctly, but I'll try to detail what he sent me, and tonight I will scan a couple of my favorites to share.
This post is as much for me as it is anyone else, finding out what sets these cards are in was an education for me. I found that between http://www.teamsets4u.com/ and http://www.checkoutmycards.com/ I was able to find every one of them and attribute them to the correct set (I hope).
The list is pretty long, 54 cards in all, enjoy.
2006
Upper Deck Update:
1090 - Buddy Bell
2007
Topps Series 1:
27 - Joey Gathright
146 - Luke Hudson
184 - Gil Meche
262 - Ryan Braun
303 - Mark Grudzielanek
Upper Deck Masterpieces:
83 - Billy Butler
Goudey Red/Green Backs:
137 - David DeJesus (Green)
144 - Mike Sweeney (Red)
Upper Deck Series 2:
123 - Mitch Maier
131 - Todd Wellemeyer
735 - Octavio Dotel
748 - David DeJesus
2008
Upper Deck Timeline:
43 - Alex Gordon
Upper Deck Series 2:
524 - Shane Costa
526 - Mark Teahen
776 - Jose Guillen
Topps T205:
TCP4 - Luke Hochevar
Topps Chrome Refractors:
183 - Billy Butler
Bowman:
37 - Gil Meche
Topps Stadium Club:
101 - Luke Hochevar
Topps Heritage:
86 - Alex Gordon
236 - Mark Grudzielanek
239 - Zack Greinke
Topps Series 1/2/Update:
46 - Zack Greinke
189 - Esteban German
208 - David Dejesus
210 - Mark Teahen
222 - Mark Grudzielanek
577 - John Buck
585 - Brian Bannister
UH109 - Alberto Callaspo (1060/2008)
2009
Upper Deck Series 1/2:
494 - Joakim Soria
678 - Zack Greinke
Topps Chrome Refractors:
26 - David DeJesus
167 - Joakim Soria
Upper Deck Goudey:
84 - Joakim Soria
Topps Heritage:
108 - John Buck
135 - Devon Lowery
196 - Alex Gordon
308 - Zack Greinke
353 - Luke Hochevar
367 - David DeJesus
413 - Kansas City Royals Team Card
2010
Upper Deck Series 1:
240 - Jose Guillen
248 - Miguel Olivo
Topps Heritage:
148 - Chris Getz
Topps Series 1:
69 - Kansas City Royals Team Card
117 - David Dejesus
182 - Coco Crisp
Fantasy Team (The Whippets)
2010 Upper Deck Series 1:
188 - Todd Helton
2010 Topps Series 1:
295 - Kevin Youkilis
Thanks again gcrl, I'll keep any extra Dodgers cards I find set aside for you. Now I have to go back through these sets and see what else I need to track down. I can feel a cardboard addiction settling into my completist brain already, and this list gives me a great jumping in point!
Scorecard - 10APR10 - Red Sox V Royals
Another one bites the dust. Weekends are usually pretty busy for me, as my 3 year old son wants to actually do things instead of watch baseball with dad. Someday he will change his tune. :) Since I'm normally running around with the family on the weekends, I record the game, and then watch/score it after everyone else has gone to bed. Recaps on the weekend games will probably be brief, but I'll be sure to post up the scorecards as soon as I'm able.
Not much to say about this game, but if you are a Red Sox fan you got to see 5 homeruns, including back-to-back homers, unfortunately for Royals fans two of them came off Zack Greinke. Hermida and Varitek got a couple of meatballs to feast off of, and they did. The Red Sox ended up winning the game 8-3, at least it was a beautiful day. Enjoy the scorecard.
Boston Red Sox:
Click Picture to Enlarge
Kansas City Royals:
Click Picture to Enlarge
Not much to say about this game, but if you are a Red Sox fan you got to see 5 homeruns, including back-to-back homers, unfortunately for Royals fans two of them came off Zack Greinke. Hermida and Varitek got a couple of meatballs to feast off of, and they did. The Red Sox ended up winning the game 8-3, at least it was a beautiful day. Enjoy the scorecard.
Boston Red Sox:
Kansas City Royals:
Friday, April 9, 2010
Scorecard - 09APR10 - Red Sox V Royals
I'm tired, and this game took alot out of me. I saw plays that I'd never seen before, screamed at my television, and stomped out of my house. I also howled with joy when the Royals pulled out a victory. :) This weekend is going to be busy around my house so the recaps will be short and sweet. Expect something like this:
1. Ortiz gets tossed arguing a strike!
2. Kendall had his foot outside the batters box on the bunt?!? really?
3. What the hell was that call on Guillen and the dead ball? I don't even understand.
I obviously need to peruse the rule book abit more, cause darn it all if I'm not confused tonight. However, the Royals pulled off a nice come from behind victory over the Boston Red Sox 4-3.
Tomorrow brings us a classic pitching matchup, Greinke V Beckett. I can't wait. Now the scorecard.
First up, the Boston Red Sox:
The Hometown, winning, and once again .500 Kansas City Royals:
Scorecard - 08APR10 - Tigers V Royals
Time is at a premium today, so I won't be doing a recap. Maybe tonight if time allows, in the meantime here is the scorecard for the game yesterday. Tigers won 7-3, sigh.
Visiting and winning Detroit Tigers:
Click Picture to Enlarge
Hometown Kansas City Royals:
Click Picture to Enlarge
Visiting and winning Detroit Tigers:
Hometown Kansas City Royals:
Thursday, April 8, 2010
First Cards
I finally had to do some shopping on my way home from work yesterday, and as luck would have it, I had to drive right past a place that I knew had some baseball cards. Since I started this blog last month, I've mentioned a few times that I was going to start on my card collection, I finally did.
I bought two packs of 2008 Allen & Ginter's, and a handful of Topps Opening Day 2010. I haven't opened the Opening Day cards yet, but wow those Allen & Ginter's cards are gorgeous! The look, the feel, just the sheer enjoyment of opening those packs was great. I have a terrible feeling that my "Want List" is going to continue to grow and I may have a hard time just collecting Royals and fantasy team cards. Being a completist, I'm already positive that I'm gonna have to chase down more of these Allen & Ginter's cards, they are beautiful little pieces of cardboard art. I only wish they were a little less expensive.
Without further adieu, here are the cards I opened last night:
Pack #1
56 - Nick Johnson
253 - Nick Blackburn
US15 - State of Iowa - Casey Blake
326 - Mini Adam Kennedy
199 - Daric Barton
269 - Gary Sheffield
265 - Brian Roberts
179 - Hideki Matsui
Pack #2
108 - Alex Romero
158 - Mary Shelley
US42 - State of Tennessee - Todd Helton
83 - Mini Masahide Kobayashi
88 - Troy Glaus
61 - Adam Dunn
251 - Matt Cain
7 - Mickey Mantle
I bought two packs of 2008 Allen & Ginter's, and a handful of Topps Opening Day 2010. I haven't opened the Opening Day cards yet, but wow those Allen & Ginter's cards are gorgeous! The look, the feel, just the sheer enjoyment of opening those packs was great. I have a terrible feeling that my "Want List" is going to continue to grow and I may have a hard time just collecting Royals and fantasy team cards. Being a completist, I'm already positive that I'm gonna have to chase down more of these Allen & Ginter's cards, they are beautiful little pieces of cardboard art. I only wish they were a little less expensive.
Without further adieu, here are the cards I opened last night:
Pack #1
56 - Nick Johnson
253 - Nick Blackburn
US15 - State of Iowa - Casey Blake
326 - Mini Adam Kennedy
199 - Daric Barton
269 - Gary Sheffield
265 - Brian Roberts
179 - Hideki Matsui
Pack #2
108 - Alex Romero
158 - Mary Shelley
US42 - State of Tennessee - Todd Helton
83 - Mini Masahide Kobayashi
88 - Troy Glaus
61 - Adam Dunn
251 - Matt Cain
7 - Mickey Mantle
Scorecard - 07APR10 - Tigers V Royals
There was wind and rain, and the temps were in the low 40s last night, sounds like April baseball in KC to me. The weather didn't seem to have any effect on the pitching of Luke Hochevar or Max Scherzer however. Both pitchers were throwing some heat, and marching through the innings at a pretty good clip. Scherzer went six scoreless innings for the Tigers, and Hochevar went 7 2/3rds for the Royals. Hochevar left the game in the top of the 8th inning with a 1-0 lead thanks to Chris Getz batting in Yuniesky Betancourt after he singled off of Fu-Te Ni in the bottom of the 7th. Things were looking good for the Royals, Joakim Soria was coming in to work a 4 out save, everyone would be out of the cold soon, and the Royals would have their first win of the 2010 campaign. Maybe.
Soria was looking like the flamethrower we have come to love in KC, for the first three batters he faced. Austin Jackson struck out in the top of the 8th, Johnny Damon and Magglio Ordonez went in order right behind him. Three batters faced, three batters out, Soria is looking good. Then Miguel Cabrera came up to bat, fought off pitch after pitch, and after 10 pitches slapped a home run off the foul pole in right field, tie game. Uh oh. After getting the third out and heading to the dugout Soria showed more emotion than I think I've ever seen. It wasn't a pretty sight.
To extra innings we go, the 10th goes fairly uneventfully, and then we get to the 11th. At this point I'm beginning to wonder if this game is ever going to end since we hadn't really seen much offense in the game. Kyle Farnsworth comes into the game in the top of the 11th and bang, bang, bang, 3 singles and run scored. What the..? !? Seems like typical Farnsworth again. Jose Valverde comes in to close out the game in the bottom of the 11th, and gives up a homerun to Alberto Callaspo, then a single to Billy Butler. Maybe we can win this. Rick Ankiel comes up, hits a double to deep right field, and pinch runner Willie Bloomquist makes it home on an error by Grady Sizemore. Game over, finally.
I am going to attempt to not be negative in these posts, but with the way this bullpen has performed the past two games, that might not last much longer, that's all I've got say on that for right now. Bullpen, you have been warned.
Now, for the scorecard, the visiting Tigers:
Soria was looking like the flamethrower we have come to love in KC, for the first three batters he faced. Austin Jackson struck out in the top of the 8th, Johnny Damon and Magglio Ordonez went in order right behind him. Three batters faced, three batters out, Soria is looking good. Then Miguel Cabrera came up to bat, fought off pitch after pitch, and after 10 pitches slapped a home run off the foul pole in right field, tie game. Uh oh. After getting the third out and heading to the dugout Soria showed more emotion than I think I've ever seen. It wasn't a pretty sight.
To extra innings we go, the 10th goes fairly uneventfully, and then we get to the 11th. At this point I'm beginning to wonder if this game is ever going to end since we hadn't really seen much offense in the game. Kyle Farnsworth comes into the game in the top of the 11th and bang, bang, bang, 3 singles and run scored. What the..? !? Seems like typical Farnsworth again. Jose Valverde comes in to close out the game in the bottom of the 11th, and gives up a homerun to Alberto Callaspo, then a single to Billy Butler. Maybe we can win this. Rick Ankiel comes up, hits a double to deep right field, and pinch runner Willie Bloomquist makes it home on an error by Grady Sizemore. Game over, finally.
I am going to attempt to not be negative in these posts, but with the way this bullpen has performed the past two games, that might not last much longer, that's all I've got say on that for right now. Bullpen, you have been warned.
Now, for the scorecard, the visiting Tigers:
Followed by the hometown and .500 Royals:
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Light My Fuse
The second game of the Kansas City Royals 2010 season features a pitching matchup from the 2006 Draft, Luke Hochevar V Max Scherzer. I'm going to take a quick look at how they did last year, follow along if you'd like.
Hochevar had a couple of stand out games in 2009 for the Royals, showing what a lot of us have hoped he would bring to the team on a consistent basis. On June 12, he threw an 80 pitch complete game against the Cincinnati Reds for a 4-1 Royals win. He followed that up five weeks later with 13 strikeouts while helping beat the Texas Rangers 6-2 on July 25.
Luke had some brilliant games last year, and I think everyone will be happy if he finally breaks through and shows some consistency in this 2010 season.
The visiting pitcher for todays matchup is Max Scherzer, a product of the semi-local Missouri Tigers. Below are his numbers while with the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2009.
Max had some good games last year also. While squeaking out a win over the San Diego Padres on May 26, he had 10 strikeouts in 7 2/3rds innnings. Since leaving Missouri and heading to the Majors, Max has had some success, but he is still not quite up to the level expected of him.
With Hochevar and Scherzer set to duel in Kansas City tonight, we will most likely see some fireworks. Question is, will those fireworks be from batters lighting it up, or the other way round? We'll find out tonight who gets burned.
Stats courtesy of http://www.baseball-reference.com/
| W | L | ERA | BB | SO | WHIP |
| 7 | 13 | 6.55 | 46 | 106 | 1.468 |
Hochevar had a couple of stand out games in 2009 for the Royals, showing what a lot of us have hoped he would bring to the team on a consistent basis. On June 12, he threw an 80 pitch complete game against the Cincinnati Reds for a 4-1 Royals win. He followed that up five weeks later with 13 strikeouts while helping beat the Texas Rangers 6-2 on July 25.
Luke had some brilliant games last year, and I think everyone will be happy if he finally breaks through and shows some consistency in this 2010 season.
The visiting pitcher for todays matchup is Max Scherzer, a product of the semi-local Missouri Tigers. Below are his numbers while with the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2009.
| W | L | ERA | BB | SO | WHIP |
| 9 | 11 | 4.12 | 63 | 174 | 1.344 |
Max had some good games last year also. While squeaking out a win over the San Diego Padres on May 26, he had 10 strikeouts in 7 2/3rds innnings. Since leaving Missouri and heading to the Majors, Max has had some success, but he is still not quite up to the level expected of him.
With Hochevar and Scherzer set to duel in Kansas City tonight, we will most likely see some fireworks. Question is, will those fireworks be from batters lighting it up, or the other way round? We'll find out tonight who gets burned.
Stats courtesy of http://www.baseball-reference.com/
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Scorecard - 05APR10 - Tigers V Royals
Below is the scorecard from the Kansas City Royals home opener on April 5, 2010. Once i've gotten further into the season I may have some kind of standard post for these, bit of a write up about the game, maybe some interesting tidbits, etc.. For the first one, I'm just trying to get it online. :) Be sure to click them to see them full size.
First up, the visiting Detroit Tigers:
First up, the visiting Detroit Tigers:
Followed by the home team Kansas City Royals:
Bullpen in a China Shop
Well, the more things change, the more they stay the same. Zack Greinke came out and had a solid 6 innings for the Royals, only to see the bullpen give up 6 runs in the top of the 7th, and end up with a no-decision. It took Colon, Tejeda, and Cruz to get through the 7th. Tejeda, who got the loss, ended up with an ERA of 81.00. Yes, you read that correctly, 81.00. The Royals offense actually didn't start out too badly considering they were facing Justin Verlander, but once they got past him and into the Tigers' bullpen, they didn't get much of anything. I'm not going to let this Opening Day stumble by the bullpen dampen my spirits though, the Royals still have 161 games to play. :)
I did get this game scored, but try as I might I cannot get my scanner working, so I'm stopping to buy a new one on the way home this afternoon. Look for my scorecard of this game to be up sometime tonight or tomorrow morning.
I did get this game scored, but try as I might I cannot get my scanner working, so I'm stopping to buy a new one on the way home this afternoon. Look for my scorecard of this game to be up sometime tonight or tomorrow morning.
Monday, April 5, 2010
Royals Opening Day
Finally, it's Opening Day for the Royals. This past week has been a long one waiting for this day to come. So far the forecast is calling for some chances of rain this morning and early afternoon, hopefully that won't have any effect on the game, I've got my fingers crossed. I was fairly sick over the weekend and never got around to getting my scanner problems resolved, hopefully I can get that done tonight after the game, so I can get my first scorecard of the year uploaded ASAP. I hope everyone enjoys the first full day of 2010 Baseball, and I look forward to sharing some scorecards with you all.
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