And another thing

In this post, Rany Jayazerli condemns the Betancourt trade in a manner far superior to my own. He also hints that he may be done with the Royals. This is kind-of surprising, as Rany is both a hopeless optimist and didn't hold it against the team a couple of weeks ago when they removed his press credentials AND threatened to do so for any radio or news outlet that featured him. The whole Rany Ban affair was shameful and petulant upon the Royals part and greatly shook any faith I had in any aspect of the Royals organization. Some commenters on Rany's post have lectured, cussed, exhorted, and chastised him threatening to leave the Royals. They've drawn inevitable and nasty comparisons to his friend and fellow stathead Rob Neyer, who gave up his Royals fandom a few years ago. None of those commenters will ever read this. Regardless, this is me telling them to go fuck themselves.

I owe the Kansas City Royals nothing. NOTHING. I have no obligation to support the Kansas City Royals. And neither does any Royals fan. I've spent a good deal of money on them. I've patronized their stadium, their concession stands, their gear, and their television and radio broadcasts. I have contributed to their revenue stream in multiple ways. And what have they given me? One (fluke) winning season in 15 years. Some of the most laughably bad baseball in the modern era. A team ignored by national sports outlets. A team mocked by everyone. A team that gives me little to combat the insults of opposing fans. A team that asked for and received tax payer money to upgrade a perfectly good stadium - and still puts a last place product on the field. A team that purposely ignores statistical methods that could help them win. They can't even operate in a dignified manner in the front office. They petulantly ban media members, they draw the ire of the rest of the league by soaking up revenue sharing dollars without investing them in the team, and for a while they purposely drafted players who would take the absolute minimum signing bonus. They are a joke of a franchise.

KC fans and media are too nice. Yet the Royals still manage to be "offended" with regularity. These commenters on Rany's site are drones we don't need. They present two reasons why they will and must always root for the Royals: 1. they always have and 2. they are in KC. They credit David Glass for "keeping the team in KC." Fuck that. That cheapass owner keeping a team in a town that already has a fine stadium and sweetheart lease is no cause for adoration. The Royals have been awful, just awful, since the 1994 strike. They've done everything to destroy their fanbase. And yet the people don't demand success. They may go to fewer games, but nobody seems to really pissed off. Nobody insists that "this" is unacceptable. Nobody tells them to stop pimping their 10 year run of pseudo success (75-85) and actually win something now.

As I said in my Rany ban email to the Royals, winning gains a team the benefit of the doubt. And this team has none. I don't blame a single fan for abandoning the Royals. I used to think that I'd never be able to do it. But that might not be true. The organization has obviously embraced the strategy Einstein defined as "insane" (doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results) as the way to build a winning baseball team. Anybody holding their breath?