I’ve watched a lot of baseball in the last 60 years and have rarely been moved like I was on Opening Day when young Zane Gore stepped to the mound and threw a perfect strike to Alex Gordon. I’m not ashamed to admit that it brought me to tears, and judging by social media, many others felt the same. The Royals organization has had a rough ten years, first losing Yordano Ventura and now Terrance Gore. The organization has done a nice job honoring both men.
Speaking of Gore, the last time I saw him play
in person was on July 29, 2017. If the date sounds familiar, that’s because it was the first game after the Royals made a much-celebrated “subtraction by addition” trade with the Padres, in which they dealt three perfectly good players to San Diego for a trio of pitchers (Ryan Buchter, Trevor Cahill, and Brandon Maurer). The Royals, gasping for one last playoff run, came into the game on a nine-game winning streak, with three of those coming in walk-off fashion. The conventional wisdom was that the three new arms would put them over the top.
The game itself was exciting. Cahill got the start, and all three former San Diego arms pitched. Ned used seven pitchers that night, as did the Sox, in a game that lasted almost five hours. Joakim Soria, in his second stint with the team, blew a one-run lead in the eighth inning. Salvy led off the ninth with a single, which brought out Terrance Gore to run for him. Everyone in the stadium knew what he was going to do. It was the most exciting and tense inning of the entire game. Sox catcher Sandy León managed to throw out Gore in one of those crazy challenge situations, where Gore came off the bag by a quarter inch. It didn’t matter, as Mike Moustakas and Brandon Moss both went down swinging to end the inning. The Sox manufactured a run in the 10th, and that was that.
Despite the loss, seeing a game at Fenway is always a good time. Sox fans love their baseball and know how to make a party out of it. Plus, there’s something special about singing “Sweet Caroline” with 37,000 other people. The loss sent the Royals into a tailspin. The team won only 26 of its final 61 games as the San Diego curse took hold.
Speaking of former Royals, how about the start that Joey Wiemer is having in Washington? Through 26 plate appearances, he’s slashing a cool .476/.577/.857 with ten hits, including two home runs. It goes without saying that it’s an incredibly small sample size, and he will cool off. It’s also possible that he’s turned the corner in his age-27 season and could become the next Brent Rooker-type castoff. I understand that he didn’t do anything notable in his Kansas City tenure, where he hit just .182 over 72 games, at Omaha, no less. He’s got the physical tools at 6’4″, 226, with good speed. Here’s hoping he’s figured it out.
The Royals stand at 5-6, hoping to get back to .500 today. Saturday’s first game also happened to be the first time this season I’ve seen them play, thanks to some strange television blackout rules. Much like last season, the bats are early-season AWOL. The starting pitching has been mostly great this season—until this game. Luinder Avila, whom many were pining to have on the Opening Day roster after his stellar showing in the WBC, crapped the bed in his 2026 Royals debut. He’s young and has a live arm. He’ll be okay. The bullpen, at times, has been scarier than a gas station bathroom, but the Royals have had a knack for finding capable relievers.
By and large, Royals fans, including me, are a pessimistic and fickle bunch. We’ve endured a lot of losing over the past 30 years, and it’s worn on us. We’re not at the dish-throwing stage yet, but we can get there in a hurry if the boys don’t start hitting and scoring some runs.
Of course, the big change for 2026 has been the introduction of the challenge system. I’ve been calling for it for several seasons, primarily because one missed strike or ball call can change an at-bat, which in turn can change a game. And many times, playoff berths are decided by one game.
Say, for example, there are two outs with men on second and third, and the count on the batter is two balls and one strike. The next pitch is an inch or so out of the strike zone but is called a strike. Last season, that means 2–2, and the pitcher is now in control. He’d most likely throw a slider down and away, looking for the punchout.
If the call is challenged and overturned, the count goes to 3–1, and the batter is in control. A 3–1 count is a prime hitter’s count, and if I were at the plate, I’d be looking for a fastball.
A base hit scores two.
The system has been very popular with the fans, and some umpires (here’s looking at you, C.B. Bucknor) have taken it in the shorts. I feel some sympathy for the umpires. I can’t imagine how difficult it must be to try to gauge a ball moving at 95–100 mph with vertical or horizontal movement over a 17-inch target. Some of the overturns have been egregious misses. Others have been on balls that were less than a half inch off the zone. Pull out a tape measure and look at half an inch. Tough job, but it’s what they’ve been trained – and paid – to do.
I was out at what remains of our mall the other day, looking for clothes in Von Maur, and stumbled across a nifty little leather-bound book called The Ballpark Bucket List by James Buckley Jr. Inside are several pages dedicated to each of the majors’ ballparks, where you can take notes on your visit. The book set off an obsessive search of programs and ticket stubs from games I’ve attended at various parks around the country and brought back many terrific memories.
Surprisingly, in 53 years of attending games, I’ve only seen two extra-inning games. I’ve seen Reggie Jackson hit home runs for three franchises: New York, Baltimore, and California.
I’d forgotten that I’d seen Steve Busby pitch several times. It’s a shame that this generation of Royals fans hasn’t been exposed to Busby’s greatness.
Along with Busby, I’ve seen some other great pitchers: Jim Kaat, Bert Blyleven, Randy Johnson, and Nolan Ryan come to mind.
One game program had an autograph from Buck O’Neil. I wish I’d gotten a picture with him.
My brother Shane and I love visiting ballparks and sporting venues. We’ll send each other selfies in front of some sporting palace in a “guess where I am” game. If you’re like me and enjoy documenting your baseball visits, take a look at this cool baseball book.
