DoolittleBrothers

One thing I’ll say about Trey Hillman is that his act is going to play very well in Kansas City for a while. All that talk of family and brotherhood is just the kind of yarn the good folks in these parts like to hear spun.

The stuff about hard work sounds pretty good to Kansas Citians as well. See, we’re pro hard work around here. Hard work is good — especially as it applies to lazy athletes. Throw in some discipline and bible citations and our sensibilities turn to melted butter.

So the reaction I’ve gleaned about the new skipper has been universally positive. Hillman’s not a Republican political candidate (he just plays one in press conferences) but if he did declare for an office, I’m sure he’d be leading the polls today.

If I sound cynical about this whole thing, I’m really not. It’s strictly a personality thing with me. And it’s strictly something that has to do with the type of person I typically find appealing: Individualists. Rabblerousers. Boat rockers.

Those are not the kind of persons that land high-level positions with Professional Sports Franchises in mild-mannered Midwestern cities. We’re the heart of the nation. We feed the world. We suppress the “I” for the betterment of the “we” under the gentle guidance of the Lord Almighty himself. Amen.

This is just my reality, being a person who looks up to the Henry Millers, Charles Bukowskis and Hunter Thompsons who also happens to be a rabid sports fan in the 21st century. The two worlds just don’t mesh. For goodness sake, would I really want Hunter Thompson running my baseball team?

Strangley, the answer is yes. But that’s no matter. Things being the way they are, I’m ready and willing to climb aboard the Dayton and Trey Crusade — as long as it culminates in plenty of digits under the “W” column. Because I am, after all, a sellout above all else. I am perfectly willing to abandon my personal beliefs if it means a postseason berth for the Kansas City Royals. I might even try speaking in tongues.

Highlight of Hillman’s introductory press conference: That half-assed little man hug he shared with Dayton Moore after being introduced. That was pretty amusing. These are really a couple of stalwart, executive types. But you get the feeling that hugging their fellow man isn’t the most comfortable thing in the world for them. That’s not a criticism — it’s exactly the way I hug my dad. And, of course, if they’d really gotten into that hug, people would be talking…

Anyway…

What got lost in yesterday’s festivities was what constitutes Hillman’s core philosphies of game management, roster building and player usage. You know, the baseball part. There was very little discussion of baseball in the press conference. No surprise there — nothing of substance is ever discussed at those things. Yet people cling to every word uttered and use it to extrapolate an ideal future.

He did talk about “divesifying” the offense, being open to different ways to score runs and pointed to the LA Angels as an example. This doesn’t freak me out. All indications from his body of work in America was that he has a preference for the “big inning” which means he values the sanctity of an out. That’s all I ask. When you have a team with no real offensive strengths like the Royals’ roster he’s inheriting, suppressing the ego could mean lots of bunting. But it could also mean taking pitches, working the count, doing whatever it takes to get on base.

Who knows? These questions are all up in the air — we’ll find out the answers when the real games begin.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 23rd, 2007 at 9:59 am and is filed under Blogroll, Royals. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.