Umm, genius, it might work fine with David Wright, but what are you gonna do when the team’s only representative is an Elvis Andrus type, or a pitcher?
Royals fans were upset [AL Home Run Derby captain Robinson] Cano didn’t pick Billy Butler, the lone Kansas City All-Star, for the four-man American League derby team. They booed lustily when Cano was interviewed on the giant center-field scoreboard during batting practice… the boos grew louder — exponentially so — when Cano stepped to the plate for his first round. (And he was competing for the home team in this instance.) Earsplitting cheers followed each out for Cano — and my, how he made outs. Cano failed to hit a home run, going 0 for 10, and the people loved it. When Cano sauntered toward the dugout, the fans offered a rousing ovation more commonly associated with postseason walk-offs.
Of note, this wasn’t the first time an All-Star crowd booed the home league’s derby captain. It happened in Phoenix last year, when Diamondbacks fans jeered Prince Fielder for his failure to select hometown favorite Justin Upton…
Major League Baseball must institute a rule change whereby one player from the host team is obligated to appear, just to avoid this sort of nonsense in future years. One way to do that, while stimulating interest in the derby, would be to stipulate that a player from the host team is the captain. So, for example, David Wright would be the NL captain at Citi Field next year.
I’m not going to say the behavior of Royals fans was classless. That is too strong a word. However, it was needlessly tart and probably unwise.
Kansas City and the Royals have been wonderful All-Star Game hosts, with their Midwestern charm on full display. The week has been a terrific showcase for the city, which hadn’t hosted an MLB jewel event — All-Star Game or postseason series — in 27 years. It’s Kansas City’s chance to re-establish itself as a vibrant baseball city, a trial run for the October baseball that (we are told) could return as early as 2013.
So it was foolish for Royals fans to let any negativity seep into Kauffman Stadium — even if it was directed at a member of the loathed Yankees. A more discerning group of fans would realize the marketing power that accompanies an All-Star Game. Presumably, the Royals will want to compete for top-tier free agents as the team moves closer to legitimate contention. Why risk leaving a bad impression with any of the would-be free agents in attendance?
I’m not naïve enough to think that the response of fans to one player during a home run derby will be enough to sway a free agent’s decision. With very few exceptions, players sign with teams that offer the most money. But Royals fans who truly care about the team’s future shouldn’t have done anything that would make one player turn to another and say, “Man, what’s the deal with this?”
Opportunities for Kansas City to self-market to the larger baseball public — players, league and union executives, media — have been sparse over the past three decades. On Monday, an excessive display took a little luster away from what has been, and still is, a sensational week for the city.
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1. Robert in Manhattan Beach Posted: July 10, 2012 at 01:24 AM (#4178042)Hopefully this will at least become an unwritten rule or tradition or something. In fact I think I'd prefer that to it being mandated by the Selig.
Use a non-All-Star?
Seriously, this is effing stupid. It's already ridiculous that someone like Billy Butler gets in the AS game; this just makes the fans look foolish.
MLB AS game; soon to be as irrelevant as the NFL Pro Bowl!
It's because he won it last season.
Why is it ridiculous for Billy Butler to make an all-star game?
He is on a 30 HR pace this year and over the last 4 years he has averaged .301/.369/.476, good for a 129 OPS+. That ain't a Hall of Famer, but it is certainly good enough to make an all-star game. Oh, and he basically never misses a game.
I'm serious.
I also agree that KC vs Cano was the most entertaining part of the derby.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, Lassus, BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
When people say exponentially, they almost never mean exponentially.
True that, my brother.
Bigger question might be why Cano was picked for 2011. He'd never hit 30, and though he was hot that April, his May-June total was only 6 dingers. Papi must've known something, as his team annihilated the NL 76-19.
I suppose it's part of the "This Time It Counts" campaign. This time the Home Run Derby actually has an impact on the players' interpersonal dynamics!
That literally makes my blood boil with rage.
Heh. "Midwestern charm." Funny.
Yes. I watched it last night, and in spite of Chris Berman, it was fun.
HAHAHAHA. You realize who our owner is, right?
Yea, what's the deal with these fans supporting their own player and booing opposing players? What an awful playing environment! I hope this doesn't hurt us like it hurt Phoenix when they booed Prince Fielder! Players are already expressing their outrage over the KC fans.
Well burn. Because that is what people are dying to see in the home run derby - who wins, the American League or the National League.
Cano promising to pick a Royals player.
The weird thing is, a KC reporter asked him about this yesterday and he just didn't really have an answer why he didn't pick one. I guess he just plum forgot he made that promise. Sounds like he had never met Billy Butler, where he either knew or knew someone that knew the other guys on the HR Derby Team.
It goes back to at least when Prince Fielder picked his clearly undeserving teammate Rickie Weeks.
He'd picked Cano because he'd known of Cano's batting practice HR prowess. He picked Adrian Gonzalez for the same reason.
Agreed. George Brett was probably the second most entertaining part. Third most entertaining was Trumbo. Trumbo knows baseball.
As it turned out, Cano actually did a really good job picking the team. And even under the old system, he probably still would have been in the competition since he won last year. But he did have the winner, the runner up, and the guy who arguably hit the most impressive bombs of the evening. And really, going 0-10 was just about the best thing he could have done for the fans last night anyway.
Yeah, agreed. Changes it from classless to merely catty. At the same time, it's dumb to expect the home team to have a certified spot on a 4 man HR Derby team.
No way, the highlight of the night was a tie between George Brett being awesome and Mark Trumbo's bomb that landed on the roof of the stadium and missed literally going out of the park by about 5 feet.
Dude had 32 HR when he won. 12 in the final round. That second total ties the most ever hit in the finals. Unless you're referring to something else, he won the HR Derby with skill.
When is booing not being catty?
That literally makes my blood boil with rage.
I've told you a million times, don't exaggerate!
I was referring to something else, Yankee Redneck specifically.
What? As referenced above, he put on an absolute laser show last year. As for "skills", he's also one of the best players in baseball.
So, there's that.
This is kind of dumb:
Last three years, Cano: 141, 132, 151.
Butler: 134, 125, 131.
Butler is very very good, and it's close, but there's a difference.
This Time It Counts 2 Things that Shouldn't Really be Added Together and Are Then Adjusted According to Park and League Factors.
That's loser talk.
He's also a DH, making his OPS+ not nearly as impressive. Butler is a fine player and may continue to grow into a true All-star, but he isn't making this game without the team requirement. The fact that Butler made it and Pujols did not is a joke.
Not that it matters to anyone. Like I said, the MLB AS game is as irrelevant as any other these days.
Butler: 134, 125, 131.
Butler is very very good, and it's close, but there's a difference.
Cano is so good! I love him.
Butler has a better batting average, OBP, slugging, and OPS+ than Pujols, and he has more home runs. Pujols is a good first baseman and Butler is a DH, but minor defensive differences have never been a consideration when selecting guys for all-star games.
Apparently, the KC fans gave Cano's family a hard time, too. There are jerks everywhere but at least the jerks elsewhere come out in big numbers to support their teams.
I don't know if you've noticed, but the team has kinda stunk for twenty years. Would you pay to see those teams?
They actually smashed attendance records for the Futures Game/Celeb Game, and sold out the HR Derby and ASG too. They had a record turnout for the 5k and the Fanfest had terrific attendance all weekend. It makes a lot of sense too because there isn't a lot else going on in KC. We tend to make a big deal about things like this.
From what I heard it was a couple of people in the bathroom. It is stupid if true, but I'm sure we're not the only fanbase to have a couple bad apples give a player's family a hard time.
Go sell your bitter somewhere else.
This is really silly. Taking a cursory glance at projections, there's 4 guys you can say are CLEARLY better hitters than Cano: Votto, Bautista, Cabrera, and Braun. I think that's sufficient to consider him one of the best hitters in baseball. YMMV.
Speaking of player development, the Royals, like other teams, seem to have a relative inability to develop black ballplayers? Is Tom Gordon the last black prospect to come up and succeed in MLB? He came up 24 years ago. I must be missing someone.
Brian McRae was two years later, for what it's worth.
One of the Royals' problems has been an inability to develop anyone who succeeded in MLB, hue be damned. Since Gordon, the list of truly successful KC products isn't a long one - Damon, Sweeney, Beltran, a few pitchers and a few of the kids there now.
Yes.
Unless the home run derby captain happens to be on the same team as the manager, I doubt they'll care that much. And, as far as I know, there's no rule the derby participant must be on the All-Star team.
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