Royals 2, Astros 1
WP: Chen (6-6, 4.81)
LP: Lyles (1-4, 5.04)
by Sphinx Drummond
The thing that first comes to mind whenever I think about the Kansas City Royals is George Brett. And when I think of Mr. Brett, a great player with some amazing accomplishments, the first thing that comes to mind is always hemorrhoids followed closely by the pine-tar incident, and then the amazing catch of Brett’s head by Lee May as Brett tumbled into the Royal’s dugout making an equally amazing catch of a pop foul by Tom Nieto in the ’85 World Series.
The next thing I think about is Darrell Porter out of his mind on dope and speed. Porter was a really good player and a great clubhouse guy. No one had anything bad to say about him, except he was out of his mind on dope and speed. Porter was so wrapped up in his addictions that he once found himself so paranoid that he stayed up all night guarding his front door–clutching billiard balls and a shotgun, convinced that Bowie Kuhn was trying to sneak in his house to ban Porter from baseball for life.
Kansas City had a good run in the ’80s. They had some good pitching staffs, anchored by Saberhagen and Quisenberry. Dick Howser was a great manager. They peaked in ’85 with their WS victory against the Cardinals in what was known as the “I-70 Showdown” and alternately the “Show-Me Series.” The Royals have been pretty much a non-factor for the past 20 years. A team with no hope of winning a division. In some respects I relate to them as an American League version of the Pirates.
It drives me to nuts to see the Astros fall to such depths that they are now looking up at teams like Kansas City and Pittsburgh. Yesterday, I had to work and was too busy to even listen to a day game on radio. But I hear the Astros lost. Meaning they dropped two of three to the lowly KC Royals. It would be nice if the Astros had better players, if they’d be a better team, and won more games. In time maybe, for right now, they are just a bad team looking to get better. Not bad guys, just not good baseball players.