Mauer redux: Joe, Zack and the weight of expectations

Mauer redux: Joe, Zack and the weight of expectations

Minnesota’s Joe Mauer came to town batting .295 with just five homers in his first 333 at-bats this season. He leaves town today batting .310 after going nine for 13 with a homer, four doubles and nine RBIs in the Twins' three-game sweep. Here are some leftovers from Mauer’s three days in Kansas City.

Start with this: Imagine Zack Greinke.

Imagine the way he pitched in 2009, and the way the city rallied around him.

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Submitted by Rustin Dodd on July 28, 2010 - 4:57pm.
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Mauer matters for Minnesota

Mauer matters for Minnesota

The following story ran in Wednesday's newspaper, but we'll post it here for people out of the area that might have missed it. And we'll have one final thought on Mauer, who just recorded his 37th extra-base hit of the last three days, by the end of today. 

                                              ***

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Submitted by Rustin Dodd on July 28, 2010 - 3:15pm.
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The Twins and Royals — and the numbers of failure

The Twins and Royals — and the numbers of failure

Well, sometimes the numbers tell the story better than any writer/reporter/blogger could do. And it appears that Monday and Tuesday were two of those nights.

The Royals lost 11-2 to the Twins at Kauffman Stadium on Tuesday night, one day after falling 19-1 — and nearly setting a list forgettable records in the process.

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Submitted by Rustin Dodd on July 28, 2010 - 12:41am.
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Monday in the minors: Three stories to watch

Monday in the minors: Three stories to watch

Mike Moustakas entered Monday batting .218 with two homers in 55 at-bats over 14 games at Class AAA Omaha.

Eric Hosmer continues to drop line drives on Class AA opponents at Northwest Arkansas — five homers, three doubles and a 1.153 OPS in 11 games.

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Submitted by Rustin Dodd on July 26, 2010 - 8:08pm.
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Kyle Davies is the anti-Dallas Braden

Kyle Davies is the anti-Dallas Braden

Good night for the Royals. Good night for Rick Ankiel. Great night for Kyle Davies.

You probably saw that Davies allowed four runs in 5 1/3 innings in the Royals’ 7-4 victory over the Yankees on Saturday in New York. Guy picked up his first victory since May 28 — almost 60 days ago if you’re adding at home.

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Submitted by Rustin Dodd on July 24, 2010 - 11:56pm.
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The aftermath of DeJesus' painful night in New York

The aftermath of DeJesus' painful night in New York

Update (3:34 p.m.): David DeJesus is done for the season with a complete ligament tear in his right thumb, Bob Dutton reports from New York.

So, the Royals didn’t take much time finding a roster replacement for David DeJesus.

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Submitted by Rustin Dodd on July 23, 2010 - 12:49pm.
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Ball Star Tube: Somebody get this kid off the field

Ball Star Tube: Somebody get this kid off the field

Before we get back to sifting through baseball's never-ending trade rumors, we offer some morning viewing to go with your coffee and iPad.

So all those people that say American kids don’t get enough exercise have never been to a Baltimore Orioles game.

Now, we’ve seen all sorts of fan incidents at major-league baseball games.

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Submitted by Rustin Dodd on July 23, 2010 - 2:22am.
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Thoughts on the Callaspo deal

Thoughts on the Callaspo deal

On a night the Royals lost 10-4 to the Yankees in New York, the Royals' decision-makers pulled the trigger on one trade — and may have lost the opportunity to make a future deal.

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Submitted by Rustin Dodd on July 23, 2010 - 12:34am.
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Aviles puts one hand in the air for the big city

Aviles puts one hand in the air for the big city

Mike Aviles wants you to know how much he loves New York.

And, yes, this view might not make him a popular guy among a certain contingent of Royals fans. But that’s OK.

Guy can’t help it. He was born there. Raised there. Just miles from old Yankee Stadium.

This weekend’s four-game series against the Yankees means something more to Aviles — and, well, it's tough for him to explain.

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Submitted by Rustin Dodd on July 22, 2010 - 4:41pm.
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Money, baseball and Madison Avenue

Money, baseball and Madison Avenue

Major League Baseball has the loosest salary structure in American team sports. So you’d think this would lead to baseball players being the richest guys in the room.

Well, maybe not. Sports Illustrated released its annual Fortunate 50 — a list of the 50 highest-paid American athletes — on Wednesday, and there are plenty of interesting trends and storylines* to take away.

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Submitted by Rustin Dodd on July 21, 2010 - 5:42pm.
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The last days of Disco

The last days of Disco

You probably heard the news by now.

You probably heard the Royals released a minor-league pitcher named Chris Hayes on Monday.

And if you’ve followed the Royals for the past few years, you probably know this story. The story of a non-drafted position player from Northwestern. The kid with the submarine style, and the degree in Computer Science. The player who began his career with the Windy City Thunderbolts, playing baseball in a league so far off the grid that it’s called the Frontier League. The minor-league pitcher who gained cult status by authoring one of the most entertaining blogs in baseball.

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Submitted by Rustin Dodd on July 21, 2010 - 2:03pm.
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This Donnie is no longer out of his element

This Donnie is no longer out of his element

Heard this line on Monday night from someone who has followed the Royals for decades.

You know, it used to be easy to keep track of all the former Royals. You remembered them because they were in Kansas City for more than a few minutes.

Now, the explanation: The line came after one-time Royal Donnie Murphy hit a pinch-hit, two-run walk-off homer against Colorado’s Huston Street in the Marlins’ dramatic 9-8 victory on Monday night.

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Submitted by Rustin Dodd on July 20, 2010 - 11:06am.
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Monday in the Minors: Late edition

Monday in the Minors: Late edition

The names are surely going to be lumped together for years now, mentioned in consecutive breaths and in the same conversations.

That’s how these sort of things work.

Like it or not, Mike Moustakas and Eric Hosmer are in this together.

Like Butler and Gordon or Dos Carlos, Moustakas and Hosmer are now Moose and Hoz.

You know the story. Both were first-round draft picks, the first No. 1 selections of the Dayton Moore era, high school hitters with powerful pedigrees.

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Submitted by Rustin Dodd on July 20, 2010 - 1:42am.
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Move over Mark Quinn, you've got company

Move over Mark Quinn, you've got company

You know, sometimes I wonder if modern-day baseball players really hate the Internet.

For instance, the baseball blogosphere exploded this morning as word spread that Seattle’s Russell Branyan and San Diego’s Mat Latos (AP Photo, above) had both suffered patently ridiculous injuries.

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Submitted by Rustin Dodd on July 16, 2010 - 1:58pm.
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Butler drinks up national spotlight — and this time he has a refreshing message

Butler drinks up national spotlight — and this time he has a refreshing message

If you were paying close attention to the All-Star Game on Tuesday, you might have seen Billy Butler get some face time in another Pepsi commercial.

This time, Butler didn’t get compared to Joe DiMaggioremember that? — but he did share the screen with heavyweights like CC Sabathia, Evan Longoria, Prince Fielder, Torii Hunter and Felix Hernandez.

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Submitted by Rustin Dodd on July 16, 2010 - 1:24am.
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Interviews

Bruce Chen: Lefty swingman stops by Ball Star to talk pitching, Pujols, and 90's action movies

Bruce Chen: Lefty swingman stops by Ball Star to talk pitching, Pujols, and 90's action movies

Editor’s note: It’s been way too long since we’ve had our last Ball Star interview. Upon close inspection, make that more than a year. We’ll try to remedy that during the season’s second half. As always, if you have a request for interviews (or specific questions), send them to rdodd@kcstar.com. And for now, enjoy this mini Q&A with left-handed pitcher Bruce Chen, who takes a 3-2 record and a 3.96 ERA into his start Sunday against St. Louis.

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Submitted by Rustin Dodd on June 25, 2010 - 8:00pm.
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Gil Meche: The older brother of the Royals' rotation talks bowling, collecting baseball cards, and sliders

Gil Meche: The older brother of the Royals' rotation talks bowling, collecting baseball cards, and sliders

Very good first-day turnout on Twitter. Thank you. If you're on and haven't found me, I'm at "mellinger." Let's join up, we'll have fun.

You may have noticed we didn't have an MGD update after the weekend, and that's because of a bonus weekend post on SI coverboy/comedian Zack Greinke, and that Davies' start on Thursday means we won't miss a week with an MGD update.

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Submitted by Sam Mellinger on April 28, 2009 - 8:52am.
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Zack Greinke: Ball Star's most requested interview subject talks trucks, fighting, and trash

Zack Greinke, for a lot of reasons, might be the most interesting player on the Royals roster, and this is a team that includes an outfielder who owns lions and ostriches and likes to be slapped in the face, a pitcher who was knighted by his native Aruba, another who works construction in the offseason, and a reliever who body slams opposing players and prides himself on his baking.

Greinke is the most-requested interview for this blog, and if you act now, you can read a bonus interview where Kyle Davies defends himself against what he alleges is Greinke's slander. All in good fun.

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Submitted by Sam Mellinger on March 26, 2009 - 9:41am.
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