Am I excited about Thome's return? Nope. I'm more indifferent. I don't think that Jim Thome with his .243 average and 12 homers is going to do anything for this lineup that Matt LaPorta (.243/11 homers) couldn't do.
However, he will help the team. Putting asses in the seats helps. If we're going to make a run for the playoffs it'd be nice to do it in front of sold-out crowds. If he's got some wisdom to impart on the rest of the team, we'll take that too.
But don't think he's the new Pronk or the old Thome. He's this year's Thome. And after his first night back, striking out twice and grounding out twice, I say "Your wife is your rock...is she also your batting coach?"
Oh yeah I'm bitter.
So that's all I'm going to say on the topic of Jim Thome as a "thing." From now on, he's going to have to hit to get into the blog posts and I will cheer him when he does. Otherwise...meh.
Moving along...Ubaldo! Wut wut! Finally looking like the guy we paid for again. After two shitty shitty starts, tonight he came in and struck out TEN which is the first time one of our guys has struck out TEN since September of 2009. And the Royals are no slouches at the plate - they're 5th in the league in batting average!
He did give up a homer but he never imploded. He got the W and it was a great one!
Pestano came in for the 8th and plunked a guy, but worked out of it. Chris Perez gave up a hit but ultimately finished the 9th with just 13 pitches and his 28th save.
The offensive heroes of the night were the second half of the batting order.
Actually, a stand-out tonight was Zeke in the leadoff spot. He walked twice, one of those walks being an RBI walk and ultimately the winning run. He almost gave us all a heart attack by swinging away on 3 and 1, after the pitcher had just walked a guy, but he resolved the situation by getting that 4th ball and walking a run in.
Santana was back hitting tonight, after having a nice streak then getting silenced for 2 games. He went 2 for 3 with a double. He also scored our first run with a hold-your-breath slide at home.
Did you know that the KC outfield has had 44 assists? Woah.
Fukudome! He went 2 for 3 tonight, and Shelly Duncan got a hit tonight for a 4-game streak for him. He was pulled for Choo! I dunno what's up with that but that's not bad to be pulled for Choo (even if Choo didn't do anything).
Supermanahan has been on FIRE lately. Thirteen hits in his last 10 games, with 2 more tonight going 2 for 3 with one of our two RBIs.
Sweet Lou - not so good tonight at the plate but as sweet as ever from behind it. Threw out another tonight! As they say on Twitter - You've been loumared!
Not the best win tonight but definitely with some highlights and a ton of electricity. It's almost as if the entire region has become The Positive Tribe overnight. That's fine, we're always looking for more friends. Just make sure you're still here if things don't go as planned, and maybe still here next year.
Do you think the team will wear their socks up for the rest of the season? I guess they did it in 1997 and had quite a winning streak. I say ANYTHING to help right now. Anything.
Check out Twitterer @Jobu_Lives for some inspiration and hoodoo. We can use more hoodoo!
Ok tomorrow's game, Jim Thome will be there again. So will Fausto and let's hope it's Good Fausto because Bad Fausto has been gone for a while and maybe he's gone for good? See you at 7:05!
Two days to Grover!
Radio Chatter:
"There are a lot of similarities if you look at the Royals youngsters and the Indians lineup in the 90s."
- Tom Hamilton
"I thought we were getting Jim Thome not Denard Span."
- Mike Hegan on Thome's first ground out
"Those people probably sat down and thought 'we'll never get a foul ball up here.' That's about as far foul as you can hit a ball."
- Mike Hegan
"Man if Kenny Lofton was still playing...and Manny Rameriz hadn't gotten into all that trouble...bring those guys in and we could sell out the rest of the season!"
- Tom Hamilton
"You can't lose Grady Sizemore, Shin-Soo Choo, Jason Kipnis, Travis Hafner...and say 'Why can't this team score runs?'"
- Tom Hamilton
"There are a lot of similarities if you look at the Royals youngsters and the Indians lineup in the 90s."
- Tom Hamilton
"I thought we were getting Jim Thome not Denard Span."
- Mike Hegan on Thome's first ground out
"Those people probably sat down and thought 'we'll never get a foul ball up here.' That's about as far foul as you can hit a ball."
- Mike Hegan
"Man if Kenny Lofton was still playing...and Manny Rameriz hadn't gotten into all that trouble...bring those guys in and we could sell out the rest of the season!"
- Tom Hamilton
"You can't lose Grady Sizemore, Shin-Soo Choo, Jason Kipnis, Travis Hafner...and say 'Why can't this team score runs?'"
- Tom Hamilton
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