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Kansas City Royals: Loyal Fan Gives Heartfelt Thanks

By Paul York

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Kansas City Royals general manager Dayton Moore – Mandatory Credit: John Rieger-USA TODAY Sports

Dayton Moore

I have no problem eating crow on this one.

I’d given up hope that Moore knew what he was doing about a year and a half ago. I watched him do nothing at the trade deadline last year to give his team a boost, and ridiculed him relentlessly. He then brought in some veterans like Josh Willingham and Raul Ibanez, and I began to get it.

I see what you’re doing now, Mr. Moore, and I love it.

Dayton Moore, through his roster construction, changed the game and created a brand of baseball–The Royal Way.

In my opinion, the Royals, through the direction of Moore, turned Major League Baseball on its ear. Until the resurgence of our Kansas City Royals, all we’ve heard about is Moneyball–the Oakland Athletics’ model of success for small market teams.

Your Royals saw the Moneyball option, and they also recognized that the option of paying for a championship was not in their budget, and the decided to pave their own way.

They changed the game in three very big, but subtle ways:

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    1. They shortened the game.  A game against the Royals is no longer nine innings long for opposing batters. You’d better do your damage in the first six innings, because after that the Royals bullpen turns the lights out.
    2. They shrunk the biggest baseball field in Major League Baseball.  Featuring athletes with good range and good gloves (Golden even) at every position means that the opposition almost has to hit the ball out of the park to put up big scores against the Royals. Pitching, more specifically starting pitching, is the currency of baseball. Well, not for the Royals. They’ve proven you can do just fine with decent starting pitching. The Royals don’t have to drop big money on elite starters because all they need out of their starters is to pitch 5-6 innings, and not give up too many home runs.
    3. They shortened the distance between first base and home plate. Having a lineup full of athletes means you likely have some good, if not great, base runners. The Royals steal bases, yes, but they otherwise run bases very well. These attributes make it possible for Royals runners to score from virtually any base, on any given hit.

    Dayton Moore, through his roster construction, changed the game and created a brand of baseball–The Royal Way.

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