After Bell's surgery I was starting to worry that the team was slacking off,
a tv report was showing players casting flyrods and tossing footballs during
what was supposed to be warmups, maybe it was nerves over Buddy's medical
situation but it looked like they had totally just given up and were going
to phone in the rest of the season. Last week made me feel alot better
about things. Im really looking forward to next year, I just wish we could
erase the first 60 days of this season. You must admit that the difference
in the first half and the second are so dramatic that it looked like two
different teams. I really liked Baird as a person, but something about
Moore has really turned things around, I still think the team is a long way
from a World Series but they seem to finally be playing at or above their
talent level which was something Baird was never able to achieve. What
changed? Was it simply attitude?

Lots to look forward to next year.

In article <cjaUg.12396$7I1.8829@newssvr27.news.prodigy.net>,
"blueraja" <gamespast@sbcglobal.net> wrote:


Agreed. If you've got to lose 100 games, the 2006 Royals did it the best
way possible, by leaving hope for the future. Here's the breakdown of
the season into thirds:


W L
1st third 14 40

2nd third 24 30

Final lap 24 30

Overall 62 100


Over the first third of the season the Royals were as bad as the 1962
Mets or the 2003 Tigers -- historically bad.

But during the remainder of the year they were no worse than the bottom
quartile of teams in any given year. That's still a fair distance from
"good", but it's not so far distant that hope seems futile.