Well, with the Royals having been all but mathematically eliminated from contention by Memorial Day--that's what happens when you forget how to field, pitch, and hit, and aren't fast enough to steal any bases--it looks like they'll soon be disassembling the team. And the first to go out the door will be Carlos Beltran.

He shouldn't be.

Let's see if I can get this one straight. My Royals are losing by thee runs in the ninth inning. They get two guys on base, and slap-hitting Tony Graffanino is due up. Matt Stairs, a hulking, clutch-hitting, lefthanded batter is sitting on the bench. The Royals signed him for situations like this.

Tony Pena signals for Stairs to go face fireballing White Sox closer Billy Koch.

Funny how now that the New York Yankees have added the most expensive sports contract in history, Alex Rodriguez, to their already outrageously priced roster, suddenly the freespending Boston Red Sox, owner of the second-most expensive sports contract in history and the second-highest payroll in baseball, are calling for a salary cap.

I'd really rather not acknowledge that Pete Rose is in the news again. I love baseball, and Pete Rose did a lot to hurt it, and talking about him doesn't do much to help it.

I thought Boston would make it... And they broke my heart. Was it as bad as '86? Not quite, but close. Very close.

OK, OK. So I was in Kansas City over the weekend for a Promise Keepers event, and I saw the Royals' obituary in the Kansas City Star yesterday. It was a great season, they said, but it's over.

This evening I looked at the list of short biographies I've written. Some were requests. A number of them were people I found fascinating. And in the case of Lyman Bostock and George Brett, they were men who changed the way I lived life.

I'll lead off with my best, like the Royals need to be doing, but more on that later. New Wikipedia entries for the day: Rick Sutcliffe (I couldn't resist) and Chris von der Ahe. I wrote up Rick, well, because he's family, and von der Ahe, well, let me tell you about him.

Once a year, the Royals come to St. Louis. And, inevitably, I'm doing something the weekend they're here. This year, I wasn't. So Gatermann and I went Saturday night. He rooted for his team, and I rooted for mine.

Sammy Sosa got caught this week with a corked bat.