Comments on: Is there hope in Kansas City for baseball? https://dfarq.homeip.net/is-there-hope-in-kansas-city-for-baseball/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=is-there-hope-in-kansas-city-for-baseball David L. Farquhar on technology old and new, computer security, and more Wed, 08 Sep 2004 05:38:42 +0000 hourly 1 By: Anonymous https://dfarq.homeip.net/is-there-hope-in-kansas-city-for-baseball/#comment-3826 Wed, 08 Sep 2004 05:38:42 +0000 https://dfarq.homeip.net/?p=1296#comment-3826 In reply to Anonymous.

Buck came up so quickly purely out of necessity. Benito Santiago broke his hand, then backup Kelly Stinnett got hurt a day or two later (elbow?) and was out for the season, leaving the Royals with the immortal Alberto Castillo and whoever else they might be able to scrounge up at AA or AAA. Buck probably was the best catcher in the organization by default the day he arrived, and since Tony Pena had managed him in the minors, he had a leg up. And maybe they figured with two former catchers on the big league staff, he’d get better instruction in the bigs than anywhere else.

But had everything gone as planned, Buck would have spent this season and most of next season in AAA.

I saw part of his first game with the team. Zack Greinke was pitching against the National League All-Stars, er, St. Louis. Buck went to the mound to talk to Greinke, and that snapshot could have passed for a Little League game.

As for Scott Boras, the Royals aren’t showing any inclination to do business with him again. I hope Houston does likewise. In the meantime, enjoy the second coming of Willie Mays for the few weeks that remain.

]]> By: Anonymous https://dfarq.homeip.net/is-there-hope-in-kansas-city-for-baseball/#comment-1110 Wed, 08 Sep 2004 02:24:49 +0000 https://dfarq.homeip.net/?p=1296#comment-1110 My recollection is that Buck was quite well thought of in the Astros organization, but was considered more like triple A ready, and maybe due to get a chance at the big leagues next year. KC may have thought it necessary from a fan-relations standpoint to bring him up this year, since he was one of the main returns from trading Beltran. So if he had a slow start it may be more indicative of his inexperience than of his ultimate potential. I think that the Astros were only willing to part with him because they also had a guy at double A that they really like.

Of course with the way that Beltran and the Astros have been playing, no one here is talking much about the players that we gave up. Beltran is looking at 40-40 and hit one tonight just under the scoreboard above the second deck in right. On the down side, Scott Boras is at the game in Minute Maid park (Houston’s park) tonight, reminding us that, although Houston is a bigger market than KC, it is probably still unlikely that we can keep Beltran either.

—
-Steve

]]>