Royals Must Learn to be Better at Playing Bad Guy

Last nights dustup between the Chicago White Sox and the Kansas City Royals seemed to be just another chapter in the recent saga that has been playing in Kansas City. They have clashed with the Angels and the Athletics previously, most notably Brett Lawrie.

Without casting blame or picking sides, one thing is becoming abundantly clear.

Teams are taking exception to the Royals. Maybe its the excessive celebration that had been reported. Teams often siding with old school mentality feel the game of baseball is a gentlemans game, and the time and place for showmanship and celebrating is off the field. The Royals have a history dating back a few years to Miguel Tejada of doing hand signals back to the dugout whenever getting on base.

Royals fans are used to it, barely even notice it anymore. Maybe other teams arent. Maybe to them it isn't acceptable to celebrate after a touchdown or spin the football after a first down. Who knows.

Maybe they don't like the fiery nature of players like Yordano Ventura, who going back to last year, sometimes becomes flamboyant on the mound when recording an out. With Trout of the Angels, he stared him down after a comebacker to the mound. Actions like this often arent perceived well by the types of people who have made it to the show in MLB. They typically have a pretty good feeling about themselves, and are not about to let a pitcher who is quite tiny show them up.

So what is the answer? The Royals have been hit by pitch a league leading 17 times this year, the most recent one glancing off of Mike Moustakas' jaw. They themselves have only hit 5 batters, one of the lowest in the league. They are, for lack of a better word, getting picked on. And they want to fight back.

No one blames the Royals for finally being fed up. They have a right to be angry. Its natural to want to fight back. The problem is, they have to do a better job at being the bad guys if that is truly the road they want to take.

Allowing your under 6 foot, rail thin ace pitcher to be the antagonist is the first thing that has to change.

Yordano Ventura CANNOT be the guy that is going to exact revenge against the likes of the neckless Trout and other guys who are paid to beat a baseball for a living. They are large, and typically have weapons in their hand. Yordano hitting guys with baseball and staring them down is the equivalent of shooting a bull with a BB gun, then waiving a red flag at him. Its not going to go well, and he will eventually get hurt.

There is a reason that other teams have managed to get under the skin of the Royals without losing players in the process.

The Royals, having played the part of the doormat for the better part of 3 decades, are late to the party and new to these games. Subtle is the name of the game. Tongue in cheek. Stealthy.

How does Chris Sale get to put one in Moose's ear hole and remain in the game? Because he didn't give any indication, nor did there SEEM to the umpires to be any reason it was deliberate, even though it seemed pretty obvious to us he meant to hit him (though I do not think in the head).

How does Trout get away with lipping off to Ventura after crossing home plate? His head was down, seemed innocent enough. Body language. He did not look the part of an aggressor, but was none the less getting his point accross.

Most of the Royals have managed to keep a cool head. Colon shot back to the dugout after being razzed by Jeff Samardzija in the 6th inning, but for the most part they are gritting teeth and moving on. This is something Ventura is NOT doing, which has almost single handedly resulted in the Royals new label.

Should Yordano lose his fire? Lay down?

No. He should not.

But maybe its time the Royals watch some video and review some film of past clubs so that they can better understand how to be the bad boys of baseball without losing players to injury and suspension.

There may be some collateral damage along the way, but its only the end of April. If they keep up this pace all year, they may be down more than just Alex Rios and Alcides Escobar for a few days. They are lucky that Moose wasn't seriously hurt by the pitch from Sale yesterday evening. It should serve as more than just a warning from the White Sox, it should also serve as a warning that before they head down this path, they better get a game plan.

Don't back down. No one expects you to be a doormat. But don't simply throw sand back in the kids face. The way its being handled right now the only outcome will be labels, suspension and pain. An eye for an eye only leaves you both blind.

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