As you know, I don’t venture into sports commentary very often, leaving that in the usually very capable hands of KC Star columnists Vahe Gregorian and Sam Mellinger.
But here we are today, with the Royals clearly at a point where their top-tier, World-Series-status is in jeopardy, and Gregorian and Mellinger are missing in action.
Gregorian hasn’t written about the Royals during the current six-game losing streak, and Mellinger last weighed in on the Royals Saturday with a column about Dayton Moore’s 10 years as general manager.
I’m sorely disappointed that neither Gregorian nor Mellinger wrote a column for today’s paper in the wake of 25-year-old pitcher Yordano Ventura’s incredible meltdown last night in Baltimore.
When Ventura plunked Orioles’ third-baseman Manny Machado with a 99-mile-an-hour fastball in Baltimore last night, he not only cast grave doubts on his future as a big-league pitcher but also spun the team into disarray. No longer are the Royals concerned about poor hitting, leaky defense and inferior starting pitching. The more provocative question is what to do about this temperamental, immature pitcher who seems strangely distant from the rest of the team and who has completely lost his head twice in the last two seasons.
If you were watching last night, there was a very telling moment after the brief melee subsided. After Ventura got back to the dugout, he was seated on the bench all by himself. At first, no one was within several yards of him. His teammates were standing up, either on the dugout steps or on top of them, looking out toward the field or toward the Baltimore dugout. While rah-rah TV commentator Rex Hudler was jabbering on about Ventura “doing what he felt he had to do,” the more insightful Ryan Lefebvre was pointing out that Ventura’s teammates were shunning him on the bench.
When the camera went back to the dugout a minute or so later, we could see Royals’ trainer Nick Kenney approach Ventura and give him a pat on the back. One of the coaches did likewise. But no players. The scene had all the appearances of a team that wanted nothing to do with a maverick, air-head pitcher.
As all this was unfolding, I went to the kansascity.com website to see what The Star’s reporters, editors and columnists were Tweeting. Mellinger was weighing in very critically, and appropriately. I didn’t write down any of his comments, but at one point he said something like Ventura was acting like “a petulant kid.” He also said something like…”We thought Ventura was beyond things like this…What a joke.”
Reading those Tweets, I fully expected to see a column online late last night, or at least in today’s print edition, castigating Ventura and examining the Royals’ new twin dilemmas.
**
In my experience, Mellinger is very good about responding to emails, and I sent him one this morning telling him I was shocked he hadn’t written a column for today. He wrote back, saying: “I’m not in Baltimore, so couldn’t get the conversations I needed for a column last night. Working on one now.”
Like tens of thousands of other Royals’ fans, I’ll be waiting to see what Sam has to say…In the meantime, I’ll give you my prescription:
There’s no room on this classy, determined team for a player with an attitude problem. And that’s exactly what this is — a bad attitude. I think Ventura is more concerned about himself and his personal success as a pitcher than he is about the welfare of the team and whether it gets back to the World Series.
In that regard, Ventura reminds me of former Royals’ pitcher Ervin Santana, who, like Ventura, had a lot of talent but also seemed strangely disconnected and indifferent. Since he signed with the Minnesota Twins before the 2015 season, he’s won eight games and lost 10, and the Twins have the second worst record in baseball. I think Ventura’s career is on the same trajectory as Santana’s.
Here’s my solution: Send him to Omaha for the rest of this season. Send him today. And let him stew and pitch in front of a few thousand minor-league fans — and unload him after the season. We won’t get much for him, now that he’s a certified head case, but we’ll a lot better off with his peculiar brand of poison out of the clubhouse.
JimmyCsays: At the juncture of journalism and daily life in KC 
That’s disappointing. We were just remarking that he seemed to have turned that childish corner. Knowing the quality of the members of this team, if they’re reacting to him in that way I would say they have good reason. Give him the heave-ho. There’s no room on this classy team for that little brat.
We may not be in accord on politics, Gayle, but we are in harmony on this, for sure.
As of 10:32 Mellinger has posted a story on The Star website.
Thanks for the update, Gayle…Here’s one of the best lines in the newly posted column…
“Ventura’s worst moments have tended to follow a troubling pattern. He can’t handle failure, and can’t keep his considerable pride between the lines of productivity.”
Here’s the link..http://www.kansascity.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/sam-mellinger/
I’m not a Ventura supporter nor an apologist. I didn’t like what happened with him last year and was angry over last night. However, watching the MLB replay this morning, I saw something I didn’t see last night and that was his reaction as soon as he let go of that ball. It was more, “Oh, hell. I just can’t believe I did that,” and he almost jumped in surprise and his shoulders immediately slumped. To me, on that replay, it looked as if he was still trying to pitch inside and the ball got away from him. However, I know why even his teammates wouldn’t believe him. If the ball didn’t get away from him maybe he should become an actor, because his body language was really reversed if that wasn’t the case. Whatever really happened, I’m sure his time with the Royals is almost up. Since Baltimore already tried to plunk Lo Cain last night (and it ended up hitting the tip of his bat, being called a third strike foul), let’s just hope none of what is left of our All Stars are hurt tonight.
I haven’t been a fan of Ventura since the get-go. He has not “fit in” at all during his time with the Royals. That said, it’s a reminder, to me, of how one needs to keep toxicity out of their life. Toxic people and thoughts bleed into all facets of life, through work, neighbors, friends, family, media, etc. I hope the Royals organization fully addresses and handles this toxic demeanor and we can get back to enjoying all the good the Royals organization has put into our fine city.
From what I heard on 810 on the way back from the golf course, Ned Yost said in a national radio interview that Ventura told him he didn’t throw at Machado and Yost believes him! Yost is obviously a great manager, but he must also believe in the tooth fairy.
Both Soren Petro and Kevin Kietzman said on their shows the Royals should send Ventura to Omaha today. The Royals are putting their other players at risk if they leave Ventura on the big-league roster. Petro said he expected the Orioles’ to plunk Eric Hosmer tonight, if the Royals maintain the status quo with Ventura. We cannot afford to lose Hosmer; that would sink us for sure.
…I agree, Lisa; Ventura is a toxic element that has to be removed.
Jimmy, here is my main complaint with the new sportswriters—today’s story went to 15+ paragraphs. Not really a word about the game itself. It appears from the box score the Royals again left 10+ runners on base. Day before it appears, only from the box score, Perez and Hosmer both left the bases loaded. What happened that inning?
I have written the sports editor asking if could they at least bring back the little “How they scored” box. Nope, go find out yourself, and that from the so called paper of record.
When you want the basics — play by play, how it unfolded — you need to go to ESPN.com. Nothing else compares.
Today’s observations show a very idealistic, fairytale view of how sports teams think, operate and interact. Assigning intent, blame and punishment as if this is something other than a game shows a fan’s disconnection to what is a stake here and what happened. 2 guys, disliking each other, take it up a notch. This is hardly the war in Syria or the Inquisition, it’s ball, bat, glove, game…
WELL .. According to absolutely everything in print today, all is forgiven and our friend Mr. Ventura was just doing his job. How wrong could we possibly have been?
I guess we’re just a bunch of hot-headed alarmists overreacting (except for Sgt. Bilko) to just “one of those things” that comes up in baseball.
…Except for that report by Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports that the Royals have been looking for opportunities to trade the estimable Mr. V, who has a three-year $21-million contract.
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/the-reason-why-the-royals-have-considered-trading-yordano-ventura-071920349-mlb.html
I will continue to expect common grace from each and every human….there’s nothing wrong with that expectation, Mr. Bilko.
Anytime a baseball question comes up, don’t look to the experts, just go back to your experience playing the game…think about it, almost all really good picthers have an element of pride mixed with conceit. In my day, it was the guy who wore a turtle neck and white shoes on the mound. This guy often somewhat stayed to himself or with his father or the catcher. When this guy was pitching, you wanted him to throw hard, inside on the hands. The team relished in the glory and awe of the strikeouts (less risk in the field.) you liked it when he hit the jerk on the other team. Now when this guy was on the other team, you hated him and hurled insults. Ashamedly, those insults often were hung on the pitcher’s refined mannerisms which translated into using homosexual inferences. To some cultures, you might as well insult mama, cuz them fighting words….and now you know, the rest, of the story.
That’s some serious amateur baseball…My sandlot variety, back in Louisville, was much tamer.
http://framework.latimes.com/2013/05/06/steve-bilkos-50th-home-run/
Great photo and post there of Steve Bilko. (Sorry about the sergeant reference earlier; I had no idea who Steve Bilko was.)
He was a Babe-Ruth-looking guy — thick and not particularly athletic but with powerful arms.