Hearne: World Series Grab Bag – Everything You Need to Know & More

Maybe you’ve got hours to kill running down anything and everything Royals...

I’m betting though that you don’t – even if you have World Series fever – and who doesn’t these days? – you’ve still got a life, right?

Example: I totally would’ve have watched  Game 2 Wednesday, but was in transit to Chicago and lucky to catch the key parts of the 6th inning in the bar at Joe’s Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab moments before I was whisked to my table.

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   Did the Wall Street Journal Really Call Ned Yost a ‘Dunce’

Of course not.

While I’ve been fairly observant, I confess that I missed the Wall Street Journal’s tongue-in-cheek headline diss of Royals manager Ned Yost – the one that seemingly referring to him as “a dunce.”

However, this is one of many examples of people pulling things out of context to try and make a point – or make something sound sexy -which often as not, is not that simple in the game of journalism.

Because nowhere in WSJ writer Brian Costa‘s story comparing Yost and Orioles skipper Buck Showalter did Costa come close to calling Yost a dunce. Overall the piece was actually pretty flattering.

But dunce? No way!

In actuality, Costa used the word genius to describe Yost.

Yet Star sports scribe Sam Mellinger reported today that the Journal called Yost “a dunce.”

Sam knows better, for two reasons…

First, because he undoubtedly read the story and recognized that Costa was doing the same thing many sportswriters have been doing lately; setting Yost up by outlining what his critics have said, and then noting what a remarkable job of managing the Royals he’s done despite that.

Second, Sam knows that lowly copy editors – not reporters and columnists – are the ones who write most headlines, so this was not a case where the Journal had made some sort of editorial statement criticizing Yost. It was merely a low-wage copy clerk trying to be sarcastic funny and provocative.

And that’s how the game is played oftentimes.

The bottom line: Nobody at the Wall Street Journal called Ned Yost a dunce.

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                                                   Smarmy but Wilde

There are a few other fun stories out there…

Like US Magazine’s in depth investigation, resulting in the headline, “Olivia Wilde Kisses Jason Sudeikis After Kansas City Royals World Series Game 2 Win.”

Sudeikis, you recall, is the actor/comic who hails from KC and laid a baby – but not a wedding ring – on Hollywood hottie Wilde this past year.

The reporting is a little on the smarmy side, but check it out:

“Well, these lovebirds made it to first base! Olivia Wilde and her fiance Jason Sudeikis celebrated the Kansas City Royals’ victory over the San Francisco Giants in Game 2 of the World Series on Wednesday, Oct. 22, with a big juicy kiss.

“Wilde, 30, shared a snap on Twitter, inside the Ewing M. Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, Mo., moments before the game ended with the Royals leading 7 to 2. ‘GO ROYALS,’ the mom to 4-month-old baby Otis wrote alongside the photo of her leaning in and locking lips with her man.

“For the sporting event, Kansas native Sudeikis wore a white and blue Royals jersey and baseball cap. The SNL alum, 39, has long been a fan of the baseball team and is also a diehard Kansas University basketball fan. Both he and Wilde have attended Kansas-related sporting events together, and it appears that he’s converted the NYC native from whatever teams she rooted for previously.

“The first-time parents could eventually influence their son’s future sports preferences, too. In June, Wilde updated Us on her growing family, calling it ‘the best feeling in the world.’ She mused: ‘It’s such a joy to watch them laughing and smiling together… I look forward to when Jason can start reading to Otis because then, the best thing ever, is when your dad is reading to you and does all the characters from the books.’ ”

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                                                              Royal Trendsetters

Former Star sports columnist Joe Posnanski is in full swoon over the Royals and the way the team’s been playing in the World Series appears to be unshackled from having to write mostly about larger market sports teams rather than his homies.

JoPo’s NBC Sports latest: a piece about the Royals triple threat reliever core.

“You know the story of the T-formation in pro football, right?,” Posnanski writes. “In 1940, just about every team in the NFL was using some variation of the single wing, where the ball would be snapped to different players and the key was getting a double team for somebody to run behind. It was almost exclusively a running offense.

“The Chicago Bears, though, ran the T-formation, which relied much more on a savvy quarterback who could handle all the fakes and throws the offense demanded. Most people around the league thought that offense was a mess. Then the Bears beat Washington, 73-0, in the 1940 championship game, and most teams decided they might want to give the T-formation a try.

“Well, baseball might be at one of those breakthrough moments too. You never can tell, of course, because Baseball shifts dramatically and quickly. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, teams were scoring more runs and hitting more homers than ever before – people worried that offense would wreck the game. In 2014, teams are scoring fewer runs than at any point since American League executives freaked out and added the designated hitter. There’s no telling what the next five years will bring…

“It is jolting to see the Royals at the head of this multiple closer trend. The Royals are hardly the first team to put together a dominant bullpen. The 1990 Reds won the World Series largely behind a commanding bullpen called ‘The Nasty Boys.’ Other teams had great bullpens.

“But this idea of three closers – one for the seventh, one for the eighth, one for the ninth – is something a little bit different. It has been building for a few years but it really came into focus this year. Teams are winning a higher percentage of games they lead going into the seventh and eighth innings. And the Royals are almost invincible in those games.”

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                    San Fran Newspaper Makes an ‘Ouch’ Sound

While the Kansas City Star sports staff has been kicking butt and taking names throughout the Royals playoffs run, it’s always fun to hear how the guys writing for the other team – the losing team – are handling matters.

“Somewhere, in the residue of Game 3, a pile of theories caught fire. As it simmered, the advantage of National League rules turned to ashes, right along with the Giants’ mastery of a pitching staff and the inspirational qualities of a wildly enthusiastic crowd,” San Francisco Chronicle sportswriter Bruce Jenkins anguished after last night’s loss.

“As little as anyone really knows about Game 4 and beyond, there is one dead-solid lock: Don’t be trailing this Kansas City team late in the game. The Giants fully realized that going in, but to actually step up against Kelvin Herrera, Wade Davis and Greg Holland — frightening.

“The cruelty of postseason baseball is that when a perfectly logical move doesn’t work, it becomes foolhardy, complete with sweeping generalizations. Are you really buying the theory that Ned Yost ‘out-managed’ Bruce Bochy? Couldn’t you imagine everything turning back in the Giants’ favor in Game 4?”

On the Royals catcher nailing a Giant trying to swipe second, Jenkins writes, “Glove to glove — his to the infielder’s — Royals catcher Salvador Perez has been timed at 1.8 seconds on steal-attempt throws to second. If that sounds implausible, you didn’t see Perez gun down Hunter Pence in the second.”

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                                             To Scalp or Not to Scalp?

Chronicle sportswriter Ann Killion touched on a touchy subject that has not escaped the attention of a number of Kansas Citians fortunate enough to land series tickets.

And that’s that rather than attend the games, everyday average fans have turned to scalping.

“The mood at the sold-out ballpark was reserved through those early innings,” Killon writes. “You could blame that on the inability of the home team to produce runs. Or it could be that regular fans sold their World Series tickets for top dollar in order to finance next year’s season tickets, or maybe their property taxes. Clearly there were a lot of new fans in the park, judging by the confusion some had in exiting the ballpark after the game.”

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                                                               Photo Magic!

There’s been no shortage of fun photos popping up in the postseason.

For starters check out this pic of Block & Company head honcho David Block on Yahoo Sports.

With front row seats, nobody short of a handful of Royals players have gotten more face time on TV than Block. At every home game, there he is, right in the thick of things, wearing shirts with ultra large letters for all to see.

“You probably saw David Block and his wife Vicki in the background while watching Game 3 of the American League Championship Series,” writes Yahoo’s Nick Bromberg.

The eye candy magnet that drew Yahoo to beaming businessman Block: 

A Royal blue sweatshirt that read: “29 Years, 1 Wife, 3 Kids, 9 Dogs, 0 Series

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The days of Joe Montana getting pulled over in a certain state and let off by KC cops are long over. As is his famous Hanes underwear autograph session that drew thousands of women and his reportedly unhappy relationship with former Big Chief Carl Peterson.

These days Montana appears to have settled down some and in-between leading cheers for the San Francisco Giants during the team’s playoff’s run, the dying embers of his ties to KC appear all but extinguished. As evidenced by his expression while watching his Giants take a beating courtesy of the Royals. Poor baby.

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Any of you who have kids know, there’s this insidious claw machine game at restaurants and grocery stores, that parents blow several dollars in quarters in while the kids try in vain to drop a weak-as-a-kitten claw onto a pile of toys and stuffed animals, pick something up and drop it down a chute where they get keep it.

Ninety-nine times out of 100 the claw falls limply onto the toy, failing to as much as move it an inch. But every once in a blue moon – when the stars align and the spirits are friendly – it can be done.

Such was the case in August when for the first time in forever, the Royals took 1st place in their division. On that very date, I spotted this goofy-looking Alex Gordon doll looking oh so vulnerable at a Dillon’s store in Lawrence. So I went for it and won on a single 50 cent try.

And as the Royals fortunes grew, I made a late night, mid-game deal with Brandon Leftridge that if the team prevailed that night, I would give him the doll. So I did.

Now I don’t know exactly what Brandon’s been up to with Alex, but were I a betting man I’d probably wager he either sleeps with it, pats its butt before every game or both.

Far be it from me to ask him though…

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Everybody’s favorite comedy club owner and sports prognosticator Craig Glazer mentioned the other day how it was weird that he never saw George Brett‘s wife Leslie with him at any of the games. You know, on the TV coverage.

It did seem odd. Were they still together? Or perhaps leading separate lives?

Well, Craig’s question was somewhat answered last night via this pic.

Although it hardly appears to be a romantic outing.

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And what photo essay would be complete without a Mystery Photo?

So concentrate real hard and try and tell me who the third dude is in this photo of Carl Peterson and Mr. X kissing up to Sir George the other night?

Hint: neither Brandon nor the Scribe could ID the dude.