Targets on Their Backs

Remember last year when it felt like there was a target on the Royals collective backs throughout the season? It sort of made sense. They had just gone to the World Series and were young and thought of as brash by some. It felt like every series, the opposing team had something to prove. It started in the season opener with Jeff Samardzija hitting batters and then extended through what seemed like every series the rest of April.

The Royals, of course, made it through that time and ended up as World Series champions. Aside from an incident with the Blue Jays in a series in late July/early August, most of the issues were early in the season.

That led me to believe that the 2016 season would be a little smoother. The Royals are a year older, a year wiser, and a year more mature. The baseball world that fell over itself to admonish the Royals for having too much fun maybe realized that their fun was part of why they’re so good and would back off and just let them play baseball.

Then yesterday happened.

It began with an article from Newsday. In the article, Marc Carig (a well respected and very good writer) informs us that “multiple industry sources” said that Kansas City had been “quietly signaling their intent to seek retribution against the Mets on Opening Night.”

His tweet leading to the article implied a little more than just speculation, which is part of a growing problem in the media that we can cover another day.

Mets better pack their flak jackets. Hearing that Royals will seek revenge on opening night for Thor’s brushback: https://t.co/8WIufBT6H4

— Marc Carig (@MarcCarig) March 29, 2016

Obviously this is in response to Noah Syndergaard coming up and in on Alcides Escobar in the first inning of Game Three of the World Series. Let’s unpack that for a second. We’re talking about multiple industry sources who refused to be named. Okay, I get that to some extent. Sources are often not named, so I’ll let that go for now. Then we get into the fact that the Royals have been quietly signaling intent to retaliate for the first pitch in that game. It must have been really quiet because one person has been in camp with the Royals since it began and he had a different take.

Also, I might add that I’ve been here since Feb. 15 and haven’t heard one #Royals player really even mention the Mets or Syndergaard — Jeffrey Flanagan (@FlannyMLB) March 29, 2016

And what are these signals they’re letting out that industry sources are aware of? Are we back to getting up in arms over the hand signals or are they something different? Maybe the Royals have taken to using smoke signals. If so, that’s a terrible way to get your message across. We have phones now.

Interestingly enough, the only actual news that has come out about Opening Day is that the Royals are planning to show a video to honor the Mets accomplishments from the 2015 season. I mean, who better than the Royals to know what it feels like to lose in the World Series? That, to me, is pretty classy.

But the hot takes kept flying. National reporters from various news outlets you’ve all heard of retweeted the Carig article and put their own spin on it. Buster Olney of ESPN.com tweeted the link and said that Carig said KC “intends to retaliate.” Already, it’s gone from sources heard something to the Royals intending to retaliate. Craig Calcaterra sent this tweet:

Because soundly defeating them in the World Series didn’t send enough of a message. Got it. https://t.co/cagK0Zj61E

— Craig Calcaterra (@craigcalcaterra) March 29, 2016

So now everyone is up in arms. Royals fans are upset that their team is being painted in an unfair light. (While I’m obviously biased, it’s hard to argue with that.) Mets fans are getting angrier and angrier about the Royals having the gall to be angry themselves even after winning the World Series. And Phillies fans were shouting at a cloud. It was a day of anger.

And then the coup de grace; a poorly written article from FoxSports.com that first painted the rumored story from Carig as fact and then says that the “vigilante Royals are a big part of baseball’s problem.”

I guess if you’re going to do something, do it all out. Hey, the Royals (our Royals!) are a big part of baseball’s problem. I’m still not sure after reading the article what problem baseball has exactly. I guess nearly $10 billion in revenue is a problem these days. But I digress.

The point here is that the Royals clearly have a target firmly on their back for the 2016 season, and it might be a bigger one than the one they dealt with last season. They’re not just pennant winners now; they’re champions. Everyone remembers the stories from last season about how the Royals were the bad guys and now that this story has popped up, all those memories and more have risen into people’s minds.

The good news for the Royals is that they know how to handle it. They know exactly what to do when everyone is gunning for them, and they should have no problem navigating through a season of landmines.

You know what? Maybe the Royals are still upset about that first pitch from Syndergaard way back when. I wouldn’t blame them for that. I certainly have been known to hold a grudge for longer than necessary. Maybe they like the unifying factor that is so many people hating them and calling them names. I have no idea if that’s true or not.

What I would doubt is that the Royals are planning any funny business. Those who aren’t Royals fans reading this will likely scoff at this notion, but the Royals organization that I’ve gotten to know over the last few years is one that is full of class. I can’t imagine them plotting out throwing inside during spring training as they’re preparing for a title defense on April 3. I guess we’ll find out soon enough.

It looks like we’ll just have to all be prepared for another season of not letting facts get in the way of a good story.