Archives: Podcasts

We were pleased to be joined by Jonah Keri, author of two great baseball books (The Extra 2% and Up, Up, and Away) and baseball writer for SI.com and CBSSports.com. http://www.blogtalkradio.com/kansascitybaseballvault/2016/05/27/jonah-keri-interview–luck-projections-and-baseball-fandom.mp3 Keri compared his preseason evaluation of the Royals to the team we watch today and discussed how clustering and regression have the Royals falling back […]

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/kansascitybaseballvault/2016/05/26/slumps-and-surges-and-whits-a-hit-bp-kansas-city-episode-10.mp3 A few weeks ago, the pattern was that most of the Royals lineup struggled and one or two players would be productive at a time. Now, though, some of those early struggling players are heating up in a big way and others have stepped up as well. As a result, the starting rotation has […]

After a frustrating road trip to Cleveland and New York, the Royals got some wins against Atlanta and Boston and started to hit the ball a bit. The starting rotation changed a bit but it was an effective change, as Danny Duffy and Dillon Gee threw good innings. So when the bats wake up and […]

The Royals have not played well. The hitting is only starting to wake up, the defense has lagged at times, but mostly, the starting rotation has been a problem. The bad things were our focus this week, including the Raul Mondesi PED suspension. Lorenzo Cain and Alex Gordon are heating up and Eric Hosmer’s been […]

The Royals have not played well.

The hitting is only starting to wake up, the defense has lagged at times, but mostly, the starting rotation has been a problem. The bad things were our focus this week, including the Raul Mondesi PED suspension.

Lorenzo Cain and Alex Gordon are heating up and Eric Hosmer’s been great all season. Even Alcides Escobar is hitting a bit more now, and while Mike Moustakas went on the DL, Cheslor Cuthbert is filling in fine so far. Things are (hopefully) starting to turn around. The good things were also our focus this week, pulling ourselves out of the muck and into an optimistic place.

Follow the Vault at @KCBaseballVault. Follow host Jeff Herr at @TheJeffReport, co-host Michael Engel at @michaelengel. You can also email feedback to KansasCityBaseballVault@gmail.com.

Thanks to Clint Scoles (@clintscoles on Twitter) for sharing audio of a brief interview he had with Assistant GM JJ Picollo from Omaha.

This week, we were thrilled to have the opportunity to catch up with Bob Kendrick, President of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. Bob shared information about some of the upcoming events at the museum over the next month or so, including a celebration of Jackie Robinson’s love of Kansas City and Jazz (May 6), Dressed to the Nines Day at Kauffman Stadium and the Salute to the Negro Leagues (May 15), and the Hall of Game inductions on June 11.

Bob talked about personality in baseball, Bryce Harper’s visit to the museum, and the style of play embodied by Tim Raines, Andre Dawson, Orlando Cepeda, and Tony Oliva, the inductees to the NLBM Hall of Game. And he shared a couple stories about Oscar Charleston, Satchel Paige, and the late, great Buck O’Neil.

Follow the Vault at @KCBaseballVault. Follow host Jeff Herr at @TheJeffReport, co-host Michael Engel at @michaelengel. You can also email feedback to KansasCityBaseballVault@gmail.com.

For more information about the Negro Leagues or the events at the museum, go to NLBM.com. Follow Bob Kendrick at @nlbmprez.

This week, we were thrilled to have the opportunity to catch up with Bob Kendrick, President of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum.

Bob shared information about some of the upcoming events at the museum over the next month or so, including a celebration of Jackie Robinson’s love of Kansas City and Jazz (May 6), Dressed to the Nines Day at Kauffman Stadium and the Salute to the Negro Leagues (May 15), and the Hall of Game inductions on June 11.

Bob talked about personality in baseball, Bryce Harper’s visit to the museum, and the style of play embodied by Tim Raines, Andre Dawson, Orlando Cepeda, and Tony Oliva, the inductees to the NLBM Hall of Game. And he shared a couple stories about Oscar Charleston, Satchel Paige, and the late, great Buck O’Neil.

Follow the Vault at @KCBaseballVault. Follow host Jeff Herr at @TheJeffReport, co-host Michael Engel at @michaelengel. You can also email feedback to KansasCityBaseballVault@gmail.com.

For more information about the Negro Leagues or the events at the museum, go to NLBM.com. Follow Bob Kendrick at @nlbmprez

This week, we kept it brief (for us) and discussed the Royals’ series against Detroit and Baltimore (and recalling their road series win in Houston) as a way to show how the Royals are not showing complacency early in the 2016 season as they defend their World Series crown.

While half the offense is still finding their footing, a lot of the success has been due to a pitching staff that’s been better than expected, with Yordano Ventura playing a central role. We discussed his adjustments and early successes as well.

Follow the Vault at @KCBaseballVault. Follow host Jeff Herr at @TheJeffReport, co-host Michael Engel at @michaelengel. You can also email feedback to KansasCityBaseballVault@gmail.com.

This week, our first segment covered some of the ways the Royals aren’t performing quite like we’ve grown accustomed to seeing and how it’s making the fanbase slightly cranky. Or apoplectic. Depends on who you ask. And that’s for a 9-4 (at the time of recording) team! What a country!

Our second segment veered a bit differently, as Jeff pitched a hypothetical player with a very special gift from the baseball gods, and Mike had to decide how best to use that player in a lineup.

Follow the Vault at @KCBaseballVault. Follow host Jeff Herr at @TheJeffReport, co-host Michael Engel at @michaelengel. You can also email feedback to KansasCityBaseballVault@gmail.com.