Everytime I try to weigh how bad the team has been, I start to compare them to other monumentally bad things. Like that time we were on that trip to the park with the neighbor lady and her kids, and my brother decided to use a run-off pond spillway as a water slide into a sewer (he was at least 14 years old). Or when George Lucas had a slew of candidates and decided to choose Hayden Christianson to play Anakin Skywalker. Or that time Tempest Bledsoe thought she would make a great talk show host and some TV executive agreed. Tempest who? (see the least popular child on the Cosby Show).
As often as I weigh bad ideas against it, nothing ever seems to compare to this...
Spring Training 2004 saw the Royals trying to improve on their only winning season in a decade, and it's obvious (now) the front office felt like they had some momentum with the Benito Santiago and oft-injured Juan Gonzalez signings. Both veterans would fail to meet expectations (just like a Chris Gaines album I remember).
So I guess it was simply par for the course when management decided to detract a weak defensive team from practicing fundamentals by allowing the country superstar to take BP and play left field in several intrasquad and exhibition games. Granted it was for charity, but was this really a good decision for a team trying to shake off years of comical baseball?
What's worse is Garth actually had some mild success against Royals pitching (embarassing?).
In retrospect, Brooks previously attended spring training with the San Diego Padres in 1998 and the New York Mets in 2000, and the Padres and Mets each made it to and lost in the World Series in those respective years.
The Royals, on the other hand, finished 2004 (a year in which many experts picked them to win their division) in fifth place in the AL Central with an abysmal 58-104 record, and 2003 MOY Tony Pena would resign after losing the faith of his players.
Friends in low places, huh? I think I'm starting to get it.
Thanks a lot Garth.
