The season is 162 games in 180 days. We may be down in the dumps after a tough loss, but you've never got long until the slate is wiped clean and a new game begins. Let's forget last night and go Around the Horn...

First
One thing that can always distract Around the Horn's mind is free stuff. And this week is packed with that. There are still six games left in this homestand and each one has some sort of promotion. In fact only seven of the remaining 34 home games don't have a promotion.

Two huge events are planned for this weekend. Girls Night Out was a huge event last season. Tickets were scarce, martinis were plentiful and blue turned to pink for a night. That's going to happen all over again in two days. Emerson Drive will play immediately after the Saturday game. If you'll recall, Emerson Drive sang the National Anthem on Opening Day and they are excited to be back in Kansas City and playing to a stadium full of fans. We are excited to have them back.

Tickets are still available for both events.

Also this week: Tomorrow is a special day-game version of College Night and Friday is a double play with Buck Night and Fireworks. Dan Quisenberry Bobbleheads accompany the Emerson Drive concert on Saturday and Sunday is an autograph afternoon. 

Second
Of course, the can't miss promotion for this week is tonight. Powder blue T-shirts with Frank White's name and number will be given to the first 20,000 fans. This is your chance to show your Kansas City pride by sporting the baby blue with Frank's name on the back.

White's story is becoming a bit of a legend in Kansas City and he deserves it. He rose from  Longview Community College in Lee's Summit to the Royals Baseball Academy to a Major League Star who had his number retired in 1995.

The K.C. kid was known for the spectacular defense he displayed on the Kauffman carpet. White won eight Gold Gloves (should have been at least nine), was named to five All-Star teams, chalked up one ALCS MVP and a Silver Slugger award.

White managed several of today's current team including Billy Butler and Alex Gordon while they played at Double-A Wichita (now Northwest Arkansas). And now the Royals Hall of Famer works on FSN Kansas City broadcasts, serving as a part-time game analyst and appearing on Royals Live.

FSN-KC produced a 30-minute feature on White which aired for the first time on the 4th of July. It has two more air dates:

Thursday, July 24 at 6 p.m.
Monday, July 28 at 8 p.m.

Short
Jimmy Gobble has been placed on the disabled list with a stiff lower back which has apparently been nagging him for sometime. Joel Peralta has been recalled to the Major League Club...Mike Aviles is continuing to bash the ball and leads all rookies with a .323 batting average...Tony Pena last night was the first Royals position player to pitch since Shane Halter on July 17, 1998 at Seattle. Pena pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning, striking out future Hall of Famer Ivan Rodriguez...Notes from Trey Hillman's pre-game press conference: Gobble will not undergo a full rehabilitation, and instead will report to Omaha to rest and begin throwing from a flat surface in a few days...Also from Hillman: He was glad to see his team did not give away outs and came back to score four runs at the end last night.

Third
The Royals will be getting some national TV exposure next homestand. The FOX network will broadcast the game on Aug. 2, which will cancel one of the previously scheduled FSN-KC broadcasts, which will be made up on September 18 against the Mariners. The Aug. 2 is a 2:55 start on Aug. 2 which is a change from the original start of 6:10. A 1:10 start has always been slated for Sept. 18.

One more reminder about a MLB scheduling oddity, tomorrow is a rare Wednesday day-game with a 1:10 start, to allow for the Tigers to head out of town a little earlier on getaway day.

Extra Innnings
The Royals are working on a number of things for Military Appreciation Day, which is August 2. Around the Horn would like to request some help from our faithful here at mlblogs.com. If you have pictures of loved ones overseas wearing Royals gear, you can send them to blog@royals.com and we might be able to use them for a presentation during that day's events. If not, Around the Horn is also working on a special post for that day and may post some of these photos right here. Please include the name of the person, hometown, where they are stationed and what branch they are in.

Thanks for your help.

Here's tonight's lineup:

DeJesus LF
Aviles SS
Grudzielanek 2B
Guillen RF
Butler DH
German 3B
Buck C
Gload 1B
Gathright CF

Davies P

Today's Official Game Notes.

RSS Feed (Subscribe to this blog) 

If you watched last night, the Home Run Derby was by all accounts, amazing. The Rangers' Josh Hamilton didn't get the memo that Yankee Stadium isn't scheduled for demolition until this off season and started working on that last night, launching a total of 35 homers into the stands (this is an 8-mintue video) with several into the 3rd deck and one off Bank of America sign on the back wall of the stadium. Minnesota's Justin Morneau edged him in the finals by a score of 5-3. The AL Central's other entrant was impressive too, Cleveland's Grady Sizemore didn't make it out of the first round. Swanee was in charge of the AL Derby contestants and his other guy, Tampa Bay's Evan Longoria hit three.

Swanee had good seats for the show, sitting behind Chicago's Joe Crede. That's Hamilton at the plate during his historic first round. He broke Bobby Abreu's 2005 record of 24 first rounder shots, with 28 last night.

Around the Horn is curious if Swanee's neck is okay from craning his neck to watch all the shots Hamilton and Morneau, both lefties, hit to right field (they combined for 57 bombs during the competition).

If you were curious, the longest homer in the Majors this season (according to Hit Tracker Online) is 485 feet by Adam Dunn just last week on July 10th. That is not an official measurement but the estimated true or actual distance the home run would have flown if it had traveled all the way back to the field level.

If you check that site out, you'll notice that John Buck owns the longest home run by standard distance at 478 feet, which is the same as true distance but factors out wind, temperature and altitude. Buck's April 9th shot is also second on Hit Tracker's charts for speed off bat, which estimates his homer came off the bat at 121.6 mph.

Today, Swanee has been all over New York. FOX was setting up and rolling out the red carpet for the parade.

The All-Star parade ran right past Radio City Music Hall. Swanee didn't say if he stopped to see a show.

He did see Royals Director of Community Relations Ben Aken who's in New York helping with some of the All-Star games charity work. In this picture he's standing off to the side of the Boys and Girls Club.

And he saw former Cubs' star Mark Grace interviewing a Hall of Famer you should all recognize. And since we were talking homers in Yankee Stadium, George Brett is a very fitting choice for Grace to talk to.

Brett hit 17 regular season and five postseason homers in the "House that Ruth Built" and holds a lifetime .311 average there.

Royals fans won't forget the "Pine Tar" Game or his homer in the 1980 playoffs.

And lastly, but definitely not least, Swanee saw the All-Star Joakim Soria with his wife, Karla.

Again today. Big thanks to Swanee and we here at Around the Horn who are still in Kansas City hope he's having a great time in New York.

He's on AL Clubhouse duty tonight for the game. You can be close to the action too without even being in the Big Apple. FOX will have complete coverage of the game tonight which starts at 7 p.m. CT.

 RSS Feed (Subscribe to this blog)

A lot of plays in baseball can be exciting. Around the Horn double plays are a favorite here, for obvious reasons. Triple plays are much rarer and maybe more exciting.

Around the Horn did a little informal Internet research today, scouring a few Internet message boards, random polls and listening to some talk radio and the consensus is in on baseball's most exciting play. To find out what we found, let's go Around the Horn...

First
The common theme for the most exciting play was quick action. Close tags, snap throws, quick thinking in tight games and late innings were present in almost every answer Around the Horn found. Teahen's journey last night provided a little of all of that.

During the eighth inning, with Jose Guillen on at second after doubling Mike Aviles home for the go-ahead run, Teahen laced a 3-2 pitch into the right-center gap that bounced to the wall. Guillen scored easily. Teahen got on his horse (we love that phrase!). He said he was looking for a triple. So did some of the White Sox fielders.

When Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski tagged Teahen on the forearm, it was just after the Royals' right fielder touched home. And the crowd exploded.

In a matter of five batters and almost no time, the Royals scored four runs and were set to win the game. After all, we have an All-Star named Joakim Soria to bring in for the ninth.

Teahen's inside-the-parker was his second this season and the second of his career. His first was May 27 when the Twins were in town. The last Royal hit a pair in a season was Brian McRae in 1992. Willie Wilson holds the Royals inside-the-park records with 13 during his career and five in 1979 alone. So Teahen has some running to do.

But what does he think about them?

To quote MLB.com: "They're starting to get kind of boring," Teahen deadpanned.

For some fun stats about inside-the-park homers, check out Baseball Almanac.

Second
Not to be overlooked in last night's eighth inning heroics is Jose Guillen. The Royals slugger had a hand in two of the runs the team scored. He has 22 go-ahead RBI which is first in the American League (tied with Texas' Josh Hamilton). San Diego's Adrian Gonzalez has 24 RBI to lead the Majors, with Guillen and Hamilton tied for second. Hamilton and Gonzalez are heading to New York next week.

His RBI-double was his 29th, which is fourth in the Majors and it came with two outs. Guillen has been exceptional with two outs, knocking in 29 RBI with two men down. That's third in the A.L. He's also tied for third in the League with 65 total RBI.

Short
The Royals have snagged two pitchers in the last few weeks off waivers with Robinson Tejeda already making a difference in the bullpen and now lefty Josh Newman being assigned to Omaha today after Colorado put him on waivers...Zack Grienke, who sits at 104 K's, is the 13th pitcher in Royals history to top 100 strikeouts before the All-Star break(he's 10th on the list and Dennis Leonard holds the record with 133 in 1977)...Notes from Trey Hillman's pre-game press conference: Hillman and his staff have already started evaluating the first half of the season. They had a three-hour meeting last Saturday in Tampa to begin the process...Mark Grudzielanek when 0-for-4 last, still leaving him two hits shy of 2,000. Around the Horn blames itself for jinxing him with yesterday's post. Our bad, Grud.

Third
Limited spots remain for the Royals charity golf tournament. It will be held on August 7 at The National in Parkville, Mo.

Two more games follow tonight for the "Hats Off" weekend. That also means two more games of relief support and one more night of discounted "relief tickets."  Make it a point to get out here (if you can) and support your fellow Midwesterners in need.

Extra Innnings
The Royals are working on a number of things for Military Appreciation Day, which is August 2. Around the Horn would like to request some help from our faithful here at mlblogs.com. If you have pictures of loved ones overseas wearing Royals gear, you can send them to blog@royals.com and we might be able to use them for a presentation during that day's events.

If not, Around the Horn is also working on a special post for that day and may post some of these photos right here. Please include the name of the person, hometown, where they are stationed and what branch they are in.

Thanks for your help.

Questioning the Call
Around the Horn would like to ask you, what do you think is the most exciting play in baseball?

Tonight's Lineup (a change from earlier):

DeJesus LF
Aviles SS
Teahen RF
Butler DH
Grudzielanek 2B
Gordon 3B
Gload 1B
Buck C
Gathright CF

Hochevar P

Here's today's Official Game Notes.

RSS Feed (Subscribe to this blog)