Welcome Back

First, I apologize for not writing hardly any over the last month. I have explained this before, but this blog started as an outlet for me to discuss baseball when the Royals weren't in the hunt or in the offseason. As a result, my posts (don't worry, I won't self righteously refer to them as articles) are tend to be less frequent during times that the Royals are keeping things interesting. I hope to find time to change this approach.

Of course, as we all know the Royals have in fact kept things pretty interesting. For me, this is the most exciting season that I have ever experienced. You can be dismissive about the importance of a springboard season, but just because there are teams that win 90 after winning 65, it doesn't mean that a record of 85-77 in the middle can't have value. I hope to approach this topic in more detail later.

For now, I want to revisit something that I wrote just before the trade deadline.

"We all are fully aware of the faint possibility. We also tend to scoff at those who value things like a "winning season" or "meaningful games in September". If you believe the Royals have to make the playoffs for 2013 to be a success that's fine. I would never argue with that. But who are you to dictate what other fans should consider a success?" - You can read the full article here.

What is unfortunate for the current group of players is that many fans will not grant this season a success unless the Royals accomplish the improbable and grab a playoff berth. They will cite the Wil Myers trade and how the Royals gave up 6+ seasons of a star for what now looks like the possibility of one playoff run.

The problem with this response is that there is no distinction being made between "Was 2013 a success?" and "Was the Wil Myers trade a success?" I realize that many would argue the two cannot be mutually exclusive. I personally would disagree. However, I don't want to rehash the debate here.

Ultimately, the Royals have kept a fan base engaged in baseball throughout an entire season. This is a feat that the organization has accomplished once since 1994. I believe that this will have very positive residual value to the Royals. It is difficult to truly draw in a fan without some form of excitement, hopefully the fun of this season has gotten many hooked on Royals baseball for years to come. Try to tell those individuals that this season wasn't a success.

The point that I am trying to make is that ultimately, can we say unequivocally how successful 2013 was without gazing into a crystal ball? No. Even if we didn't need to see the future, this question wouldn't be black and white.

All I would suggest is to think about this summer. Think about all the jubilation and all of the heartbreak that this team caused you. Then try to decide whether or not 2013 was a success? As a fan, I want to be entertained. I want to dream. I want to feel the emotion and excitement of playoff chase. For the first time in 10 years I felt this again. I'm not going to dismiss those feelings, because analytically I rejected to the Wil Myers trade.