THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 2. 2013
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QUOTE OF THE DAY
PAGE 11
"We signed almost all of our draft picks last year and this year we do have some depth in the system and some big-time draft picks in there that will come up in waves. This year we established some guys that could play in the big leagues and we've got a nucleus, and now we'll start adding to that as the offseason comes on and start spending a little money."
Jim Crane, Astros owner. MLB.com
FACT OF THE DAY
Houston is just the fourth team since World War II to lose more than 110 games in a season.
— ESPN.com
TRIVIA OF THE DAY
TRIVIA OF THE DAY
Q: Who was the last team to lose at least 110 games in a season?
A: The Arizona Diamondbacks. In 2004 they lost 111 games.
Baseballreference.com
THE MORNING BREW Royals prove rebuilding is possible
It's finally over.
The 2013 Major League Baseball season has ended, at least for the teams that didn't make the playoffs. One of those teams, my hometown team, the Houston Astros, just completed another historic season — a historically bad season, that is.
Houston finished the season 51-111, setting a franchise record for the most losses in a season for the third year in a row. Just when Astros fans thought things couldn't get any worse, the month of September happened, where Houston lost its last 15 games of the season, with seven decided by one run and three in extra innings. They competed, but couldn't find a way to get a 'W' after Sept. 13.
This season was historic for Houston for another reason as well, the Astros became the first team to lose 100 games in three straight seasons since the Kansas City Royals did it in 2004 to 2006.
But the Royals' season this year was the polar opposite of the Astros. Kansas City was in playoff contention in September for the first time in many years, renewing passion in their fans and providing exciting baseball in the final weeks. It has taken them
a few years, but the Royals are once again a contender in the AL Central. And if the Astros want to bring prominence back to a franchise that went to its first World Series just eight years ago, it should look no further than Kansas City.
Although the Royals missed the playoffs this season, they had their first winning season since 2003, going 86-76. It has taken a few years of drafting, talent development, trades and a lot of losses, but the Royals have finally given their fans a winning product — something Astros fans, myself included, can only dream of.
The Royals have assembled young talent that is now producing on the field. Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas, Billy Butler, Al-
cides Escobar and Alex Gordon are part of a main core group of players that the Royals can rely on for the significant future. With the addition of veterans James Shields, Ervin Santana and Jeremy Guthrie, the Royals have the most complete team the franchise has seen in over a decade.
Seeing people around campus wearing Royals shirts and jerseys this September made me realize that I hadn't given my Astros gear a second thought since May. By then the team was already so far out of contention that I didn't want to embarrass myself by being seen in anything Astros related.
The Astros have started to rebuild, trading away players for cash, draft picks and prospects. Former star players Carlos Lee, Roy Oswalt, Lance Berkman, Brett Meyers, Hunter Pence and Bud Norrish have all been traded within the last three seasons, as the Astros have been building up their farm system with young prospects in search for the next face of the franchise.
What critics have said the Astros need to do — and what Kansas City has successfully done recently — is start spending more money. The Astros have the lowest payroll
in baseball at just over
in baseball at just over $13 million. To put that into perspective, 64 players in Major League Baseball make more individually in one season than the entire Houston team.
Erik Bedard, Houston's highest paid player at $1.15 million, wouldn't even be in Kansas City's top 10. Recent free agent pick up James Shields, whom I mentioned earlier, made $11 million this season. Another free agent pick up, Ervin Santana, is making $13 million.
The bottom line is this: If Houston wants to take that next step — the step that Kansas City took this season — and contend in its division once again, it needs to take a page out of the Royals' book, and open up its checkbook.
This week in athletics
Edited by James Ogden
Wednesday
Volleyball Kansas State 7 p.m. Manhattan
Thursday
Friday
Women's Swimming
Intrasquad
3:30 p.m.
Lawrence
Soccer
iowa State
7 p.m.
Ames, Iowa
Saturday
Football Texas Tech 11 a.m. Lawrence
Volleyball
Baylor
TBA
Waco, Texas
Sunday
Cross Country
Rim Rock Classic
TBA
Lawrence
Rowing
Head of Oklahoma
Day one
Oklahoma City, OKla
Soccer
Texas
1 p.m.
Lawrence
Monday
Rowing
Head of Oklahoma
Final Results
Oklahoma City, Okla.
No Events
Tuesday
Men's Basketball Fort Hays State 7 p.m. Lawrence
BASEBALL
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Pirates beat Reds 6-2 in National League wild-card game
PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Pirates went 21 years between playoff games. The wait will be significantly shorter this time around.
Russell Martin homered twice, Francisco Liriano was dominant for seven innings and the Pittsburgh Pirates roared past Cincinnati for a 6-2 victory in the NL wild-card game Tuesday night.
In front of a black-clad crowd savoring its first postseason game since 1992, Marlon Byrd also connected and Andrew McCutchen had two hits and reached base four times for Pittsburgh.
"We're for real." McCutchen said.
"We're definitely for real."
Liriano scattered four hits for the Pirates, who will face St. Louis in Game 1 of the NL division series Thursday. Liriano struck out five and walked one to win the first playoff game of his career.
"We didn't talk about one and done, we talked about one and run," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. "Win one and run to St. Louis."
Byrd, acquired by the Pirates in
Cincinnati starter Johnny Cueto struggled in his third start since coming off the disabled list last month. Cueto gave up four runs in 3-1-3 innings and appeared rattled by a raucous ballpark that taunted him throughout by chanting his name.
iate August from the New York Mets, celebrated the first postseason at bat of his 12-year career — 1,250 games — by sending Cueto's fastball into the seats to give the Pirates the lead. The shot sent another jolt through an already electric crowd, which began singing "Cueto, Cue-to" in unison when Martin stepped in.
Martin sent a drive into the bleachers in left field. The Reds never recovered, ending a 90-win season with a six-game losing streak.
Three of those losses came against Pittsburgh at Cincinnati in the final series of the season that determined the site of the win-or-die game.
Cincinnati manager Dusty Baker backed Cueto before the game, saying his ace "thrives on this environment." Maybe, but the right-hander never looked comfortable in front of the largest crowd in PNC Park history, a place where Cueto has dominated.
Cueto, who came in 8-2 at the ballpark by the Allegheny River, even lost his grip on the ball while standing on the mound.
A moment later, he lost his grip on the game.
Martin's 405-foot shot to left-center gave Pittsburgh a 2-0 lead and all the momentum Liriano would require.
Signed on the cheap in the off-season after a mediocre 2012 split
between the Minnesota Twins and the Chicago White Sox, Liriano has been reborn in Pittsburgh. He went 16-8 with a 3.02 ERA during the regular season, his devastating slider nearly unhittable against left-handers.
The Reds proved no match. Joey Votto went on for 4 with two strikeouts. Jay Bruce produced an RBI single in the fourth but Cincinnati never really threatened on a night baseball officially returned to Pittsburgh after a 20-year trek through purgatory.
Shin-Soo Choo homered in the eighth, a drive to right field that was upheld by video review.
Pittsburgh's 94-win regular season reigned a relationship with
by years of mismanagement and miserable play. When the gates opened two hours before the first pitch, fans — most of them dressed in black at the urging of MVP candidate McCutchen — sprinted to their seats in anticipation of the club's first postseason game since Atlanta's Sid Bream slid into home ahead of Barry Bonds' throw in the bottom of the ninth in Game 7 of the 1992 National League championship series.
The victory sent the Braves to the World Series and the Pirates into an abyss it took an entire generation to escape.
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