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/ SPORTS / TUESDAY, MARCH 2, 2010 / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / KANSAN.COM
King Pin
Karsten Lunde/KANSH Burton Gepford, senior, sprays bowling shoes before placing them back on the storage rack at the Kansas Jaybowl - Monday afternoon. Gepford, a member of the KU bowling team, also teaches bowling classes to KU students. The Jaybowl recently added Big 12 team banners and swanky, new furniture.
Karsten Lunde/KANSAN
MLB
Royals' hitting coach has high hopes for season No.2
ASSOCIATED PRESS
SURPRISE. Ariz. — Given Kansas City's paltry on-base percentage, it's hard to call Kevin Seitzer's first year as hitting coach a roaring success.
It could even be called a failure.
Nevertheless, Seitzer figures year No. 2 should be better for many reasons. The arrival of some savvy, experienced newcomers should help. Veterans like outfielder Scott Podsnik and indefiler Chris Getz have career on-base
percentages higher than the .318
the Royals put up last year.
Most of all, Seitzer feels he's earned the right to expect hitters to listen.
"Last year I had to prove they could trust me," he said. "So this year, I'm hoping we get in, we get after it, we get better, we get prepared."
Royals fans have no problem trusting Seitzer's hitting credentials, especially those who recall 1987 when he hit .323 and finished second to Mark McGwire in
rookie-of-the-year balloting.
AL Central.
Still, it was back with his old team. He had some familiarity with the Royals since he followed them closely as a yearlong Kansas City resident. But with few
things did seem to pick up m the last couple
"Last year I had to prove they could trust me."
exceptions, the Royals struggled at the plate while finishing in a last-place tie with Cleveland in the
KEVIN SEITZER Royal's hitting coach
of months.
"I'm excited about being a second-year coach in this organization," Seitzer said. "You can come in as a
new coach, but that doesn't mean you're going to instantly have the trust and respect that a hitting
coach needs in order to (persuade hitters to) make the adjustments happen during the game.
"There are things — mindsets, approaches, that I know worked and didn't work as a hitter," he said. "Last season, I feel it got better and better and better as the season went on."
Billy Butler was his biggest success story. At 23, he had 51 doubles, 21 home runs, 93 RBIs and a .301 average. It was one of the best years in team history and he lavishes credit on Seitzer.
Still, only two major league teams had a worse on-base percentage than Kansas City.
Does not matter, insists manager Trey Hillman.
"I thought he was outstanding last year," the second-year manager said of Seitzer. "For me, it's just a continuation of what he did."
Another newcomer, infielder/ outfielder Josh Fields, sought out Seitzter several times during the winter after getting traded to the Royals by the Chicago White Sox.