Does anyone remember when the Kansas City Royals were good? You'd have to go way back to the mid-70s when George Brett came onto the scene. While he was with them they had more than 10 successful years. After that - 20 years of nothing.

I must say I feel for the Royals. The team in a word - stinks. It's not that they do not have talent. The team has a number of good players and have produced some of the best in the league.

In fact, if Kansas City decided to pay for their talent they would be a contender.
Look at the would-be lineup:

Johnny Damon (of) - Leads the AL in batting average (.331) with Red Sox
Angel Berroa (ss) - 2003 AL Rookie of the Year; currently with Royals
Carlos Beltran (of) - Most sought after free agent before 2005 season put together 38HR, 104 RBI, 121 Runs and 42SBs last year
Jermaine Dye (dh) - Currently has 22 home runs for the White Sox.
Mike Sweeney (1b) - currently with Royals batting .297 with 18 HRs.
Raul Ibanez (of) - Currently with Seattle batting .289 with 16 HR 70 RBI and 71 Runs
Joe Randa (3b) - Currently with the Padres with a respectable .274, 56 ribbies and 53 runs scored.
Abraham Nunez/Tony Graffanino (2b) Nunez is with the Cardinals batting .308 in place of the injured Scott Rolen; Graffanino well, he has been terrific since joining the Sox.
Sal Fasano (c) - Hasn't played much recently, but filled in nicely while Javy Lopez was down for the Orioles.

Add starter Zack Greinke set-up man Tom Gordon and closer Mike McDougal and you may have a winner.

Is it any wonder that most of these players went to contending teams?

K.C.'s ownership does not want to pay the money. So instead the team has the lost the most games in the majors. In fact, they have lost nine straight home games and 20 of their last 22. Ouch!

The Pittsburg Morning Sun reports that former Royal Tony Graffanino sympathizes with the Royals. But I'm reasonably sure that he's happy to be with the American League East leaders.

By all accounts the Royals are losing their fan base, too. They average only 18,691 fans, leaving more than 22,000 empty seats. Compare that to Fenway Park where a sellout is the norm. In fact, more people go to Fenway than there are seats available. By the way, although seating in Fenway Park is still the lowest in the majors, the site will top 2 million ticket holders again this season - ninth overall.

So with this in mind, I expect the Red Sox to roll comfortably through the series. Matt Clement will take the mound tonight and Curt Schilling returns to the rotation Thursday. Only the bullpen can stop the team from recording the Ws. Well, that and the fact I just jinxed them...

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