Lots of baseball fans have heard of the RBI program, associated with the Boys and Girls Clubs of America. RBI stands for Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities. I never really thought about the program before, until today.

This morning, I spent an hour of my precious time playing slow-pitch softball with my girls' P.E. class. Granted, these are teenage girls who are mainly concerned with the state of their hair, but I was still shocked at the lack of knowledge of baseball. I'm aware that none of them watch baseball every day like I do, but it was still very stunning.

One girl went up to bat with the long side of her foot parallel to the long side of home plate. The teacher said, "Is that seriously how you're going to bat?" The girl looked genuinely confused and said, "Yeah..."

Another girl was playing "shortstop" (she was positioned about three feet behind the pitcher's mound, but that's what she was calling herself) and she decided to plop down on the grass with her glove on the ground beside her. I'm ashamed to say that I share a first name with this girl.

There is so much more I could say about this little game, but I'll just say this: there was dropping of the ball, two people standing on second base, getting no outs on a potential unassisted triple play, stopping at first when the ball is rolling around in the outfield, and much, much more.

That's what got me thinking about the RBI program. These people I was playing with really could use it. You don't see alot of kids playing pick-up baseball games. We need to shove this game- a huge part of the American culture- down our children's throats. If we get people into their teens without knowing the very basic rules of our country's game, particularly good athletes with potential to be big-leaguers, we may eventually have a problem.

The RBI program is a great way to both spread baseball and bring something full of hope to children who may not have good lives living in the inner city. There should be things like this set up to reach out to all kids, not just those in the inner cities.  

One game, that is. After losing three straight to the lowly Baltimore Orioles, we bounced back today and salvaged a 4-0 victory. Brian Bannister and Joakim Soria combined on a two-hit shutout. The fans who were there get free sodas and Snickers from Circle K and free sundaes from Sheridan's. People who bought furniture from some store I don't know the name of this week get it free. Ah, promotions, promotions. Pretty good day.

Last night was heart-stopping. We were there until 11:30, sitting there in 55 mile an hour wind, watching the boys try to claw their way back from a 6-1 deficit. The game was supposed to start at 6:00, and it did, but the two hour rain delay began after half an inning. By the time it started back up, around nine, most people had left. And by 10:00, it was only us diehards. Literally, there were probably a thousand people there.

So anyway, we're trying to get back in the game and Trey Hillman makes all these dumb managing decisions. In the bottom of the ninth, we're losing 6-4, there's a guy on base and Billy Butler is at the plate. He hits a BOMB, right into the wind in left center. Everybody erupts in cheers, the home run music plays, the fireworks go off... we all thought the game was tied at 6-6. Then we look over there and he's stopping at second.

Double. A foot from the top of the fence. An RBI double, making it 6-5 when on any other night that thing would have gone into the construction site beyond the scoreboard.

Right, well, tomorrow's an off day and I'm hoping we can get off on another good stretch starting Tuesday. Unfortunately, I will be at my choir concert for the first 35 minutes or so, singing about seizing the day, pasta, and homeless Irish people. 

By the way, I am planning an entry about the Royals' pride, or lack thereof. That should be coming up pretty quick, but not right away, as I expect it to be my longest entry yet. Stay tuned! 

As it stands right this momenet, two and a half hours before tonight's game, our record is 14-17. Through May 5 last year, we were 10-21.

Surely it's not just me who sees a huge difference between those records. It's one thing to be three under and 2.5 games out of first. It's another to be 11 games under and pretty much out of it, barely a month into the season.

That seven game losing streak is what got us three games under. If we'd gone, say, 3-4 during those games, we'd be 17-14 and leading the division.

Ok, well, here's what I'm getting at:

It is May 6.

We are right there, ahead of Detroit, tied for third with Cleveland, a few steps away from leading the divsion.

Man, we've got a SHOT.

That's not to say it'll be like that all year. We could end up 27 games out, like we did last season. But as of right now, this second, 4:46 p.m. on Tuesday afternoon, the Kansas City Royals are in the playoff hunt.

That looks so good in writing.

This is especially sweet for me, because this is only my third season as a fan and I haven't even been alive long to enough to see our last playoff appearance. I have only been exposed to Scott Elarton's dismal outings, Angel Berroa "forgetting" to run on a dropped third strike, the questionable, at best, managing decisions of Buddy Bell, and many other things I'd like to forget about. So if July and August come and we're hanging in there, that would be one heck of an improvement over last year, as far as I'm concerned.  

Yesterday's game was postponed due to rain, and there was another delay tonight. Finally, we're getting under way, more than an hour later. I haven't been able to watch a game since Wednesday, though, so this is a huge breath of relief.

Man, I get so sick of star power. C.C. Sabathia was supposed to start yesterday, but he's got that long preparation thing, and rain delays tend to mess it up. We're playing in Cleveland, and the game hadn't started yet when we went into the delay, so the Indians got to call the shots. They cancelled it because they were scared of their precious star pitcher getting screwed up by the wait.

Well, the game's started now, and it's dry up there at Progressive Field, and we've got a man on second with one out. It's all ok. Oooh, this guy behind the plate can't tell a strike from a ball. It's gonna be a long night of screaming at the TV for me.

Does anybody know where I can buy an official Major League Baseball rule book? If you can help me, that'd be great.

What is with this umpire? That pitch was almost by his ankles, buddy! Geez, get some glasses. Seriously.

In light of the one run the Royals scored against Texas starter Sidney Ponson yesterday afternoon, and in preparation for the dismal offense we'll probably get tonight against C.C. Sabathia, I'm going to write about how we can get out act together.

Well, first, let's review Ponson's stats from last year so we can get a sense of how pathetic the offense was yesterday.

2-5, 37.7 IP, 29 ER, 6.93 ERA, 1.88 WHIP

And his line yesterday?

8 IP, 6 hits, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K

Um, yeah. There's an issue.

So you know what I say? Obviously, we need a change.

Call up Ryan Shealy.

I am dead serious. Right now, Ross Gload is playing first base and batting in the middle of the lineup. Gload is 32, a career-long backup, and not part of our future as a club. Shealy is still in his 20's and while I don't really view him as our long- term first baseman, I think he's a better option at first than Gload.

Here's why.

Gload is very valuable as a pinch-hitter. If you've got him on the bench, that means late in games you've got Gload and German to pinch hit, for sure. Because of Trey Hillman shaking up the lineup all the time, sometimes you'd have different combinations of Callaspo, Gathright, Buck and Olivo, most of the time. Except that when Shealy gets called up, you've got to send somebody down, and for me that'd be Callaspo.

Just an idea. Something needs to happen, but I am not desperate enough to go out and sign Barry Bonds and bring that whole circus here. This town is too small for something like that.

Game time in 1 hour 41 minutes!  

This is my first entry, so I guess I should explain who I am a little bit.

I'm not much, by today's standards. I'm a kid who happens to have a laptop, a passion, and lots of free time.

I used to tell people how I feel about baseball, but nobody took me seriously, so I kind of keep to myself now. They shrugged it off as a phase. You know how it is. I figure people who are reading blogs on MLB.com are going to feel the same about baseball that I do.

So here I am.

My team is the Kansas City Royals, and honestly, when the word "pride" comes up, they're generally who/what I think of. Heck, I don't even refer to my house as "home" anymore. If that's where I'm going, I never say "I'm going home." I say, "I'm going to my house." Now, when I'm off to Kauffman Stadium, that's when I'll start talking about home.

My favorite player is Mark Teahen. I know the numbers aren't much to look at, but he is a leader, he's active in the community, and he hustles. He's not some guy with dollar signs in his eyes. He understands what a privilege it is to be on that field every night, and he doesn't mind being on a small-market team that has recently, uh, sucked.

After that is Alex Rodriguez. Yeah, you can like some guys for the right reasons, but you've also got to have a favorite based on stats.

There's my little rant for the day. Many more to come!!

Go Royals!