Hey, Royals Fans...RELAX!

Think back to the start of the 2011 season for a moment. On May 23, the Cleveland Indians owned first place in the American League Central by seven games after jumping out to a record of 30-15. They were the talk of baseball, and the toast of the town.

The Royals had an off day on May 23, but on May 24 they were 22-24 and entered the opening game of a series at Baltimore a full 8.0 games behind the Indians.The point? Fast (or slow) starts don't always matter. From that point on, the Indians fell apart, going 50-67 and finishing the season at 80-82.

Last year's Royals were 6-4 through 10 games and sat in third place in the AL Central. This year's team has lost five straight games early on to start 3-7. The Royals are 4.0 games back of the Tigers, and tied for fourth place in the standings.

Because of lofty expectations heading into this season, Royals fans are acting like the sky is falling. One bad weekend against the Indians has KC "faithful" calling for Dayton Moore's job, booing some of the team's promising young players, and completely overreacting to every little thing.

Here's a classic example of fans' stupid behavior. After Luke Hochevar was drilled on the ankle by a line drive off the bat of Cleveland catcher Carlos Santana, I read a post on Royalboard.com where a fan was actually hoping he broke his leg or ankle to end his season. Really?! Come on, man.

Listen people, it's 10 games into a 162-game season. I've done this type of analogy before, but those ten games are the equivalent of one game in an NFL schedule. So, the Royals lost their first "game." They are very capable of bouncing back and being competitive within the Central.

Don't get me wrong, I'm among those who are frustrated with the disappointing start to the season. I expected a much better first 10 games. I didn't think Eric Hosmer (8-for-40) and Alex Gordon (5-for-39) would have combined to go 13-for-79 at the plate. I didn't think Cleveland would have seven-run, six-run, five-run, AND four-run innings during the three-game weekend set.

But it's baseball, and I'm certainly smart enough to realize that this is the youngest team in the game and stretches like this are going to happen from time-to-time. I'm not calling for Dayton Moore's head. I'm not jumping off the bandwagon after one crappy weekend.

After all, I've been riding this bandwagon since 1980, and I know it's a bumpy ride. Things WILL get better, so calm down and enjoy the ride.

Please, Save Me the Expense of Therapy

So, I wake up this morning, and I'm feeling great. Despite the fact that I was up until about 1:00 a.m. working on this blog -- I'm a night owl -- I got great sleep, as I usually always do, thank goodness.

My morning routine usually consists of all the basics: lie in bed for a few minutes; stretch out my muscles (no, I'm not like Arnold Schwarzenegger); brush my teeth; kiss my wife; chit-chat about the upcoming day's schedule; make my son some breakfast; make myself coffee; say goodbye to my wife (she works, I'm a stay-at-home dad, although that's "work," too); turn on cartoons for my son after his 15th request; and then spend some time online, reading through news about the Royals.

And, while sipping my java and doing that last item, my mood took a turn for the worse today. According to the Kansas City Star's Jeffrey Flanagan, there are rumors floating around in "baseball circles" that the Royals are once again pondering a switch to the National League.

What?! Where in the heck did this come from? I thought this idea had gone to its grave in 1997, when Bud Selig offered Kansas City the chance to switch, and the Royals (thankfully) declined.

Here is where I stand on this issue: I hate the National League. Yes, I repeat, it's not just a mild dislike for me -- no, it's pure hatred. National League games are dull and boring to me. I do realize that my views on this might fall within the minority, but I don't care. This feeling of contempt for the N.L. has been inside me for years, and I don't see it changing -- ever.

In my entire life as a baseball fan, I've always been an American League guy. It's engrained in my mind that the A.L. is far surperior to the N.L. I love being able to rub it in to my brother, Matt, who is a die-hard Cardinals fan, that Kansas City went 10-8 against the Senior Circuit in 2007. That the American League is 16-3-1 against the National League in the All-Star Game since 1988.

Is there really any doubt which league is better? Certainly not in my mind. And I don't agree with the reasoning that the Royals should switch leagues, so that they'd have a better chance to have success outside of the A.L. Central Division.

Phooey! That's such a loser mentality. We suck, so let's cross our fingers that Major League Baseball will allow us to go play in the weaker National League. No way!

How am I supposed to lose my American League bias overnight? I can't change how I feel. I'd probably have to go see a therapist, or a deprogrammer, to help me adjust to seeing the Royals in the N.L. standings. Do you think I'd be able to send Kansas City's front office a bill for that?

Luckily, in Flanagan's account of this, the Royals' Mike Swanson, Dayton Moore, and Dean Taylor all seemed to dismiss the report as nonsense. I just hope they're not testing the waters to see what kind of reactions are out there among Royals' faithful.

But if that is the case, I hope they happen across this post and decide to keep the Royals in the good old American League. Otherwise, I'm going to need to find a good shrink.