| DaWolf |
08-11-2001 10:41 PM |
BTW, Mike Sweeny just ripped into the Royals Clubhouse. Wanna bet two of the guys he was referring to were Quinn and Beltran? And I'm sure Tony Loser slumped over the rail all game long like he doesn't give a damn doesn't likght a fire under anyone's arse. Loser must be fired...
Quote:
Sweeney targets teammates: We lack winners and consistent intensity
By BOB DUTTON - The Kansas City Star
Date: 08/11/01 22:15
First baseman Mike Sweeney is also ready to take on anyone in his own clubhouse.
A season's worth of frustrations boiled over Friday for Sweeney, who incited a benches-clearing brawl against the Tigers by charging the mound to confront pitcher Jeff Weaver.
But Sweeney also has plenty of festering concerns regarding his own teammates. He contends the Royals are burdened by a roster overloaded with players who lack the consistent intensity necessary to produce a winning team.
"Right now," Sweeney said, "I don't think the majority of us in this clubhouse are winners. I don't think the majority of the guys in here have the fire to play every single day.
"It's something that comes from your heart. Some guys show up to receive a paycheck every two weeks. Some guys are here just to be here, to coast through the season."
Sweeney declined to identify those individuals who fail to meet his standard but repeatedly suggested they make up more than half of the team's 25-man roster.
"There are some guys who come here with a fire in their hearts to win games every day," he said, "but the majority of our team isn't that way."
Sweeney's stinging comments, made primarily before Friday's incident, offer the strongest internal indictment to date of a dreadfully disappointing team. The Royals entered Saturday's game against the Tigers at 46-70 and in last place in the American League Central.
It will be interesting to see whether Sweeney's conduct in initiating Friday's fracas or his public comments regarding the Royals' lack of consistent intensity -- both highly uncharacteristic -- will have any long-term effect in the clubhouse.
This much is clear: His views are not unique among the Royals.
"The one thing this team has to learn is `no excuses,' " said reliever Roberto Hernandez, a 10-year veteran and member of playoff teams in Chicago with the White Sox and San Francisco.
"If we lose tonight, it's because I didn't do my job. If we win today, then the team won today."
General manager Allard Baird and manager Tony Muser acknowledge the season's closing weeks will be a time of intensive evaluations as the club looks to position itself for the 2002 season.
"This next month and a half," Baird said, "we need to make some major strides."
Third baseman Joe Randa, like many, characterizes the Royals as a club with a youthful roster in which too many players are still adjusting to the daily grind of the major leagues.
"There is a good nucleus in here," Randa said. "But there is some growing up that needs to occur. It's just a matter of maturing and becoming a team. I think we're making strides, but we've still got a ways to go."
Nonetheless, several players contend the club continues to hold too many meetings to address its wavering intensity. The latest caucus was last Thursday after three consecutive home losses to equally downtrodden Baltimore.
"I knew we'd win tonight," one player said after the 6-4 victory that followed the meeting. "It always happens. We have a meeting, and everyone gets fired up.
"Let's see what happens three of four days from now. In the past, it never lasted very long."
Several players said Thursday's meeting was typical: Muser, in frank terms, described the need to give a better effort.
"I don't know what could be said anymore," Hernandez said. "It comes down to pride. How can we put it together three straight games in Cleveland and play a pretty good fourth one, then play like horse(feathers) in Detroit?"
Hernandez referred to a streak of three consecutive victories starting June 29 in Cleveland, when the Royals scored 29 runs. They followed that with a streak of nine straight losses, including three in Detroit.
Sweeney blames a blase attitude.
"It's the way people go about their business," he said. "I'm sure you can see it. You see a ball in the gap and you see guys floating after it instead of busting their tails like Johnny (Damon) and Jermaine (Dye) did.
"You see a pitcher who just seems to go through the motions out there. I'm sure you can see it."
Sweeney's criticisms carry weight for several reasons. The departure of Damon and Dye leaves him as the team's undisputed marquee player. He is a two-time All-Star who leads the club in batting, runs, doubles, homers and RBIs.
He also had played every game despite an ailing right Achilles' tendon that surfaced in mid-May before sitting out Saturday because of a hand injury suffered in Friday's melee.
Further, Sweeney is genuinely liked by teammates for his upbeat, positive nature. Even so, he stressed the need for change, primarily in attitude, over the season's closing weeks to position the club for next season.
"I think there has to be a little house-cleaning," Sweeney said. "But more than that, we have to continue to build off the winners we do have in this clubhouse.
"If we do that, it can be contagious. It could spread like wildfire to the young guys who are concerned about just staying in the big leagues and collecting a paycheck every two weeks."
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http://www.kcstar.com/item/pages/spo...e386.811,.html |
