Joe Cox, meet the Royals

I currently reside in the capital of my home state, Des Moines, Iowa.  Des Moines is home of the Iowa Cubs, a mainstay of the city as long as I’ve thought of baseball.  They call newly renovated Principal Park home and I must say I have a nice time every time I go.  The Iowa Cubs have long been affiliated with their Chicago counterparts of the same name, who have tainted my love for them over the years with the loss of childhood hero Mark Grace, some steroids and corked bats, and Jim Hendry.  

I am a bad Cubs fan, which is not good, because a lot of people are ‘good’ Cubs fans in the sense that they will back their team during a few good times and many bad times.  I will be happy to see them become successful, but I do not feel that I am allowed back to that fanbase, which is completely fair.  My best memories will always be Kevin Orie, the Glenallen Hill/ Henry Rodriguez left field platoon, Steve Traschel pitching against the Giants in a play-in game to make the playoffs, and my confidence in Wood, Prior, Zambrano before it all went horribly wrong.  And, of course, everything Mark Grace. 

So I am a baseball enthusiast without a team.  I have somewhat latched on to the Braves thanks to their Spurs-like organization.  Chipper Jones plays the role of Tim Duncan while the never-ending supply of starting pitching parallels the Spurs ability to always find the right role players with their big three.  The problem with the Braves is location, as I can only like so many non-midwestern professional sports teams (I messed up with the NBA/ NFL.) 

Meeting Royals backers from this site and otherwise has given me a reason to root for this team.  They are a small market, Midwestern team with young talent and fans my age that deserve to finally see a winning team.  They make some questionable moves at times, but it is hard to fault a small market team making a commitment to win now.  I have also been welcomed to write for Royal Revival, which has allowed me to become more knowledgeable about this team.  It has forced me to think of parts of the Royals organization that I never expected to care about.  

For 2013, at least, I will be a baseball enthusiast who at least has the Royals as a team to follow with purpose.  This is about all I can ask until I can fully recover from my break-up with the Cubs, along with finding it difficult to commit to the Braves.  Thanks Royals and good luck.