2008 Kansas City Royals season
Former Major League managers such as Joe Girardi,[7] Jim Fregosi,[7] Ken Macha,[7] and Jimy Williams[7] were also in consideration.
[1] The Royals entered baseball's winter meetings in December 2007 with José Guillén and Andruw Jones atop their free-agent prospects list.
[9][10] Yabuta, from the Nippon Professional Baseball league, was seen as the likely successor to David Riske in a right-handed setup role.
In the Rule 5 draft, the Royals picked up left-handed pitcher Ray Liotta from the Chicago White Sox.
[13] Color Code Key December 15—Traded RHP Billy Buckner to the Arizona Diamondbacks for IF Alberto Callaspo.
The new powder blue jerseys were unveiled to season-ticket holders on December 6, 2007, at a private event in downtown Kansas City.
[22] Royals players John Buck, Mark Teahen, Alex Gordon, José Guillén and David DeJesus and manager Trey Hillman modeled the new power blue tops and white pants, which will be an alternate home jersey in 2008.
[23] Outfielder José Guillén was to be suspended for 15 days (12 games) for violation of Major League Baseball's Drug Prevention and Treatment Program.
[25][26] Guillén's suspension was put on hold for 10 days allowing him to play in the team's season and home openers.
Kansas City listed only 24 players on their active roster, as Miguel Olivo began serving his four-game suspension.
Kansas City hosted the New York Yankees for their home-opening series at Kauffman Stadium and won two of three games.
At the Royals' May 9 game against the Baltimore Orioles, Kansas City-native David Cook threw out the ceremonial first pitch and sang "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" in the seventh inning stretch.
[37] Brian Bannister threw a two-hitter on May 11 in a 4-0 win over Baltimore for the Royals' first victory over the Orioles after losing 12 consecutive games to the franchise.
Through 40 games, Joakim Soria had a 0.00 ERA and ten saves, and the Royals signed him to a three-year contract extension through the 2011 season.
[39] The Royals endured a 12-game losing streak following the loss to Lester and the Red Sox,[40] sending them 11 games under .500 and in last place of the American League Central.
The Royals started their May 31 game against Cleveland with the fewest runs, sacrifice flies, RBIs and walks in the major leagues, but beat reigning Cy Young Award winner CC Sabathia 4-2 to end their losing streak.
[40] The losing streak prompted José Guillén to criticize his team's performance with the media after a 9-8 loss to Minnesota:[41] "We've got 25 people.
While going almost two weeks without a win, Kansas City had allowed three grand slams, lost a five-run lead in the ninth inning of one game and scored three or fewer runs in nine others.
[42] The losing caused Kansas City to make roster changes by sending the struggling Billy Butler to Triple-A affiliate Omaha.
[43] Looking to rebound from their 12-game losing streak in May, the Royals started the month of June with 4 consecutive series wins over National League opponents.
[45] The Royals scored 8 unanswered runs and won the game and Joakim Soria recorded his 20th save of the season in 21 tries.
[45] Following a sweep of the defending National League champion Colorado Rockies, the Royals boasted an MLB-best 12–3 record in Interleague play and won for the tenth time in 11 games.
[47] After defeating the Cardinals at Kauffman Stadium, the Royals boasted a six-game winning-streak, the team's best since their 9-0 start in the 2003 season.
[51] In the final game of the month, the Royals defeated the Baltimore Orioles after Miguel Olivo, on a 0-2 pitch, hit a game-tying home run into the left-field seats in the bottom of the 9th inning.
[54] Guillén was involved in a heated argument with pitching coach Bob McClure before the team's July 5 game against the Tampa Bay Rays, but was not penalized for his actions.
On July 21, the Royals suffered their worst defeat of the season, and the Tigers registered their first victory over Kansas City in 2008 with a score of 19-4.
[56] Peña, who lost his starting shortstop job to Mike Avilés, pitched a one-two-three inning and registered 90 mph (140 km/h)-plus on the radar gun.
[56] Peña was the first position player pressed into pitching service by the Royals since July 17, 1998, when infielder Shane Halter took a turn in an 18-5 loss at Seattle.
[56] On July 29, ESPN Deportes reported that José Guillén expressed his wish to be traded due to a bad relationship with manager Trey Hillman.
[63] Royals third base coach Luis Silverio and others restrained Guillén, while security escorted to a new seat in Kauffman Stadium.
