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T THE WIZARDS REPORT Wizards signing of Bravo another example of team’s commitment to winning he Kansas City Wizards signed Omar Bravo of Chivas Guadalajara for 2011 as their designated player. A “designated player” is an individual who can make more than Major League Soccer’s maximum salary. As is the case with other designated players, only a portion of Bravo’s $335,000 salary will count against the Wizards salary cap, while his additional salary will be paid by Kansas City’s ownership group OnGoal. MLS teams are not required to sign designated players, so Kansas City’s decision to bring in a big-name star at a large salary is another indication of the organization’s commitment to building a winning team. As a Omar Bravo will help boost Kansas City’s offense in 2011. consistent winner the Wizards would stand out among Kansas City’s Major League CROSS COUNTRY| FROM PAGE 17 which finished third in 2009, hopes to continue to build their cross country tradition. The mid-season barometer for many of these top teams and runners will be the KC Metro Championships at Raymore Peculiar High School the first weekend of October, 18 SEPTEMBER 2010 KANSAS CITY SPORTS & FITNESS teams.Bravo is one of the most decorated and beloved players in Chivas history, having scored more than 100 Primera Division goals, the second-most in team history. The 30-yearold striker has been a mainstay on the Mexico National Team since his first appearance in 2002. He has scored 16 goals for Mexico in 65 appearances, including two goals in the 2006 FIFA World Cup. He also scored two goals during the 2004 Olympics. “Signing a player of Omar Bravo’s stature and ability is important for us,” OnGoal CEO/ Wizards President Robb Heineman said. “When we purchased the Wizards, we put an emphasis on playing clubs like Manchester United and Chivas Guadalajara. We know that to compete at the high- as this meet features some of the best competition in the area each fall. Phoebus will seek to defend her 2009 title and a new boys champion is guaranteed since 2009 champ Maksim Korolev is at Harvard. est level we need to develop high-performance players and sign world-class players like Omar Bravo. We look forward to Omar joining us next year as we open the finest soccer stadium in the United States.” After his signing, the Wizards loaned Omar Bravo back to Chivas Guadalajara for the remainder of their season. As part of the loan deal, Kansas City and Chivas will play games at each other’s stadiums next year. This means that yet another international soccer game will be coming to Kansas City next summer, when the most popular soccer team in Mexico, Chivas Guadalajara, will be playing in the Wizards new state-of-the-art stadium. Bravo is expected to immediately help the Wizards offense. “We are very pleased to have signed Omar Bravo, who is an exceptional player,” Kansas City Wizards manager Peter Vermes said. “Although he won’t join us until 2011, we feel it will be very beneficial for Omar to go through a whole season with us, beginning with the preseason. The 2011 preseason will give Omar a great start to the year and allow us to indoctrinate him into our system. Omar’s high-pressure, attackoriented mentality will complement our style of play extremely well.”It looks like 2011 will be a banner year for the Dave Wizards. With a new Borchardt stadium to open in June Contributing and the addition of a pro- Writer lific goal-scorer in Bravo, the Wizards are poised for big things in the very near future. Dave Borchardt is the play-by-play voice of the Kansas City Wizards. This month the Wizards will be hosting the Houston Dynamo on September 11th and FC Dallas on September 25th at CommunityAmerica Ballpark. Wizards single-game tickets, as well as 2011 season tickets, can be purchased by calling 888-4KC-GOAL or online at www.kcwizards.com.
C presents THE KC BASEBALL REPORT Strange season coming to end for Royals oming out of spring training, I was the only one who saw this coming. Left- hander Bruce Chen would be leading the Kansas City Royals in victories (nine) entering September and Wilson Betemit, who had 29 RBIs and 10 home runs, would be batting cleanup when August came to an end. Of course, that is pure fantasy. I did not forecast that occurring. No one did. In fact, Chen, who was 1-13 from 2006- 09 with three different big leagues clubs, and Betemit both began the season in the minors with Class AAA Omaha. Neither was on the 40-man Major League roster when they came to spring training. When Chen was promoted April 23, he was placed in the bullpen. When Betemit was summoned on May 25 from Omaha, it was to be a utility player, not the starting third baseman. Alex Gordon, the third baseman of the past and seemingly the present, was sent back to Omaha to become a left fielder, as well as improve his offense by making better contact and cutting down on his strikeouts. On an August 30 night when the Royals were shutout on three hits by the Texas Rangers, Mike Moustakas, the third baseman of the future – the very near future – drove in 11 runs for Omaha in a 23-5 rout at Round Rock. Moustakas, who was named the Texas League Player of the Year, went 4-for-6 with three home runs and a double and scored four runs. He had one more hit, scored four more runs and drove in 11 more runs than the Major League club did that same evening. It has been that type of season for the Royals, strange to say the least. They fired manager Trey Hillman 35 games deep into the season with a 12-23 record. They replaced him with Ned Yost, who was fired with 12 games left in the 2008 season by the Milwaukee Brewers when they were in the process of blowing a big lead to make the playoffs as a wildcard team. Sans Yost, they made the playoffs. Royals general manager Dayton Moore traded away Scott Podsednik and Rick Ankiel, their two big splashes signees in the free agent market during the winter, and Jose Guillen, who they paid $36 million to a three-year deal after the 2007 season, plus right-handed setup Kyle Farnsworth. David DeJesus was hitting .318 in 91 games when he went down with a thumb injury that would require surgery in July. Gil Meche, who has one year left of a five-year $55 million contract, went on the disabled list in June with a shoulder injury. It was serious enough to require surgery that in all likelihood would have caused him to also sit out the 2011 season. Meche opted not to undergo surgery, but to return not as a starter, but as a reliever. If he can successfully reinvent himself, the Royals will be paying him $11 million next year to set up closer Joakim Soria. The alternative is that he Photo by Scott Weaver does pitch at all, but spend next year on the disabled list. He was activated from the 60-day disabled list Sept. 1. Brian Bannister, rotator cuff tendonitis, and Luke Hochevar, right elbow sprain, ended August rehabbing in the minors. That’s 60 percent of the opening week rotation – Bannister, Hochevar and Meche – spending time on the disabled list. Zack Greinke went from arguably the best pitcher in the American League in 2009, winning the Cy Young Award with a 16-8 record and a 2.16 earned run average, to a nightmarish start in 2010, losing eight of his first nine decisions by June 8. He righted the ship, but often on days when he did pitch well enough to win, the Kansas City offense would disappear. The Royals had used 25 pitchers and 18 different pitchers had claimed a win in their first 132 games. Pitchers you may have forgotten already – Josh Rupe, John Parrish, Victor Marte, Anthony Lerew, Kanekoa Texeira, Bryan Bullington and Phil Humber – earned victories. Meche, 0-4 with a 6.66 ERA in nine starts, is not among the 18. Billy Butler had 21 home runs and 51 doubles last year while hitting .301. Butler, however, has been bothered by inflammation in his right hand the second half of the season, which does not allow him to drive the ball as consistently. He entered the final month of the season hitting above .300, but his productions numbers were down – 36 doubles and 11 home runs. Butler’s time at first base could be limited. Eric Hosmer, a 2008 first-round pick, CONTINUED ON PAGE 28 By ALAN ESKEW, Editor KANSAS CITY SPORTS & FITNESS SEPTEMBER 2010 19
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