I can remember the day Trey Hillman was hired. It seemed, at the time, to be a positive day in Royals history. I’ll be honest, I had no idea who he was. The reports had said he was in the top tier of coaches overseas in Japan, specifically for The Nippon-Ham Fighters. He was  highly thought of in the Yankees organization as General Manager Brian Cashman penciled him in on the list of eventual Joe Torre replacements. Most of us know that Joe Girardi was selected for the position and went on to win the World Series after just one year in New York.

So, here we are with Trey Hillman. The manager of  the Royals. The man to bring the Royals to the top, with future All Star hopeful Alex Gordon leading the way to multiple world series rings. It was supposed to be a new era. A time of change. Bringing back history with the powder blue uniforms and blending it in with new talent. Yeah, that would do it! No, no it wouldn’t…

This is one part of baseball that I’m still trying to truly grasp. What effect does a major league manager have on his team? Does he really make a difference?

Trey Hillman reminds me of the forth of July. When the sun finally goes down, the excitement soars through the roof, you light the roman candle, you close your eyes, grit your teeth and BOOM…………………nothing.

Nothing but a puff of four year old gun powder with barely enough strength to catupult a sunflower seed. What WAS expected to turn into a light show, actually turned into nothing more than a disappointing, anti-climactic, brief moment of a genuine waste of money and time. So we move on to the next firework…and realize that you most likely have to pay a little more than your comfortable with, to impress the neighbors.

The managers that I think have control of their players are the ones that show enthusiasm consistently throughout the season. The Lou Pinella’s that storm the field, slobber in the umps faces, kick up the dirt, and stomp on the hat. That is a manager a group of players can get behind.

Hillman was too timid. Too gun shy. Too INEXPERIENCED.

He had no business managing a pro team. Most people and players tend to think that a manager should have  played in the majors in the past. I used to say it didn’t matter. I was wrong……It matters.

How can you trust a man who calls himself a doctor, that has a business degree?

How can you trust a man who calls himself a banker, that you just saw last night working the night shift at QuikTrip?

How can you trust a woman who teaches third grade Spanish, to give you the proper fade, clip, and neck shave you desire every other week?

You can’t.

and in baseball terms, you cant trust Trey Hillman.

In post game interviews, his replies to questions from reporters sounded scripted at best and his on field decisons were just flat out embarrassing. Yeah, I can be mean, but there is no way to be nice about this one. It was a horrible, terrifying, and sob-worthy attempt at managing people, athletes, and himself for that matter. When he got ejected from games, it almost seemed like he did it, just to say he did. There was really no reason behind the ejection.

Now there is Ned Yost. Another person we can invest our hope in………… Or at least blame.

Love it or hate it, Ned Yost has pulled the Royals out of first place and they have won five out of the last six games. It’s a great time to catch some Royals action while they are hot as Interleague play begins this weekend when the Rockies come to town. For the best seats at the K, contact Tickets For Less at 913.685.3322 or purchase over the web at www.ticketsforless.com