DEADWOOD (CP)--Watching the Royals thaw out after the winter stretch is slightly less fun than, say, talking an ice cube out of the freezer and watching it melt. The opening game loss to the Edmonton Oil Kings at Jackie Robinson Stadium in front of 36,163 warm bodies was not fun. Nor was the series sweep a day later, amid 40-degree Farenheit temperatures.
Even the Oil Kings wanted to forget the game. "The fans were into it," said Canadian-born Jason Dickson after the game, "but you should've seeen batting practice. Most of the guys wouldn't quit the dugout. That's where the portable heater was plugged in."
The Royals could've used the batting practice: they totaled exactly 7 runs during the 0-7 start.
"Torres was wearing Cormier's ski jacket between innings," said Fletcher. "Two years in Montreal, and I've never experienced April weather like this."
Rondell White and Jason Schmidt, straight fromthe Arizona desert, couldn't start up the home fires. In his second start, Schmidt pitched a shutout through 8, but the Royals eventually lost 1-0. The cold snap was finally broken with 2 consecutive wins in Deadwood. In those 2 wins, the Royals scored almost twice as many runs as they had in their previous 7.
Consider this: if the Royals play .500 ball over their next 6 games, they will have a better start to the season than last year, when they went 4-11.
"April's just not our month," conceided Kirk Rueter.
Greer Back in Leadoff
The experiment didn't last long. Greer has been assigned the leadoff role once again, after shifting between the 3rd and 4th spots in the order during the first week of the season. Rondell White is now moving to third and Bobby Bonilla will replace Greer as cleanup hitter.
"Most definitely he can be a first-rate cleanup hitter," commented Carter. "But he's too valuable a leadoff hitter." Greer is only batting .182 in 9 games this season, but he already has 5 walks in his first 9 games.
