People are calling Andrew Wiggins the best high school basketball talent since Lebron James. Over the next year, depending in part on how Wiggins does at KU, you will hear that line be twisted into "The Next LeBron" or "as good as LeBron" or maybe even "better than LeBron." And Sam Mellinger hopes we can all shout down whomever says that.
Going into the Angels game, Royals pitcher Jeremy Guthrie had a string of 18 starts without a loss — but that was snapped Tuesday night as the Royals fell 6-2. But he did throw seven innings. When a starting pitcher does not have his best stuff but hangs in there and finds a way to give his team innings, he may not help his team win that night, but he gives them a better shot at winning the next night.
Hall of Famer George Brett, who turned 60 on Wednesday, played his entire 21-year baseball career with the Royals, and he's still very much involved with the team. The Royals drafted him in 1971, he hit .390 in 1980, had a little trouble with pine tar in 1983, won the World Series in 1985 and was inducted into the Hall in 1999.
Albert Pujols, Howie Kendrick, Josh Hamilton and Mike Trout each homered as the Los Angeles Angels beat the Royals 6-2 on Tuesday night in Anaheim, Calif., ending Kansas City starter Jeremy Guthrie’s club-record streak of non-losing starts at 18.
Andrew Wiggins, the consensus No. 1 college basketball recruit in the country, announced Tuesday morning he will attend Kansas, picking the Jayhawks over three other finalists, Kentucky, Florida State and North Carolina.
Think about what KU basketball coach Bill Self pulled off Tuesday in landing consensus No. 1 recruit Andrew Wiggins. The 6-foot-7 Canadian star had long been linked with Florida State (where his parents played basketball) and Kentucky (where John Calipari collects five-star recruits like garden gnomes). Those schools have been in on him for years, building relationships and dreams long before Wiggins became the presumed No. 1 pick in the 2014 NBA Draft.
All was good for Branden Albert in his long-awaited return to Chiefs camp Tuesday. His arrival was hailed by his coaches and teammates, and as the Chiefs continued their offseason practice, Albert took his spot at starting left tackle as he had been promised.
Broadcaster Fred White, who became an icon with the Royals over the last 40 years, announced his retirement Tuesday from the organization because of what the club characterized in a news release as “recent health issues.”
Senior finishes strong and shares title with Vianney junior. Hawklets finish second, while Park Hill South is sixth.
Kansas will play at Florida, West Virginia will play at Missouri and Mississippi will play at Kansas State this fall in the inaugural Big 12/SEC men’s basketball challenge.
The latest lineup tweak Tuesday by Royals manager Ned Yost positioned Lorenzo Cain at the top of the order for the first time this season. “On days when (Jarrod) Dyson doesn’t play, I’ve got to have a No. 1 hitter,” Yost said. “For me right now, Cain is as good as anybody to give a look at.”
When word came that Kansas was the college choice of Andrew Wiggins, the 6-foot-7 forward from Huntington Prep in West Virginia who is considered the nation’s top college basketball prospect, Jayhawks coach Bill Self had scored the biggest recruiting victory of his decade-long KU tenure. But Wiggins also ranks among some of the biggest gets in KU history.
The offseason practice schedule picked up for the Chiefs on Tuesday, when they held the first of three full-squad sessions this week. Quarterback Alex Smith and receiver Dwayne Bowe (pictured) practiced, and lineman Branden Albert reported as expected.
On Monday night, the Royals slapped around a team that is currently 14-24 with a .368 winning percentage. The pitcher they beat, Joe Blanton, woke up this morning with an 0-7 record and a 6.46 ERA. I’m not writing this to belittle Monday's win — far from it. That was just the kind of game the Royals need to win to get where they want to go. But the Royals may not have done anything more to improve their performance than playing a worse team.
Most encouraging, perhaps, for the Royals in their 11-4 victory Monday over the Los Angeles Angels was their season-high 19-hit attack, which included five from slumping Billy Butler — three singles and two doubles — that accounted for five RBIs. Alcides Escobar, Lorenzo Cain and Salvy Perez each added three hits.
The Kansas State baseball team is on the verge of making a special year even better for the Wildcats’ athletic department. With just one victory, the Wildcats will have their third conference championship of the 2012-13 academic year. The football team won 11 games to claim the crown in December. The men’s basketball team shared the Big 12 title with Kansas in March.
Jarrod Dyson started in center field for the fourth time in six games and served as the leadoff hitter for the second straight game. Manager Ned Yost characterized both moves as day-to-day decisions.
The Chiefs added another offensive specialist to their coaching staff, hiring former University of Nevada coach Chris Ault as a consultant. Ault is known as a guru of the pistol offensive formation, which features option plays. Colin Kaepernick was among the quarterbacks who played for Ault at Nevada.
The offseason practice schedule picks up for the Chiefs starting on Tuesday, when they’ll hold the first of three full-squad sessions this week. The Star’s Adam Teicher breaks down some of the more important issues they’ll need to sort through, including Branden Albert’s mindset as he’s set to report.
The Royals are coming off a difficult week, where they went 1-6 against Chicago, Baltimore and New York. They're still over .500 at 18-16 as they start a nine-game road trip, but they definitely have issues. What do they need to do to snap this early skid?
