The media made Kansas City Royals' third baseman Mike Moustakas mad -- and if someone publicly called for our demotion, we probably wouldn’t enjoy that either -- and now it seems Mike Moustakas has made the media mad.

Mike hit two doubles and drove a third baseball to the warning track on Wednesday. People have been talking about Mike being sent back to the minors, so after a game like Wednesday’s, some of those same people wanted to talk to Mike.

But if someone was burying you on Tuesday and wanted to talk to about the great game you had on Wednesday, you might not feel like doing so.

The media gathered around his locker, but Mike wasn’t there. After a while, he showed up, did something at his locker, then walked off again.

At that point I decided to punt. It looked like Mike was going to make everyone wait some more -- so I went back to the press box, grabbed my backpack and returned to the clubhouse.

Moustakas was still not at his locker so I started talking to one of his teammates. I said forcing the media to wait was kinda funny, but he probably wasn’t helping himself. We’d get sulky about being put on hold while deadlines approached and look for payback opportunities ... just wait until the next time Mike takes an 0-fer.

And once he got back to his locker he deflected questions about his performance and repeatedly talked about the pitching performance of Jason Vargas.

So not only were the members of the media forced to stand around staring at each other while their deadlines approached, once Moustakas showed up, we couldn’t get the quotes we wanted.

However you decide to feel about this -- and it’s America, no matter how little information we possess, we

to have opinions about everything -- give Mike Moustakas credit: in one of the biggest at-bats of his career, he came through.

Moustakas came to the plate in the second inning with one out and the bases loaded. The game was still scoreless. Strike out, pop up or hit into a double play and Mike would get booed. People would be saying his critics were right. Mike Moustakas should be sent to the minor leagues.

Instead, he roped a bases-clearing double down into the right field corner, giving Jason Vargas and the Royals bullpen all the runs they’d need for a 3-2 victory.

On Wednesday the Royals third baseman was the hero, but if the media gets another chance to be negative about Mike Moustakas, don’t be surprised if we take it.

Royals 3, Rockies 2.

Every time a player struggles, someone’s sure to suggest they be sent back to the minor leagues. But Omaha isn’t Lourdes; a trip back to Triple A isn’t a magical cure. If a demotion to the minors is a wakeup call -- the player needs to be reminded that being a big leaguer isn’t guaranteed -- or if the players has something specific to work on and the minors is the best place to do it, then maybe it would do some good.

But if the player has a good attitude, is putting his work in and simply needs to make some kind of an adjustment, the minors may or may not be the best place for him to do that. If a trip to the minors is supposed to "restore a hitter’s confidence" let him play T-ball -- he’d rake. If you’re sending a player to the minors because you just don’t have any better ideas, sacrifice a chicken -- what the hell, maybe

would work.

I’ve talked to big leaguers who went back to the minors on rehab assignments and they all say the same thing: you might see a starting pitcher with major league stuff once a series or maybe even once a week. And it’s rare to see a top-of-the-line reliever because if he’s

good, he’ll be up in the big leagues. If your problem is getting around on the inside mid-nineties fastball or laying off that nasty slider away, pitchers in the minors may not be good enough to consistently expose your problem.

So a guy can go down to the minors, put up good numbers and look like he’s fixed, but actually hasn’t changed a thing -- he’s no better than he was when he was scuffling in the big leagues. One player told me that a trip to the minors can actually

your progress. You get back to the majors by putting up numbers and if you make an adjustment you’re going to scuffle for a while until the adjustment feels normal. So screw that, stick with the approach that’s failing in the big leagues, because that approach is good enough to dominate in the minors -- and that will get you back to the big leagues.

A trip to the minors might help some guys, but might hurt others.

*In the second inning I wrote myself a note -- "vargas got it going on?" -- and he did. Six and two third innings while giving up only two runs to a very good Colorado Rockies offense.

*When some guys hit a home run they get pull happy and Johnny Giavotella hit a very big home run recently. So Gio hitting a line drive to center field and lining out to right are good signs.

*In the sixth inning Rockies second baseman Charlie Culberson got picked off third base with a runner on first and the tying run at the plate. Salvador Perez and Mike Moustakas caught him napping -- a horrible base running mistake by Culberson that ended the inning.

*Yes, in the seventh inning someone should have caught that Nolan Arenado pop fly that fell for a double. Infielders are taught to go back until someone calls them off and nobody called off Pedro Ciriaco. Lorenzo Cain had a long run so the play was probably Nori Aoki’s. It looked like he could have got there and outfielders are supposed to call off infielders whenever possible -- they’re moving forward, infielders are moving back.

Wednesday night Jason Kendall will be on ESPN2 with Keith Olbermann, talking about his new book, "Throwback". The show’s on at 10:00 PM Central Standard Time. Here’s an excerpt from the book in which Jason talks about pitchers:

Here’s the deal: click on the link below and it takes you to a landing page for the new book "Throwback." St. Martin’s Press is encouraging readers to help spread the word about the book and if you do, we send you a signed bookplate -- an autographed sticker that goes into your copy of the book. You also get a chance to win an autographed Jason Kendall catcher’s mask.