royalsandcelebs

Jimmy Gobble.  One inning.  10 runs–all earned.  FOUR walks.  Four.  His ERA is now 11.31.

Apparently, he’s out of options, so I’m pretty sure something pretty sad is about to happen to Jimmy Gobble, and I wanted to say a few things.  Here goes:

Thank you for your two great years out of the bullpen, Jimmy.  Thank you for your first two promising starts your rookie year, back to back, against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.  Thank you for competing.  Thank you for that near-perfect game you took into the 7th or 8th inning in Toronto a few years back that we still lost something like 1-0 (again, for those of you that complain about our offense now, look at our 1-0 losses back in the mid-aughts).  Thank you for trying, Jimmy, and I hope you get back on track, I really do. 

I’m sorry we can’t have you on the team anymore.  I’m sorry you joined the Royals in the middle of seven pitching coaches in seven years.  I’m sorry you weren’t able to receive consistent feedback on your development.  I’m sorry we couldn’t teach you an out pitch while you were starting.  I’m sorry for whatever happened this year that got you off-track.  I’m sorry we sent you up and down so many times the last 5 years, stripping you of your minor league options.  I’m sorry we couldn’t hide you down there for the last two months, where you and Yabuta could be fishing for strikeouts together in Omaha.

Jimmy Gobble, I want you to know that I appreciate what you’ve given to this club, and the sacrifices you’ve made.  I’m sorry you won’t end your career a Kansas City Royal.  I wish you better luck with your next club.  I have one piece of advice, too: do not carry this with you.  You can move forward.  You can bounce back.  I know you’re a competitor.  Just forget this entire season and fight.

I’m going to miss Jimmy Gobble.  This really is a sad day.

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