On July 19, 2013, former Royals Review overlord Craig Brown called for the firing of Kansas City Royals General Manager Dayton Moore. The Royals had wandered into the All-Star break at 43-49 despite a squad teeming with Moore’s own draft picks and hand-picked players. At that point, no Moore squad had accrued a winning record, let alone a playoff spot. It was dark times.
Of course, we know what happened. The Royals won their July 19, 2013 game against the Detroit Tigers. The sports world blinked, yawned, and checked Twitter, and suddenly on August 12 the Royals stood 62-54 and within striking distance of a playoff spot.