Caleb Joseph on Royals last night.

[Number5]

The Royals got plenty of breaks along the way, but they certainly played hard. They beat three better teams to get to the WS. They never gave up. They played all out every play and won a lot of close ballgames. More power to them for that.

Their lack of humility and grace in how they accepted and handled their good fortune was a shame, though. That is on the manager and coaching staff, IMO. Showing up your opponents is bad form that is rarely seen in the major leagues.

I don't doubt that KC will probably continue to play hard in the remainder of the WS, after losing Game 1. Hopefully, now that they have been there, they will act like they've been there and handle future victories and good fortune differently. Winning streaks are fleeting.

[ShaneDawg85]

On one hand I see how you can argue it's sour grapes. We bashed Dyson and deservedly so for running his mouth when as a role player and not a star he's not really in the position to do so. You could argue Caleb fits that description. However, Caleb isn't actively playing in the series, and it would be another thing if he were, because that crosses a line. He could also just speaking as a fan and saying what a lot of baseball fans are thinking. But, I think a lot of it comes from the position on being on the other side of it, and knowing that after Game 2 pretty much the entire baseball universe either left the Orioles for dead, or were actively and openly rooting for the Royals and got on board with their ship to the moon. No matter how hard you try to block it out, I have to imagine that grates on you as a player and it affects you. Taking that into consideration, I love Caleb for this one.

[berettafan]

Thanks, Caleb, for having the cojones to put it out there. I like you even more now. :thumbsup1:

If only his forearm was as big as his cojones maybe the ball doesn't get kicked out at home plate......

Poor form IMO.

[Aristotelian]

After the way they gloated after all those bloops and infield singles, I hate the Royals as much as the next guy. However, I do not want any of our players to take to Twitter to say anything negative about the competition. Best revenge would be to win our season series against them next year. Until then, keep quiet and stay off Twitter.

[Guest rochester]

Not a sore loser, I'm sure he got sick of the Royals eating four leaf clovers and pooping out Horseshoes.

Is it ok if I use this when needed? I really like it. Really funny but not trying to hard to be - excellent!

two cents on Caleb - I have no problem with the excitement the Royal's displayed - it was the "in your face" attitude from the absurd (Dyson) to the obvious throwdown (Guthrie, and I read one more time about him being ignorant about the shirt...please). If anyone on the O's disrespected them by saying how easy the series would be (or something similar) this board would have not been happy and there would have been some merit to their antics.

In other words, if we acted like the Royal dou###bags they did, it wouldn't bother me if someone on KC tweeted the same thing Caleb did

[Camden_yardbird]

Good for Caleb. I'm fine with it. Competitive attitude is a good thing. He is still engaged and paying attention. Call it sour grapes, but I would rather have players who have passion rather than players who are ambivalent once the season is over.

[Dr. Unk]

But, but.....they started it

[scotty37]

I have been trying to explain to people why I am rooting for the Royals to get swept... everyone says Im crying over spilled milk.. sour grapes.. blah blah blah. I know thats not the case because I am normally the type that wants to say we were beaten by the best. However, I couldnt really express it into words. Your paragraph here is perfect... and for that I say thank you! lol

NO it doesn't and I'll tell you why. The Royals were playing out of their shoes. Flawless defense and bullpen. But the "baseball Gods" were CLEARLY on their side. That's fine. Teams get on a roll and things start to go their way. If it's their year so be it. But don't pound your chest on every bloop or broken bat single. Don't talk big as a pitcher when you know had your defense not bailed you out time and time again, you'd have an even higher ERA than 5 plus. Don't win a bunch of close games over solid competition where one bounce of the ball or called strike could have changed the outcome, and then rub it in their face with a classless t-shirt suggesting your dominance. Don't suggest another team doesn't have heart or the will to come back.

All week, all I heard was Royal players talking about how they KNEW they were this good and this was the goal all along. Never once have I heard a player expressed one ounce of humility, in spite of so much good fortune being on their side. That's all I ask from an athlete or team. When the ball is bouncing your way, be humble, admit it, and let OTHER people talk about how good you are. Quit pounding your chest with this "I told you we were this good" attitude- when myself, and I'm guessing many others- figured it was only a matter of time before the bubble burst and all that false bravado was exposed.

I WISH I could root for the Royals- but I just can't. I'd rather them get swept- so regardless of what their ego can say about their series with us or the Angels- they won't be able to flash a World Series ring with that arrogance for the rest of their lives.

Just a tiny bit of humility goes a long way...

Okay, vent over.

[weams]

Get them back from your couch at home when they are playing in the Fall Classic? Oh please. Whether the Royals win or lose they made to the World Series. They'll have an American League Championship banner flying high now. And their fans get 2 more weeks of fun and baseball.

They won't be back. We will. And it will be a week. They'll be swept.

[Reboulet'sStache]

I like how the Royals have "come back down to earth." It's not really a matter of regressing, but a team doing what we couldn't do. Great pitching, limit the amount of balls put in play, actually hit their average starters, etc. The Orioles got no hit through 5 innings more than any team in the league this year. Did Joseph really think not hitting through 5 innings was going to work against that KC bullpen???? You didn't need a horseshoe to figure out that wasn't going to be a recipe for success, and based on the O's performance during the year, that COULD happen.

But I like Joseph's comment. Hell, I liked Dyson's comment. Sports are just better when there are characters, and feuds, and good guys and villains. I don't want everyone to be Cal Ripken.

[Reboulet'sStache]

They won't be back. We will. And it will be a week. They'll be swept.

They seem to have a pretty young team with a lot of high upside arms. I wouldn't rule them out for the future.

[russ snyder]

This isn't about me. It's about Caleb's tweet. At best Caleb looks like a sore loser, at worst he's going to look like a fool if the Royals come back and win. When you tweet this stuff out you open yourself up.

Hey, the Royals won because they played at a higher level than the O's. Period. Fans like you can whine about a horseshoe up their asses all you want, but it doesn't change the fact that they are playing in the World Series and the O's are sitting home.

I personally have no issue with a player on any team being a "sore loser."

He's a professional athlete, and losing in any manner should hurt.

I have no problem with him rooting publicly against the Royals, I don't think that it's that big of a deal.

[Can_of_corn]

They seem to have a pretty young team with a lot of high upside arms. I wouldn't rule them out for the future.

2015 rotation?

[AdamK]

Tit for tat.

Joseph was on the field for much of the ALCS. If he is inspired to tweet something it's probably due to a bad taste in his mouth, and it doesn't have to be from just losing. (Athletes tweeting is hardly ever good, though)

I'm sure Caleb, like others on the team, were pretty fed up with the breaks consistently going the Royals' way combined with the hubris showed by the team. It's one thing to win games in the manner they did, repeatedly, but it's another to win them repeatedly while seemingly ignoring the tremendous good fortune involved.

No matter what the Os, or fans, may say now it will sound like sour grapes. But the presence of the Royals' hubris in the face of so much luck can hardly be denied.

[Wish]

I personally have no issue with a player on any team being a "sore loser."

He's a professional athlete, and losing in any manner should hurt.

I have no problem with him rooting publicly against the Royals, I don't think that it's that big of a deal.

It's one thing to not like to lose (which almost all professional athletes hate) but it's another thing to take a shot at the team that beat you as if they weren't that good and got lucky. Just reeks of sour grapes. Also it would be stupid for a fringe player to publicly root against any team. Don't want to burn a bridge with a future employer.