Two favorite pastimes of most American childhoods—peanut butter & jelly sandwiches and baseball.

I remember riding in the backseat of the car, making the drive to Kauffman Stadium, with a "pb&j" in hand, as it seemed to make the time pass quicker.

Who doesn’t have a memory of sitting down to an afternoon ballgame and peanut butter and jelly sandwich some hot summer day?

As a child, the two went hand in hand.

The Kansas City Royals need to bring their game back to the pb&j of it.

The Royals must recognize that looking for the W, without good, solid pitching, is an uphill battle they will not conquer.

Baseball is a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

The pitching is the peanut butter. It’s the substance of the game.

The rest of the team is the jelly. Good at bats and great defense come together to provide that extra sweetness.

Ultimately it is the pitching that determines whether a win is attainable.

Kansas City has proved that their bat can combat poor pitching if need be. But it’s foolish to look to play the game that way, Trey. 

A good team can play from behind. A great team only proves it sporadically.

Look at Kansas City’s win loss record, 16-11. Who were the starting pitchers in those 11 games?

Our first loss came, unfairly to Gil Meche, in the first game of the regular season. As the starting pitcher, Meche went seven innings and allowed only one run.

Then, Trey Hillman allowed Kyle Farnsworth to blow the game with a 4-2 loss to our despised central rival Chi Sox.

Kansas City has “peanut butter pitching” in the form of Zack Greinke, Gil Meche and Brian Bannister. 

Granted, Meche hasn’t quite been bringing to the game this season what he was last.  With only two wins and two losses, he’s given up a few more runs than expected. 

Meche is a smart pitcher with good stuff, plain and simple. At the moment, he’s mind set isn’t right. Opening the season the way the Royals did has clearly put him on tilt. 

The mistake was Trey’s.

Therefore it’s his responsibility to correct the effect it’s had on the team. The amount of time it takes to see Meche back on top of his game is representative of the inadequacies that lie within the coach.  

Zack Greinke. What do you say about this pitcher? 

The kid is sick right now.

I‘ve always loved the Kansas City Royals. But Greinke has me truly excited to be a part of this time in baseball.

I first took note of Greinke in ‘05, his second season in the major leagues. His numbers were not great with a 5.80 ERA. Even so, I felt that the kid had something special. 

You could see it in him—baseball: pure and golden.  

It’s no surprise that Greinke is doing what he’s doing.  Rather, the real surprise is that he’s doing it for the Royals. Enjoy it while we can, fans.

Zack Greinke is “peanut butter pitching.”  Each game, he’s throwing stick to your ribs, make a meal out of it-kind of stuff.

Unless Kansas City comes around to understanding that their pitching must be top priority and they manage the team accordingly, I don’t see Greinke being a lifer. 

The Royals’ key to success is their pitching. They won't spend the money to be an all around dynamic team. So they must have unrelenting pitching.   

Last season, I was on the fence about Brian Bannister. As he struggled in the number three starting pitching position, many fans seemed to stand behind him. I regret to admit I was not one of them.

After starting the season in the minors, he was called up to be the number five starting pitcher for the Royals. Banny has arrived. At this point, I’d like to see him back at number three.

Our three, four and five is where we were weak last season. This season, though, we don’t have to be. 

I feel Banny is more deserving of the three spot than Kyle Davies and Sidney Ponson. 

Although the Royals deny it has anything to do with finances, we all know they’re lying.  And we’re all waiting for them to call up Luke Hochevar. 

Hochevar is, currently, too good to be playing in triple A. Where he needs to be is our number three starting position. 

Then, move Banny to four. We almost have a team.     

Kyle Davies has some stuff. He’s shaky each game, first two innings, sometimes three. 

I can’t find anything positive to say about Sidney Ponson. He doesn’t deserve to wear the blue and I don’t like that he’s touching the tradition that is Kansas City baseball.

Together, these two guys almost make up one major league pitcher. Rotate them around while they compete for the number five spot.