In his own words

Topeka Capital-Journal, The, Jul 13, 2008

The All-Star break traditionally is regarded as the mid-point of the major league season, even though 95 games is past the halfway mark to 162.

For new Royals manager Trey Hillman, however, the four-day break from Monday through Thursday will provide some time to look back on things that went right and wrong in his first half-season in the big leagues.

Entering Saturday night's home game with Seattle, Hillman's Royals were 41-52, a mere one-game improvement over the record of Buddy Bell's team at this point last year. It's been a season of new energies and new disciplines installed by a new manager, as well as new adjustments made by a first-time big-league manager who spent five previous seasons managing in Japan.

Here, in Hillman's own words, is a look back at his first 93 games with the struggling Royals.

"I feel we're getting better, giving ourselves a better opportunity to win ballgames. Even though our record isn't where we want it to be, we had back-to-back opportunities on consecutive nights (in losses on Tuesday and Wednesday of this past week) to beat a division-leading team (Chicago) that is very good. We only got one win (in the three-game series), but we were in every game. Both nights it seemed like one thing meant the difference, and they involved a couple of calls.

"I'm not trying to whine about umpires, but so often it just seems like one thing (is the difference between winning and losing). It's one performance we didn't give, one pitch we've made, one call we didn't get. Those are difficult losses, but this group has done a good job in letting those go and coming back the next day."

On dealing with the expectations of Kansas City fans that the team will be better ...

"It's especially big to win in front of our fans. This is a hungry group, a great sports town with some really good history. In my time here I've gotten a better feeling for the intensity and desire to get things back to the way it was for a 10-year period. We're as anxious in that dugout to bring it back for them as they are. Hopefully they've seen our character and the fight still left in these guys. I think we're inching toward being pretty good."

On the process through which a losing team must learn to win ...

"It's a process that has to happen. Even in our two losses (after losing big leads against the White Sox), after you deal with the heartbreak of losing you take a chance to settle down, look at it more objectively, and you see bright spots. You see some toughness we didn't have during (the 12-game losing streak). The process is starting to work.

"I know people are tired of hearing me say this, but I've been through it before where (winning) has to be taught and learned. You start with a system you know will work. Then it becomes an atmosphere thing, a feeling everybody has that every day they come to the ballpark, they know they have a good opportunity to win. And if we fall behind, it's not that big a deal. I'm starting to see this here.

"Again, we're not in the spot any of us wants to be in right now. But guys are starting to realize there are still some (good) things we can do even this year. We just finished up a 3-5 road trip that was not successful, but the way we won three games was encouraging. We could have been swept (in a 2-2 series) in Baltimore, and swept in Tampa Bay (a 1-3 series) as well. But that didn't happen. We might have gotten swept by the White Sox here at home, and that didn't happen. But even though we didn't win in those series, in some strange ways, we made progress. We're showing more staying power and staying in games at the end. We're fighting back.

On coming back from the hole created by the team's 12-game losing streak in May ...

"You never plan on things like a 12-game losing streak, and I don't want to go into the offseason thinking, 'How do you prepare for something like that again?' But if we can stay away from those, we've got a better record and we're seen as a better team. Hopefully by the end of the season we can get our numbers closer to what we thought they would be at the start, or when we were winning 11 of 12. I think we can put together a run like that again.

Story by Rick Dean: rick.dean@cjonline.com.From kansas51, on Gary Henault, a rowing competitor at the Sunflower State Games, who credits the sport with helping him lose 200 pounds: Mr. Henault should be very proud of his accomplishments. What an inspiration for all those that struggle with weightloss. He is proof that reaching your goals is possible at any age against all odds.

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