Soria

By Tim Pafford

(To the tune of "Gloria!" by the Kinks)

Like to tell ya about my Pitcher, baby

You know he comes around

He's about six feet three

A-from his head to the ground

You know he comes around here

At just about ten

He make ya feel so good, Lord

He make ya feel all right

And his name is S-O-R-I-A!

S-O-R-I-A! (SORIA!)

S-O-R-I-A! (SORIA!)

I'm gonna shout it all night (SORIA!)

I'm gonna shout it every day (SORIA!)

Yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah

He comes around here

Just about Ten

Ha, He make ya feel so good, Lord

I wanna say he makes me feel alright

Comes a-walkin' to the mound

When he comes to play some baseball

He knocks upon your strike zone

And then He comes in up ahead in the count

Yeah, an' he make me feel alright

S-O-R-I-A! (SORIA!)

S-O-R-I-A! (SORIA!)

And another strike out! (SORIA!)

I'm gonna shout it all night (SORIA!)

I'm gonna shout it every day (SORIA!)

Yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah

Looks so good (SORIA!) alright

Just so good (SORIA!) alright, yeah

What a record! This guy comes out of the Bull-Pen with pitches that catch the best of batters sitting and looking; or he has them swinging above or below the ball by over a foot. This guy can make the best batters in the league look like fools. With an ERA of 2.21 and four to five solid pitches that make him almost unhittable, he is far and away one the best closers in baseball today.

He is the best Royals closer, and we saw this first hand when he was on the disabled list. Very few of our other “closers” could close the deal. So many times the Royals lost the lead, right at the end of the game, because they did not have their star closer. Few other closers have the talent of Soria, and almost none of those play for the Royals.

Soria’s contract is up at the end of 2010. Let us hope that he is seen as the amazing closer, and life line, the Royals need to keep being competitive. If David Glass is willing to pay players (who do not pulled their weight) salaries that are not conducive to the stats they have produced, they need to be moved aside so we can keep Soria and pay him what he is worth. He is a team player, and loved by fans and teammates alike. (Lest we forget he was a star in the Mexican League.)

When he played in the All-Star Game in ’08, he was unhittable. He only appeared for a part of an inning, but that short amount of time had nearly ever national paper writing about him. The guy threw past batters few in the league could get by during the regular season. With that kind of talent and publicity he will be snapped up if he is allowed free agency. We cannot afford that if we wish to have a winning record.

When an owner wants a team that brings in revenue, that team needs a winning record. (Losing teams do not bring in money.) Soria is one of reasons that the Royals do win, and he is a player that will do all he can to help his teams win.

Last season, he went up to Trey Hillman and asked to play extra innings to help his team win when they needed it most. For any player who has had Tommy John’s surgery, that is not only a potential sacrifice to his ERA for the season, but also causes greater risk of a career ending injury. He took that risk and deticated himself to his team.

When any professional closer is willing to do that for his team, he is a true team player; and one who is worthy of a long and well paid career. Let us just hope he gets to do that with our Kansas City Royals.