Glass not pointing fingers after Royals’ abysmal play

K.C. owner 'pleased' with GM Baird, manager Pena

? The owner of the American League’s worst team remains fully confident in his manager and general manager.

That’s certain to put David Glass at odds with a growing contingent of Kansas City fans watching the Royals’ once-promising season fall apart.

With a 29-46 mark at the beginning of July, the franchise record of 100 losses seems easily within reach. That’s triple-digit losses for a retooled team that several experts expected to capture the AL Central title and end a 19-year postseason drought.

Distribution of blame for the season began Wednesday with the firing of pitching coach John Cumberland. With a team earned-run average of 5.01 — 13th among 14 teams — it seemed an easy call.

But why, say many fans, stop there? What about manager Tony Pena and general manager Allard Baird?

“I am pleased with Allard and Tony both,” Glass said Thursday from his office in Bentonville, Ark. “I think they’re doing the best they can. They are both very capable individuals. You’re not always right with everything you do.”

If there is a rock bottom for the Royals this lost season, it might have come in the past few days. First they traded their best player, Carlos Beltran, to Houston because they were not going to be able to afford him as a free agent.

Then they got swept three straight by St. Louis and had to suffer the embarrassment of their own Kauffman Stadium being crammed with Cardinals fans. Every time the Cardinals got a hit — and that was a lot of times — the stadium exploded with cheers.

Then came more bad news. Third baseman Joe Randa went on the disabled list for at least a month, joining Aaron Guiel, Juan Gonzalez, Benito Santiago and Jeremy Affeldt.

“This is not the team we left spring training with,” said a gloomy Mike Sweeney.

Next was a fifth straight loss, an embarrassing 10-1 setback to AL East cellar-dwellar Baltimore.

The Royals won the next game 4-3, but more bad times were ahead.

On Wednesday night, about the time a ball was jumping off Beltran’s bat for a game-winning homer for Houston, a ball was popping out of the glove of David DeJesus, his replacement in center field for the Royals. Two unearned runs dashed home, and the Royals were on their way to a 13-4 rout by the Orioles.

The Royals finished June with the league’s worst home batting record for the month — .221.

Glass insists he’s suffering with the fans.

“I am obsessed with winning, and I despise losing,” he said. “I don’t handle losing well. It’s a very disappointing year for all of us.”

There seems no relief in sight. Pena, the AL manager of the year in 2003 when a 19-3 start led to a surprising 83-win breakthrough, now is criticized for just about every move he does or does not make.

Still, he said he wasn’t worried about getting shoved out the same door that swung open for Cumberland.

“I’m here today. I live in the present and I am not afraid to get fired,” he said. “When I say I take full responsibility, it is because I am not a loser. Losers try to find a way to find excuses.

“I feel good about myself. I know what I can do.”

Last year when the Royals won, Pena’s feel-good antics led fans to hail him as a great motivator. This year as the losses pile up, stunts like showering with his uniform on to “get the stunk off” have not played as well.

“I think Tony is a very good baseball man,” Glass said. “I think he did a great job last year. He’s doing the best he can with what he has to work with this year. I have a lot of respect and admiration for Tony.”