"I don't think I'm a loafer"

Been there, done that.

This is a problem with the radical rebuilding schemes so many armchair GMs advise: players slack off when the expectations are lowered. (A corollary of this proposition is that we can expect underachievers to perform better when transferred to winning teams. Trust me, "Bones" Benson will go off in another uniform.)

The losing and the slacking off go hand-in-hand.

Kansas City has lost seven straight, and has scored just 11 runs over the stretch.

Royals first baseman Ken Harvey was taken out of the game by manager Tony Pena for not running out a pop fly in the fourth.

``Either we're going to play the game right or people are going to be on the bench,'' Pena said. ``I ask my players to run the ball out. Whoever doesn't run the ball out, I'm going to take him out of the game. It's inexcusable.''

Harvey said he ran all the way to the bag on the ball that was caught by first baseman Martinez.

``I thought it was good enough, but I didn't run hard enough,'' Harvey said. ``What I can do? That's his decision. End of story.

``I feel like I play hard everyday. I'm not trying to make this into a battle of what I do, but I think my effort speaks for itself everyday. Ask my teammates ... I play hard. I don't think I'm a loafer. If I'm the scapegoat, I guess I'll be that guy.''

Sucks for Tony Pena. A few more years of this and Royals marketing will have to sell "hustle" as the team's strong point.

For Harvey, a better answer would be less mopey, something like, "I started running hard but then I saw this beautiful woman in the stands. I slowed down to see if I could make eye contact and give her a smile. I let everyone down with this lack of self-discipline. I promise it will never happen again."