Royals “Hit a Ton” in win streak with help from BBQ sauce
With a 29-33 record, it’s easy to see that the Kansas City Royals have been under-performing this year. What started out as a season filled with so much promise has turned into a house of horrors as the Royals started to dive in the standings. Things have begun to turn around of late for the Royals though, and their inspiration has come from a surprising source.
Perennial star Billy Butler has gotten things going on the Royals, but not entirely with his bat. Oddly enough, the Royals have credited the bulk of their recent success to his new brand of BBQ sauce.
That’s right. Teammate Jeremy Guthrie began passing bottles of the “Hit a Ton” sauce to players during games to reward them for good play. Soon the media caught on as what started as a joke became a force of habit. When the Royals got hot on a six-game win streak, the joke turned into a superstition.
“It started exactly when the streak started,” Butler said. “Baseball players are superstitious. We all know that. It’s not going to change. I like it.”
Guthrie said he isn’t sure as to why he chose to hand out the BBQ sauce, but he is glad he did.
“When that shipment came in I just thought, ‘Hey, we need to hit it a ton, too,’ ” Guthrie said. “And we started to.”
What more could you expect though from a sauce named “Hit a Ton” as the Royals have climbed to third place and just one game behind the second place Indians. While knocking the Tigers out of first may be close to impossible, the Royals have luck on their side as they hope to keep playing well. Whether it is the sauce or the simple fact that the Royals have gotten hot at the right time, the Royals are now just four games away from being .500 on the season.
