I'll be honest, I think Ned does plenty of dumbfuck things but I haven't been irate with him like everyone else.
There are only probably a handful of MLB managers who don't make decisions exactly the same way Ned does every game. Not talking individual decisions, but his thought process is similar to most in my opinion. I mean, if I remember correctly Hillman made decisions pretty statistically, but the result was the same and Royals fans railed him for it.
The problem is the talent on the field, and it really isn't a huge problem. The Royals were a borderline WC team last year and they are again this season. What sucks for KC fans is that they've been putrid for so long that this literally feels like (and probably is) the "last shot" for real success in the near future. Every little thing is magnified.
Add that all to this being the Royals' logical current ceiling and it makes it all the more frustrating. It's cool if you're a fan of a team that actually has a shot at success even intermittently, but when this is literally the peak of a generation of Royals fans.
You can either take the now or never approach or just enjoy the "success and hope for the top-end result of it. I choose the latter. Maybe that makes me pretty :powerespect: (actually applicable) with regard to the Royals, but it's a lot more fun than the other way around imo.