After 29 grueling years of mediocrity and zero playoff appearances, the Kansas City Royals are heading to the 2014 World Series.
The Royals have not been to the playoffs since 1985, the same year they won the World Series. They are going to the World Series with an undefeated 8-0 record in this postseason, beating the Oakland Athletics in the one-game play in, the Anaheim Angels, and the Baltimore Orioles in the process.
The Royals are the first team in the history of baseball to win eight straight games to start a postseason: not the “Big Red Machine” Cincinnati Reds in 1976, not the Boston Red Sox, not the Philadelphia Phillies, not even the New York Yankees in the late 1990’s. Also, the Royals have not lost a playoff game since October 23, 1985. That is not a typo. That is a stone-cold fact.
The biggest, feel-good storyline this postseason, the Royals are not a big-market team and its fan base suffered for years without watching playoff games. When facing the Athletics for the coveted wild card spot, according to Elias win probability, the Royals had a 4.4 percent chance to win when they were down 7-3 in the eighth inning. It is remarkable to witness a team that was two innings shy of elimination by the Oakland Athletics. However, even though the Royals were down by four runs in the eighth inning, the team pulled together in one of the most unforgettable comebacks in postseason history.
Throughout the postseason, the Royals proved doubters wrong every time they took the field, as they have the chance to become the first team to pull off a perfect postseason during the wild-card era. The Royals were formerly known as the laughing stock of Major League Baseball, and now could put together an undefeated postseason to win the World Series for the first time since 1985.
This Royals team stole the hearts of many with its underdog mentality. They have speed, defense, bullpen brilliance, bunting, athleticism, energy, and guys that play hard and make fantastic plays to win games. They play the game the right way and fans absoultely can not get enough of it.
Unless people are San Francisco Giants fans or St. Louis Cardinals fans, it is hard not to root for this Royals team. During the regular season, although the Royals only managed to hit 95 home runs, the fewest in baseball, the team led the majors in steals this season with 153.
This is a changing of the guard for baseball because back then, it was all about hitting home runs. For a long time baseball has been about the long ball, and now the Royals are here to show that small ball and timely hitting could be the answer lower budget teams are looking for.
However, the Royals play small ball and take their chances earning hits and stealing bases. This Royals team has starting pitchers that do not make it past the sixth inning, which is a testament to their bullpen that has saved this team from losing games.
In addition, they are the first team in Major League Baseball history to win four extra-innings games in a single postseason. The players that helped contribute these monumental comebacks include Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas, Omar Infante, Alcides Escobar, Jarrod Dyson, and Lorenzo Cain.
No matter the deficit, no matter the circumstances, all this team knows how to do is win. The most interesting fact about this team, specifically its players, is that a handful of them played for the Wilmington Blue Rocks, the single class A affiliate for the American League Champions, Kansas City Royals.
According to USA Today, these players include Eric Hosmer (1st baseman), Salvador Perez (catcher), Jarrod Dyson (outfielder), Mike Moustakas (3rd baseman), Danny Duffy (pitcher), Kelvin Herrera (pitcher), Brandon Finnegan (pitcher), Terrance Gore (outfielder), and Yordano Ventura (pitcher). These players were playing four to five years ago in Wilmington, Del., for the Blue Rocks, hoping to make it to the big leagues and live their dreams as professional baseball players.
Now, four to five years later, these players are living and seizing the moment as the Royals are four wins away from immortality, a World Series Championship. Even though the Dallas Cowboys are still nicknamed “America’s Team,” fans across the nation are starting to name the Kansas City Royals “America’s Team” because America sure does love an underdog story. With an embarrassing postseason drought lasting 29 years, which is the longest in North American professional sports, America is ready to see a team win at all that has suffered for so long.
Jared Fortunato is a freshman majoring in physical therapy. He can be reached at fortunatojared@gmail.com