I guess the best way to describe the Kansas City Royals’ incredible performance in the post season is to quote the late Yogi Berra’s “It ain’t over til it’s over.” Countless times during the playoff, the Royals appeared to be headed for a loss, only to rally and win.
It happened in the division series
against the Houston Astros when they trailed Game Four 6-2 and were six outs
away from elimination. But that day, they rallied for seven runs in the final
two innings. One game later, they trailed 2-0 early again but came back to win
7-2 to advance.
In the ALCS against the Toronto
Blue Jays, they trailed Game Two 3-0 against Toronto ace David Price and
rallied to win and take a two games to none lead in the series.
And then there was the World
Series. In the first game they trailed twice and came back to tie (the second
time in the bottom of the ninth) before winning it in fourteen innings. In both
Games 2 and 4, they were behind and came back to win both of those games.
But nothing could come close to
what they did in the fifth game against the New York Mets last night. Down 2-0
and three outs away from the series shifting back to Kansas City’s Kaufman
Stadium, they pulled off yet another comeback. This time it was led by first
baseman, Eric Hosmer, who doubled in Lorenzo Cain and an out later, pulled off a
brilliant piece of base running to tie the score.
Even though the Mets had chances
to win the game in the bottom of the ninth, tenth and eleventh, you could just
feel that it would be the Royals’ game again. And sure enough in the top of the
twelfth, a five-run outburst made sure there was no doubt. Hits by Salvador
Perez, Christian Colon, Alcides Escobar, Cain and Hosmer, combined with an
error and an intentional walk provided the final bunch of runs needed.
There was no way the Mets were
going to rally and when New York’s Wilmer Flores struck out looking, the Royals won
their first World Championship in thirty years. After falling just short in
Game 7 against the San Francisco Giants in 2014, Kansas City finished their
quest last night.
Catcher Salvador Perez was
awarded the World Series Most Valuable Player award, but it could have gone to
any number of players. I’m not taking away from Perez’s performance (8 for 22,
two RBIs and three runs scored, plus fantastic work behind the plate) but you
can’t overlook the performances of Mike Moustakas, Escobar, Cain and Ben
Zobrist. And there was also the excellent work of the bullpen. The four-headed
monster I mentioned a week ago my World Series preview (Wade Davis, Kelvin
Herrera, Luke Hochevar and Ryan Madson) gave up only one unearned run in the
entire series. The four combined for seventeen innings, had a 0.00 ERA and
struck out a total of 21 batters.
The disappointment of losing the
seventh game last year has been replaced by the euphoria of being the best.
Congratulations to the Kansas
City Royals. World Champions for 2015.
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