The date was October 29, 2014. I was sitting in the grand lounge in the basement of Wells House, my dorm (it was my freshman year of college). I honestly remember it quite clearly. I was sitting on the couch directly in front of the TV, there were probably about 15 other people in the area watching with me, but they were a blur even then. I was in the zone. This couch had become my reserved seat of sorts for the previous month. It was the same place I had watched the Royals clinch a playoff berth for the first time in my life in Chicago. I had watched Brandon Moss virtually end their season, until all of a sudden he didn’t in the wild Wild Card game that any Royals, or maybe even just baseball, fan would remember. It was the place I sprinted back to from across campus after a biology test to watch the ALDS against the scary Angels. It was where I watched them take down the Orioles in the ALCS. I had watched 5 of the 6 previous World Series games from that seat (The outlier was watched at The Klub in Mound City on a tv behind the bar at a wedding reception). I had watched 13 of the 14 Royals playoff games from this seat on this TV. They had won 11 of those games. I didn’t think this seat was my lucky charm, but I wasn’t about to move and find out. The score was 3-2 in the 5th and the Royals bullpen was already dominating the game. They were down a run, but I was confident they could scratch a couple across. And then everyone knows what happened, Madison Bumgarner. On 2 days rest after throwing 117 pitches and a complete game shutout, he pitched the final 5 innings to get the save. Basically he just shoved and there was nothing the Royals could do to stop him.
Except one glimmer of hope. I was leaning back on the couch, almost covering my eyes because I did not want to see Alex Gordon commit the last out of this magical 2014 season. Down to their last out, he lines one to left field that on contact I hope is a single, until it gets by Gregor Blanco and allows Gordo to scamper all the way to third base. There is not a doubt in my mind that he would have been thrown out had he tried to score on the play, so this is not a what if story of that sort. Instead, we will go to the next batter, Salvador Perez. By this point I was on my feet screaming and jumping and making a scene. I just knew that Salvy was going to come through. I mean, he had the game winning hit in the Wild Card game down the third base line, and he had the only blemish on Bumgarner the whole series, a solo homer in game 1. I am a hopeless romantic when it comes to baseball, so obviously the only thought in my brain was, “Holy cow. Salvy is going to hit a walk-off homer and the Royals are going to win Game 7 of the World Series and I might never sleep again.” Instead, I learned just how cruel this game I love can be. As you probably know, Salvy hit a foul pop up that Pablo Sandoval caught in front of his own dugout before collapsing. I was left sitting on this couch, watching a celebration that I was certain would be mine.
Now, it worked out pretty well, the next year with KC running out from day one as the best team in the American League, and while they were tested, mightily I might add, in the playoffs, the best team won, and won, and won. Securing their own World Series title in 2015. 2016 and 2017 proved to be disappointments, with the same core not reaching its WS potential. But let’s rewind back to 2014. What if Salvy had taken MadBum deep. What if instead of fouling into Sandoval’s 3rd base mitt, he had hit an iconic rope into Jason Fraser’s glove in the left field bullpen? How would things look? Well lucky for you, you aren’t the only one asking that question.
The Fall Out
Gordo crosses home and assuming Salvy doesn’t get too caught up in celebrating and remembers to run the bases himself, the Royals win, Joe Buck probably still talks about Bumgarner for a while, but the 40,000 people at the K don’t care because they are crying tears of disbelief. The WS MVP probably goes to either Yordano after his game 6 masterpiece, Salvy, or Lorenzo Cain. Probably Salvy, because of the dinger. There is a slight chance that Bumgarner wins it still, but that is pretty rare. Anyway, Kansas City is an absolute party. Nobody has any idea what they are supposed to do, but they just keep yelling and screaming and hugging and holding their hands up in the air. Nobody sleeps.
Disney immediately starts writing a movie about it, because there is no way it actually happened, right? It had to be Hollywood. But it did, and the nation is eating it up. Salvy is on seemingly every commercial, mostly in non-speaking roles. The picture of his reaction 2 hands in the air, before he did his cartwheel on second base, is on billboards all over. Dayton Moore still makes the same decisions to let Billy Butler sign with the A’s in favor of a cheaper Kendrys Morales, and Alex Rios still finds a home in right field. James Shields still signs a big deal with San Diego but he finally has his ring to go with his now ironic name “Big Game James”, and gets replaced with Steady Eddy Volquez. Maybe they go out in their excitement and get another pitcher to fill the long relief/ 5th starter role, too.
Having rings on their hands, they have some targets on their backs, but they still have not won a division title, and most people in the media say they were a flash in the pan. They have a (albeit much smaller) chip on their shoulder entering the 2015 season. As the season progresses, they don’t get in as many fights, because all they do when teams start jawing is remind them that they got their ring already. The group is already confident but with history on their side they become borderline arrogant. The management doesn’t feel the urgency to trade for Ben Zobrist and Johnny Cueto, already having their rings. Instead they settle for a cheaper option, trading Brandon Finnegan for Mike Leake straight up. They are confident they can compete again without leveraging the farm system, so they pass on Ben Zobrist who is traded to Texas instead.
The regular season goes well. Mike Leake does the same thing Johnny Cueto did in the regular season, pairing several mediocre starts with a couple great starts. His expectation was only to be a #3 starter behind Volquez and Ventura, and he fits that role well. Without Ben Zobrist, the team relies on Omar Infante longer than they wished was necessary, and when he gets hurt, they rely on Christian Colon to take over at second base. There is talk of bringing Raul Mondesi, Jr. up from the minors, but Orlando Calixte is determined to be a better utility infielder. The Royals are still running away with the division, but the Blue Jays are leading the AL in record. The Rangers are surging with a big haul at the trade deadline, and are a scary team that should be reckoned with. At the end of the regular season, The Blue Jays win 94 games, good to clinch home field advantage in front of the Royals at 91-71 and the Rangers at 90-72. The Blue Jays fall to the scary Astros in the ALDS. The Royals manage to squeak past the Rangers in 4 games, thanks to late inning heroics from Christian Colon, who always seems to show up in the postseason. In the ALCS, Alex Rios has the series of his life against the Astros, and manages to win MVP honors instead of Esky as the Royals win in a dramatic 7 game series. Game 7 was decided when Alex Gordon took a walk in the bottom of the 7th, Alex Rios doubled him in to break the tie, and then Christian Colon lobbed a single to left center to score an insurance run, Herrera came in the 8th and Wade shut the door in the 9th. With the pennant in tow, they go to battle with the Mets. Without the gem from Johnny Cueto, they are forced into a 6 game series, but are able to close out the Mets in Kansas City. The Royals are the first back to back World Series Champions since the 98-00 Yankees, and the least likely repeat champs in decades.
What happens next is where it gets really interesting. In the off season, the Royals still sign Alex Gordon to the same deal, to the same amount of excitement. The payroll is still a club record, and Ian Kennedy still comes to KC. Mike Leake walks away even after having a decent postseason. The farm system looks a lot better without the losses of John Lamb, and Sean Manaea. Both pitching well in Omaha, they look to make a difference in the bigs this year.
I don’t see a way the team can get past the disappointing 2016 for the same reason I think the team still wins in 2015. Injuries, injuries, injuries. While the 2015 Royals did lose Jason Vargas midway through the year and Greg Holland late, there was enough depth in place to hold those positions down. The same was not true in 2016, when Moose and Gordon collided in May, not to mention Salvy, Cain, and Luke Hochevar took turns on the DL. As the injuries mount up, frustrations build up, the team looks very similar in 2016.
The same is probably true for 2017. Sean Manaea debuts in the starting rotation as the biggest difference. At the end of the year, the team might be closer to playoff contention with Manaea feeling more and more comfortable, but he is not the difference between making the playoffs as much as he might simply become Jake Junis.
Here we are in 2018. Sean Manaea is now a bonafide stud. (Look at his numbers in Oakland) The Royals are not the worst team in baseball for that simple fact. The rebuild is looking like it might be a year or two, looking to be competitive in 2020 and entertaining now.
These are just my onfield predictions for the Royals. I didn’t go into Bumgarner’s fallout from not being the king on 2014. I didn’t go off the field for Salvy’s endorsements, whether Ned retires after winning two championships (most likely not), Dayton Moore leaves after feeling like he couldn’t achieve anything else in KC, or a variety of other things. Some players might get traded or leave for free agency because two championships looks better on a resume than one.
It’s fun to walk through what could have been, but all in all, the 2015 playoff run, series, and celebration was so much sweeter because on the disappointment of 2014. We had brawls, #VoteOmar, and 1738. Who knows if any of those happen with a walkoff jack in 2014. Not to mention the fact that Ben Zobrist’s daughter who was born in November of 2015 is named Blaise Royal Zobrist. It wouldn’t have the same ring to it if her middle name was Ranger.
Everything turned out pretty well, and it will be fun when it happens again in 2024.