The #1 unsung hero ... Luke Hochevar! What an absolutely masterful post-season from a guy who has been a Royal for a very long time. Countless struggles. But absolute money when it counted.
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2015 KC Royals
- Thread starter Nebugeater
- Start date
Great job, Royals. Just relentless in coming back. The last couple of years have been awesome; glad they could cap it off with a championship.
Awesome indeed!
SO are you a bit ahead of yourself or should I be putting some money down on next season? :lol:
Lulz drunk fingers
Nicely stated HWM. He truly is. This whole team is just a picture of unmitigated tenacity. What a pleasure to watch the Royals win like the Royals of the 70-80s. Smallball, station to station, get the ball in play. I am still floating today.
Now, re-sign Zoby and keep the core under contract and happy. Do it Dayton!
Agree that Zobrist has to be a priority right after Gordon. I just can't see Gordon playing in a uniform other than a Royals one.
I can't either. Boras will likely be asking for a pretty steep contract for Gordon. Not sure if Boras is into "hometown discounts" or not.
Anyways, what a tremendous postseason, and what an unbelievable team! It's still difficult to comprehend what happened last night. I'm sure the parade tomorrow will be quite a party.
I was alive for the '85 championship, but not old enough to remember anything. Heck, I just have fleeting glimpses of the Royals teams of the late 80's. However, I do have lots of memories of the Royals after the 1994 strike, and many of them are not fond memories. I can still hear the PA announcer running through the starting lineups filled with AAAA baseball players. It seemed like Dee Brown and Shane Costa had infinite options. The anonymous Ewing Kauffman Estate ownership group. An anonymous and cheap (until recently) billionaire owner. $40mill payroll in 1994 (7th highest, 7mill behind NYY). $20mill payroll in 1996 (40mill behind NYY). The managers that came and went without anything significant to show. Bob Boone, Tony Muser, Buddy Bell, Trey Hillman. Watching a loaded 2000 Royals offense (a healthy Sweeney, Dye, Damon, young Beltran, .300 hitting Randa) limp to a 77-win season. Trading Dye for a bunch of nobodies. Local-boy Johnny Damon kicking the franchise to the curb. The terrible draft picks (Reichert, Austin, Snyder, Griffin, Lubanski, Campbell). Ambrioux Burgos as the closer. Watching Ken Harvey nearly decapitate Jeremy Affeldt. 83 wins in 2003. 104 losses in 2004. Juan Gonzalez, Benito Santiago, Chuck Knoblauch. 19-straight losses in 2005. Cheering on that losing streak, because if you're going to suck you may as well be the best sucking team ever. Going to Friday night games with maybe an attendance of 10,000 because you wanted to watch the other teams' star players. Ken Harvey, 2004 All-Star. Mark Redman, 2006 All-Star. Aaron Crow, 2011 All-Star. The perpetual five-year plan that always seemed to remain at five years. Free Kila. And I'm sure I'm leaving out lots and lots of other memorable players and moments.
All that crap made the past two seasons so much more enjoyable. Up until the second half of the 2013 season, I had pretty much given in to the idea that I'll likely never see the Royals be anywhere close to the best team in baseball. All I wanted was an accidental playoff berth, and maybe a home playoff win. That was it. If someone would have told me at this time three years ago that the Royals would be without a doubt the best team in Major League Baseball, I would have called that person an idiot. I can't remember how many games I went to over the years and thought to myself that I'll likely never see another World Series flag fly next to the 1985 flag in left field. It will be a great sight when I get to my first game next year and see that 2015 flag.
All that crap made the past two seasons so much more enjoyable. Up until the second half of the 2013 season, I had pretty much given in to the idea that I'll likely never see the Royals be anywhere close to the best team in baseball. All I wanted was an accidental playoff berth, and maybe a home playoff win. That was it. If someone would have told me at this time three years ago that the Royals would be without a doubt the best team in Major League Baseball, I would have called that person an idiot. I can't remember how many games I went to over the years and thought to myself that I'll likely never see another World Series flag fly next to the 1985 flag in left field. It will be a great sight when I get to my first game next year and see that 2015 flag.
I hear you. How could you forget the Hal McRae incident where he lost his mind in front of the media?
There has been a lot of bad baseball in KC for a long time. With the way MLB does business, I never thought I would see a champ in KC again. Just too many things stacked against such an organization. Like you, I was just hoping for that magical winning season here or there. I can remember rooting hard for the team to win games at the end of a season just so they wouldn't lose 100 games.
You nailed it in saying all of that frustration makes this team and its success that much sweeter. I also like the players themselves. No huge egos and a real family type atmosphere. I think that counts for a lot. The Rangers in hockey have the same type of makeup and its fun to watch such close teams interact both on and off the field/ice. The polar opposite of a team like my Dallas Cowboys.
Not sure how long this run can last going forward but I can honestly say that last nights championship win was only eclipsed by the 1994 Huskers championship for me when it came to emotional joy. I still can't believe they are as great of a team as they are.
I hear you. How could you forget the Hal McRae incident where he lost his mind in front of the media?
There has been a lot of bad baseball in KC for a long time. With the way MLB does business, I never thought I would see a champ in KC again. Just too many things stacked against such an organization. Like you, I was just hoping for that magical winning season here or there. I can remember rooting hard for the team to win games at the end of a season just so they wouldn't lose 100 games.
You nailed it in saying all of that frustration makes this team and its success that much sweeter. I also like the players themselves. No huge egos and a real family type atmosphere. I think that counts for a lot. The Rangers in hockey have the same type of makeup and its fun to watch such close teams interact both on and off the field/ice. The polar opposite of a team like my Dallas Cowboys.
Not sure how long this run can last going forward but I can honestly say that last nights championship win was only eclipsed by the 1994 Huskers championship for me when it came to emotional joy. I still can't believe they are as great of a team as they are.
McRae's incident was in 1993, and I was going for post-strike incompetence. Really, the McRae incident was a throw-back to when the Royals were still considered regular contenders for the AL West. I think his blowup came about because KC was in a slump, and he was feeling the pressure from the fans and media. The Royals ended up winning 84 games that season. Great by the standards from 1995 through the 2013 season, but it was probably looked at as another failed opportunity in 1993.
