Hope For Us All

It's not exactly a secret at this point that the Kansas City Royals, who stamped their ticket to the 2014 World Series last night, are here after 29 years in the wilderness. But after years of general mediocrity, rebuilding projects that went nowhere, stars that were dealt away for never-will-bes and so many Runelvys Hernandez-types that blew threw the system, they've finally put it together. And it wasn't even quite a sure thing this year, when they sat however many games back in August, but somehow, they caught fire, got into the Playoffs and just took off from there.

Perhaps the Greatest 8-game winning streak in Royals history culminated yesterday with the completion of a convincing ALCS Sweep over the Baltimore Orioles, in which they outhit the O's for two games in Baltimore, outpitched them in two games in KC and basically shoved them off the field with a near-miraculous string of defensive gems. This is a team that's completely unheralded, a group of mostly young players mixed in with some shrewdly-acquired veteran leaders that has banded together in the name of speed, defense and a dominant bullpen. Though they managed only 4 runs over the final two games of the ALCS, and those runs scored on a Sacrifice Fly, an Infield Out and a 2-run Error, their pitching and defense held the Orioles and their lineup of power hitters to 2 runs, which is usually good enough to win every time. Tuesday, the Royals won 2-1. Wednesday, 2-1 again. Both days, all they needed their starting pitchers to do was get the game through 6 innings so that they could turn things over to the 1-2-3 punch of Kelvin Herrera, Wade Davis and Greg Holland to finish things off, and finish it off they did.

During the Division Series, I wrote about how the Postseason chooses who becomes a legend, and how perhaps the Royals Eric Hosmer had been chosen. Hosmer hit .400 for the ALCS, but he didn't stand out among this group. No one player rose up to carry the Royals to victory, they did it all together. Whether it was Alex Gordon or Mike Moustakas, whose Extra-inning Home Runs were key in Game 1, or Salvador Perez, who shook off getting banged around behind the plate to call consistently solid games, or Alcides Escobar, who's emerged as one of those Edgardo Alfonzo-like "Knows How To Play" types, or Lorenzo Cain, who it seems was chosen as the series MVP just because they had to pick someone. This is the recipe for winners. Look at some of the teams that have won World Series Championships in recent years. Like a team the Royals could end up meeting in the World Series, the Giants. Above all, a Team.

A team that only hit 95 Home Runs in the regular season and won only 89 games. A team that was down 4 runs in the Wildcard Game with time running out. But a team that caught fire at the right time and hasn't come down yet. That's the Kansas City Royals of 2014, a team above all, and that's why they're going to represent the American League in the World Series.

And if they can do it, well, hey, anything's possible, isn't it?

Mighty KC

The 2014 ALCS has been set since Sunday, when two teams that I'm quite certain nobody picked to be here clinched their spots by finishing off shocking sweeps of their supposedly superior opponents.

I'd already gone into the curious case of the intrepid Kansas City Royals, led by their intrepid star Eric Hosmer, who made the brilliant decision of getting on a raging hot streak just as the playoffs were beginning and he'd be playing in games in front of a National TV audience. Hosmer hit another Home Run on Sunday night in Kansas City, as did Mike Moustakas, KC's two Extra-inning heroes. But the key hit came very early for the Royals, courtesy of their George Brett-like Outfielder Alex Gordon, whose 3-run double in the 1st inning cleared the bases, chased Angels starter C.J. Wilson from the game, and gave the Royals a lead they wouldn't relinquish. This was after Mike Trout, whom I last week said was not chosen by the Playoffs to succeed, made me look somewhat foolish by hitting a Home Run in his 1st at bat, but then continued to prove my point because that Home Run ended up being his only hit in the series. In the end, the Royals stepped on the Angels' throats and piled on from there, winning 8-3, and if you like verisimilitude, there was Mike Trout striking out for the final out of the series, as the Royals and their fans basked in a rain-soaked victory.

That was their first Postseason series win in 29 years. That's because it was their first Postseason period in 29 years, we all know that. On the other side, there are the Baltimore Orioles, who haven't had quite as dramatic a postseason drought. They were in the ALDS in 2012, losing to some other AL East team that's no longer relevant, but before that, the last time they were in the Postseason was 1997, when they made it to the ALCS and lost. But when it comes to World Series Championships, the Orioles have neither won one or sniffed one since 1983, back in an era where their roster consisted of Cal Ripken, Eddie Murray and Mike Boddicker. The Orioles still seem to do it with pitching, keeping a potent Tigers lineup mostly quiet through their 3-game ALDS while they put together a pair of 8th inning rallies to win the first two games at home, and rode the power of Nelson Cruz and the pitching of Bud Norris and their bullpen to win Game 3. These Orioles are built in a similar fashion to the Royals: Not a lot of stars, but a collection of players that do everything well and Pitchers who are generally very tough all the time. We all know about Nelson, who's one of those guys that was chosen by the Postseason back when he was with Texas. He's been helped out by Nick Markakis, Adam Jones and Jonathan Schoop. Pitching, they did it with Chris Tillman winning the 1st game and Norris in the 3rd game. Wei Yin Chen was hit hard in Game 2, but he's pitched well otherwise. Like KC, who boasts a bullpen full of guys who throw really hard, Baltimore had their ass saved in Game 2 by their bullpen, specifically Kevin Gausman, one of those guys playing the "starter who's coming out of the bullpen in the Playoffs" role.

Bottom line is neither of these teams can be slept on, and they're here because people slept on them. The talk, in general, is which of these teams is the team of Destiny. Either one of them can be viewed as such, because neither of them had the Look of a Champion much throughout the season. True, the Orioles, behind Buck Showalter, led the AL East most of the way and won their division with ease. The Royals had a more treacherous road here, didn't clinch a spot in the Postseason until the final week of the season, and we know what they overcame in the Wildcard game, but sometimes all it takes for a team is just getting there, and then you take it from there. That can often be the best recipe for success in the Postseason. That, and having a guy get chosen by the Postseason to somehow make The Leap and become a guy that catches national attention. Right now, that's been Eric Hosmer. I know that most of what I've read has been touting the Orioles as more of a team of Destiny than the Royals, and that ultimately they'll be the team that's going to emerge out of what looks to be a really fun ALCS, but I'm going the other way and picking the Royals. When you keep coming back in games, when you keep winning games in Extra Innings, and when you have the guy that's become The Guy for your team, that tends to be the recipe for success in a Championship series. So I pick the Royals, 6-7 games and yeah, I know those games are in Baltimore, but that doesn't seem to matter when you have teams like this.

Certain Royalty

We are, perhaps, somewhat jaded as Mets fans, and rightfully so given the way the last 8 seasons have ended up. But it doesn't look so bad when measured against a franchise like the Kansas City Royals, who are in the Postseason for the first time since 1985, when they won their only World Series Championship behind bygone names like George Brett, Frank White and Bret Saberhagen. That was 29 years ago. If that's not enough to get you to root for them, and root for them hard, well, then I don't know what to tell you. The Royals made their way into the ALDS on Tuesday night, by virtue of a furious double-comeback against the Oakland A's, coming back from deficits of 7-3 and 8-7 in the 12th inning before ultimately winning 9-8.

In the ALDS against the Anaheim Angels, a team that boasts the Best Record in Baseball, the Best Player in Baseball in Mike Trout, and a pair of former MVPs in Albert Pujols (still not very good) and Josh Hamilton, the Royals seem unfazed, and after winning both Game 1 and Game 2 on the road, in 11 innings, on Home Runs from, respectively, Mike Moustakas and Eric Hosmer, I'm beginning to think there's something a little deeper at work here.

For one, after watching Game 2 play out in particular, I began to realize that, for the Major League Ballplayer, you don't pick the Postseason, the Postseason picks you. Think about this. The Angels and Royals are led by a couple of bright young stars in Trout and Hosmer. But if you were going to think of the guy who was going to steal the show and make the Postseason his own, it would have to be Trout, wouldn't it? Trout is the odds on favorite to win AL MVP, after hitting 36 Home Runs and driving in 111 in the regular season. Hosmer, on the other hand, was injured, has failed to live up to his billing as a franchise 1Bman, and for the season hit 9 Home Runs and drove in 58. But when the bell rang for October, the roles have flipped. Trout, the ballyhooed, has gone 0-for-8 with 2 walks in his first Postseason. Hosmer, on the other hand, has been a man possessed. After going 3-for-4 with 2 runs scored, an RBI and a Triple of massive importance in the Royals' 12th inning winning rally, Hosmer greeted the Angels by going 3-for-7 in the first two games, including 2 walks, 2 runs scored and a 2-run Home Run in the 11th inning Friday night that proved to be the winning hit in Game 2. That's the sort of clutch you would have expected out of a big-time star like Trout, and not someone who's struggled to find himself like Hosmer has. But this Postseason has been Hosmer's coming out party, and he's showing what he's capable of in front of a National audience. Some guys just find that spotlight. Hosmer's performance, along with Moustakas, and some clutch play from other unsung guys like Lorenzo Cain, Salvador Perez and Jarrod Dyson have aided the Royals...The Kansas City Royals!!...ahead 2 games to 0 and heading home with a chance to sweep the Angels out of the playoffs on Sunday night.

You want a story that will make you believe and feel good about Baseball, that's it right there.