11.02.2015

The Royals took the crown!

Tonight started out like almost every other night for the last seven months.

The Kansas City Royals were on the TV, and our family was gathered around to watch them play.

Like so many nights this past summer, I hustled Phoebe to get ready for bed during commercial breaks while Faye danced around the living room and sang loud enough that I had to strain to hear the commentators. It was my night to put Phoebe to bed and I got the privilege of lying in bed with her, like so many nights this season, listening to the game while she tried to fight off sleep.

But there was a glitch tonight, because I got called away from watching the game to deal with an issue on campus around 9 p.m. while the game was in the sixth inning, with the Mets leading 2-0. … I was already on edge, anxiously waiting to know whether I would be heading to Game 6 in Kansas City Tuesday night. Then to be called into a late night meeting during Game 5 of the World Series, on a night when the Royals were on the verge of clinching. Oh, I was a bit frustrated.

I kept the Fox video feed going on my phone during the meeting, with the volume turned down. I kept glancing at the TweetDeck on my laptop, too. That meet was the last place I wanted to be. … But I kept my mouth shut and engaged as best I could to help address the issue.

In the meantime, Matt Harvey, the Mets ace who had shut the Royals down all night long, was coming back out for the ninth inning to try for the complete game shutout.

Then, things started happening. Again.



















Seeing my hopes of seeing a World Series game in person this year slip away, and losing focus in my meeting quickly, the Royals held the Mets in the bottom of the ninth. I was back in my car in time to listen to the top of the 10th on my drive home. The score remained tied.

The feelings I was having tonight about my Game 6 ticket and the Royals trying to come back are exactly why I don’t play fantasy sports – because I would end up rooting against my favorite players and teams for selfish reasons. There is no fun in that.

In the 11th inning, with two outs, Eric Hosmer singled and then stole second. Moustakas then lifted a pitch to left field that looked like it might die – and it did just that in Conforto’s glove.

Oh, by the way, there was a Packers game on tonight. The Packers lost to the Broncos in a battle of undefeated teams. For six innings of tonight’s Royals game, I had forgotten the Packers were on. I didn’t watch a down of that game and couldn’t have cared less.

The top of the 12th arrived. Salvador Perez led off by dropping a single down the first base line. Jarrod Dyson came into pinch run. I knew then that the Royals were winning the World Series tonight.

Dyson took off on the 2-1 throw and stole second by a mile. Then, he moved to third on a Hosmer groundout to first.


Next up, Christian Colon scored Dyson with a clean line drive single to left.


Then …





At this point I asked Kates whether I could wake up Phoebe. She said no.


The Royals kept piling on. It would be a 7-2 lead when the inning ended. The crown would be their’s.


The bottom of the 12th inning belonged to Wade Davis. He struck out Wilmer Flores to win the World Series for the Kansas City Royals.

Fireworks could be heard across The 'Ville.

Kates and I watched the celebration, laughing and smiling with every shot that depicted the players we’ve grown to love hugging each other and bouncing around the field like boys. It was so fitting that Salvy dumped his final Gatorade bucket of the season on Ned Yost.

I'm already looking forward to next season, and getting pictures with two World Series trophies during our trips to Kauffman Stadium next summer. 

I couldn’t keep up with the tweets, they were coming in so fast. But here are some of my favorites …



















There are no words I can write now that haven’t been written already. There will be plenty more to write about in coming days.

Good night.
Posted by Horns! at 2:02 AM
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