Kansas City Royals Big Inning Beginnings

Every story has a beginning, even if the place we choose to begin telling it is but one of many options. Wiser persons than I have noted that one major trait setting humans apart from other animals is that we are storytellers. We even have a plethora of stories about the origins of the universe.

And, since I’m telling this version about the re-birth of The Kansas City Royals Baseball Club, I get to start with, “Once Upon a Wild Card Time…”

In the beginning, the Kansas City Royals beat the Oakland A’s in 12 innings (having trailed by four heading into the 8^th), taking us all for a 2014 postseason ride we will never forget. Had anyone asked me after that game – assuming I heard them (that was the night The K rediscovered its voice), “Could you script a better story?,” I’d have emphatically shouted, “No. Friggin. Way.”

After that, our boys in blue swept their way into the World Series, only to strand the Great Gordo 90 feet from home in the bottom of the ninth of Game 7. I’m pretty sure I speak for all Royals fans when I say that I’d have scripted that ending slightly differently.

Although Royals Nation was initially disappointed to come so close to recapturing the crown, the exhilaration and pride and success are the things that stuck with us from 2014. I recall being moved to the verge of tears by the fact that so many fans remained in the stadium after the loss, chanting, “Let’s Go Royals!”

Next: On to the 2015 season