KC Royals: How No Fear Baseball Made Them Winners

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Sep 30, 2014; Kansas City, MO, USA; Kansas City Royals center fielder Jarrod Dyson (left) celebrates with Johnny Giavotella after defeating the Oakland Athletics in the 2014 American League Wild Card playoff baseball game at Kauffman Stadium. The Royals won 9-8. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports /

The KC Royals success has puzzled pundits and analysts ever since they crashed the World Series party in 2014. Aside from the numbers, the Kansas City Royals succeed in clutch situations because they’re a team that isn’t afraid to lose.

I know that sounds a bit too pat—and really, something of a cliche. But, Rany Jazayerli’s brought this old saying to life with his post about Jarrod Dyson‘s stolen base in the 2014 Wild Card game:

If you want a single image to sum up the never-say-die attitude of the 2014-2015 Kansas City Royals, that’s the one. The Royals were still two outs away from elimination – and Dyson is revving the engines at third base, with complete confidence in himself and without an ounce of fear for the situation. It was if he was saying, “Nervous? Why would we be nervous?” We were losing our minds in the stands, but out on the field, Dyson didn’t have a care in the world. He was a 50th-round pick, a guy who was drafted despite not really knowing how to hit a baseball, who by sheer force of self-confidence and his God-given tools surpassed far more heralded prospects through the farm system, reached the major leagues when he was 26 years old, and has been one of the game’s best fourth outfielders ever since. That’s what speed – and a relentless belief in yourself – do.

(I highly recommend you check out Rany’s fantastic rundown of the top 218 Royals’ moments. It’s a feast a KC Royals fan can happily gorge themselves on for days, heck even weeks, of reading).

If losing is so devastating to a player, or team, that they can’t face the possibility; they will be too tight to take advantage of on-field opportunities that present themselves in fractions of a second.

Next: How Ned Yost Created A No Fear Atmosphere

Nov 1, 2015; New York City, NY, USA; Kansas City Royals first baseman Eric Hosmer (35) scores the tying run past New York Mets catcher Travis d /

How Ned Yost Created A ‘No Fear’ Atmosphere

Kansas City Royals manager Ned Yost empoweres his players to take risks, which enabled Eric Hosmer‘s now-iconic score that tied up Game 5 of the 2015 World Series. In Tim Kurkjian’s fabulous “oral history” of Hosmer’s Mad Dash on ESPN.com, he wrote:

“Hosmer went on his own because that’s what the Royals preach — use your instincts and what we taught you. Manager Ned Yost said he used a bunt sign only four times in 2015; all other bunts were done on their own by the players. Over the past four years, Yost said he has not put on one straight steal sign. Every decision to steal was ultimately made by the baserunner.”

Ned Yost, and the entire KC Royals organization, spent years getting blasted for tactical mistakes. I did it as much as anyone (yeah I know, my regular readers are probably getting tired of my mea culpas for calling Yost “The Village Idiot of Managers” in 2014). Yet, if the above statement is true (and I don’t know any reason why Yost, or Kurkjian, made it up), then many of the poor tactical decisions of the past can be attributed to the “growing pains” of a team learning how to play such a free-wheeling brand of baseball.

Perhaps this little bit of coaching revealed in Kurkjian’s piece will help explain how the KC Royals got where they are today:

The night before [in Game 4], we had runners at first and third. I was on third. Duda dropped a pickoff throw to first. He went to pick it up and misplayed it a little bit. I faked a break to the plate. I thought about going home. I came back to third and Jirsch [third base coach Mike Jirschele] had a little smirk on his face like, “You could have gone home on that play.”

Next: The Benefits Of Baseball Without Fear

Oct 23, 2015; Kansas City, MO, USA; Kansas City Royals center fielder Lorenzo Cain (6) scores a run past Toronto Blue Jays catcher Russell Martin (right) in the 8th inning in game six of the ALCS at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: John Rieger-USA TODAY Sports /

The Benefits Of No Fear Baseball

In the end, this “player’s first” style produced a Kansas City Royals team able to exploit any little mistake an opponent makes. This ability, in turn, has attracted players to the KC Royals organization. Consider the case of minor league free-agent first baseman Cody Decker, who chose to sign with the Kansas City Royals despite being blocked at the major-league level by 1B Eric Hosmer and DH Kendrys Morales, and having to joust with independent league find Balbino Fuenmayor at AAA Omaha.

Decker told Minda Haas Kuhlman at Royals Review about his decision to join the KC Royals organization:

“They have fun. They realize this is a kids’ game, and it should be fun.”

More from KC Royals News

Players who are afraid to lose, who feel they need to live up to a big contract, or avoid a harangue from the executive suite if they lose, aren’t going to have fun. They’ll also hesitate in the crunch if their manager, general manager, or owner blasts them for a mistake. Coaches might need to kick a player in the ass if they’re not working hard enough—or for behavior that undermines the team—but on-field mistakes a player makes because he is trying to win isn’t a reason for anger. Or even criticism. Instead, it means they need

coaching

Many teams say they teach, and play, this way. The Kansas City Royals actually do it.

Old timers can remember New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner ripping his players in the press for on field mistakes and firing managers like people change cell phone providers today. What he ended up doing was handcuffing his high priced free agent talent. It’s no accident that the late-90’s New York Yankees dynasty was built when Commissioner Fay Vincent banned Steinbrenner from day-to-day operations of the team after he paid gambler Howard Spira to dig up “dirt” on Yankee star Dave Winfield.

Win-or-else demands don’t allow prospects to develop. And they certainly don’t play Kansas City Royals baseball.

KC Royals fans, we’re smack in the middle of a Golden Era. Watch it. Celebrate it. Have fun with it. Because it’s rare. We more than any other fanbase in America should recognize it for how precious it is. Someday, you’ll be telling your grandchildren about it.

Next: Royals Patience At The Plate Helps Explain Success In Clutch

Hopefully, the Kansas City Royals will still be good enough to make them want to listen.

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The KC Royals success has puzzled pundits and analysts ever since they crashed the World Series party in 2014. Aside from the numbers, the Kansas City Royals succeed in clutch situations because they’re a team that isn’t afraid to lose.

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