KC Royals and New York Yankees rivalry through the years

A KC Royals slugger that was left completely out of the HR Derby

For the first time since 1973, Kansas City had the opportunity to host the All-Star game in 2012.  Being the baseball lovers the town is, it was a major opportunity to see great players and show off our stadium.

Billy Butler was selected to the squad as he was in the midst of his best season ever.  He would club 29 homers, drove in 109, and ended with a .313/.373/.510 slash.  What an amazing experience to have him participate in the Home Run Derby in front of his home crowd right?

Thanks to Robinson Cano fans were given a reminder about how much they do not like the Yankees.  After first indicating the picking Butler would be the right thing to do, Cano reversed course and snubbed him from the AL derby team.

Man, the crowd that night let Cano they did not like it.  He was booed during an interview before the contest was underway.  He was booed when he was introduced.  Every time he did not hit a home run – and that turned out to be every swing – they cheered like the Royals won a playoff game.  I think he could have saved someone falling off the top deck and he still would have been chased out of Kauffman Stadium with pitchforks.

While not nearly as fun as watching two competitive teams go up against each other for the honor of representing the American League in the World Series, it is these types of moments Kansas City has to settle for currently.

During the Royals playoff run of 2014-2015, the Yankees missed the playoffs and lost in the Wild Card game over those two years. With the latest rebuild, it would great to see Kansas City maintain a winning team for a long period of time instead of three years of competitiveness and then going straight back to the drawing board.  A new generation of fans deserves to see the KC Royals and New York Yankees mix it up in a seven-game playoff series.