After their 12–3 win yesterday in Minnesota, the Kansas City Royals have the league’s best record at 7–0, which means I finally get to write this article.
As a writer, you never want to be too partial about your own team—even if they make an unlikely run to the World Series, like last fall. (FYI, in that case, you incorrectly pick against them the first three rounds, then boldly pick them to win the World Series only to see them fall flat on their faces against Madison Bumgarner and the Giants, thus achieving the writer’s version of the Golden Sombrero. Thank you very much.)
I’ve followed the team my whole life despite moving to the New York area in 1997, and could write all day on their mostly moribund history, but who really cares about a small-market club that annually competes for the basement of the AL Central? (Based on their attendance/TV ratings the last few years, very few.)
That was until 2013. The team built up their farm system a couple of years back and waited patiently for the right time to go all in for James Shields (the trade still divides us), put together a winning season in 2013, and finally break their 29-year playoff drought last season.
But last year was last year, and the Royals’ history is more on par with that of the Bad News Bears. So it seemed improbable that their two-year run would continue into 2015—especially after the team lost Shields to the suddenly aggressive San Diego Padres.
