Kansas City Royals’ Dramatic Playoff Win Great For MLB
By Gregory Philson
@GTPhilson
Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images
Six innings into the win-or-go-home AL Wild Card game, the Oakland Athletics looked all but set to celebrate their inevitable victory over the Kansas City Royals. However, the Royals — and Salvador Perez — quickly flipped the script 180 degrees and turned an average baseball game into one even casual MLB fans will not soon forget.
The Royals’ come-from-behind 9-8, 12-inning victory at Kauffman Stadium did more than just keep Kansas City’s awesome sports week going. It also brought much-needed excitement to baseball. Hardcore baseball fans will always be there from when pitchers and catchers report in February through the playoffs and into the Winter Meetings, but what baseball desperately needs, almost every year, is a story or a team that a fan whose team is not in the playoffs can root for.
The Pittsburgh Pirates were that team last year, and now the Royals have stepped in.
The game was admittedly not the best display of the America’s pastime, but what it lacked in skillful play and good managerial decisions, it made up for with small-ball winning a game that looked like it was going the way of Billy Beane and Moneyball.
The Royals had seven stolen bases by seven different players and four sacrifice bunts. The Royals know what they do best and they stay in their lane. The team does not club the ball out of the ballpark and does not have a single player who is a household name. While their style is not necessarily fan-friendly, the results are.
The Royals have a tough task ahead of them with the Los Angeles Angels awaiting, but after the fun-filled game on Tuesday, fans now have a team to watch, a reason to be excited, and something that should pique their interest through October.
Gregory T. Philson is an MLB contributing writer at www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @GTPhilson, “Like” him on Facebook, and add him to your network on Google. Read more here.
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