October is upon us, which means baseball fever is on a whole new level. With only a couple of games left, teams will be battling to see who wins the last spots in the playoffs. However, this is not the case for the fan favorite team around in area. The Kansas City Royals, currently with a 91-67 record, clinched the division with their win over the Seattle Mariners. For the second straight year, the Royals are playing for the championship with nine to two odds (Statistics and more info found on ESPN and Kings of Kauffman) of winning the whole thing. They also have a chance for home field advantage throughout the playoffs if they finish with a better overall record than the Toronto Blue Jays, currently with a 92-67 record.
The Royals have a pretty good chance of continuing their winning habits. They have strong hitting, backed by consistent defense and solid pitching. The Royals are happy about the division title and possible home field advantage, but I personally guarantee that they are not even close to being satisfied.
The team and die-hard fans of Kansas City have their eyes set on a championship after watching Madison Bumgarner, aka “Mad Bum,” and the San Francisco Giants end the Royals’ cinderella season in game seven of the World Series last year. Luckily for them, the Giants have to win and hope that the Los Angeles Dodgers lose in order to make the playoffs. This is a slim chance, a 0.1 percent chance to be exact, which is rather heart breaking for myself as I am a fan of the defending champs. So with the Giants seemingly out of the picture, the Royals don’t have to worry about their kryptonite, Madison Bumgarner.
Some of the things the Royals might struggle with in the playoffs is the lack of power pinch hitting, hitting in general against left-handed pitching, and the lack of a true ace at pitching. But these weaknesses are very small ones at most. The fact is that this is a team full of all-stars across the board, like Lorenzo Cain, Eric Hosmer, Alex Gordon, Mike Moustakas and many more.
The Royals have played very well all season and I do believe that there’s a championship trophy waiting at the end of a very long and grueling journey, season or whatever you want to call it, and it says “Kansas City Royals…World Champs.” The opportunity is there, and they just have to go and take it. When they do get to that last series, or game, or perhaps inning, or maybe even a thrilling last out/at-bat, they have to win. And then finally Kansas City, with its drought wrenching sports teams, can be put at ease, and the best fans in all the land will finally get what they deserve and something to be proud of: a ring.
Photo courtesy of fox4kc.com