Now that that's out of the way.
Wow, this is a lot of fun. The Royals had crushed the spirits of me and whole host of fans in my generation when they began an astounding 4-19 stretch in May that lasted until mid June and flipped a 17-10 start into a 21-29 nightmare very quickly. They inched their way to 43-43 after a win over the Yankees to open a four-game series with just six games left before the All-Star break. And they proceeded to lose all six. Three straight to the Yankees and three more to the Indians to limp into the break 43-49, collectively shattering any last bit of optimism fans had on a once promising season.
Me and my good buddy Jack, who talk Royals and baseball almost every single day, had nothing to say to each other for the first time. Just utter frustration and bitter disappointment that we'd grown accustom to in rooting for this franchise, but for some reason it hurt worse this time around, because this group of young players was supposed to be different.
All of that is to say, I didn't see this second half of the season coming. It's been glorious. And Justin Maxwell — the lone acquisition GM Dayton Moore made at the trading deadline — put an incredible bow on it Sunday afternoon in front of the most glorious sight this beleaguered fan's eyes have ever witnessed.
0-0 game. Bottom of the 10th inning. Bases loaded. Two outs. 3-2 count. BOOM.
A grand slam that was so thundering off the bat of Maxwell that he didn't even take the time to admire it or watch it land before turning away to the dugout and celebrating with his teammates and fans who were watching it go some 450 feet in the background. It was September 22 and the Royals just won their 82nd game — ensuring the first winning season in 10 years and just the third in my lifetime — and Kauffman Stadium was filled to the brim with fans in blue in a frenzy.
I text my buddy Jack, my brother Brad and my buddy Justin and they all were in the process of texting me some form of "I can't believe it!" or "Ohhhhhh myyyyyy goddddd!!!" and better "This is so much fun!"
That last one is the text that rings so pure in my heart when it comes to this team, this franchise. When you support a losing franchise, like a historically awful franchise ever since you entered this world, today doesn't happen often. I mean, it never happens.
It was almost too much to grasp. This whole time the Royals have been on an incredible second-half surge in which they're 39-24, the chase for a Wild Card berth has always been at the forefront. It was improbable and it was going to take a lot of collapsing by some teams who quite frankly appeared too good to collapse. The Rays did, and then found themselves of late and are likely in the playoffs. The Orioles didn't collapse, but they didn't play great in the second half, allowing for less competition. The Rangers did in a big, big way, as perhaps best witnessed with the Royals walk-off that dropped them to 5-16 in the month of September. Unfortunately, the Indians didn't. And they're playing as well as the Royals and have a much easier schedule which they've destroyed.
But, with the frantic nature of scoreboard watching and following the Royals try and make a push, I never considered the momentous moment that inevitably awaited when they hit 82 wins. And for some reason, Maxwell's bomb in front of a packed house on the final home game of the regular season to push the team to it's first winning season sunk in all at once. I sat there and took it in and thought, "wow, this sport is even more amazing when your team is good."
Forgive me for trying to tie sex into baseball, but this analogy seems the most fitting, but bare with me here: Baseball is like sex. The first time you have sex it's a great experience, sort of, because you're discovering something amazing for the first time in your life. And you think to yourself, "I can't believe I've been missing out on this for my entire life!" Maybe the first time you had sex it was with someone you really loved, but it's more likely that you didn't, like me, so the first time you have sex with someone you really care for. Someone you truly love, it's the best feeling you will ever experience. And assuming you're in a relationship with them, engaged and married, it continues.
I fell in love with the Royals after the first game I went to at Kauffman Stadium — that I remember — when I was 10 years old. It was a bad experience for the next 14 years. The
