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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 5,2014
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
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REMINISCING ON THE ROYALS
Old fans and new fans alike look back on a Royals season for the ages
Fans display signs of support during the Season Celebration by the Kansas City Royals for the community Thursday at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, Mo.
Kansas City Royals' Salvador Perez, right, takes a photo with his phone as Lorenzo Cain addresses the crowd during the Season Celebration by the Royals for the community on Thursday at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, Mo.
STELLA LIANG
@stelly_liang
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Gretchen Beaver was not originally a Kansas City Royals fan. Up until the Royals played the Oakland Athletics in the Wild Card game, she had never watched an entire game.
beaver, a senior from Independence, was instantly drawn in and found a community.
That first Wild Card game,
"I've been watching the Royals for so long and to see the community that came together in Lawrence even was really neat."
ALEX BLAU
Senior from Overland Park
there were so many hits and steals and everything, and I realized this is a lot more entertaining than I thought it would be." Beaver said. "I kept watching, and they kept winning, and so I'm like 'I'm hooked.'"
She is one of many students at the University who were
caught up in watching the Royals' postseason run to the World Series. All over campus there was newfound interest in the team, students were wearing Royals gear and people were bonding over the team's success.
"Just walking down the street in a Royals shirt, shouting out 'Go Royals,' it's like the Rock Chalk," Beaver said. "It was the same type of thing, but for 'Royals."
Alex Blau, a senior from Overland Park, also felt the Royals brought people together.
"It's funny because Kansas City has always kind of been divided with politics and whatnot, but for the past month, to have a team kind of bring the city together and be one was really cool," Blau said. "I definitely saw a switch, and I think going forward, it's going to be really great for the city."
Drawn in by the beauty of Kauffman Stadium, Blau said he has been a fan since he was 5 or 6 years old. Unlike those who started watching the Royals for the first time this past month, Blau said he watched
most of the regular season games this year.
According to ESPN, 77 percent of the televisions that were turned on last Wednesday in the Kansas City market were playing Game 7 of the World
Series. In Lawrence, watch parties or restaurant viewings during the postseason games were common.
"I've been watching the Royals for so long and to see the community that came together
in Lawrence even was really neat," Blau said. "It was nice to be a part of."
"I was able to say 'Royals are on,' and instantly I was part of the community." Beaver said. "I was instantly a friend, so the Royals brought together a little good friend group wherever you went."
On campus, the Royals' success became a common topic that could break the ice.
Remembering the Royals' roller coaster ride
I remember sitting in the Kansas City T-Bones press box in CommunityAmerica Ballpark after the Boston Red Sox had swept the Kansas City Royals in the first series after the All-Star Break. The Trade Deadline was approaching and James Shields' inevitable departure was just around the corner.
"I will give them one more series," I said back then to a couple fellow media interns. "A loss to the Chicago White Sox and it's time to get something back for James Shields."
History had done little for us to believe otherwise. In the past the Royals were asked just to get fans through the summer and to Chiefs season. Give us relevance until August, and we were just fine.
I wasn't the only one who felt that way. Fellow fans and local media alike were echoing my comments. I remembered vividly 610 sports host Danny Parkins talking about the Kansas City Chiefs reporting to camp at the same time the Royals had lost their fourth straight since the All-Star Break.
Last year was even better than we could have imagined. The Royals were mathematically in it until the final weekend of the regular season, giving us relevant baseball through September.
That was until this year.
Kansas City has been, and always will be, a football town. The Chiefs will dominate the talk at the coffee shop as the fall draws near.
Then, the Chiefs gave the fans a magical season that led to a playoff berth following a season in which they were the worst in the league.
The stage was set. Chiefs players began to report as the Royals dropped their fourth straight loss following the All-Star Break on July 21. But then it began. The Royals beat the White Sox and wound up winning their next 11 series, a streak that continued through the end of August. It gave Kansas City fans hope once more.
It wasn't the first time this season the Royals had toyed with my emotions. On May 29, the Royals were just 24-28 and beginning to slide once again.
But a misfire from Blue Jays shortstop Jose Reyes allowed Jarrod Dyson to tie it up in the ninth. Kansas City then went on to win the game in the 10th inning and went on a 10-game winning streak, the longest in the majors this season.
Even last year the Royals entered the All-Star Break with a dismal 43-49 record but went 43-27 to finish the year.
Kansas City needed another huge second half this season to make a magical playoff run that ended with a heartbreaking World Series loss in Game 7 to the San Francisco Giants.
But in its first playoff appearance in nearly three decades, the Royals needed just one month to bring baseball back for good in Kansas City.
It remains uncertain who will take the diamond come Opening Day 2015, but one thing remains certain. At any point next year the Royals will have you losing faith, only to bring you back in to enjoy the ride.
Let's just hope the ride is as good as this last one.
— Edited by Jacob Clemen
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