THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2014
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THE DAILY DEBATE
Will the Royals win the World Series this year?
By GJ Melia
@gjmelia
"YES"
The 2014 Kansas City Royals have been an inconsistent team that
is barely batting well enough to win and rely heavily on elite pitching and fielding to get the job done.
But none of that matters now because it's the playoffs and strange things can happen. You can say that for any team, in any sport, but it specifically holds true for this Royalts team.
Kansas City has been consistently strange this season. Strange for having two winning streaks of eight or more games. Strange for having five losing streaks of four or more games, just like the Royals have done.
From July 22 to Aug. 27, the Royals went 26-8. That was by far the best record in the MLB over that time period, and vaulted them over Detroit in the AL Central by as many as five games. Following that streak, they dropped their next four, all to non-playoff teams.
The Royals have had a sort of magic following them throughout the year. I call it magic because I don't believe there is another way to describe it. And if you look at it, it's not that crazy.
Gordon then smashed a towering home run over the rightfield wall giving the Royals a 2-1 win in walk-off fashion.
In a game on Aug. 26 against the Minnesota Twins, Royals radio broadcaster Denny Matthews, who has been with the team since 1969, described this so-called magic. The Twins held a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the ninth. Kansas City's hitting had been poor until that point, with a total of three hits the entire night.
Shortstop Alcides Escobar was able to get on base, and Alex Gordon came up to bat next. Before Gordon stepped into the batter's box, Matthews said, "If this is your year, these are the games you win."
As Matthews says, this kind
championship, things have to go your way no matter how talented a team is. Everything has to be clicking in a title run.
As Matthews sa of magic only belongs to a few select teams. And in any sport, to win a
It seems to be the only logical explanation to a seemingly illogical pattern the team has followed this year. A team catching fire near the end of the year is dangerous to anyone it faces.
The Royals have been a team of streaks, and in their last 30 games they are 15-15, which hasn't been one of the best this season. But if the Royals' season points to anything, it's that sooner rather than later this team will go on a tear like the multiple we've seen this season, and the postseason is the perfect time for it.
If Kansas City can get hot and go on a winning streak like the season has shown, there's no limit to how far this team can go in the postseason.
Edited by Ben Carroll
"NO"
By Griffin Hughes @GriffinJHughes
It's Blue October for the first time in 29 years, and wouldn't it be the perfect storybook ending to the tale of the former longest playoff drought if the Royals ran the table and hoisted the Commissioner's Trophy in November?
Unfortunately, and it pains me to say this, the Royals are simply not powerful enough on offense to sustain a deep playoff run.
The Royals are last in the American League in home runs. For 162 games, the inability to hit home runs may not matter, but in the playoffs, the ability to hit the long ball becomes invaluable. Since 2010, only one team has won the World Series while finishing outside the top six in its league in home runs.
However, everyone knows
pitching wins championships, and the Royals have one of the best pitching staffs in the AL. Well, one of the best bullpens anyway. However, who are they going to have to face? The As have potentially the best pitching staff in the majors, with a 3.30 ERA, opponents' batting average of .233 and fewer than 2,000 total bases allowed.
VOTE FOR THE WRITER WITH THE MOST CONVINCING ARGUMENT AT KANSAN.COM
All those marks are ahead of the Royals. The only advantage the boys from KC have is in their bullpen: the Royals lead the AL in save percentage and are third in saves. But in a winner-take-all game they may get blown out before lockdown reliever Wade Davis and the bullpen even get a shot at the game.
Awaiting the Royals, if they do advance, is one of the fastest and most consistent offenses in the bigs, the Los Angeles Angels. To even advance past the As game, however, James Shields will have to
pitch the game of his life, and the Royals will have to conquer one of the hottest pitchers
I don't see the Royals escaping even the first game with the As. Lester is too hot right now and the Royals don't have an offense that can disrupt him. Even if they manage to gut it out in KC, they will move on to face Mike Trout and the powerful Angels offense. There's no way the Royals get out of that series as the Angels score more runs than anyone in the AL. The Angels' .323 on-base percentage is tied for third. No amount of bullpen power can compensate for a team that puts up nearly five runs a game.
in the AL. Jon Lester is the projected starter for the As, and he's 3-1 with a 2.46 ERA and 29 strikeouts in his last four starts. He's given up eight earned runs in all of September, and his 2.46 ERA is good for fourth in the AL.
I would love to sit here and say the Royals' bullpen will take them to the promised land, but unfortunately for the Royals faithful, it's not in the cards this year.
Edited by Alex Lamb
Football film review: A look back at Saturday's loss
DAN HARMSEN
@udk_Dan
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE GAME Kansas junior running back DeAndre Mann led what little charge the Kansas offense had in the shutout loss. The junior accounted for 86 of the offense's 313 total yards, averaging 4.9 yards per carry, largely out of sheer willpower. Mann took on the teeth of the Texas defense and refused to go down after initial contact, pushing piles all afternoon long.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE GAME
four gave Kansas' offensive line' all it could ask for. Jordan Hicks was there to clean up whatever got through. Notching 11 tackles, Hicks proved to be too much, particularly in the fourth quarter. With the Jayhawks trailing 13-0 heading into the final period, Hicks intercepted Montell Cozart's first passing attempt, setting up a Texas field goal. Five of his 11 tackles came when it mattered most, during a quarter in which Kansas mustered just 31 total yards.
WHO KANSAS COULDN'T CONTAIN
Kansas senior linebacker Michael Reynolds was integral to how Kansas actually recorded more tackles for loss than Texas, 8 to 7. Reynolds added two of his own and registered a sack and a quarterback hurry. The senior sacked Tyrone Swoopes on a key third-and-9 with less than three minutes left in the third quarter and Kansas trailing just 13-0. On third-and-4 near the start of the quarter, Reynolds stayed at home and contained Swoopes as he scrambled for the sidelines, forcing Texas to punt. The play saved the Kansas offense several minutes for a comeback attempt, but that mattered little.
(Texas 13, Kansas 0)
up a fade route to Nigel King, but Texas' Thomas batted the poorly thrown ball, turning Kansas away.
OFFENSE SUMMARY
Texas senior linebacker Jordan Hicks and the Texas front
Q4 - After Kansas failed to convert on fourth-and-4 from its own 27 with a little more than five minutes left, Texas took over and put the game
DEFENSE SUMMARY
away on Swoopes' 16-yard touchdown pass to John Harris.
Leaving this section blank would adequately summarize Saturday's offensive output. Aside from some tough running from Mann and Corey Avery, the offense started slow and didn't speed up. Montell Cozart looked to pass first Saturday, as he always has. His 31 attempts found Jayhawk hands only 12 times and Longhorn hands four times. When Cozart did tuck and run, he routinely strode out of bounds short of the sticks to the tune of 1.7 yards per carry. The offensive line was outmatched, but it gave Cozart a few chances that he failed to capitalize on.
means does Texas have a good offense, but any time a defense holds an opposing Big 12 offense to 3.1 yards per carry is encouraging. The defense did what it needed to do to win, allowing just 23 points, especially considering it faced drives that started at the Kansas 18-, 13-, 29- and 27-yard lines.
Not enough words can be said about the Kansas defense's efforts, which directly contrasted with the offense. By no
(Texas 23, Kansas 0)
(Texas 13, Kansas 0)
Cozart threw three first-half interceptions, but played almost the entire rest of the game.
manlike conduct penalty called on Kansas compounded the problems.
Kansas needed two scores to win, but managed just 31 yards of offense in the final quarter.
Q3 - On a fourth-and-goal at the Texas 5, Kansas drew
PLAY OF THE GAME
— Edited by Yu Kyung Lee
QUARTER SUMMARIES
After a momentous Ben Heeney tackle for loss on fourth-and-3 on Texas' first drive of the game, Kansas drove down to the Texas 14-yard line, but Cozart's pass was tipped and intercepted by Quandre Diggs. The play took the air out of the stadium and it never came back.
Texas had 79 of its 111 rushing yards in the first quarter of play.
Q1 - Kansas failed to take advantage of a Texas turnover on downs, and after Jaxon Shipley's career-long 41-yard punt-return downed at the Kansas 18, Swoopes hit M.J. McFarland on a 1-yard pass for the quarter's lone score. The point after touchdown was missed.
Q2 - Montell Cozart threw an ill-advised pass on a third-and-11 that was intercepted by Duke Thomas at midfield and returned for 24 yards to the Kansas 26. The sports-
(Texas 6, Kansas 0)
1.