The Royals prove the old saw about lies, damned lies and statistics
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Admit it: When the Houston Astros held a four-run lead over the Kansas City Royals in Game 4 of the ALDS, you thought it was over. Everybody thought it was over.
It was the eighth inning, after all, and the Royals had — according to a widely circulated FanGraphs analysis — a 1.6 percent chance of winning. Kendrys Morales was statistically more likely to score a minor jackpot on a lottery scratcher than he was to get that ground ball into center field.
After an error by Houston, the Royals did what they do best: Capitalize. They hit a series of singles, one right after the other, to tie the score at 6–6. An Alex Gordon ground out dribbled in the go-ahead run. The Royals went on to win, 9–6.
That same whole-team drive to capitalize would carry the Royals to their first World Series championship in 30 years. Call it fate, call it destiny, call it unfinished business — the only thing you can’t call this stats-annihilating victory is a fluke. This kind of club comes along once in a lifetime. Here are 10 moments that seem certain to define our collective memory of the 2015 postseason.
1. Alex Gordon homers in the bottom of the ninth, World Series Game 1.
If this ends up being Gordon’s last season as a Royal, that clutch home run in the bottom of the ninth off Mets closer Jeurys Familia, who dominated the regular season with 43 saves, will echo in Kauffman Stadium conversations for years to come. Gordon forced the contest into a 14-inning standoff, setting the tone for the series and allowing the Royals to win what became the longest opening match in World Series history.
2. Edinson Volquez pitches following his father’s death, World Series Game 5.
After delivering a solid start in Game 1, Volquez received the devastating news that his father had died. He flew home to the Dominican Republic to grieve with his family but returned to New York City in time for his Sunday-night start — then held the Mets to two runs in six innings, paving the way for one last dramatic Royals comeback.
3. Salvador Perez takes a beating.
Watching Perez play baseball hurts. No one on the team takes more hits than the 6-foot-3-inch catcher, a magnet for errant pitches, bats and fouls. He even weathered a stomach flu in October — and he played every day with a smile more infectious than any virus.
4. Christian Colón knocks it in, World Series Game 5.
The Royals’ crowning rally, a five-run 12th inning that catapulted this team to its World Series triumph, had an unlikely catalyst. Colón, who had not batted this postseason, smacked a go-ahead single that scored Jarrod Dyson from third. It was the perfect sequel to his run home off Salvador Perez’s walk-off single up the left-field line in last year’s Wild Card game.
5. No error goes unpunished.
The Royals took advantage of their opponents’ errors in every series this postseason, from Carlos Correa’s misplay of a routine grounder to Jose Bautista and Ryan Goins allowing a fly ball to drop. Mistakes continued to be a factor in the World Series clincher. In the ninth inning of Game 5, Mets first baseman Lucas Duda fielded a ground ball and made a wild throw to home, allowing an aggressive Eric Hosmer to score the tying run. The Royals’ defense, on the other hand, had only three errors during the entire postseason.
6. Lorenzo Cain runs from first to home, ALCS Game 6.
Really, you can thank Mike Jirschele’s scouting for this one. In the first game of the series, our third-base coach noticed that Toronto Blue Jays outfielder-slash-comic book villain Jose Bautista had a bad habit of throwing to second base when relaying to home plate — knowledge that came in handy come the eighth inning of Game 6, when speedy Cain left first on a single to right field by Eric Hosmer. Jirschele waved Cain home, Bautista threw to second base, and the Royals regained the lead. (It didn’t hurt that Cain reached a top speed of 20.7 mph.)
7. Good Johnny Cueto shows up for ALDS Game 5 and World Series Game 2.
When the Royals traded part of their future for Cueto in late July, they thought they were getting a much needed ace who could gobble up innings the way Billy Butler ate Oreos. We won’t recount Cueto’s shakier outings here — he knows we know. What we’ll remember is how Cueto rescued his team from elimination against the Astros and tossed a complete second game against the Mets. Let’s hope his evil twin stays chained to a radiator somewhere as he faces free agency this winter.
8. Alcides Escobar hits an inside-the-park home run, World Series Game 1.
Speaking of errors, shortstop and ALCS MVP Escobar couldn’t have hit the first inside-the-park homer during a World Series since 1929 if Mets oufielder Yoenis Céspedes had played that ball correctly. As usual, Escobar swung at the first pitch of the game, activating a sweet bit of baseball voodoo: During the regular season, the Royals were 42–17 when Escobar led off swinging.
9. Wade Davis provides more evidence that he is a robot, ALCS Game 6.
Davis is a cyborg sent from the future to return the Royals to dominance. Period. But we think we saw him smile Sunday night.
10. Royals set the MLB record for come-from-behind postseason wins.
This postseason, the Royals went 7-0 in games that they, at one point, had a less than 25 percent chance of winning. They scored 51 runs in the seventh inning or later. It felt like nothing we’d seen before because no one had ever seen it before. These victories came from a whole team stepping up. A whole city responded — and will never forget.
