Baseball Owes KC: Why I Want a Royals/Nationals World Series

It’s going to sound a bit absurd, but stay with me on this: I’m rooting for a Royals/Washington National World Series.

Living in Columbia, MO I have A LOT of Cardinals fan-friends, so I do still hold out hope for that I-70 Series rematch, but that’s for a different reason. I want to see Kansas City and Washington play in the championship series because I frankly believe Baseball owes both teams.

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Flash back to 1994. The Royals had won 14 straight games and were creeping up on both the Wildcard and the division lead. The pitching staff had a solid base with Cy Young winner and KC native David Cone, Kevin Appier, Mark Gubicza and Tom “Flash” Gordon. Brian McRae was playing for his father and the team boasted the former rookie of the year Bob “The Hammer” Hamelin.

The Montreal Expos had the best record in baseball, shocking a city that wouldn’t usually go out the park unless family members were held at gunpoint.

With the way both teams were playing, pundits and fans seemed to turn toward the absurd possibility that these lowly teams could face off in the most unlikely World Series of all time.

So what happens? On August 12th major league players went on strike in opposition to the salary cap proposal by the owners. The post season, including the World Series, was cancelled.

Some of the reasoning behind the strike was that small market teams would suffer if the financial inequity of baseball continued, and that ended up being true for quite a long time afterward.

The Royals were mired in mediocrity for years after the strike due to the team’s inability to pay home grown talent or lure free agents to its minuscule payroll. Montreal never really recovered and eventually moved to Washington D.C. But I’m convinced – to this day – that the real reason baseball called it quits before the postseason was far more insidious.

I believe that baseball struck because the Royals and Expos were good.

Aug 25, 2013; Kansas City, MO, USA; Kansas City Royals catcher

Salvador Perez

(13) celebrates with teammate

Mike Moustakas

(8) after hitting a two-run home run against the Washington Nationals during the first inning at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Peter G. Aiken-USA TODAY Sports

It was Kansas City and Montreal! No one took those teams seriously. There was no George Brett, there was no Bo Jackson…and…Montreal was Montreal. It would have been the end of the American Pastime! Looting in the streets! Dogs and cats living together, mass hysteria!

If Frank Thomas or Ken Griffey weren’t on the game’s biggest stage, there might as well have been no baseball!

For that reason and for the sad irony of World Series Baseball ’94 on the Sega Genesis, Baseball owes both of those teams. Now that The Expos have a decent fan base in Washington as the Nationals, I know they feel like they’ve put in their dues as well.

Now, 20 years later, The Royals and The Nationals are leading their perspective divisions. There has never been a better opportunity to right the wrongs of the ’94 season.

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So I beg you, Baseball. Please reward me for my years of unwavering loyalty, please shine favorably on those downtrodden fans that deserve the glory of success that was robbed from them. Make like the Oscars and make-up for those overlooked in the past.

Except the Cubs. I hold out no hope for them.

So, Royals fans, let’s rally together for justice in baseball. Root for KC and Washington in the World Series.

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