Kansas City Royals Look Destined to Win the World Series

Jul 20, 2013; Kansas City, MO, USA; Kansas City Royals general manager Dayton Moore (left) and owner David Glass watch the Detroit Tigers during batting practice before the game at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

The plot thickened in August. After taking first place in June, the Royals had again fallen to 7 games behind the Tigers as the July 31 trading deadline approached. Royals GM Dayton Moore did make a minor deal to bolster KC’s bullpen by adding Jason Frasor in July 16, but he made no moves to help out his pop-gun offense.

Jul 25, 2014; Kansas City, MO, USA; Kansas City Royals relief pitcher

(54) delivers a pitch against the Cleveland Indians in the seventh inning at Kauffman Stadium. Kansas City won the game 6-4. Mandatory Credit: John Rieger-USA TODAY Sports

On July 21, the Royals stood 48-50. Pundits across baseball called for them to be “realistic” and become “sellers” at the trading deadline, including our very own Joel Wagler. However, Moore indicated that he wasn’t giving up.

The Royals rallied to win 7 of their next 9 and pull within 4 games of the Tigers. However, when the July 31 trade deadline came, Moore stood pat while rumors from around MLB indicated that KC owner David Glass had refused to take on any salary to help his team. Kansas City’s major daily paper tabbed the team “losers” at the trade deadline.

Meanwhile, the Detroit Tigers added former Cy Young Award winning pitcher David Price in a 3-way deal with Tampa Bay and Seattle.

This was the proverbial “darkest moment” that you have in movie scripts and heroic quest myths.

Then South Korean Royals fan Sung Woo Lee showed up in Kansas City to see the team he had admired for more than 20 years from across the globe. The date was August 4, 2014 . That’s when the real craziness started.