Kansas City Royals Look Destined to Win the World Series

Aug 9, 2014; Kansas City, MO, USA; A Kansas City Royals fan holds a San Francisco Giants right fielder

(8) sign above Sung Woo Lee, the fan visiting from Korea during the seventh inning against the San Francisco Giants at Kauffman Stadium. The Royals won 5-0. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

Sung Woo had become something of a twitter legend among Royals fans, staying up to the wee hours in S. Korea to chat with other Kansas City fans on twitter as he watched games. A number of his twitter friends decided to show him around Kansas City on his long-awaited visit. Kansas City local media picked up the story, and a crowd of Royals fans gathered to greet Sung Woo at the airport.

And the Royals started winning.

The Royals went 9-0 as Sung Woo was wined and dined in Kansas City. Sung Woo visited the Negro Leagues Museum. Sung Woo got private tours of Arrowhead and Kauffman Stadium. Sung Woo attended a Chiefs game and threw out the first pitch at a Royals game. By August 11, the Royals had again seized 1st place from the imploding Tigers and Sung Woo’s story had gone national.

By then, everyone had begun to believe. David Glass approved an extra $1.85 million to add slugger Josh Willingham in a waiver deal. Royals fans began to talk “gasp” about breaking the team’s 29-year playoff drought. And the Royals continued to hang in the playoff picture through the rest of August and into late September.

The team faltered at the end, failling short of the A.L. Central title by 1 game. However, Kansas City did win 89 games, their highest win total since finishing 92-70 in 1989. The Royals earned the A.L.’s top wild card, setting up a do-or-die game against the A’s.

In what proved to be an instant classic, the old-school Royals beat the sabermetric-darling A’s in a wild card game for the ages. The game featured an improbable Royals rally from 4 runs down in the 8th inning in a winner-take-all game, WHICH WAS THE ONLY TIME IT HAS BEEN DONE IN 144 YEARS OF PLAYOFF BASEBALL.

Sep 30, 2014; Kansas City, MO, USA; Kansas City Royals starting pitcher

(33) celebrates after defeating the Oakland Athletics in the 2014 American League Wild Card playoff baseball game at Kauffman Stadium. The Royals won 9-8. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

Now, Kansas City has followed that 12-inning win with Thursday night’s 11-inning nail-biter to defeat the Angels 3-2 in the first game of the American League Divisional Series.

Royals fans can’t help but believe that RIGHT NOW is the golden era of baseball. We’re beyond sense, rationality, and the world-as-we-know it. Thursday night proved the Royals are not satisfied with their wild card win. They served notice to the rest of baseball that they’re here to play.

Myth is becoming reality before our eyes.

Can this thing really end any other way than with the Kansas City Royals winning the World Series?