Kansas City Royals: Back To Back Is Elite Company

The KC Royals finished off the Toronto Blue Jays to take the American League crown for the second consecutive season.

This Kansas City Royals team is special. There’s a quality about them that few teams have.

It’s impossible to quantify. Whether it’s chemistry, belief, talent – probably some combination of the three – this team is top-to-bottom as complete as you will find. And the rarefied air of winning two straight A.L. pennants is right where they belong.

Since the divisional era began in 1969, only seven times has a team won back-to-back A.L. pennants. In 30 years since 1990, only three teams have repeated as A.L. champions. (via MLB.com)

In an instant classic 4-3 win last night against Toronto, the Royals took the early lead, took some punches late and ultimately won the final round in a battle of the league’s two best teams. (via ESPN.com)

Teams don’t just repeat as league champions. This is reserved for great teams. Great talent, great belief and great execution.

In doing so, they joined the elite group of A.L. teams to ever complete a two-year reign in the league.

It was a complete team effort too, a fitting end to the road to the World Series. It seemed like every player had his hand in the victory.

Pitcher Yordano Ventura set the tone with a dominant first two innings. Ben Zobrist homered off of his former teammate pitcher David Price for the game’s first run. Mike Moustakas homered. Alex Rios drove in an all-important late run. Eric Hosmer singled in Lorenzo Cain – from first base, mind you. Catcher Salvador Perez was…incredible. Alcides Escobar was the MVP of the series.

The post-rain delay rally? And those pitchers? It’s the stuff of legend.

After Ventura, Kelvin Herrera was untouchable, Wade Davis was heartless and, other than one Ryan Madson mistake, the Royals pitching staff contained a potent Blue Jays offense.

Teams don’t just repeat as league champions. This is reserved for great teams. Great talent, great belief and great execution. The Yankees won four in a row back in the late 1990s, but this is different. This is small-market baseball, small-market payroll and big-market talent.

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The Royals will host the National League champions New York Mets beginning Tuesday at Kauffman Stadium.

The Mets are a cool story. They’ll throw four tough starter at the Royals, and figuring them out will be a challenge. But this Mets team hasn’t been here. They were at home last postseason. They didn’t spend all offseason with the sting of a World Series loss. They didn’t enter Spring Training having no doubt they were the best team in the N.L.

The Royals are different. It’s a different club, it’s a special club, and they’re back-to-back A.L. Champions. Enjoy it, because that doesn’t happen often.

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