Kansas City Royals: A Royals Fan In The Big Apple

Kansas City Royals first baseman Eric Hosmer (35) scores the tying run – Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports

At the stadium, Mets fans either avoided eye contact or shouted unoriginal expletives at me, which was encouraging, seeing as just a few years ago most opposing fans wouldn’t have reason to even utter the word “Royals”, much less express disgust and hatred for such a Mitch Maier-infused squad.

A group of Mets fans huddled near the ESPN booth, waving behind some familiar heads within the makeshift broadcast studio. Chris Archer threw out some waves, Curt Schilling ignored the crowd, and upon Tim Kurkjian’s mentioning of a potential Mets victory, a cheer of “Game 6! Game 6!” started to brew. Again, relatively harmless, I concluded.

My friend muttered to me as we went into the ninth, “Well, if the Royals do come back here, we’ll get to say we were at one of the greatest endings in World Series history.”

Thankfully, our seats were bunched with some other Royals fans, equally eager to squint at the field and hope to witness history.

I don’t have to explain what soon followed: A stadium exploding with energy after Curtis Granderson’s first-inning home run, innings flying by without much developing for either side, constantly noticing the Royals out-hitting the Mets, occasionally glancing at the equally depressing tweets of Andy, Rany, and Sam, and sitting with my hands on my chin as the top of the ninth approached. A pitcher’s duel, folks, is not best enjoyed from the nosebleeds.

My friend muttered to me as we went into the ninth, “Well, if the Royals do come back here, we’ll get to say we were at one of the greatest endings in World Series history.”

This was as true as it was unlikely, but then again, so were the other seven comebacks the Royals made during the playoffs.

Next: Chapter 3 Again