Kansas City Royals: Ten Best Seasons In Royals History
By Scott Dillon
Best Seasons in Kansas City Royals History: 2. 1985 (97-71; Won Division, Won WS 4-3)
The second place and first place finish in Royals’ seasons could’ve gone either way. Both ended with a championship. Both were full of memorable comebacks. But when a Royals’ legend claims that one of the teams is ‘the best ever’, it’s hard to argue with him.
The 1985 Royals started a tradition in Royals playoff baseball. That tradition was, fall behind early, make the fans nervous, and come back late.
While the more recent version of the Royals made a habit of coming back from deficits within the game itself, the 1985 Royals came back from series deficits to win their title.
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In the 1985 ALCS the Royals fell down three games to one against the Toronto Blue Jays.
Danny Jackson, the aforementioned rookie in 1984, pitched a complete game shutout in game five of the American League Championship Series.
While Brett is credited with putting the team on his back in that series, it was catcher Jim Sundberg who played the hero in game seven. Sundberg drove in four RBIs, three of which came on a three-run triple in the sixth inning. The Royals would go on to win by a score of six to two.
The Royals fell to a similar deficit in the World Series. They were facing elimination in game five needing to rattle of three straight wins to claim the World Series.
They blew out the Cardinals in games five and seven, but it was game six that will always be remembered as the game that the Royals stole from the Cardinals.
Dane Iorg hit .223 for the Royals in 1985. As he stepped to the plate with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth inning he had taken only three at-bats in the 1985 postseason. With the Royals down by a run and facing elimination, Iorg set the standard for Royals’ postseason pinch hitters.
Saberhagen would pitch a complete game in the seventh game of the season as the Royals went on to win 11-0. Royals’ fans celebrated the victory as the lights went out on Royals playoff baseball for nearly three decades.
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