The Kansas City Royals have NEVER won the first game of a Fall Classic!
Last night I was kind of rooting for them, but San Francisco proved to be too strong. Madison Bumgarner proved to be too strong.
In their first ever World Series appearance in 1980, Kansas took on the Philadelphia Phillies. The Series was a marque matchup between two of the greatest third basemen of that, or any era: George Brett and Mike Schmidt!
A pair of two-run home runs by Willie Aitkens and Amos Ortis put the Royals up 4-0 early. But the Phillies, who also had Pete Rose, weren't about to let Kansas come to their neck of the woods and steal one.
The Phillies, at home, erased the four-run deficit in the bottom of the third to take the lead. The Phillies got two runs in as Bob Boone hit a double to put Philadelphia on the board. When Lonnie Smith hit a double to cash in Boone, the lead had been sliced in half. Pete Rose was hit by a pitch and Schmidt drew a walk. When Bake McBride went yard, Philadelphia suddenly had a 5-4 lead!
The Phillies did not stop their and scored twice more in the game, with their great third basemen scoring on a sac fly in the bottom of the fifth to make it a 7-4 lead. That was all for Philadelpha, but as it turns out, they needed both those runs! The Royals came back in the top of the eighth.
George Brett got 'er going for Kansas City with a double off Bob Walk. After one out, Aitkens cleared the fence again to cut the lead to just a single tally, 7-6. But Tug McGraw came in and got Darrel Porter out on a fly to left. A single by Ortis put the tying run on first. But John Wathan hit into an inning-ending double play. Tuggy got 'em 1-2-3 in the top of the ninth for the save.
Five year later, it was the Royals at home, facing the St. Louis Cardinals in the I-70 Series. Game one was at home, but there was no designated hitter. In any event, a single by Steve Balboni in the bottom of the second put Kansas City up 1-0. But Cardinal pitched John Tudor settled down after that. Although he gave up seven hits and two walks in only 6 2/3 innings, he allowed not another run. Todd Worrell came on to pitch the last 2 1/3 inning and shut out Kansas.
Willie McGee's groundout in the top of the third scored the tying run. A pair of doubles put St. Louis up for good in the top of the fourth. Another double, this one by Jack Clark, scored the third and final run for the Cardinals in the top of the ninth. Kansas City had played well but come up empty, 3-1.
Kansas had a 29-year wait to play again in the World Series after 1985, but last night they charged on the field looking to end the jinx. But the San Francisco Giants had other ideas. The Royals were at home and with the DH, but it did't seem to matter.
Pablo Sandoval got the Giants going with a double to knock home the game's first run in the top of the first. When Hunter Pence followed with a two-run home run, it was 3-0, San Fran, right off the bat!
In the top of the fourth, Michael Morse hit a single to score another run for the Giants. It was 4-0, no outs and two runners on. James Shields, the Royals starter, was done for the night. San Francisco didn't stop there. Two more walks and it was 5-0, Giants.
Joe Panik's triple scored another run for San Francisco in the top of the seventh. Sandoval's single scored Panik, making it a 7-0 game. Mercifully speaking, that was all for the Giants' scoring on the night. What about Kansas.
They seemed handcuffed by Madison Bumgarner, who was sailing right along. In the bottom of the seventh, Kansas City finally pried lose a run of him when Salvador Perez took him over the fence. But it was a solo job, so it didn't seem to do much.
Winning a World Series is never easy. You have to overcome obstacles. Winning four out of seven isn't easy. Winning four out of six is even harder. The Royals came up empty in 1980 when they lost the opening act. They came through in 1985 despite repeating the same mistake. What will 2014 bring us? We'll have to wait and see!
References
Brenner, Richard J. The World Series: The Great Contests. East End Publishing, 1989. Print.
Enders, Eric. 100 Years Of The World Series. New York: Sterling Publishing Co., Inc. 2005. Print.
Neft, David S., Richard M. Cohen, and Michael L. Neft. The Sports Encyclopedia: Baseball, 1992. 12th ed. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1992. Print.
Nemec, David et all. 20th Century Baseball Chronicle: A Year-by-year History of Major League Baseball. Collector's Edition. Lincolnwood, Ill: Publications International, 1993. Print.
Retrosheet. Retrosheet. Web. 22 Oct. 2014. <www.retrosheet.org>.
Snyder, John S. World Series!: Great Moments and Dubious Achievements. San Francisco: Chronicle, 1995. Print.
Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/. Web. 22 Oct. 2014.
Thorn, John, and Pete Palmer. Total Baseball. Vers. 1994. Portland, OR: Creative Multimedia Corp., 1994. Computer software. CD-ROM.
Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 22 Oct. 2014. <https://en.wikipedia.org>.
Youtube. Youtube. Web. 22 Oct. 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/>.
Last night I was kind of rooting for them, but San Francisco proved to be too strong. Madison Bumgarner proved to be too strong.
In their first ever World Series appearance in 1980, Kansas took on the Philadelphia Phillies. The Series was a marque matchup between two of the greatest third basemen of that, or any era: George Brett and Mike Schmidt!
A pair of two-run home runs by Willie Aitkens and Amos Ortis put the Royals up 4-0 early. But the Phillies, who also had Pete Rose, weren't about to let Kansas come to their neck of the woods and steal one.
The Phillies, at home, erased the four-run deficit in the bottom of the third to take the lead. The Phillies got two runs in as Bob Boone hit a double to put Philadelphia on the board. When Lonnie Smith hit a double to cash in Boone, the lead had been sliced in half. Pete Rose was hit by a pitch and Schmidt drew a walk. When Bake McBride went yard, Philadelphia suddenly had a 5-4 lead!
The Phillies did not stop their and scored twice more in the game, with their great third basemen scoring on a sac fly in the bottom of the fifth to make it a 7-4 lead. That was all for Philadelpha, but as it turns out, they needed both those runs! The Royals came back in the top of the eighth.
George Brett got 'er going for Kansas City with a double off Bob Walk. After one out, Aitkens cleared the fence again to cut the lead to just a single tally, 7-6. But Tug McGraw came in and got Darrel Porter out on a fly to left. A single by Ortis put the tying run on first. But John Wathan hit into an inning-ending double play. Tuggy got 'em 1-2-3 in the top of the ninth for the save.
Five year later, it was the Royals at home, facing the St. Louis Cardinals in the I-70 Series. Game one was at home, but there was no designated hitter. In any event, a single by Steve Balboni in the bottom of the second put Kansas City up 1-0. But Cardinal pitched John Tudor settled down after that. Although he gave up seven hits and two walks in only 6 2/3 innings, he allowed not another run. Todd Worrell came on to pitch the last 2 1/3 inning and shut out Kansas.
Willie McGee's groundout in the top of the third scored the tying run. A pair of doubles put St. Louis up for good in the top of the fourth. Another double, this one by Jack Clark, scored the third and final run for the Cardinals in the top of the ninth. Kansas City had played well but come up empty, 3-1.
Kansas had a 29-year wait to play again in the World Series after 1985, but last night they charged on the field looking to end the jinx. But the San Francisco Giants had other ideas. The Royals were at home and with the DH, but it did't seem to matter.
Pablo Sandoval got the Giants going with a double to knock home the game's first run in the top of the first. When Hunter Pence followed with a two-run home run, it was 3-0, San Fran, right off the bat!
In the top of the fourth, Michael Morse hit a single to score another run for the Giants. It was 4-0, no outs and two runners on. James Shields, the Royals starter, was done for the night. San Francisco didn't stop there. Two more walks and it was 5-0, Giants.
Joe Panik's triple scored another run for San Francisco in the top of the seventh. Sandoval's single scored Panik, making it a 7-0 game. Mercifully speaking, that was all for the Giants' scoring on the night. What about Kansas.
They seemed handcuffed by Madison Bumgarner, who was sailing right along. In the bottom of the seventh, Kansas City finally pried lose a run of him when Salvador Perez took him over the fence. But it was a solo job, so it didn't seem to do much.
Winning a World Series is never easy. You have to overcome obstacles. Winning four out of seven isn't easy. Winning four out of six is even harder. The Royals came up empty in 1980 when they lost the opening act. They came through in 1985 despite repeating the same mistake. What will 2014 bring us? We'll have to wait and see!
References
Brenner, Richard J. The World Series: The Great Contests. East End Publishing, 1989. Print.
Enders, Eric. 100 Years Of The World Series. New York: Sterling Publishing Co., Inc. 2005. Print.
Neft, David S., Richard M. Cohen, and Michael L. Neft. The Sports Encyclopedia: Baseball, 1992. 12th ed. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1992. Print.
Nemec, David et all. 20th Century Baseball Chronicle: A Year-by-year History of Major League Baseball. Collector's Edition. Lincolnwood, Ill: Publications International, 1993. Print.
Retrosheet. Retrosheet. Web. 22 Oct. 2014. <www.retrosheet.org>.
Snyder, John S. World Series!: Great Moments and Dubious Achievements. San Francisco: Chronicle, 1995. Print.
Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/. Web. 22 Oct. 2014.
Thorn, John, and Pete Palmer. Total Baseball. Vers. 1994. Portland, OR: Creative Multimedia Corp., 1994. Computer software. CD-ROM.
Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 22 Oct. 2014. <https://en.wikipedia.org>.
Youtube. Youtube. Web. 22 Oct. 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/>.
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