Last night (posted 9/1/14)
This morning I had to check my phone. One more glance at the box score to confirm I
hadn’t dreamed the whole game up. If I
had dreamed the whole thing up, it would have been much more serene. Much more tranquil. What I witnessed last night was not a
dream. It was almost a fairy tale. Not one of those fairy tales where the brave
night slays the dragon and rescues the princess, but one of those darker more
edgy fairy tales starring James Woods and James Spader. You know, the kind where, your kids are so
excited to watch it, and then the entire time the children are completely
engrossed, you and your wife are exchanging confused glances, wondering if you
ought to turn it off in fear of damaging their impressionable, innocent young
minds. That’s a thing right?
Fairy tale or not, last night’s AL Wild Card game was one of
the greatest games I have ever seen. I
have been a Royals fan since I was old enough to recognize it. I played baseball from preschool until slightly
longer than most are allowed, without becoming a sad grasp at once obtainable
glory. I have never seen a game where
my emotions where so violated. I was
lifted to the brink of ecstasy, only to be plummeted into the trench of
disappointment and heartache. The Royals
style of play and the unpredictability of the A’s weaponry made for a what may
be the best baseball game of our generation.
Just don’t get me started on Ned. I am in too good of a mood to get started on
Ned.
A look ahead (9/2/14)
The Royals will have to celebrate quickly as they have a tall
task ahead of them. The Los Angeles,
California Angels of Anaheim in Orange County (LACAAOC) were one of the hottest
teams in baseball as the regular season closed, on Sunday. There is no good reason to believe they are
going to slow down at all. They are the
overall number on seed in the AL Postseason bracket (term used unofficially
without the expressed written consent of the NCAA). They have great pitching, great defense,
great offense, and in my opinion one of the speedier teams in the league,
comparable probably only to the
Royals.
On paper the Angels probably beat the Royals in most
categories. When we talk variables and
x-factors I give the edge to the Royals 70% of the time. The series will be battled in a few arenas, but
mostly in the one that was showcased on Tuesday night. Speed.
We love hearing Jerrod Dyson in his charming Mississippi drawl proclaim,
“That’s what speed do.” As much as it
drives me, and most major league stat-heads, sabermetricians, and bloggers
completely insane, is the one thing that won Tuesday’s wildcard matchup, speed.
Speed, bunting, slap hitting, gimmicks, speed. Early in the game Tuesday, we all felt
validated, when Ned sent Speed Bump, Billy Butler to decoy, while Hosmer
attempted to steal a run. Of course,
Billy left early, was nearly caught, but instead the A’s moved to protect the
score, and threw Hosmer out at the plate.
We all shouted at Ned through the TV.
If you have followed this team closely over the last 5 years, you had
little doubt that Billy was just following orders. The good news was that most of assumed, this
would put the cuffs on any more silliness.
We know now, it was not. Ned’s
foolishness extended to the mound and bullpen, as it frequently does. His bullpen management was largely seen as a
failure, and rightfully so. However, it
is hard not to credit Ned with his riverboat gambler-style creativity the rest
of the game, as being the key to the
game.
Ned’s small ball game plan was the strategy that won this
game. I do not see Ned Yost abandoning
this plan, any time soon. I look to see
much of the same on tonight. I look to
see it done well and effectively. I
believe the difference in the game will be the Royals ability to get on the
base paths, and do what speed do. On that
same note, the difference for the Angels will be their ability to stop The
Royals speedy ways.
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