Hallelujah! A Royals sweep of the Orioles in the Wild Card round!
The scores: 1-0 and 2-1.
The good news: The Royals formula worked to perfection. They won with superb pitching from starters and relievers, speed (Maikel Garcia’s stolen base in Game 1), key defensive plays (especially MJ and Massey in Game 2), a Vinnie RBI, and just enough of Bobby Witt Jr. to eke out the winning run in each game.
The bad news: I don’t know if I can keep doing this. Every. Single. Pitch. One swing of a bat away from heartbreak.
It’s fun to again see the city bathed in blue in October. Below, the fountain in Mill Creek Park as seen from our condo.
The Royals now move on to play the Yankees in the ALDS. First game is in New York tomorrow night (5:38, TBS and Max).
Our city and the Yankees have a long baseball history…
Kansas City and the Yankees: From 1936 to 1954, the Kansas City Blues were a farm team for the New York Yankees. Mickey Mantle played part of his 1951 season with the Blues.
In 1955, Arnold Johnson bought the Philadelphia A’s, moved them to Kansas City and arguably the A’s became a new KC farm team for the Yankees with a series of bad trades. The next A’s owner, Charlie Finley, ended the Yankee/A’s shuttle, but then ran off to Oakland with the team.
With the founding of the expansion Royals in 1969, the 1970s and 1980s brought a new relationship between Kansas City and the Yankees – a heated rivalry that provides wonderful baseball memories for Kansas City fans.
How heated? Ask George Brett who this week gave these quotes to Anne Rogers who covers the Royals for MLB.com (article here):
“Hatred. Pure hatred. Hatred is probably the key word…Some older fans will remember. They’ll be telling their grandkids, saying, ‘You should have seen these two teams play in the ‘70s – oh my God. This was bad. These guys didn’t really like each other.’ We truly didn’t.”
I am one of those “older fans” who remembers. And I agree with George on this rekindling of the rivalry, “It’s going to be awesome. It’ll be great. I’ll absolutely love it.”
Below, George celebrating the 2024 Wild Card win with pitcher Michael Lorenzen (AP Photo/Jason Allen).
ALCS in 1976, 1977 and 1978 – Royals v. Damn Yankees: From 1903 to 1968, the American League and National League each had eight teams. The postseason involved only two teams, the AL and NL pennant winners playing in the World Series. When Kansas City and three other expansion teams were added in 1969, each league was split into two divisions and a new playoff round was added for each league (the American League Championship Series and the National League Championship Series/ALCS and NLCS).
In 1976, the Royals won the West Division of the American League and made their first postseason appearance, playing the Yankees in the ALCS. The same two teams played in the ALCS in 1977 and 1978. The Yankees won all three times to advance to the World Series. Damn Yankees!
The loss in 1977 was especially heartbreaking. The Royals had won 102 games, the most ever by a Royals team (Owner Ewing Kauffman, Manager Whitey Herzog, Brett, McRae, Leonard, Splittorff, Cowens, Patek, Otis, White, Porter, Gura, etc.). The Yankees had won 100 games (Owner George Steinbrenner, Manager Billy Martin, Reggie, Nettles, Randolph, Rivers, Guidry, Dent, Chambliss, etc.).
The 1977 ALCS opened at Yankee Stadium where the teams split the first two games. Game 2 was highlighted by a play that most baseball fans have seen in replay (click here) and is emblematic of the fierce rivalry between the teams. Hal McRae’s slide (more like a body block) into Willie Randolph broke up a double play and allowed Freddie Patek to score from second base. Before the next season, MLB adopted the so-called Hal McRae Rule providing that a runner who is not within reach of the base and takes out an infielder is out, and other baserunners cannot advance.
The league championship series was then played in a best-of-five format, and the teams met at Royals Stadium for the final three games. They split Games 3 and 4, setting up an epic Game 5.
I was there with my friend and future Jackson County prosecutor Albert Riederer (RIP). We acquired our tickets through the lottery process, relegating us to near the back row of the upper deck. Yes, I still have my ticket stub.
Game 5 had barely started when the benches emptied after a base-running incident that rivaled Hal McRae’s upending of Willie Randolph. George Brett hit a first-inning triple, sliding hard into third baseman Graig Nettles. Not appreciating George’s slide, Nettles kneed Brett while George was still down. George came up swinging. Check out the video here, and marvel that no one was ejected from the game.
The Royals led 3-2 after eight innings. To go for the win, manager Whitey Herzog called on Dennis Leonard to pitch the ninth. As a starting pitcher in 1977, Leonard had won 20 games. He had appeared in relief one time and got a save – what I would call a small sample size for being a stopper in a late inning game of extreme pressure. Whitey’s experiment did not work. Leonard faced two batters, giving up a single and a walk. Whitey replaced him, and Leonard’s two runners became the tying and go-ahead runs.
I remember the quiet that fell over the stadium. From the time Albert and I left our nosebleed seats until we reached the car, you could hear a pin drop. Below, this Kansas City Star photo by Joseph A. Coleman captures the moment, a dejected Freddy Patek in the dugout after the game. Freddy had hit into a double play in the 9th inning.
ALCS in 1980 – The Royals Beat the Yankees!: After being in the ALCS for three straight years, neither the Royals nor the Yankees made it in 1979. But they were both back in 1980. And this time, the Royals won. Viva la difference.
And it was a sweep. The Royals won the first two games in Kansas City. I had upgraded to sharing season tickets, so I had better seats for these games.
Game 3 was at Yankee Stadium. With the Yankees leading 2-1 in the top of the 7th, Tommy John gave up a double to Willie Wilson. Yankee manager Dick Howser replaced John with Goose Gossage who gave up a single to UL Washington. Two on, two out.
George Brett came to the plate. A classic matchup. Hard-throwing Gossage against hard-hitting Brett (who had hit .390 that MVP year after flirting with .400). Brett mashed a Gossage fastball into the upper deck for a three-run homer. Video here.
I know where I was. At Rich and Molly Ellison’s home on Tomahawk. Rich, Jim Norwine and I were on the couch, and when we simultaneously realized the ball was headed for the stands, we jumped up in unison and tipped over the couch.
Dan Quisenberry shut down the Yankees after that, and the Royals were on the way to play in their first World Series.
After facing each other in the postseason four of five years, the Yankees and Royals did not meet again in the postseason for the next 44 years. Tomorrow, the rivalry will be renewed at a new version of Yankee Stadium (opened 2009).
As for the 1980 World Series…
Pete Rose and the Royals: Pete Rose died this week at the age of 83, and he drew the expected headlines. Some samples: “Pete Rose, All-Time Hit Leader and Ultimate Pariah”; “Farewell to Pete Rose, a model on the field and a cautionary tale off”; “Pete Rose has only himself to blame for tarnished MLB legacy”; and “No one loved baseball, or damaged it, as much as Pete Rose.”
There are tons of Pete Rose obituaries and tributes (favorable and not), and I don’t have any insights to add. But I do want to share some Pete Rose/Royals anecdotes.
After Hal McRae’s takeout slide of Willie Randolph, Hal was not apologetic. He said that’s the way he always played, “I was drafted and signed by the Reds, and in their minor league system, we played that way. I patterned myself after the way Pete Rose played.”
Another Royal who liked the way Rose played was owner Ewing Kauffman. After the losses to the Yankees in 1976, 1977 and 1978, Kauffman was looking to get to the next level. One of the top free agents on the market was 37-year-old Pete Rose. Kauffman and general manager Joe Burke met with Rose, and Pete was impressed with the Royals “first class operation.”
Kauffman reportedly offered Rose $4 million for a four-year contract. But Rose went with the Phillies for less money because of what Kauffman called the “National League thing.” As detailed in Pete Grathoff’s article this week in the Kansas City Star, Rose then had 3,164 career hits and had his eye on Stan Musial’s NL record of 3,630 hits. Rose not only passed Musial for the NL record, but eventually passed Ty Cobb’s MLB record of 4,191.
Not getting Rose signed came back to haunt the Royals in 1980. After besting the Yankees in the ALCS, the Royals met the Phillies in the World Series. I attended the middle three games that were played in KC.
When the teams returned to Philadelphia for Game 6, the Phillies led three games to two. I saw that game on TV and have a clear memory of one play in the game – Pete Rose alertly catching Frank White’s popup after it bounced out of catcher Bob Boone’s glove (video here). Philadelphia went on the win the game and take the Series. It was the first World Series Championship for the Phillies.
Below, standing outside Cincinnati’s Great American Ballpark next to Pete’s statue depicting him in his signature head-first slide.
RIP Charlie Hustle.
Jimmy Carter at 100: Jimmy Carter turned 100 this week (on October 1). Carter is an avid Atlanta Braves fan, and the team sent him this jersey to commemorate the milestone birthday.
And as November approaches…
Happy Birthday Mr. President.
Lonnie’s Jukebox – Kris Kristofferson Edition: Last week, Kris Kristofferson died at the age of 88. He was a prolific singer/songwriter of country songs and had a busy acting career (most famously opposite Barbara Streisand in A Star is Born).
I’m not knowledgeable about country music, but I certainly recognize the songwriting of Kris Kristofferson. Here are four songs he wrote that became hits for other artists.
“For the Good Times” by Ray Price (1970).
“Sunday Morning Coming Down” by Johnny Cash (1970).
Well, I woke up Sunday mornin’
With no way to hold my head that didn’t hurt
And the beer I had for breakfast wasn’t bad
So I had one more for dessert
Then I fumbled in my closet through my clothes
And found my cleanest dirty shirt
Then I washed my face and combed my hair
And stumbled down the stairs to meet the day
“Help Me Make It Through the Night” by Sammi Smith (1971).
“Me and Bobby McGee” by Janis Joplin (1971). A posthumous #1 pop hit for his former paramour Janis Joplin. It’s also good as a country song by Kris (click here).
Kristofferson’s had several top country albums as a singer, and two singles crossed over to be Top 40 hits on the pop chart…
“Loving Her Was Easier (Than Anything I’ll Ever Do Again)” by Kris Kristofferson (1972). #26 on the pop chart.
“Why Me” by Kris Kristofferson (1973). This #1 country hit reached #16 on the pop chart.
He also recorded duets with Rita Coolidge (his wife from 1973-80) and was part of the outlaw country supergroup “The Highwayman” with Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson.
“Loving Arms” by Kris Kristoferson and Rita Coolidge (1974).
“Highwayman” by the Highwayman (1985). A #1 country hit.
Thanks for the good times, Kris.
Walk-off Photos: Downtown, posted by photographer Chris Stritzel.
The Plaza, this morning from our condo.
