The Royals and I

I became a Royals fan like anybody becomes a fan of team – at a Halloween Party. I was a freshman in high school and had been invited to a costume party at least 2 weeks prior to the event. The day of the event came and, in typical fashion for a 9^th grade boy, I still had not decided on my costume. And instead of thinking of a costume I was playing PlayStation. I was playing Triple Play 2000 and cannot remember which team I was controlling, but I do know which team I was playing against – The Royals. As I was playing I realized I had never heard of any of the players on the Royals. That is when I decided to go to the Halloween Party as a Royals fan.

My friend Aaron also did not have a costume so we decided to both be Royals fans. We walked to the store and bought blue shorts and blue body paint. I painted a giant “K” on my chest and he painted a giant “C” on his.

I did not anticipate being a Royals fan for more than one night – however since that night I have followed the Royals almost religiously. The catalyst of my Royals fandom was Max, a new kids who had just moved from Missouri and was shocked to see two people show up to a Halloween party as Royals fans.

I’ve never been to Kansas City, let alone Missouri or Kansas. I have lived in the Pacific Northwest my entire life. Prior to that night I had been a Mariners fan. After that night I changed my allegiances. The next season the Mariners won 116 games and the Royals won 65. I was still excited for the Ichiro Mariners, but the M’s were now my second favorite team. I did not watch any Royals games that season because the Royals were never nationally televised. I displayed my fandom by studying box scores and tracking games on ESPN gamecast. I began to study the Royals and looked up stats and names like Mike Sweeney and Carlos Beltran stood out, but I also knew about Paul Byrd, Blake Stein, Dan Reichert, Luis Alecia and more.

I remember sitting in my Math class before the first game in 2002 writing down the opening day roster for the Royals and telling myself how this team could succeed. That team lost 100 games. The next year however everything seemed to click. Runelvys Hernandez, Jeremy Affeldt, Angel Berroa, Lima Time, Ken Harvey  – the Royals were up 7 games at the All-Star break but ended up in 3^rd place by seasons end. They ended with a winning season and to optimistic fans it seemed to point to a bright future. At the time we did not realize it would be another 10 years before the Royals ended a season above .500.

However, at the beginning of every season there was blind hope. Mike Sweeney was feeling better than ever. Mark Grudzielanek and Doug Mientkiewicz (I spelled one of those names correctly without looking it up) were the veterans the team needed. The Gil Meche signing set a new precedent for how the team would operate. Jose Guillen wouldn’t be terrible. Ryan Shealy was the next Todd Helton. Calvin Pickering could really hit the ball. If only they would bring Justin Huber or Kila Ka’aihue or Mike Aviles or Johnny Giavotella up it would improve the team. Zack Greinke pitches every 5 nights. Joakim Soria is lights out. But every September the team played mostly meaningless baseball.

Since I became a Royals fan it has been part of my identity. I have always been a fan of underdogs and my Royals fandom was proof of this. Although there was hope every spring I knew realistically that the Royals had little chance to succeed. However, I continued to look up boxscores and watch gamecasts and follow the draft every June. Even though the team kept losing and kept playing Yuniesky Betancourt every day I continued to follow. The great thing about being a Royals fan for the past 13 seasons is that there was very little disappointment because there was very little expectation. As I would tell my friends who were Yankees fans “When the Yankees play you expect them to win and if they win it is business as usual, but if they lose it is a terrible day. On the other hand when the Royals play I expect them to lose and if they lose it is business as usual, but if they win it is an amazing day.”

That attitude is what makes this October so bizarre. When the Royals clinched a playoff spot my brother brought over champagne. He mentioned multiple times that I must be so excited and I was, but more than anything else I was in suspended shock. I knew that it was real but I was so used to following the beleaguered Royals that it never really sunk in.

I eagerly awaited the Wild Card game, but still had the expectation that they would lose and told myself I’d just be happy they made the playoffs. They won and it was amazing. It still did not fully sink in.

I anticipated the ALDS, but expected the Angels to make quick work of the Royals. The Royals swept them and it was amazing. It still did not fully sink in.

I awaited the ALCS, but thought the magic would end here. It didn’t and the Royals won and won and won and won again and it was amazing. They were going to the World Series. It started to sink in. The Royals were 8-0 in the playoffs and playing their best baseball of the year. The prospects of Moustakas and Hosmer were blooming under the bright lights, Alex Gordon and Billy Butler were coming up with big hits. Lo Cain was having great at-bat after great at-bat. And of course there was the bullpen.

As the Royals prepared to play in the World Series it seemed like the world was jumping on the bandwagon. I’d wear my Royals hat (like always, even in 2006) in public and strangers would congratulate me and tell me they were rooting for the Royals. Friends who were fans of the A’s, Angels and Orioles all told me they were hoping the Royals would win it all. I received texts and Facebook messages from friends I hadn’t talked to in years because when they saw the Royals win they thought of me.

As I prepared to watch game 6 last night I expected the team to lose and would be happy that they had made it so far and had exceeded expectations, but they scored 7 runs in the 2^nd inning and 3 more throughout the game and it was amazing.

Tonight – in just a few hours the Royals will host game 7 and I still haven’t been able to figure out my emotions. My natural inclination is to prepare myself for defeat because that has been “business as usual” for the Royals since I became a fan 14 years ago  and that I will be proud they made it this far, but maybe I will be wrong again and it will be amazing.

Go Royals!