The Rise and Fall of the Blue October Part 2 The 2014 Kansas City Royals

Before the start of the 2014 season, many had brushed the Royals aside, picking the Tigers to win the Central. And had selected a mixture of the Red Sox, Yankees, A’s, or Blue Jays to grab the Wildcard spots. With low expectations set upon them, the Royals still had massive goals for themselves. The Royals stormed off to face the armada that had arrived at the gates of the Royal Kingdom. It didn’t look too promising for the 2014 Kansas City Royals in April as they started the year being swept in a two-game series against the division favorite Detroit Tigers. They would quickly bounce back, however, as they would win the next two series. Following that, they would then get swept by Minnesota, a team that was pegged to finish with one of the worst records in baseball that year. For the rest of April, the Royals went a pedestrian 14-12. 

In May, it looked as if the walls of the castle were starting to crumble; like the month before, they were swept by the Tigers this time in three games. The rest of the month would not go much better for the Royals. Aside from winning or tying series against lower-level teams, the Royals would struggle, and they went 12-17 in the month, bringing their record to 26-29. 

However, the defenses were reinforced in June as an inspired spark would soon lead the team to play some good baseball. As Mike Moustakas would rejoin the club following a short stint in Omaha. The Royals would go 17-10, bringing them back above 500. They would also make a move that, while at the time didn’t seem like a big thing, would come into play down the road as the Royals signed a left-handed pitcher to a minor league contract, but more on him later. 

In July, they would tread water, going 12-13 with a losing streak of 4 games and a winning streak of 5 games. This would bring the record to 55-52. The Royals would send two players to the All-Star game in Minnesota that year, closing pitcher Greg Holland and catcher Salvador Perez. The American League would win the All-Star game 5-3. Why do I mention that? Well, it’s important later on in our story. Curiously, the Royals would make no trades before the deadline beyond Jimmy Paredes being traded for cash to Baltimore. The Royals would be sitting in a tight race in the AL Central as the Tigers above them looked like they were able to be caught; however, a team the Royals had battled with and continue to battle with all year, the then-Cleveland Indians, were breathing down their necks. 

In August, the Royals would go on the offensive, sinking the hopes of many teams that wanted to play in October. Starting with two series against a team they would see again soon in Oakland. They would sweep the Giants at Kauffman in three games. Little did anyone know at the time what that would mean later on in the year. The month would, however, end in a bit of a slide as the Royals lost 4 straight, including being swept by the Indians. Bringing their record to 74-62. 

Entering the final month of the season, the Royals would get much-needed reinforcements as September call-ups would come and go. For our story, we will only highlight those who would be central figures at some point on this journey. Aaron Crow, a long-time member of the pitching staff, would be called up, bringing some more veteran leadership to the young team. Christian Colon, who had bounced from the MLB and Minors all year, was called up. A Speedy outfielder named Terrance Gore would be called up as well, who would pair very nicely with another Royal we have not mentioned yet, Jarrod Dyson. And finally, that left-handed pitcher who was signed to a minor league contract. Brandon Finnegan. The Royals would turn their cannons first to New York as they would sink the hopes of the Yankees besting them in a 3-game series. Next, it would be their division rivals, the Cleveland Indians, beating them in a three-game series as well. The fleet that had been launched to be the year to try and break the walls of the Royal Kingdom was down to the final 4 games, with the Royals needing to win in the Windy City on the Southside to close it out. Going into the final 4-game series, the Royals were 10 and 5 against the White Sox. With the first game came a victory for the Royals and a death blow for the Yankees. The Royals would look to finish off the chances of Cleveland in game two and clinch a playoff berth for the first time in 29 years. In front of a crowd of 27,000 fans, many of whom wore Royal Blue, the Royals looked to do what many thought couldn’t happen. The Royals wasted little time scoring three runs in the 1st inning. The final volley had been fired. Going into the bottom of the 9th, the Royals, much like they had done all year, called upon Greg Holland, the kid they had drafted in 2007 in the 10th round, to close the game out and to finally give Royals fans a sweet memory.

( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqAPY9j9REQ )

The Royals had finally done it for the first time: they had back-to-back winning records, and for the first time since they won the World Series in 1985, they were going to the postseason. Going 89-73, good enough to claim the top wild-card spot. This team had a starting Rotation of James Shields, long-time Royals pitchers Jeremy Guthrie and Bruce Chen, Jason Vargas, Ace Ventura, Danny Duffy, and Liam Hendricks, who started 3 games. They went for a combined 63 and 57 with a combined 4.12 ERA. Now the ERA is slightly bloated by Chen and Hendricks. The bullpen went 28- 16. The bullpen was anchored by Aaron Crow, who doesn't get as much credit as he deserves, Jason Frasor, and the three-headed monster of Herrera, Davis, and Holland, nicknamed HDH. This combo, along with utilizing a style of play that would frustrate teams ``Small Ball.” Great defense, contact hitting, and not hitting for power would lead the Royals into the playoffs. 

Where they hosted the wild card game against a team that once called Kansas City home, the Oakland Athletics. The Athletics had finished one game behind the Royals in the Wildcard race. And had been nipping at their heels most of the way. Many had picked the A’s to move on in the playoffs. It should be stated that many of these experts had picked either the Dodgers, Nationals, or Tigers to win the World Series, so obviously, there was no love for the Royals and no real idea as to what was cooking in Cowtown. 

The A’s and Royals had played each other 7 times during the regular season. Where the Royals had won the regular season meeting 5-2. This one, however, would go down in history as possibly the best Wild Card game of all time. One Night removed from Monday Night Football at Arrowhead, where the Chiefs had murdered the Patriots and broken the record for the loudest stadium in the world. The party moved across the parking lot as the Royals and A’s would do battle, where only one team would go play in the ALDS.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQxeN4tkggo

The game had been chaotic all night. Remember Brandon Finnegan, I mentioned earlier? Well, he would play a massive role in this game. He was lights out, going 2.1 innings, and kept the A's in check long enough for the Royals. Neither team could continue to hold an advantage, and we were off to extras. Athletics got off to a hot start, scoring a quick run thanks to former Royal Alberto Callaspo’s single, driving in Josh Reddick. Down by one in the bottom of the 12th inning, the Royals did what they did best. Keep the line moving. Hosmer got on, and they got him home thanks to a Christian Colon single. The game was tied with the catcher Salvador Perez. Royals and Athletics fans know what happens next.

And just like that, the Royals survived. That hit by Salvy was his only hit of the game; he went 1-6, and that was his only hit. The win pitted the Royals against the 98-win Los Angeles Angels. A team that was built to destroy all who stood in their way, the top team in the AL. Led by Mike Trout and Albert Pujols, the Angels were a steamroller. They won their division by ten games. The team behind them was the Athletics, whom the Royals beat to get in. All signs pointed to an Angels win in the series. What the Royals did next was nothing less than a miracle. The first two games of the series would be played in Anaheim, and both games would go to extra innings. The Royals won both of those games.

The Royals were up two games on the Angels heading back to KC. The Angels would head into game three, trying to force a game four. They wouldn’t survive the noise. The Angels would get a run across to score thanks to a Mike Trout Home Run in the top of the 1st. However, a pair of amazing catches by Cain in the outfield would kill the Angels' momentum. In the bottom of the third, the Royals kept the line moving with the bases loaded. Captain Corn Husker Alex Gordon came to the plate. And with one swing of the bat, the floodgates opened. The Royals never lost the lead for the rest of the game. James Shields went six innings, allowing only two runs, and then the Angels faced death. Herrera came in and went one-two-three, Davis got in a bit of trouble but got out of the 8th inning, allowing only one run, and Holland came in like he had done 46 times during the regular season and shut the door. The Royals had swept the Angels and faced a team the complete opposite of them. The Angels that year spent $175 million in 2014. The Royals had only spent $94 million on all players in the system. The next series would test the royals differently, as it wasn't a large amount of money spent on free agents and big names this time. As it was so perfectly put at the time, "you could call Kansas City Architects, and you could call the Orioles a demolition crew." 

If the Series against the Angels was billed as David vs. Goliath, then this was even bigger in the eyes of many. Most of the country waited for the clock to strike midnight on Cinderella. The run was far from over, and nothing said this more than the first game of the series. After a back-and-forth affair, the Royals finally caught the O’s and won the game in extra innings. That would be all the momentum the Royals needed to win game Two and as the series shifted to Kansas City. The Royals gritted out a tough 2-1 win in game three, and much like the series before, the Royals had a chance to win and advance in the playoffs in front of a near riotous Kauffman Stadium. Game 4 would be much like other installments in the series, as it came down to the final play of the game. With Nelson Cruz on first, it would come down to JJ Hardy vs Greg Holland.

The Royals were going to the World Series, where they would face an unstoppable force, the San Francisco Giants. A team that had won the World Series twice before was on a mission to reclaim its throne. The Royals were looking for some respect and to take what they hadn't had since Ronald Reagan was in office. These two teams would clash in a tremendous series that would go down to the wire. The Royals would win 10- 0 in game 6 at home to force a game 7, where a name that would haunt Royals fans would come out and pitch. Madison Bumgarner

With the game on the line and Alex Gordon at third base down by one, Salvador Perez would come up to the plate with a chance to tie or win the game. Unfortunately, Perez would pop it up on the third base side. The Giants had their third World Series in five years. And the Giants would celebrate in front of the heartbroken and downtrodden Royal Kingdom. The Castle had fallen to Giants............

The Royals were 90 feet away from tying the game. A phrase that would stick with the team going into next season and a burden that Salvy would have to carry. And in 2015, he and the Royals would be back with a vengeance.