Like most of you, I'm not yet in the mood to fully dissect what just happened. But I did write about it the best I could for Grantland, which you can read here.
I'm not going to tell anyone how to feel or how to react to losing such a close Game 7, but one thing I don't understand is how some people think that losing the last game means that all of the build up to it somehow loses meaning or significance.
I was at the wildcard game, and it will always be one of the most exciting games I have ever attended. Nothing can take those memories away.
I think we act by realize how difficult it is to get the winning run to the plate. So we should enjoy it but also realize the extreme difficulty and luck it takes to get to that position. We could be a great team next because unlike some fans here, I have stuck with Dayton Moore and believe he can make us better for next year. But that won't mean we will win the World Series. We could win a hundred games and lose in the ALDS or ALCS (sound familiar). That's why it hurts so bad for me. What we can ask for is consistant playoff appearances like the Royals used to have, and we'll eventually win one. Just making it to the playoffs is all it takes. We also need a new manager. Sticking with Yost has been DM's worst decision. Meche signing wasn't too bad considering he had some of his best years here, and Guillen was our best hitter for a while. Still not great moves. But also remeber that even the greatest GM's have stinkers because like Branch Rickey said, you have to take risks. Trading Wil was a risk. Mozeliak signed Berkman in 2011 and had him play LF which worked out great. But he also signed him again for more money even though it should have been obvious. Beane traded Bailey for Reddick. But he also traded Holliday plus cash(!) for basically nothing. It will be interesting to see how this off season goes.
Yost isn't going anywhere, and he probably shouldn't anyway. As long as the team busts his butt for him, that's worth as much as anything he might give back with questionable tactical decisions. Like Rany more or less said himself, if a manager is George Washington all day and Ron Washington when he gets on the field, you're still ahead on balance.
Mike Jirschele made the right decision. If he sent Gordon home, he's out by 30 feet, and the Giants win the World Series on the worst decision since Babe Ruth made the last out of a series trying to steal. It's not his fault that Perez seemed determined not to make Bumgarner throw him at least one strike.
Thanks Rany. I still find myself incapable of speaking about it without my mind running off in a thousand different directions. Thanks for giving a voice to both the boundless joy and indescribable pain that this season brought to those of us who've been there through it all for thirty five years now. I'm sure I'll have perspective back before long, but for now I'll just send a link to your article to my friends who want to know how I feel. Thanks again.
Rany, I would like to share what I wrote on Facebook after the game. I think it still hold up as true a few days later.
"Being sad when they lose is part of the fun. Caring is why the good times are so good."
Losing like that at the end is obviously infinitely better than the second greatest moment (before this season) of the last 17 years, at least: our fifth outfielder hitting a grand slam in a season where we were already eliminated from the playoffs.
I'm not trying to invalidate anyone's emotions, but I do want to reiterate that this is the price of caring, and caring is the whole point.
A wonderful article as usual, Rany. Thank you so much for all the time and passion you pour into this blog and in your Grantland pieces. You are a great baseball 'companion'--and you definitely make it more fun to be a Royals fan.
On the pain issue, however, I am not really on the same page with you. I didn't expect us to be much more than an 81 win team this year. We really had a lot of good luck, inter alia the unbelievable year from HDH and in general avoiding injury. (Who could have predicted a basically DL free year from L Cain?) The Wild Card game against Oakland was one of the great sports watching experiences of my life. After that it was all gravy-- the ALDS and ALCS sweeps with their highlight reel defensive plays, the spectacle of having game 1 of the WS at home, the drama of game 2 (my wife and I were in KC for those two), Ventura's game 6 mastery . . . compared to all that, the fact we lost in the end feels relatively unimportant, especially when the loss was such an honorable one, concluding with a 3-2 game seven that ended with the tying run on third at the hand of a pitcher who turned it the greatest WS pitching performance in baseball history. I'm more than okay with that.
For me, the only real downer is concern over Salvy. I love him as a player--his amazing defense, his obvious joi de vivre. But his second half performance at the plate was dreadful, and the winning hit against Oakland, the (meaningless) game one home run versus MadBum, and the double off Strickland's batting practice, down the middle fastball partly distracted attention from an atrocious postseason at the plate. His final at bat with Gordon on third encapsulated his basic problem: his total inability or refusal to lay off pitches outside the zone. If his 2015 season mirrors the second half of 2014, the Royals will face a real dilemma, as we will be fielding a starting catcher whose triple slash line will be in the neighborhood of .200/.210/.350.
I'm not sure if this has been asked yet, or even contemplated on your part, but "Rany on the Royals" must go on! The battery has to be recharged for whatever may come in 2015. How bout you start putting yourself on a series of 1-year contracts? Decide 2 weeks after the Royals season ends whether you will sign on for another year.
Well, still a bit in shock. Mi el wifo and I moved to the lakes area of S. Mizzu.
This was late August. From this time, as furnature was moved, new home, all the shit that goes with it, there was not a night we thought or watched a game of without importance. Especially when in a Redbird died in the wool area...BTW...Redbird fans were pulling for us. What a treat......what a treat when you consider an extra two months of baseball.
In nearly Nov. both of us old dude and dudettes were screaming at the tele............go go go go go..
In stating this Rany.....seriously, can you ask for anything better!!!!! Yes, but this was enough for us...
I loved the Grantland article and your blog has greatly added to my enjoyment of the Royals for the last couple of years. Sorry that you've announced your leaving and I hope you can reconsider, even on a limited basis.
What I might like is to see is the odds of the Royals winning game seven if Gordon had been sent versus if Gore had come in to run for him and attempted to steal versus allowing Salvador (love him and like this choice the most because I wanted him to succeed the most) to hit away. Heck, why not add the last scenario (last one, promise), Bumgarner is so rattled by Gore that he walks Sal and Moose (or PH, sorry) bats.
I went to Chicago and saw them win the clinching game and was at all the Royal Play-Off games. What a ride. At game seven of the World Series after Sal popped out and the Giants were celebrating, and the stadium started the "Let Go Royals" chant. It was not to drown out the Giants or take away from their win, it was 40,000 people trying to say Thank You Royals for a GREAT season and extra month of baseball. It was a cool moment that I will never forget.
Rany, I have simply enjoyed your writing and your spots on WHB for over a decade now going all the way back to Rob and Rany. Thank you and I wish you the best.
Guys, he never owes anyone an apology! Just like how DM didn't owe Rany an apology every time the team missed the playoffs. He had a opinion, shared it, and ended up being "wrong". But that term is so inconsequential because we have no idea what might have happened with Meyers in our lineup or with the money he might have used to bring in another pitcher.
The bottom line is this: I enjoyed Rany's blog, and I enjoyed Blue October. No one owes anyone an apology.
Rany, I know that I am late to the party, but just read the Grantland piece - I couldn't stomach reading a 2014 Royals post-mortem until now. You summed it up perfectly. You aced the final exam. I am sure that you are an outstanding dermatologist, and I know what it is like to try to balance a career and a (growing) family, but I beg you to write something on your blog whenever you can. I don't care if it is just once/month. You have a gift, and I selfishly want you to share it. Even if it is only on Grantland, please keep us up-to-date on our Royals!
Read your blog since the beginning and will truly miss it. What a season to end on. Please tell us you have one more post in you. We need closure. Regardless, thank you!
SF native and born-and-bred Giants fan here. Now happily ensconced in Lawrence, KS and surrounded by a whole lot of Royals fans - and this team was a hell of a lot of fun to root for. The WS between my two favorite teams was just about a baseball dream come true. A lot of friends have asked me who I was rooting for and my response was that I wanted the WS to go 7 games and for Game 7 to go about 16 innings. My gut was rooting for the Giants but I'd've been celebrating with the Royals had they won. I hope they can keep this up for many more years.
22 comments:
I'm not going to tell anyone how to feel or how to react to losing such a close Game 7, but one thing I don't understand is how some people think that losing the last game means that all of the build up to it somehow loses meaning or significance.
I was at the wildcard game, and it will always be one of the most exciting games I have ever attended. Nothing can take those memories away.
I think we act by realize how difficult it is to get the winning run to the plate. So we should enjoy it but also realize the extreme difficulty and luck it takes to get to that position. We could be a great team next because unlike some fans here, I have stuck with Dayton Moore and believe he can make us better for next year. But that won't mean we will win the World Series. We could win a hundred games and lose in the ALDS or ALCS (sound familiar). That's why it hurts so bad for me. What we can ask for is consistant playoff appearances like the Royals used to have, and we'll eventually win one. Just making it to the playoffs is all it takes. We also need a new manager. Sticking with Yost has been DM's worst decision. Meche signing wasn't too bad considering he had some of his best years here, and Guillen was our best hitter for a while. Still not great moves. But also remeber that even the greatest GM's have stinkers because like Branch Rickey said, you have to take risks. Trading Wil was a risk. Mozeliak signed Berkman in 2011 and had him play LF which worked out great. But he also signed him again for more money even though it should have been obvious. Beane traded Bailey for Reddick. But he also traded Holliday plus cash(!) for basically nothing. It will be interesting to see how this off season goes.
Yost isn't going anywhere, and he probably shouldn't anyway. As long as the team busts his butt for him, that's worth as much as anything he might give back with questionable tactical decisions. Like Rany more or less said himself, if a manager is George Washington all day and Ron Washington when he gets on the field, you're still ahead on balance.
Mike Jirschele made the right decision. If he sent Gordon home, he's out by 30 feet, and the Giants win the World Series on the worst decision since Babe Ruth made the last out of a series trying to steal. It's not his fault that Perez seemed determined not to make Bumgarner throw him at least one strike.
Thanks Rany. I still find myself incapable of speaking about it without my mind running off in a thousand different directions. Thanks for giving a voice to both the boundless joy and indescribable pain that this season brought to those of us who've been there through it all for thirty five years now. I'm sure I'll have perspective back before long, but for now I'll just send a link to your article to my friends who want to know how I feel. Thanks again.
Rany, I would like to share what I wrote on Facebook after the game. I think it still hold up as true a few days later.
"Being sad when they lose is part of the fun. Caring is why the good times are so good."
Losing like that at the end is obviously infinitely better than the second greatest moment (before this season) of the last 17 years, at least: our fifth outfielder hitting a grand slam in a season where we were already eliminated from the playoffs.
I'm not trying to invalidate anyone's emotions, but I do want to reiterate that this is the price of caring, and caring is the whole point.
A wonderful article as usual, Rany. Thank you so much for all the time and passion you pour into this blog and in your Grantland pieces. You are a great baseball 'companion'--and you definitely make it more fun to be a Royals fan.
On the pain issue, however, I am not really on the same page with you. I didn't expect us to be much more than an 81 win team this year. We really had a lot of good luck, inter alia the unbelievable year from HDH and in general avoiding injury. (Who could have predicted a basically DL free year from L Cain?) The Wild Card game against Oakland was one of the great sports watching experiences of my life. After that it was all gravy-- the ALDS and ALCS sweeps with their highlight reel defensive plays, the spectacle of having game 1 of the WS at home, the drama of game 2 (my wife and I were in KC for those two), Ventura's game 6 mastery . . . compared to all that, the fact we lost in the end feels relatively unimportant, especially when the loss was such an honorable one, concluding with a 3-2 game seven that ended with the tying run on third at the hand of a pitcher who turned it the greatest WS pitching performance in baseball history. I'm more than okay with that.
For me, the only real downer is concern over Salvy. I love him as a player--his amazing defense, his obvious joi de vivre. But his second half performance at the plate was dreadful, and the winning hit against Oakland, the (meaningless) game one home run versus MadBum, and the double off Strickland's batting practice, down the middle fastball partly distracted attention from an atrocious postseason at the plate. His final at bat with Gordon on third encapsulated his basic problem: his total inability or refusal to lay off pitches outside the zone. If his 2015 season mirrors the second half of 2014, the Royals will face a real dilemma, as we will be fielding a starting catcher whose triple slash line will be in the neighborhood of .200/.210/.350.
I'm not sure if this has been asked yet, or even contemplated on your part, but "Rany on the Royals" must go on!
The battery has to be recharged for whatever may come in 2015. How bout you start putting yourself on a series of 1-year contracts? Decide 2 weeks after the Royals season ends whether you will sign on for another year.
"I know you love the Royals but what have they ever done for you?"
Thanks for the memories Royals
Well, still a bit in shock. Mi el wifo and I moved to the lakes area of S. Mizzu.
This was late August. From this time, as furnature was moved, new home, all the shit that goes with it, there was not a night we thought or watched a game of without importance. Especially when in a Redbird died in the wool area...BTW...Redbird fans were pulling for us. What a treat......what a treat when you consider an extra two months of baseball.
In nearly Nov. both of us old dude and dudettes were screaming at the tele............go go go go go..
In stating this Rany.....seriously, can you ask for anything better!!!!! Yes, but this was enough for us...
I loved the Grantland article and your blog has greatly added to my enjoyment of the Royals for the last couple of years. Sorry that you've announced your leaving and I hope you can reconsider, even on a limited basis.
What I might like is to see is the odds of the Royals winning game seven if Gordon had been sent versus if Gore had come in to run for him and attempted to steal versus allowing Salvador (love him and like this choice the most because I wanted him to succeed the most) to hit away. Heck, why not add the last scenario (last one, promise), Bumgarner is so rattled by Gore that he walks Sal and Moose (or PH, sorry) bats.
I went to Chicago and saw them win the clinching game and was at all the Royal Play-Off games. What a ride.
At game seven of the World Series after Sal popped out and the Giants were celebrating, and the stadium started the "Let Go Royals" chant. It was not to drown out the Giants or take away from their win, it was 40,000 people trying to say Thank You Royals for a GREAT season and extra month of baseball. It was a cool moment that I will never forget.
Rany, I have simply enjoyed your writing and your spots on WHB for over a decade now going all the way back to Rob and Rany. Thank you and I wish you the best.
Let's Go ROYALS!
Thanks for yet another extraordinary article. The next step in my recovery process is to read an apology article to a certain Royals executive.
Go search for the one he wrote a month ago in the Star then. He doesn't owe any more apologies to anyone now.
Guys, he never owes anyone an apology! Just like how DM didn't owe Rany an apology every time the team missed the playoffs. He had a opinion, shared it, and ended up being "wrong". But that term is so inconsequential because we have no idea what might have happened with Meyers in our lineup or with the money he might have used to bring in another pitcher.
The bottom line is this: I enjoyed Rany's blog, and I enjoyed Blue October. No one owes anyone an apology.
Cool. That works.
Rany,
I know that I am late to the party, but just read the Grantland piece - I couldn't stomach reading a 2014 Royals post-mortem until now. You summed it up perfectly. You aced the final exam. I am sure that you are an outstanding dermatologist, and I know what it is like to try to balance a career and a (growing) family, but I beg you to write something on your blog whenever you can. I don't care if it is just once/month. You have a gift, and I selfishly want you to share it. Even if it is only on Grantland, please keep us up-to-date on our Royals!
Thanks, Rany.
All of these years.
All of these years.
You don't know me. I don't know you.
But all of these years. We were there.
Thanks.
Read your blog since the beginning and will truly miss it. What a season to end on. Please tell us you have one more post in you. We need closure. Regardless, thank you!
SF native and born-and-bred Giants fan here. Now happily ensconced in Lawrence, KS and surrounded by a whole lot of Royals fans - and this team was a hell of a lot of fun to root for. The WS between my two favorite teams was just about a baseball dream come true. A lot of friends have asked me who I was rooting for and my response was that I wanted the WS to go 7 games and for Game 7 to go about 16 innings. My gut was rooting for the Giants but I'd've been celebrating with the Royals had they won. I hope they can keep this up for many more years.
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