Originally Posted by Chiefspants
I started following the team in 2003 after the 9-0 start (I was 10)
Here were my top 5 highlights pre 2013.
1. Zack Greinke winning the Cy Young (I thought this might be my all time highlight, tbh. I got to see his last start at the K that year. 28K were there (I thought it would be the closest I'd see to a sellout), and I watched him weave his way out of jams all game and dominate Morneau and Mauer. For four years I figured it would be the closest I'd come to witnessing the Royals win it all.
2. The 2003 Royals winning 50 games before the ASB (Ryan was thrilled) and them "going for it" at the deadline by acquiring Brian Anderson and Rondell White - I thought it was the team of destiny - I should add Jose Lima to that mic as well.
3. The 2004 Opening Day comeback and walkoff, if only that season could have ended that day. I listened to Denny call that walk off as my Dad and I were driving to Hutchinson to build a rocket. That's one of the most glorious things about baseball for me, I don't know if I would have remembered moments like those without the Royals in the background. My childhood was difficult at times, but Denny and Ryan and the Royals futility were one of the only consistent things I had - and hey, occasionally they won a game too, sometimes 60, in fact!
4. GMDM's first game as the Royals GM. I remember how excited the Scout site was that we picked up someone who bypassed THE RED SOX to come here. I walked the dogs with my Mom that night (the person who made me fall in love with baseball & the Royals) and she talked about the poetic justice that we nabbed someone from the organization that stole Schuerholz and Saberhagen, and how fitting it was that someone from her 2nd most hated franchise (behind the Yankees) could take us to prominence again. That day, Moore watched the Royals go on this crazy comeback against the A's (of all teams) to win by something like 16-12. "It's a good omen" my Mom said. How right she was.
5. Opening Day, 2007. Dayton Moore was going for it. He got Gil Meche, called up Alex Gordon, the third baseman and second coming of George Brett, and the Royals smashed the Red Sox 7-1 as Gil pitched 7 and 1/3rd badass innings. This came at a good time, the Jayhawks just dropped a disappointing game in the E8 against UCLA, but Moore and Gordo were going to take the Royals to the top again. Moore may have had a false start when he "went and gritted for it" in 07-09, but how right that sentiment became. I cursed both Gordo and Moore several times through the coming years, but what their perseverance and comeback story did for this city was pretty much a ripoff of a Disney movie (and every bit as magical). Gordon now sits as my all time favorite player, and it's why his gold laced jersey now sits in my closet.
It was a long journey, but these gentleman made it worth it a million times over. Even if they never get there again, they did something I thought they would never do in my lifetime, and I will be forever thankful.
|