I once rooted for a team that lost a World Series; they too lost quickly and lost to the plainly better team. However, they too lost close. They invented ways to lose. They lost on big home-runs given up to their opponent's non-premier Home Run hitters. They too lost games where their starters pitched great. They too lost an extra-inning affair. 10 years later, I had to relive the 2005 World Series by seeing what the Mets were up to... and this time I loved it.
The Kansas City Royals didn't just beat the Mets, they broke the Mets. They broke the Mets generally competent fielding and field awareness. They broke the Mets unhittable closer, and apart from 8 dynamic innings from Matt Harvey in Game 5, they broke the Mets unflappable, unbelievable starting pitching. The Royals did this all by doing what they did so well: pitch well enough up front, dominate in the back, and turn over a lineup like no other team in baseball. In many ways, we could be describing what the 2005 White Sox did to the 2005 Astros.
There are differences between the White Sox of '05 and the Royals. The White Sox hit with more power, and weren't as good defensively, but they had a dominant bullpen and good base-running. The White Sox also probably had better starting pitching (their starters pitched 44 and 2/3rds of the 45 innings in the ALCS). The White Sox lineup turned the Astros big-3 pitchers (Oswalt, Clemens, Pettitte) into an average bunch. And their bull-pen closed out Game 3, holding the Astros scoreless the last 7 innings of a 14-inning game. They even won with a little cynicism, as Jermaine Day faked his way to a hit-by-pitch to load the bases in Game 2 down 2-4, where Paul Konerko hit a Grand Slam right after. It was a devastating loss. On one hand, the White Sox were better than Houston. They went an MLB best 99-63, and rolled through Boston and the Angels. But on the other hand, all four games were winnable. It was the closest sweep ever.
Fast-forward ten years, and the Mets lost a series where they were leading with four outs to play in three of the four losses. Game 1 set the tone, with Familia giving up a home-run to Alex Gordon to tie the game with one out in the 9th. Familia was every-bit as unhittable as the Mets starters in the NL Playoffs, and while Harvey didn't pitch great, he handed Familia the lead - and Familia blew it. Familia became a mess there-forward, blowing admittedly tough situations he inherited in Game 4 and 5. The Royals wouldn't die, but the Mets never came close to pulling the plug either.
We can talk about the Mets defensive mistakes costing them Game 4 and Game 5, or their awareness being limited on Hosmer's scoring play to tie the game, or their bats falling asleep late in games, or their pitchers not closing out batters when ahead, but all these small things add up to one conclusion: the Royals played better.
The Royals are better. In fact, the Royals are a legitimate Champion this year, probably the best team to win the Title since the 2013 Sox or 2009 Yankees. They have a deep order that has few holes.. More than not having holes, they do one thing better than anyone: make contact. And as they have shown in the last two years, and the Giants - who follow a similar hitting approach favoring contact over power - three of the last six, contact has a lot of value in October. This is not to say that small-ball is better than waiting for the Home Run. It is to say that not striking out against marginal defensive teams is a good recipe for success, and contact hitters tend to far better against hard-throwing pitchers than power-hitters.
The Royals also do two things at a level almost unmatched in baseball. The Royals have the best defense in MLB, and it isn't particularly close. Their outfield has two great defenders and another solid one. Their infield has no holes. Ironically, this is one area they didn't play great at in the World Series. They also have that dominant bullpen, and a better playoff bullpen with a stable of ex-starters that can flamethrow their way to 2-3 innings of work in Hochevar and Duffy.
The Royals do a lot of things really well. They have no real weakness as a team. Their batting order is deep. Some of that depth is weird lineup construction by Ned Yost, but when you have Alex Gordon hitting 8th, it helps to ensure the opponent can't ever really relax through a half-inning. The Royals have also shown the value in patience.
The core of players, all under 27, of Hosmer, Moustakas, Perez, Escobar and Cain have all been at the MLB level for a while now. They've all had their share of struggles at times. Hosmer, probably the most talented of the group, alternated great seasons with awful one's, but whatever he found out last playoffs seems to have lasted. Moustakas took a while to learn to hit the other way. Cain developed power. Perez developed his ability as a catcher. The team was patient with all of them, and the fruits they bore have been sweet the past two years.
The Kansas City Royals seemed like a fluke team last year, needing a ridiculous comeback to win the Wild Card. It's often forgotten though, that they hosted that Wild Card game, not the A's; and of course, if not for the fact that the Giants basically conjure up some particularly dark magic every two years, they may be on the way to a dynasty.
There is no right way to play baseball; but we can squarely say that adding in the Giants title's, specifically the make-up of their 2012 and 2014 teams, in short series, being able to make consistent contact, play solid-to-great defense, and have a dominant, deep bullpen is a damn good formula. The best part of that formula is it uses all 25 guys. It uses the whole team.
The Kansas City Royals didn't just beat the Mets, they broke the Mets. They broke the Mets generally competent fielding and field awareness. They broke the Mets unhittable closer, and apart from 8 dynamic innings from Matt Harvey in Game 5, they broke the Mets unflappable, unbelievable starting pitching. The Royals did this all by doing what they did so well: pitch well enough up front, dominate in the back, and turn over a lineup like no other team in baseball. In many ways, we could be describing what the 2005 White Sox did to the 2005 Astros.
There are differences between the White Sox of '05 and the Royals. The White Sox hit with more power, and weren't as good defensively, but they had a dominant bullpen and good base-running. The White Sox also probably had better starting pitching (their starters pitched 44 and 2/3rds of the 45 innings in the ALCS). The White Sox lineup turned the Astros big-3 pitchers (Oswalt, Clemens, Pettitte) into an average bunch. And their bull-pen closed out Game 3, holding the Astros scoreless the last 7 innings of a 14-inning game. They even won with a little cynicism, as Jermaine Day faked his way to a hit-by-pitch to load the bases in Game 2 down 2-4, where Paul Konerko hit a Grand Slam right after. It was a devastating loss. On one hand, the White Sox were better than Houston. They went an MLB best 99-63, and rolled through Boston and the Angels. But on the other hand, all four games were winnable. It was the closest sweep ever.
Fast-forward ten years, and the Mets lost a series where they were leading with four outs to play in three of the four losses. Game 1 set the tone, with Familia giving up a home-run to Alex Gordon to tie the game with one out in the 9th. Familia was every-bit as unhittable as the Mets starters in the NL Playoffs, and while Harvey didn't pitch great, he handed Familia the lead - and Familia blew it. Familia became a mess there-forward, blowing admittedly tough situations he inherited in Game 4 and 5. The Royals wouldn't die, but the Mets never came close to pulling the plug either.
We can talk about the Mets defensive mistakes costing them Game 4 and Game 5, or their awareness being limited on Hosmer's scoring play to tie the game, or their bats falling asleep late in games, or their pitchers not closing out batters when ahead, but all these small things add up to one conclusion: the Royals played better.
The Royals are better. In fact, the Royals are a legitimate Champion this year, probably the best team to win the Title since the 2013 Sox or 2009 Yankees. They have a deep order that has few holes.. More than not having holes, they do one thing better than anyone: make contact. And as they have shown in the last two years, and the Giants - who follow a similar hitting approach favoring contact over power - three of the last six, contact has a lot of value in October. This is not to say that small-ball is better than waiting for the Home Run. It is to say that not striking out against marginal defensive teams is a good recipe for success, and contact hitters tend to far better against hard-throwing pitchers than power-hitters.
The Royals also do two things at a level almost unmatched in baseball. The Royals have the best defense in MLB, and it isn't particularly close. Their outfield has two great defenders and another solid one. Their infield has no holes. Ironically, this is one area they didn't play great at in the World Series. They also have that dominant bullpen, and a better playoff bullpen with a stable of ex-starters that can flamethrow their way to 2-3 innings of work in Hochevar and Duffy.
The Royals do a lot of things really well. They have no real weakness as a team. Their batting order is deep. Some of that depth is weird lineup construction by Ned Yost, but when you have Alex Gordon hitting 8th, it helps to ensure the opponent can't ever really relax through a half-inning. The Royals have also shown the value in patience.
The core of players, all under 27, of Hosmer, Moustakas, Perez, Escobar and Cain have all been at the MLB level for a while now. They've all had their share of struggles at times. Hosmer, probably the most talented of the group, alternated great seasons with awful one's, but whatever he found out last playoffs seems to have lasted. Moustakas took a while to learn to hit the other way. Cain developed power. Perez developed his ability as a catcher. The team was patient with all of them, and the fruits they bore have been sweet the past two years.
The Kansas City Royals seemed like a fluke team last year, needing a ridiculous comeback to win the Wild Card. It's often forgotten though, that they hosted that Wild Card game, not the A's; and of course, if not for the fact that the Giants basically conjure up some particularly dark magic every two years, they may be on the way to a dynasty.
There is no right way to play baseball; but we can squarely say that adding in the Giants title's, specifically the make-up of their 2012 and 2014 teams, in short series, being able to make consistent contact, play solid-to-great defense, and have a dominant, deep bullpen is a damn good formula. The best part of that formula is it uses all 25 guys. It uses the whole team.
