The last time that World Series baseball graced the field of Kansas City’s Kauffman Stadium, Arnold Schwarzenegger was dominating the box office and a 22-year-old named Whitney Houston had just landed her first No. 1 single. Ronald Reagan was finishing the first year of his second term, and Mikhail Gorbachev was just begginning his time at the helm of the Soviet Union.
After 29 years of saying, “wait ‘til next year,” the Royals are back in the World Series. As a Red Sox fan, I’m part of a fan base that historically has known that phrase all too well. After three World Series titles in the past decade, it’s easy to forget that Red Sox fans spent 86 years waiting for the next year.
This October marks the tenth anniversary of ending that 86-year drought. Behind Big Papi’s clutch hitting, Dave Roberts’ steal and Curt Schilling’s bloody sock, the Red Sox pulled off that magic comeback against the Yankees in the ALCS and swept the Cardinals in the World Series to break the Curse of the Bambino. Sox fans could forget about Aaron Boone, Bill Buckner, Bucky Dent and the Great Bambino himself. “Next year” finally became this year.
Granted, I was too young to remember any of those names besides Boone, but I was still part of a nation of fans who collectively exhaled for the first time since 1918.
And despite the recent success of the Red Sox, we have an obligation as Sox fans to remember our tortured past and appreciate every moment of triumph, because the next 86-year drought may have already started. Furthermore, we should identify with those that are still burdened by the weight of anticipation.
Twentynine years is far fewer than 86, but it has been a brutal 29 years for the Royals faithful. The Royals hadn’t made the playoffs since that 1985 season, and they finished third or lower in their division in every season after 1995. Although the Red Sox went 86 years between World Series titles, they only once came close to matching the Royals playoff drought, and that was a 28 year stretch from 1918 to 1946.
The Royals do not have the financial clout of big market teams like the Red Sox or their World Series opponents, the San Francisco Giants. The Royals are 19th in the MLB in payroll at $92 million, while the Red Sox are fourth with $162 million and the Giants are seventh with $154 million.
Barring a tremendous surge in the world BBQ market that runs the Kansas City economy, the Royals will likely remain a middle-to-small-market team. Ace pitcher James Shields is destined to leave after the season as a free agent. Young stars like Salvador Perez, Lorenzo Cain and Alex Gordon will likely follow suit when they are eligible for free agency.
If this isn’t the year for the Royals, there could be a long stretch of “waiting ’til next year” in the future.
I’m rooting for the Royals not only as a Red Sox fan, but also as a sports fan who loves the unscripted magic of the game. After 17 losing seasons in 20 years, who would have predicted that the Royals would be in the World Series this year? Who would have thought that a perennial, big-market powerhouse like the Yankees would miss the playoffs, with the small-market Royals still standing?
As much as we love fictional underdogs like Shane Falco, Rocky Balboa and Average Joe’s Gym, the best stories in sports are those real-life surprises, like the comeback from the Sox in 2004.
On this 10th anniversary of the post-Bambino curse era, I’m jumping wholeheartedly on the Royals bandwagon and hoping that Royals fans will have their faith and patience rewarded.
It may or may not be another 29 years until the next Series in Kansas City, but I hope that people will look back on this week in 2014 and see that Meghan Trainor dominated the billboard charts, Brad Pitt ruled the box office, and the Royals finally found “next year.”