Scott Garceau: Wild (Card) World Series
For many around here the 2014 World Series will be remembered as the one the Orioles should have been a part of. Unfortunately the Kansas City Royals had something to say about that and are slight favorites over the Giants to win the crown. It's not always the two best teams in the World Series but these two are the best teams in mid-October and that's what matters.
This year is a perfect example, when the Giants and Royals meet next Tuesday in KC it'll be just the second time that 2 wild-card teams have faced off in the World Series. The Giants and Angels had the first wild-card World Series in 2002 (Angels in 7). This will also be the first time in World Series history that both teams had less than 90 wins in the regular season. The Royals won 89 games the Giants 88. Six teams won more games than these World Series teams and two others won as many as the Giants.
The Royals and Giants got hot at the right time and earned the right to play for all the marbles. The Giants went 243 plate appearances without a home run and then hit 3 in 24 with Mike Morse hitting the game tying shot in the eighth Thursday night and former Oriole Travis Ishikawa making history with a 3-run walk- off shot, the first ever walk-off to win the NLCS. The Ishikawa winner is being called "The shot that rocked the Bay."
The Royals go into the World Series red hot. After sweeping the Orioles they're the first team in MLB history to start the postseason with 8 straight wins. Overall the Royals have won 11 straight postseason games. The last time they made it to the postseason they won the final 3 games of the 1985 World Series over the Cardinals. If the Royals win the first 2 games with the Giants it'll set a record for the most consecutive postseason wins. Here's the best from the past.
1927-1932 New York Yankees (12 games)
Ruth, Gehrig and the boys, they swept the World Series in 1927, 1928 and 1932. The '27 Yankees considered perhaps the best team ever.
1998-1999 New York Yankees (12 Games)
Joe Torre's 1998 Yankees won their final 7 games of the post-season taking 3 from the Indians and sweeping the Padres in the World Series. In '99 they added 5 more before Pedro Martinez gave them their only postseason loss. The Yankees won the next 6 finished the post-season 11-1 and had back to back titles.
The Royals are on a roll and if they can win 2 more it'll be an unprecedented postseason performance. The bigger challenge is to win 4 more, in any order, and win their first World Series Championship in 29 years.