I have no doubt you know that on Sunday the Kansas City Royals won their second World Series – it only took 30 years. And seeing all this baseball jubilation almost makes me wish I cared more about baseball.
I see people on Facebook talking about how this is one of the best days of their lives, but I don’t think I care enough about any team in any sport to say that their success would be a highlight of my life. A Missouri Tigers football national championship might make the top 10, but we probably don’t have to worry about that any time soon.
Yeah, I’m a fan of Kansas City sports – little Travis was a Dallas Cowboys fan and I’m ashamed to admit it was because I was a bandwagoner looking for the best Chiefs alternative. There are pictures of me at the Missouri State Fair wearing an inflatable Dallas helmet. But I’ve come to my senses since then. The Cowboys probably have enough fans already, right?
Maybe a little more sustained success on the part of the Royals would have drawn me into baseball but maybe you can count me among the Royals fans that expect too much because they can see just how green the grass is on the St. Louis side of the fence.
Yes, that other team from Missouri is second all time in World Series championships with 11 – most of any National League team. The New York Yankees are the only team that is more rich with championships; with 27 they only have one less then the next three highest teams combined.
Twenty-seven-time champions? That’s an absurd level of domination over a professional sports league. Well, I thought it was – it sure is when compared to the NFL. The Pittsburgh Steelers sit alone at the top of the Super Bowl rankings with six wins. But the Montreal Canadiens have 34 Stanley Cups and the Los Angeles Lakers have 31 championships. Success breeds success in any sport, I guess.
Yes, the 2015 World Series was a game between the two teams that have to deal with the top two teams in baseball as in-state rivals. Yes, the New York Not-Yankees took on the Missouri Not-Cardinals in a clash for the ages.
But when not comparing the success of the Royals to the baseball juggernaut that is the Cardinals organization, we have to realize two World Series trophies isn’t so bad in the grand scheme of things. There are two baseball teams that have never even appeared in the World Series (Seattle Mariners, Washington Nationals). There are six more teams that have appeared in, but never won the World Series. There are two teams with only one championship – that’s 10 fan bases who would probably do just about anything to see their team match the modest success of the Royals.
The Chicago Cubs have two trophies, too, but their last one was secured in 1945. Yes, it will be at least 70 years between Cubs championships, that is if they are ever able to win another one. Thirty is nothing compared to 70.
There’s been a lot of noise made about the championship drought at Kauffman Stadium, but the Kansas City Chiefs haven’t won the Super Bowl in 45 years.
The year was 1970. Richard Nixon was in the White House, and “All My Children” premiered just a few days before the fourth Super Bowl. This upcoming Super Bowl will be No. 50 and the Chiefs might have to run the table just to get to the playoffs. But if they keep playing like they did in London on Sunday they could go all the way.