The Kansas City Royals host the San Francisco Giants on Aug. 10, 2014, at Kauffman Stadium. (Photo Courtesy of Mr.Konerko/Wikimedia Commons)
In light of the 2014 World Series coming to an end, one would be inclined to focus the spotlight on the victorious San Francisco Giants. This year considerable attention and praise has been directed toward the losers of the contest, the Kansas City Royals. After a magical eight-straight victory run and a heartbreaking 3-2 loss in Game 7 against San Francisco, many in Colorado have noticed a parallel to their own dark horse team: the 2007 Colorado Rockies.
In retrospect, many familiar trends are present between this year’s Royals and 2007’s Rockies squad.
The Royals clinched a playoff berth with one of the American League Wildcard spots in the last month of the season, which marked their first postseason appearance since 1985. They won the World Series that year.
With two weeks left in the 2007 season, the Colorado Rockies were 77-72 and their playoff hopes looked bleak. In those final two weeks, the team shocked the entire baseball community by going 13-1 to finish the season at 90-72 and forcing a Wildcard tie-breaker with the San Diego Padres (That was before the one-game Wildcard playoff system was implemented).
In 2007 teams just off the division leader boards in both the American and National Leagues were awarded Wildcard spots and immediately played in the Divisional Series. The Rockies beat the Padres in the Wildcard tiebreaker in 13 innings. They hit cruise control and headed to the World Series, sweeping the Phillies in the NLDS and the Diamondbacks in the NLCS. The Royals mirrored this, winning a hard-fought Wildcard playoff game in extra innings and sweeping the Los Angeles Angels in the ALDS and the Baltimore Orioles in the ALCS.
What is different between 2007 and 2014, though, came in the World Series itself. The Rockies’ fall from grace in their final games against the Boston Red Sox could be described as, for lack of a better term, anti-climactic.
It seemed as if the 2007 World Series was over before it even started. The Red Sox swept the Rockies, 4-0. The Rockies were riding on the crest of a wave that crashed down just before the Series. Watching the Royals this year, I thought, “This is 2007 all over again. They’re going to get swept.” But my pessimism proved to be false, as Kansas City put up one heck of a fight.
Right off the bat, one might point to inexperience or youth as a reason for both teams’ respective World Series failures. Can that really be attributed? Inexperience and youth don’t win you seven (in the Rockies’ case) and eight (in the Royals’ case) consecutive postseason games. Both teams made it to the World Series because of skill and skill alone. Both the 2007 Rockies and 2014 Royals were talented teams that posted solid team hitting stats. This year the Royals were fourth in the MLB with a team batting average of .263, compared to the Rockies’ .280 in 2007. A difference: the Royals’ team ERA was a respectable 3.51, while the Rockies had a lackluster 4.32 team ERA. To me, that was a big factor in the 2007 World Series. The Rockies just did not have a high-caliber pitching staff to keep the slugging Red Sox’s hitters at bay, which was evident in the 29 runs surrendered by Rockies pitchers in the four games it took Boston to win. The Red Sox’s pitching staff only gave up 10 runs in return.
In retrospect, both teams simply met their match. Both teams lost to powerhouses that were established in the playoffs in recent years. The Royals were different than the Rockies in their ability to take the Giants to Game 7. They were a more well-rounded team. They could pitch, hit and field effectively. In the Rockies’ defense, I don’t think the 2014 San Francisco Giants were as good of a team as the 2007 Boston Red Sox by any means. But nevertheless: Give credit where credit is due.
Since 2007, the Rockies have never really lived up to their magical World Series run. In 2008, they finished 74-88, and since then have never advanced past the NLDS. In light of the comparison, the Royals have a lot to prove in the coming seasons. Going off of this year’s momentum, they are capable of winning a World Series in the near future because of talent, potential and now experience.
So to all you readers who enjoyed rooting for the underdog this year, don’t fret. The Royals should make the playoffs next year, and the Rockies will make it back into the postseason scene in due time.
On a final note: Congratulations to the San Francisco Giants.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Justin Guerriero at justinguerriero@hotmail.com.
